So, I actually managed to publish a game. What a surprise! Would you believe me that I'm writing this post when the final version was released on Dec 7, 2022? Almost two months ago! What took me so long?

I wasn't planning to release it at all.

I will explain why. In this post I won't talk about the game's art or code, but rather about how and by who it was made. About the team that created the game and what was left of it. I'm writing this mostly for myself. To remember what I went through, what I learned, what I should not forget. And maybe, some people will be interested in that story. The story of how Rescue From Hell was made.

Actually, this was a project for my university course. A group project. And in the beginning, it really felt like everything was going very well!

There were four of us, me and another person were already familiar with Unity, the other two... not so much. But that's alright, right? They can learn, and us two can be the guides.

I immediately declared that I want to be responsible for the art part. I'm comfortable with coding (after all, it is what I'm currently studying), but I enjoy drawing as a hobby, so I couldn't miss an opportunity to show off my skills. The other guy (that knew Unity) said he can be responsible for the code part (I will call him the programmer). We decided that the other two can be responsible for the music part and documentation (it was needed for the assignment). 

Next up, the idea! We decided that we want something 2D, since I never worked with 3D models, and 2D is simpler in general. But what about the game itself? The programmer declared that he would like to try creating a skill-tree system. Alright, that's a pretty good start. I pitched up that I would really enjoy drawing some horror elements. No one was against it, so I counted that as a win. But what should the game be about? Would it be rogue like? Adventure? Platformer or isometric?

Maybe we should pick another game that we like and then try to build something similar?

I picked Hollow Knight. Love that game! The art, the mechanics, the story *muah*. I figured it would be fun to create something in similar style, something that would make the player pause their mindless adventuring to look at the scenery they entered, to just... enjoy what they are seeing, to wonder if there is a story behind it... 

What if Hell was beautiful?

That's when an idea came to me. A perfect way to divide the game into levels, to have already a theme ready for them. The nine levels of Hell! Imagine traveling them, discovering places there, getting to know the inhabitants, their stories, fighting creatures stuck in eternal torture...

I can't remember what was my sin...

The Hollow Knight already had a sword for a weapon, so I couldn't copy that. Well, gun it is!

But what about the main character? Personally, I have a hard time drawing humans. So I though, alright, it's not a human, but it needs to stand on its hinge legs. Something devilish... but also cute! Something with sharp teeth, spikes on their back, a long tail... That description, its oddly similar to kobold, isn't it? Why not after all? Kobold it is!

Behold, a man! But wait.. what are you really? - some random skeleton

I think the game's story needs another post (this one is already very long), so I won't talk about it here.

Our programmer picked Vampire Survivors. His idea was that we could make... well... Vampire Survivors but... with skill tree... that's it. That's literally it. I never played the game itself, only saw some of my friends stream it on Discord. And honestly, it looked to me quite boring and luck based. So I said exactly that.

 I think that's were everything started to go down hill

I thought he took my critique alright. The other two group members didn't have any specific ideas. So when it came down to choose my or his idea... The winner was quite obvious (hey! I worked hard on it alright?). And well, the programmer sounded okay with it.

Note to myself: online meetings are BAD for very important decisions. Why? Well... You don't really see how other people react to you or your ideas. 

We started working. I started to sketch and draw all the needed assets and did regular updates in our chat room. The programmer started coding. The other two did the documentation.

Everything was alright until we started trying to combine the art and code parts.

The programmer was set on creating assets which could be easily configured to satisfy any need. Unfortunately, since he didn't bother to ask me what my needs are, there were a lot of parts which needed to be remade or just scrapped. 

That, of course, didn't make him very happy.

But it always felt like he wasn't making a game, but rather fulfilling the stakeholders (in this case, mine) needs.

Why did he refuse to create the game alongside me?

So, that's how the game was made. I received an asset that I then integrated into the project, added all the graphics, changed the code so it would work in the game environment, balanced all the enemies, added the UI, added the skill-tree's logic and everything else that you can see in the game. 

It was a lot of work.

Near the end as a "thank you" the programmer sent me a message saying that "he could not stand communicating with me" and left our group.

I was furious.

(And hurt.)

The other two group members tried to add the game's music. In the end I had to do most of their work.

We finished in time and got full marks. The programmer got a penalty.

I thought a lot about what went wrong. Why was the programmer acting in such a way? Why was our teamwork not working out at all? 

The programmer more or less told me when I met him face to face. 

He didn't like the idea.

That was it.

The other two people were also not invested.

Because it wasn't our idea, it was my idea.

In the end, the game Rescue From Hell is, well, my project. But I didn't want it to become this way. I'm happy I made it. I learned a lot. I'm not afraid to take up another project. I still love games.

But I feel lonely.

I hope I will meet people in the future that will not be afraid to share their ideas. To say what they like, what they dislike.

I hope that those people will be happy working alongside with me.

And I will be happy working with them :)