Tag Archives: Isle of Spirits

Q&A With Silver Bullet Games

Last month, I came across another great-looking indie game in development called Isle of Spirits and gave an account of my first impressions of it:

https://scousegamer88.com/2020/05/12/isle-of-spirits-first-impressions/

and following further developments made to it since I last visited the concept, I have yet another Q&A to share. Isle of Spirits is an open-world survival game made in the same vein as titles like Minecraft and Don’t Starve, whereby players must build settlements and adapt to each respective environment and overcome the world many dangers; natural or supernatural occurrences. Developed by Silver Bullet Games based in France, it is still currently in the beta stages of development, yet shows a great deal of promise in terms of what to expect from the final product. I recently got in touch with the game’s principal designer Kevin Drure and asked him a few questions regarding the game’s development and what to expect from its final release. Here’s what Kevin had to say about Isle of Spirits:

 

Isle of Spirits 1

What were the influences behind your game? 

Isle Of Spirits was mainly influenced by survival games like Don’t Starve and casual games. I was playing Don’t Starve when I was asking myself why most of the games of this genre were addressed to gamers.

 

What has the developmental process been like?

It was quite straightforward. I did have a clear vision of what the game should focus on, I designed and programmed the game myself. The sound design was done by Alexis Laugier, a freelancer. I showed him the game early as the sound design was very important to me, and we built a really great ambiance for the different game paces. I worked with another freelancer too, Noemie Bezier, for the user interface. She progressively created a whole theme matching the Isle Of Spirits universe.

 

What has been the most exciting aspect of development? 

Designing a survival game for casual, while keeping some challenge and letting the player discover the game himself was really exciting. But my best moment was seeing the game coming alive during the first playtests for the alpha, I was watching players testing the earliest playable version of the game.

 

Isle of Spirits 2

Are there more natural or supernatural occurrences planned for inclusion in the game?

No, I try to keep it simple for the player to manage.

 

What has been the most challenging aspect of development?

On the technical side, it was to get good graphics while running at 60fps for a fully dynamic game low-mid end device. All the elements of the map (and chunks of the map itself) can be moved at any moment, we can’t precalculate anything.

 

Do any of the development team have any experience of outdoor survival, and if so, did any of that have an impact on development? 

Not at all. We prefer a safe and welcoming house

 

Isle of Spirits 3

Would you be open to the idea of the game being open to modding?

It would be awesome to see players making the game their own game, the game has not been designed to get external content, but with some work, it should be possible to tweak the isle generation using a save file.

 

What platforms are you looking to bring the game to?

Isle Of Spirits is released first on Windows/Mac/Linux and Xbox One. I hope to be able to make a Nintendo Switch edition, but I can’t promise anything for the moment.

 

Do you have any advice for aspiring developers that may be reading this? 

My only advice would be “get a game idea you really enjoy, and stick to it”.

 

Where on the Internet can people find you? 

Mainly on Twitter (@games_bullet), our own website (silverbulletgames.com), and Discord (invite link on our website). We would love to see people joining our Discord server to chat with them!

 

Do you have anything else to add?

I really hope players will enjoy the game and I would love to see their feedback on our Discord server.

 

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Kevin for sharing what he can about this promising upcoming survival title. Isle of Spirits will not be your typical Minecraft or Portal Knights clone and promises a new type of challenge for players expecting the things they will expect going into this game. I hope you guys enjoyed this article as much as I enjoyed writing it and I will be bringing you guys more new content in the coming weeks so keep a lookout.

 

Game on,

Scouse Gamer 88