Here we are, back with another developer interview! This time with Georgii Krasin one of the creators of Biocell.
Before we start we’d like to thank Georgii for participating in our interview and for answering all of our geeky questions! Thanks!
/// Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about Biocell! Could you kick-start this interview by telling us a little about your studio, yourself, and what drew you into the gaming industry?
Our team consists of three people: Georgii Krasin (that’s me), Ilya Efimov and Olga Krasina, and in fact, we do not have any studio. 😀 Ilya and I were classmates at university and have been friends since that time. Our main specialization is .NET / C # programming and software development in general. Olga is a software testing specialist.
We have long wanted to try ourselves at game development and started making Biocell in the evenings after work. We were engaged in game design and programming, later Olga joined us as an artist and animator. Our friends Anton Kazantsev and Andrey Rogozhkin helped us with music and did a really great job. I would also like to thank Stas Buchenkov, Dmitry Opalev and Nikolai Buryak for their help with the graphics and visual style.
These characters are gorgeous 😍
/// Ok, let’s start talking about Biocell. What are the highlights of your latest game?
Biocell is a puzzle for those who like to calculate their actions a few steps forward. Levels are usually short and require a small number of moves. The game has cute graphics and good music.
/// What was the core idea or inspiration behind Biocell? And perhaps more importantly, where do you find inspiration for your games in general?
The main inspiration was just the desire to make a game. 😆 We took the mechanics of Attax as a basis, as it seemed quite simple. But we did not like the fact that the last few moves are usually decisive. Therefore, we decided that in Biocell most levels will require a small number of actions.
We also came up with a new mode in which the player controls all the cells and the level target is to make each cell take its designated place.
/// How long was Biocell in development for? And are there any interesting and/or exciting moments or experiences you would like to share with us from that time?
About 3 years. It took so long because we worked mainly on weekends, and did not have any prior experience in game development and project management.
We argued, tried different options, threw them out and made new ones. Instead of sitting down and thinking carefully about what we wanted to do 😅
Also in the development process, we had to solve several interesting problems:
- Make the computer player play well and at the same time make it possible to beat him.
- Come up with a variety of mechanics and game modes.
- Make a level editor, with the ability to arbitrarily change the shape of each cell.
- Ensure that the game works stably at 60 fps on most devices.
- Come up with cute characters and animate them.
- Design a non-intrusive UI.
- Make an understandable and not boring tutorial.
- Make localization into multiple languages.
/// What software, developer-tools, or black-magic(?) did you use when making Biocell? Is there anything you would like to share with the developers who read Edamame Reviews?
You’ll have to tell us more about that Black Magic stuff in a private message… 😅
Unity was chosen as the game engine, since in our main work we mainly use C #, and it has excellent cross-platform capabilities. For animation, we used Spine from Esoteric Software. Almost all the graphics were drawn in Affinity Designer. We used the Atlassian as a tool for planning and managing tasks. Black magic was used to create AI and level generation assistant.
I would like to advise developers to devote more time to planning. Planning may seem like something boring and sad, and you probably want to get started as soon as possible, but it will help you avoid many mistakes and save you a lot of time. It is very important to understand what end result you want to get, what you need to do for this, and what stage you are at now.
/// Is there any secret “developer-advice” you can give our lucky players who read this interview?
Don’t be shy to use hints!
/// What can we expect to see in Biocell or from Georgii Krasin in the not so distant future? What do we have to look forward to next?
We want to add an arcade mode to Biocell, in which the player will play at a random level against the AI or another player. As for other projects, the only thing I know for sure is that they will certainly be.😉
/// Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to our awesome team of Writers, Developers, and Supporters who keep Edamame Reviews up and running?
Stories from other indie developers are inspiring. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for following Edamame Reviews!
Let us know your thoughts on Twitter at @Edamame_Reviews
Download App Store / Google Play