Life Always Finds A Way
Imagine that you have discovered a new planet and you are in charge of making sure it and all of its inhabitants survive? Fiddle Earth Media’s Biota gives you that very opportunity. You play as “God” looking over a multitude of different creatures and their environment. Unlike games like Spore, the player doesn’t create these creatures. As the creatures evolve according to their conditions and competition, the player will be continuously surprised and eager to see how their creatures evolve. The developers don’t discriminate, therefore, expect to see creatures of the sky, land, and sea! They could be anything from tentacle-ly armored monsters to giant, peaceful slugs.
Not only can you expect all sorts of fun creatures; there are also many different environments to play around with. Anything you can imagine in an environment, it seems like Biota will deliver. Expect to see many different biomes each with their own unique challenges. Unlike other games in this genre, the developers are working hard to include life-like tectonic plate movement, realistic water currents, and unpredictable weather patterns.
Welcome to Fiddle Earth Media!
Fiddle Earth Media is a new developer with a 23 person team that spans the globe from Australia to Sweden. Biota is their first game, and they’re pulling out all the stops. This passionate group of people don’t want to create a game full of empty promises, but are working diligently to bring us the best experience that they possibly can. Despite their many successes, Fiddle Earth Media isn’t afraid to be transparent with their followers. Bjoern, the games director, said they aren’t afraid to share their mistakes and use them as learning experiences not only for themselves but for other indie developers. The team is also adamant about what a fabulous community the indie community is.”One of the best things about indie game development is that sense of community. We’ve been continuously amazed at how helpful and friendly other developers are, and it gives you a chance not only to get input on your own work, but give back to others and lend a helping hand.”
Final Thoughts
What first attracted me to Biota was the graphics and art style. Every picture or video I have seen on their Twitter page has just been beautiful and full of bright colors. Ashley Kenawell, the art director, provided an insight into her process:
For Biota, we’re using a different medium than 2D illustration, but a lot of the same rules apply. When drawing for a 3D environment, I tend to take the very basic shapes that make up a character or design and stretch them to their limits. By breaking down all the shapes you see in a character’s design, you can really start to see where the expressions come from, and then you can start to adjust it to suit the needs of your scene. A lot of experimentation and rapid doodling goes into our designs.
I cannot wait to see Fiddle Earth deliver on all they have promised for this exciting title. Biota is set for release in late 2017 on Steam, with a full access release following in 2018. Maybe (if we’re lucky), we might get to see an early access release of the game. Speaking of survival of the fittest, I see Fiddle Earth Media coming out on top!
