November 2024

I recently came across a video that suggested everyone should work in a startup at least once in their life. This got me thinking about the unique benefits of working in a startup, especially compared to well-known, established companies. The speaker in the video highlighted several key points:

1. Comprehensive Project Experience: In a startup, you get to see a project through from inception to post-production. This holistic view is invaluable for understanding the full lifecycle of a project.
2. Close Collaboration with Leadership: Working closely with CEOs and clients is a common experience in startups. This direct interaction can significantly boost your confidence and workflow.
3. Direct Client Interaction: Even if you’re not a project manager, in a startup, you often find yourself directly answerable to clients. This responsibility can be a great confidence booster and enhance your professional growth.
4. Small Teams, Less Chaos: Startups typically have smaller teams, which means less bureaucracy and more streamlined communication.

Reflecting on these points, I realized how true they are based on my own experience with our startup. We began developing in-house games in 2018, starting with brainstorming ideas about character and level design. Here’s a glimpse into our journey:

1. Game Ideation

The first step in our game development process was ideation. In 2019, we moved into pre-production, where every team member was involved in brainstorming and documenting each level. This collaborative effort was crucial in shaping our game’s foundation.

Game level designing, Ideation, Brainstorming, Level designing, Game levels

2. Pre-Production Stage

During pre-production, our developers and designers came together to refine our ideas. We focused on creating anime characters with unique action moves and characteristics. The Table is filled with Ideas and New concepts. Keeping in mind all technical aspects the designers further come up with color pallets and new suggestions to the initial idea.  The idea was to create Anime characters with unique action moves and different characteristics were given to each Character. Side by side we had the Storyline going on which kept us in touch with each characters behavior and uniqueness. The storyline was developed alongside character behaviors and traits, giving life to characters like Jon, Krio, Donni, and Tia.

While Jon was the main hero from our previous Game Dragon Little Fighters which was a 2d Pixel Game and did not really have a storyline. Here in Dragon Little fighters 2 , Jon is the one who goes and saves his friends who get kidnapped and gets them out of traps from different levels. Jon’s super power is lightning,

Don is the ice boy and thus super cool. Using his powers at the right time and right place

Krio as the name suggests is a creative guy. He loses his cool super fast and ready to do anything for his friends

Tia is the mature one and glad to have his green fire super power. She always encourages her friends to keep going and use their super powers to stay charged

3. Production Stage:

After the initial concept and Level designing came the Character design stage where characters were developed in Vroid Studio. After Character Designing and their Animation which involved lots of Dialogue exchange and Action, the scenes and stages were set in a sequence. First came the Storyline where all the characters are talking and testing their powers in their town. We had this unique concept of Dialogue box similar to Comic books which would pop up as and when the character speaks. This enhanced the storytelling throughout the game. Later came the Villain’s who destroys their place and kidnaps the friends of Jon. Jon becomes unconscious while fighting the Villain’s and when he wakes up he proceeds to solve the mystery of his lost friends by fighting the villain’s on different levels. There was a lot of VFX involved and sounds as well as Voiceovers which was all done in – house.

4. Testing : 

Testing is a never-ending process. We spent weeks, sometimes months, testing our game to fix bugs and ensure a smooth gameplay experience. This stage is crucial for identifying and addressing any issues that could affect the player’s experience. You never really complete a game after weeks or sometimes months of testing. Being an in-house game , we always tried to improvise things and fix those little bugs before the game launches the market . There are lots of technical things to be taken care of when you are making a game with lots of Characters and animation. Checking for Characters mesh, if it is colliding with other characters or the environment, checking for glitches, and so on. While testing , you also may realize if things are going to be liked by the target audience or not.

5. Launch :

After lots of bug fixing and assuring yourself that the game is ready, it is launch time !! For the launch of this game, things were different as we were planning to release it on Steam for the first time. After having Game on Andorid and iOS , this was a dream come true that we could launch the game over Steam. Publishing on  steam although was a struggle as Steam requires specific Icons and Screenshots on its platform. The Big thing was we could launch it over the Platform which in itself was a big achievement. After Launch , came the phase where Marketing and Advertising was required. We recorded lots of Videos, Rendered Images and took lots of Screenshots of the Game .Somehow because Dragon Kombat was a success , the game got noticed and liked by lots of people.

Dragon Little Fighters is available for Download

Android : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.BlueCreazione.DragonLittleFighters2&hl=en_IN

iOS : https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dragon-little-fighters-2/id1506729694

Steam : https://store.steampowered.com/app/1171950/Dragon_Little_Fighters_2/

Trailer Video :