Swordship Dev Diary #2 - The Inspiration Behind Swordship
Greetings again, pilots!
Welcome to our second Swordship Dev Diary! We hope you enjoyed the last one where we introduced the team behind Swordship. This week we are taking a look at the inspiration behind the game and how we ended up with the dodge ‘em up we see today.
One of the very first elements of the game was to create a ship that moves on the surface of the water. The inspiration came from a French and Belgian comic strip called Black & Mortimer that features a similar vessel. Then we introduced the elements of pursuit, agility and dodging. That last word stayed with us and was really the cornerstone of the whole creative process.
The project went through many different versions. We were very inspired by James Bond or The Fast & Furious-movie series, and it was after watching the 2015 film “Mad Max: Fury Road” that we decided on a reversed game camera* like the one in the current version. This conceptthen unlocked a lot of things in the game design.
[I](*By “camera” the developers refer to the point of view that you, the player, has when playing Swordship. Often in games, the “camera” is set behind whatever person/creature/ship the player is controlling. But in Swordship, you steer your vessel towards the direction of the camera - reversing the traditional perspective.)
With early prototypes Swordship differed a lot from the game it is today. We overall went through three phases. The first phase featured an open world setting, with the camera placed behind the Swordship.
In the second phase Swordship was a smartphone game with a top-view camera:
The third and final phase featured the reversed camera that is used in Swordship as it is today:
And yeah, that was the inspiration behind Swordship - as well as the three phases we went trough while figuring out what kind of game we would (literally) launch one day! For the next Swordship Dev Diary, we will take a closer look on the enemies that you will encounter in-game - plus our thoughts and ideas behind them. So, raise your shields and dodge!
Have a great rest of the week, friends! ːsteamhappyː
Happy dodging everyone! Benjamin & The Swordship Team
Swordship Dev Diary #1: Meet The Team Behind Swordship!
Greetings pilots,
Welcome to our first ever Swordship Dev Diary! In the coming weeks in the run up to the Swordship release (December 5ːsteamhappyː), we will update you with more exciting topics and take a deep dive into the creation of Swordship (pardon the pun). If you are lucky, we might even share some cool concept art!
Let's start this series by introducing our fantastic team behind the game. You will get to know all (the important things) about us, from our favourite food to the last song we listened to… and the game of course!
So, let's get ready to meet the team!
Name:Benjamin Vurlod Position/Role:Lead artist Favorite Food:Entrecôte parisienne My latest song I listen to:Reborn, Kavinsky What are you playing right now?Abalone with my daughter ;) What are your favorite games?Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time What was the most exciting part of your work on the game?Difficult question ;) but I would say the first iterations on the movement of the Swordship, the trail and the feeling of the water visual effects with the camera turned on the front of the ship as well as the slow motion cameras when it explodes everywhere.
Name:Sandro Dall’Aglio Position/Role:Game designer Favorite Food:Fondue My latest song I listen to:La musica non c’è - Coez What are you playing right now?Dungeon Encounters and Marvel SNAP What are your favorite games?Games with a surprising game design What was the most exciting part of your work on the game?Finding one solution to multiple problems
Name:Stéphane Restani Position/Role:Programmer Favorite Food:I can never refuse lasagna My latest song I listen to:MUSE - Won’t Stand Down. That riff <3 What are you playing right now?Satisfactory! Games about designing efficient and scalable systems are infinite time sinks for us programmers. What are your favorite games?There are too many! Some that really left a mark on me: Squad is an amazing “social FPS”; Return of the Obra Dinn is an incredibly well-made deduction game; Thomas was Alone managed to make me feel sad for a rectangle. What was the most exciting part of your work on the game?Watching everything we’ve built come together: the game’s mechanics and systems, the designer tools to author and balance them, the automated delivery pipelines to ship builds. I think I’m most excited when I see that I’m no longer needed for the game to evolve!
Name:Basile Perrenoud Position/Role:Programmer Favorite Food:A simple steak will make me happy My latest song I listen to:Maven Morris - My Church What are you playing right now?Satisfactory. Stéphane and Sandro always manage to show me games that will eat up my time. The one before was Vampire Survivors What are your favorite games?Years ago I would have said games with wide open universes, the first and most memorable to me was The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. Lately, the games I like the most are co-op games I can play with a small group of friends. What was the most exciting part of your work on the game?The collaboration with Art and Game Design. There are few domains in which software development is so tightly linked to other actors of the project. It is great to see the things we can do together knowing that none of us could do it alone.
And that's all of us! Now you know everyone of the team working on Swordship. For the next Dev Diary, we will take a closer look on what our inspirations for the game were. In the meantime you should further sharpen your dodging skills by playing our demo.
The release is getting closer and closer! ːsteamhappyː
So, happy dodging everyone! Benjamin & The Swordship Team
gamescom is back: Win LEGO® Swordship sets at the Thunderful booth!
Ahoy friends!
If you're planning a visit to gamescom, be sure to stop by the Thunderful Publishing booth! In addition to all the other great games, you can also try out Swordship on site, and compete against the other players with your score on the leaderboards.
And if you make it into the top 3 players, you'll win a LEGO® Swordship set, which we've produced in very small quantities especially for gamescom. You have the chance to win one of the sets three times a day!
You can find out all the information about the contest at the Thunderful Publishing booth in Hall 8.1 B-021. See you there! ːsteamhappyː
Happy gamescom to all of you! Benjamin & The Swordship Team
gamescom is back: Play Swordship in Cologne and here on Steam!
gamescom is back! ːsteamhappyː
After two years without gamescom taking place in Cologne, the world's largest computer and video games event is finally back in 2022, and that has to be celebrated! So, join us at Thunderful Publishing booth in Hall 8.1 B-021 if you want to get your hands on the demo of Swordship!
It includes the three first levels of the game, all in the first environment "Blue Water": Collect containers, dodge enemy attacks, let opponents destroy each other and collect points to upgrade your Swordship or unlock new powers.
And for all of you who can't come to gamescom in Cologne, we'll bring gamescom to you: The demo is not only playable at gamescom, but also here on Steam. And for the very first time the demo includes leaderboard support: So, complete the demo and compete on the worldwide leaderboards! ːsteamhappyː
If you like the demo please follow Swordship here on Steam to be the first to know about all our upcoming announcements. And of course, if you’re excited about the game, don't forget to add the game to your wishlist! ❤️
Happy gamescom to all of you! Benjamin & The Swordship Team
🛥️ STEAM NEXT FEST: Get on board with the Dodge'Em Up demo of Swordship! 🛥️
Aye friends!
Once again it's about time for the fabulous Steam Next Fest! This means that hundreds of demos will be live here on Steam from today till June 20th, connected to hundreds of streams, developer specials, and more. Exciting times for sure and you definitely don't want to miss this!
And you guessed it already: Swordship is aboard for Steam Next Fest June as well! Just scroll down the product page and click on the "Download" button to get your hands on the demo! It includes the three first levels of the game, all in the first environment "Blue Water": Collect containers, dodge enemy attacks, let opponents destroy each other and collect points to upgrade your Swordship or unlock new powers.
I hope you will enjoy playing our demo! If you're having a good time do us a favor and follow Swordship, add the game to your wishlist and leave your feedback in the Steam Community Hub. That would help us a lot. ❤️
Happy dodging everyone! Benjamin & The Swordship Team
Going Rogue Fest: Get aboard with the Dodge'Em Up demo of Swordship!
Aye friends!
It's Benjamin from Digital Kingdom (the devs of Swordship). Good news: A few moments ago "Going Rogue: A Festival of Persistence" started here on Steam! A pretty cool celebration of games from some of our most beloved genres: Roguelike, Roguelite, Souls-like, and Metroidvania. So it's time to get aboard a Swordship and prove your reflexes!
Just scroll down the product page and click on the "Download" button to get your hands on the Swordship demo! It includes the three first levels of of the game, all in the first environment "Blue Water": Collect containers, dodge enemy attacks, let opponents destroy each other and collect points to upgrade your Swordship or unlock new ships.
I hope you will enjoy playing our demo! If you're having a good time do us a favor and follow Swordship, add the game to your wishlist and leave your feedback in the Steam Community Hub. That would help us a lot. ❤️
Happy dodging everyone! Benjamin & The Swordship Team
Play Swordship at WASD in London - or try the demo here on Steam!
Greetings friends,
As announced yesterday, we have a little surprise for you today: Since the WASD at the Tobacco Dock in London opened its doors a few minutes ago, you can try out Swordship there for the first time! So if you don't have anything better to do from April 7-9 (and what would that?) come and join us at the Thunderful Publishing booth!
And for all those who a) don't live in London and the surrounding area or b) are currently on holiday in beautiful London, the demo is now also available here on Steam! Until the beginning of next week, you can put your Dodge'Em Up skills to the test at home! Both the playable build at WASD and the Steam demo include the three first levels of Swordship, all in the first environment "Blue Water".
Swordship Brings Unique Dodge‘Em Up Action This September!
Greetings friends,
Its been a while since we announced Swordship as part of the Thunderful World event in November 2021! But of course we didn't sit around lazily (well at least not all of the time... 😋), we kept working on the game.
And that's why we're really proud to show you our development progress today with a new gameplay trailer:
[previewyoutube="t1XAL-HHqDE;full"] We can also finally narrow down the release period for Swordship: From September 2022 you can get behind the wheel of the Swordship and experience the merciless Dodge'Em Up Action!
By the way, we have a little surprise for you here on Steam tomorrow!
Have a relaxing evening everyone! Your Digital Kingdom-Team
THUNDERFUL WORLD Premiere: Swordship Introduces the World to Dodge ’em Up!
Greetings friends,
Digital Kingdom here! We just announced our very first game Swordship at Thunderful World minutes ago - what a blast! So let us introduce you to the concept of a Dodge ’em Up:
Swordship is a shoot ’em up that removes the shooting! Control the Swordship, a highly maneuverable speed boat, as you escape from enemies attacking you from every corner. With no weapons, you need to use the ship’s powerful movement abilities to dodge bullets and trick enemies into attacking and destroying each other:
[previewyoutube="qPXaRo88Gsk;full"] As you progress through the game, you will unlock power boosting components that support varied ship customizations tailored to different play styles, making subsequent runs feel fresh. With slick visuals, tight gameplay and a thumping soundtrack, Swordship is a contemporary spin on the genre that looks forward while staying true to its arcade-y roots.
Look forward to a lot more about Swordship as it nears release in 2022 on all major platforms!
Have an awesome evening everyone and enjoy the show! Your Digital Kingdom-Team
