SimDevs Exclusive Developer Interview for Area 86
Are intergalactic space puzzles your thing? Of course they are. Especially games that incorporate robots with interesting abilities that you can use to solve intricate puzzles in a plethora of ways. That’s the beauty of a game like Area 86. The solo developer at SimDevs implemented many nuanced controls and features that make for a truly unique and fun gameplay experience. Check out our exclusive interview with SimDevs below!
Hi There! Please give us a quick introduction of SimDevs. What’s your mission?
Hello! SimDevs is developing physics-based games with fun in mind.
Main mission: let users experience fun with physics simulations.
What’s a fun fact that others may not know about your team?
There is no real team, but just one person — me!
How did you get involved in developing indie games?
It all started a long time ago when first time saw a real video game on my parent’s TV.
From that day — it was like a blast — I want to create my own games!
Years passed, interest grows, different game engines got explored and games played growing up.
Step by step and now I’m trying to create my own games!
What do you do when you’re not developing indie games?
You know, the usual stuff — play games :)
But without the games, trying to get outside and do some activities that are possible at that moment!
Let’s talk about Area 86 now. This space exploration puzzle game has all the best parts of classic Steam indie games like Clarc and Get Over It, but with its own unique twist. How did you come up with this super cool concept?
It all started at an event called Game Camp Tallinn in 2017. It’s like a game jam for 48h where people pitch their game ideas to other people at the event and try to form a team!
I came up with the concept of Area 86 ( at that event it was called “ChaCha” ) but at the pitching time I could not clearly explain my true vision and perhaps they did not believe me that I could develop such game concept in the given time amount!
Oh and it was my first time on stage — so yeah it was a mess, but I loved the action being there!
What types of challenges have you encountered building Area 86?
Physics — that’s an unpredictable beast that can bite you at any time! Trying to keep physics in an enjoyable state is the most challenging thing!
How do you keep your morale high during challenging game dev stretches?
Just do it — even if you don’t make it on planed time! Sometimes it’s even good to take a break and check your game from different views, it will pump you back up without letting you notice it! It’s magic!
What lessons have you learned through the stages of development of Area 86?
It’s not so easy as it starts in your head. Even after you put most of the features on paper you can’t always predict all scenarios and conflicts will pop up in design.
Be prepared for that and perhaps cut some features for saving your time and learn from mistakes!
What feature did you develop for Area 86 that caused you to step outside your comfort zone?
I’m really bad at math, so every time a calculation in geometry is needed I need to get external help! Good that there is the internet, many fixes can be found there!
Anything you want to tell the Plexstorm community before we sign off?
Keep it cool and enjoy the show!
The full version of Area 86 is not yet ready for purchase and download on Steam but should be sometime in 2019! Be sure to visit and engage the dev behind SimDevs via the game’s official website and social media pages below as well!
As always, thanks for reading and keep on streaming! ❤
