At the time of writing this, we have been working on the videogame BeeTheBest for 2 and a half years. It first emerged as a portfolio project, but we got into it and the thing continued. Discovering the exciting world of the bees has kept us invested. Now, the lack of funding has been noticed in the inability of members to participate full time. People have to eat, figures.
Nothing new in the world of the indie developer with no games under their belt. A story like so many others, and one that must continue to be told. Because this impasse, of having to devote your attention to other matters until you can get funding that allows you to focus all your attention indivisibly on the project allowing you to move forward in giant leaps, is like the path of the hero narrated by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien in “The Lord of the Rings“. Full of challenges, psychological ones mainly in this case (endurance, persistence, determination, acceptance, doubts…), but also physical as we have seen and material (time transmuting in money and others).
This said, we have had some understanding and also financial help (with the payment of the booth at the fairs for example), but not everyone is so lucky. So a thought and a hug from here to all those developers who are on the same path. Don’t give up! The secret if there is any, might lie in grabbing the 🥐 by the horns, eating it and continuing another day; and it is possible that for you the croissant is something else.
Well, without further ado I present to you below how we intend for the project to progress this year.
The ultimate goal is to achieve a Demo version that catapults us to a Beta that can bounce into a SteamFest which in turn ricochets into a funding round that allows us to enter production of the designed levels. Sounded like a carom, right? Well, things work a bit like this. Like a wonderful delicately crafted waterfall, started by the bottom that is.
However, to get to this stage, there are 3 main features we still need to work on:
- The development of an AI (Artificial Intelligence) that allows a person to play alone if they wish or if they do not have an internet connection
- Develop the multiplayer format that allows up to 6 people to enjoy the video game in a decentralized way, in a network, from their respective homes
- Set up and test the video game with 6 players including mouse and keyboard functionality
To all this we have to add a redesign of the user interface which, although it has been very useful so far, is not at final product level, and the construction of the main fields of the learning tree. The best thing about an indie studio is that there is always work for everyone, don’t you worry.
Once we have addressed these fields, we will be able to begin the final production of the videogame. This will be the most fun part, because it will mean that leaving the skeleton of the whale behind being able to start including some really fun visual and mechanical content.
And don’t get me wrong now, the rest of the fields are fun too! However, in many cases they do not involve the same creativity due to their nature.
If you want to help us move the project forward, either by giving encouragement, asking questions or contributing with ideas, I invite you to come and be part of our Discord community:
