MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
What’s your game?
Our game is Baum – a 2D physics-based game with platformer aspects and reaction-based puzzles. In Baum you guide a droplet of water through the branches of a great tree by drawing gusts of wind with your finger.
Currently we’re building for Android tablets, but hope to adapt it to iOS and PlayStation Vita after ProtoPlay.
What has the Dare experience been like?
Well, Dundee and the weather we’ve had has completely bucked the ‘cold’ stereotype of Scotland!
It’s been great meeting other passionate people dedicated to making games. Every team seems to feed off of the energy of the others, and there’s a true sense of purpose when everyone’s working.
It’s also a very intensive period of time to work on a project of this size, so the advice we’ve gotten from industry mentors is invaluable for a project like this.
We’re a team from all over, across three countries, and not all of us have a games-based background. For those it’s been an interesting adjustment – game development is much more an art than a science. Particularly with a physics-based game, where we’ve had to ‘feel’ out our control scheme.
What have you learned from Dare?
Probably our main lesson to learn from Dare is that often progress is defined by making mistakes.
We’ve spent so long getting the feel of our game, the design of our levels, and the style of aesthetic just right – there’s been a lot left on the cutting-room floor.
But every time something didn’t quite work, it’s strengthened every other aspect of Baum, from tightening controls to making a more cohesive art-style.
All this has been done so that we can deliver as elegant and polished an experience as possible, and make Baum the Baumest game around!
Are you looking forward to ProtoPlay?
We’re eagerly anticipating ProtoPlay. There’s been numerous strange packages and props appearing over the last few weeks for both ourselves and other teams. We’re very much excited to see what everyone else has planned for their stalls, and look forward to showing off ours as well.
We’re certain Baum will be an enjoyable and novel experience at ProtoPlay, and it’ll be great to see players of all-skill ranges interacting with our work.
What are your ambitions after Dare?
We’d all love to continue working on Baum, maybe revisit some of those unexplored ideas and expand it to a full game experience, and take our knowledge from Dare and after into a wider world of game-making.
Ultimately it’s very gratifying to be able to say that every team is very talented this year and we’re excited to see how everyone does.
If you’d like to see more of Baum come to ProtoPlay and check us out!
Follow A Fox Wot I Drew on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about their game.
Dare ProtoPlay and Indie Fest is on 7th-10th August in Dundee’s Caird Hall and City Square, with all 15 Dare student games on show, as well as over 30 indie games. http://www.dareprotoplay.com/
