PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hi, my name is Connor Warrington. I'm the sole member of Studio Alone, and currently studying for a masters degree in Computing at Bangor University. I've been working on indie games for over five years, although I still have yet to release an indie game on Steam.
TELL US ABOUT IT'S BETTER ALONE.
It's Better Alone is a single player puzzle platformer where you can play as two different characters. You'll need to frequently switch between the two characters to solve a variety of platforming puzzles.
The idea for this game came about during my first year of university, where we were learning to program character controllers and I started messing around with duplicating the character controller I had created. I then took that simple mechanic and ran with it, kept adding more features until I had a game that resembles something a little different to what It's Better Alone is today.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
It's Better Alone was originally just titled "Alone", that was when I was still an undergraduate at university. The art style was entirely different; a monochromatic game with a fixed point of view and up to 8+ characters that could be controlled in each level. I graduated with the intention of jumping straight into indie development, went straight to making social media accounts for the game, and created a Steam page. At that time the game had mixed receptions, but I kept at it. Eventually I felt burnt out and decided to start work on a smaller project that I could complete in a few months titled Archer Hero. Eventually I was inspired to return to Alone with a brand new direction, and so Archer Hero became the new game on hold.
Development on Alone restarted, now titled It's Better Alone. I kept the player switching mechanic, but reduced the number of playable characters, I changed the art style to be more visually pleasing, and I decided to have a larger focus on the narrative aspect of the game.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
The game is being developed in Unity, it's the engine that was used for my university course and the engine I'm most familiar with. I was concerned when the new runtime fee was announced, and started to consider other options; but when they decided to walk back the fee introductions to older versions of Unity I decided to stick to the engine at least for the release of It's Better Alone. I'll definitely be open to considering other engines once It's Better Alone is complete.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
My biggest development hurdle would probably be dealing with the development of my own skills. I'm learning something new everyday, and because of that I can sometimes look back at my older work and think I can do it better now. I think I struggled with finding a balance when it comes to reworking entire sections of a game just because I think my skills have improved. I don't think it's wrong to go back and improve what you've already done, but I think it does need to be done in moderation or you'll never finish your game.
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
My advice would be a follow on from my hurdle. Don't feel afraid to go back and change something, even if it's something major. And don't feel afraid to take a break, everyone gets burn out and I think my best ideas have come soon after a short break.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
- I can offer all the advice in the world, but sometimes you just need to experience something for yourself. Go and make some games, and try and have fun doing it.
- Connor
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1686490/Its_Better_Alone/
❤️
