Until this year, I had never developed a game as "Retsa Games" with the intention of selling it; all my previous creations were contract work, small game jams entries or simple experiments made for their own sake. While I had worked as a game developer for six years, I really wanted to make something I designed myself, for myself. Releasing a game on a platform like Steam seemed like the logical next step.
I also had a prototype for what I wanted to do. Last year, I made a weird driving game on donut-shaped tracks called Ultratoro. It was created for the Black and White Jam #8 in twelve days and received great feedback online. When I showcased the game at Argentina's largest gaming expo, the reception was good. Some gamedev friends urged me to expand it into a full release instead of leaving it as a free web game. I also ported the game to Android (an awful experience, Google Play sucks). I had the confidence that the Ultratoro prototype was something special to use as a stepping stone.
So i started making the sequel: "Ultratoro 2", which was not the smartest decision as it was a sequel to a game no one knows. I dropped the 2 much latter on, but you can still see it listed on some parts of Steam as Ultratoro 2.
As soon as the development started i shared gameplay on social media and got some coverage from argentinian gaming sites like Extragamers & No gaming news, which lessened the fear of releasing something that goes completely unnoticed. I also made a lot of new friends.
I had a playable alpha in about a month and started showcasing Ultratoro at gaming events, which generated tons of feedback. Every aspect of the game's design was shaped by watching people play and listening to their opinions. A s a developer, you develop blind spots for the parts of your design that don't work, so community input is essential. In some ways, games design themselves; it's important not to get too attached to specific ideas that might not work and instead go with the flow.
At first, the process of making levels was slow. The weird premise of tracks being giant, moving toruses wasn't well-suited to the standard Unity scene editor. Plus, my early levels felt empty and boring compared to what the game could support. This was a great excuse to build something I'd always wanted: my own level editor. The only thing more fun than making games is developing the tools to make them.
I created a track builder integrated directly into the game. It sped up development and resulted in better levels. Players can upload and download tracks on the Steam's workshop. I also used the tool myself to create all the official levels.
Beyond coding, I wanted to practice my animation and writing skills. I added cutscenes between races that tell the story of a hacker infiltrating the servers of an evil, cult-like corporation called Deusoft. In the Ultratoro universe, users don't surf the internet on computers—they get inside cars and drive through cyberspace. The network's nodes are giant donut-shaped tracks, and data manifests as obstacles to avoid. "Anti-intruder" software appears as giant skeletal monsters. To create the human characters for animations, I drew over photos of myself acting out the sequences, while the monsters are based on animal and human skeletons.
