PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
My name is Michel Victor, I'm 36 years old, and I have a background in graphic design. Throughout my career, my main work has been as an illustrator. In 2011, I started working in the gaming industry as an artist, and in 2017, I ventured into game design.
Since then, I’ve also explored programming a bit. I’ve worked on a few games with a programmer friend, which helped me learn more about coding.
TELL US ABOUT MORNING STAR
The game is a Metroidvania, with a focus on combat and exploration. The idea for the game came over a decade ago. At the time, I wasn't sure whether it would be a side-scrolling or top-down game, but I often found myself alternating between those ideas in my daydreams while thinking about the story and the universe of the game. I have several concepts and folders from all these years where I kept trying to start, but it always stayed at the idea stage with just some sketches, never quite finding what I was looking for. In all these attempts, the game was meant to feature humans, but then, out of nowhere, the idea of an owl came to me. It felt like everything clicked instantly, and before I knew it, the game was already underway, visually just the way I had always imagined.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
I wouldn’t exactly call it a "journey" yet, as I’ve only been working on my game for about 40 days. Most of that time has been spent testing and learning production pipelines to help me scale asset creation effectively. So far, I feel like I’m making good progress.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
I am using Unity, as it's the only engine I've worked with so far, so it's out of convenience.
I believe that because it's so popular, access to information, answers to questions, and tools that can assist in production are much easier to find
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
My biggest weakness, without a doubt, is programming. Since I've only created the character controller so far, I haven't faced many barriers yet. I think that in just a few days, I managed to create a movement system that feels quite good and enjoyable to play.
I had never animated 2D characters before, so at first, I struggled a bit to find a good pipeline. However, I found an animation tool that I really enjoyed working with, and I think I'm much more confident now.
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
The advice I would give is that I’m able to work on my own game now because I achieved financial stability through other projects, so I can dedicate my mind and time to this idea. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't recommend spending too much time on a project that lasts longer than a few months.
My dream has always been to create a game like the one I'm working on now, so I made a plan that took about 15 years to come to fruition, which was to achieve financial stability and now be able to live by creating something out of passion.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Thanks for reading!
-Michael
❤️
