Already coming to the table with a BAFTA-nominated game behind him, solo dev Tomas Sala has a lot to live up to with his upcoming city builder Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles. In the latest Edge magazine issue, Sala explained how he started down his development path. Turns out it was his attempts to decompress by modding one of the best RPGs out there, Skyrim, after a stressful day of being a game studio boss, that lead him to where he is today.
Sala has been around for a while now. At this point he's a renowned and well-loved voice in the indie community, and his advice for indie developers is always well received. Back in the day, having built up Little Chicken Game Company as its co-founder to around 30 employees, his stress levels were at a high.
"I am incredibly chaotic," Sala tells us. Not the easiest personality trait for a high-level bossman. So in order to relax a little, he started modding. Moonpath to Elsewyr is what he landed on - one of the first quest mods ever made for Skyrim that connects Skyrim to the deserts of Khajiit. It's still considered one of the best Skyrim mods out there today, and is the thing that led Sala to solo indie development.
Oberon's Court was his next solo endeavor, a game with a distinct art style Sala likes to call "Pure3D". It's dark, stark and textureless - an aesthetic that Sala's wife, Camille, said reflected his feeling burnt out from bossing it over at Little Chicken Game Company.
Using his own advice (that is to reuse everything), Sala moved onto a game more in line with how he would prefer to feel. The Falconeer was born, and as an aerial combat adventure it really does capture his willingness to break free and soar high. Hence the BAFTA-nomination I imagine.
Built around the same game-world, his latest designs are more a nod to his chaotic brain. With the architecture in Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles popping haphazardly into existence, it seems desperate to defy the usual gridded building game-style. That's no coincidence. That's art with a capital A.
Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is out from March 26th, so keep an eye out for updates in the next five weeks. And if you find Sala's artistic vision relatable, why not wishlist it on the Steam page before the day to show support for a fellow chaos gremlin.
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