I’ve mentioned before that I’m part of a game development team called Soltorch Games. Specifically, I’m the Story Director.
What does that mean?
I’ve done things like brainstorm world lore, vote on ideas, write scripts, and invent characters. I’ve done none of those things solo, though; so if you play the game and happen to like a particular character, line, or world aspect, I can’t necessarily take credit for it.
That’s one interesting aspect about being on a team.
As a creative person, I’ve almost always done the creating on my own. Being an author, I write my books by myself. (Mostly. Actually, my husband helps write some of the fight scenes and related content, as that isn’t my expertise. And I'll credit my editor Evan Braun with helping my books turn out more polished than they’d otherwise be.)
But on a game development team, no one person is responsible for the final product. Bits of all of our creativity and work is scattered throughout.
That means each person’s skills, combined, can bring the game to life in ways any one of us couldn’t do on our own.
For example, I came up with the concept for the dragonoid Jairia. I wrote some lines for her, and described her personality and backstory.
In a book, things would have been left at that. She’d exist as a concept. You could say the ‘soul’ of the character is what I created.
But the team took my idea further. They designed a look for her, and modeled her. Now, it feels like she’s more than just a soul, but has a ‘body’ as well.
It’s an incredible feeling, to see the character brought to life in ways I could never do by myself.
This is my first time being seriously involved in digital game development, and although I’ve been part of this project for months, we’re still learning as a team. The rest of the team is a fair bit more experienced in game creation than I am, so I’m still discovering what’s needed from me, and how I can best help.
I’ve actually stepped back from the project for the birth of my daughter and adjusting to her arrival. But the team has continued to make progress while I’ve been away, and it’s amazing to see how far along the game is coming!
I’m hoping I’ll be able to find time to get back into that soon - though with a book to write and other projects in the works, we’ll have to wait and see.
If you want to know more about how the game is coming along, you can visit the team’s blog.
