Wastey: What’s been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to face….. thus far… as an indie developer?
Dani: The biggest obstacle has really just been finding support. The game is pretty ambitious, and so much of what we are doing simply takes massive amounts of time to do. Of course, I don’t have much to my name….so finding support from the community and family has been what has given me the opportunity to really focus and create. There was a long period of time where no one really believed in what I was doing….so finally being able to show the early stages of what we have made and strangers getting behind us to help us continue really meant a lot.
Wastey: You created the game’s engine itself from the ground up, correct? How daunting was something like that to build?
Dani: Well, not me. That is mostly James Johnston, the amazing programming power behind Bloom. It is definitely a big task, but it is really just about taking one step at a time…eventually you get where you are going. Along the way has been a lot of discovery and sorting out new processes for handling problems we face (like how to process and stream the insane number of frames for character animations). We are kind of forging our own path with this engine, since Bloom has such unique demands.
Wastey: I’m going to challenge you just a little. If you had to whittle Bloom: Memories down to, let’s say, just three core features that would set it apart from the myriad RPG settings out there, what would they be?
Dani: 1 ) Themes – The themes in Bloom are a bit different than most RPGs. They are heavily influenced by my own experiences…and a reflection of a lot of my life and feelings.
2) Art – The art kind of speaks for itself. I really wanted to create something out of love…so instead of doing things like tile sets or other tricks to speed up production, I try to really go the extra mile to make this something special (for example, every environment is individually created / painted… there are hundreds of them).
3) Options!! – A big part of this game is about growing and learning who you are. This means along the way your choices shape who you become and how the world reacts to you. Do you kill? Do you sacrifice? Do you show kindness when there is no reward evident? I’m curious what type of people players will be.
