PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
I'm Florian Kraner from Vienna. I made my first games a long time ago, but decided to go through a regular career before jumping onto a massive game project. Mazestalker is the outlet for a lot of ideas I have collected over the years.
TELL US ABOUT MAZESTALKER.
First and foremost Mazestalker is a game that looks backwards. In the ever accelerating drive for innovation I strongly believe that we skipped over too many promising game templates. Originally I wanted to create a SciFi themed Platformer (one day maybe!). But when I realized how many 2D patterns had already been done to death in other games, I remembered isometric videogames and felt they offered a vast space of unexplored potential.
More specifically, Mazestalker is an Action-RPG that could be from the peak era of 16-Bit videogame culture. It was very important to me that the look and feel of the game captures what those old classics look like in our memories. When you go explore the deep dungeon labyrinths, solve puzzles, unearth new treasures and abilities, I want you to feel just like you did the first time you played those beloved classics.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
Very quickly I found that technology has exploded to such a ridiculous degree that the easiest path forward would be to use an actual 3D-Engine to create my 2D game.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
I am using Unity because I collected a lot of experience with it in the innovation-field I come from. I personally have created a lot of games and prototypes over the decades. Most of which will be forever lost to time because their tech-stack is deprecated. This experience compels me to chose technology that has long been tried and true and that is sure to stick around for decades.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
It has been tough to get everything done for a playable Demo. A vertical slice forces the developer to complete their entire engine. This fact has held me in place for at least a year, but now I passed this enormous mountain and can return to crafting the fun parts again.
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
Take it from an innovation-expert: Don't get caught up in fancy new technology. Just as most games fail to ever gain traction, the exact same goes for technology stacks!
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Mazestalker is still early in development even after 4 years. I try to build all this up from nothing, so I ask any kind soul there to leave me a Wishlist on Steam! Every single one counts for an unknown dev like myself!
-Florian
❤️
