We've been rethinking Arrow for quite some time. Our thoughts have been around studying new techniques to do the things we do. And optimizing the game more, along with more updates to the game's design and environments.
We began by hiring some new developers to the team. We've hired a programmer and another 3D artist. Along with a marketing consultant to help us get the game out.
We ended that phase by redesigning the environmental design of Arrow. We needed polish and what we had wasn't what we wanted to look at for a complete game. We didn't like the execution nor the polish.
With the level design, we started with the basics. What did we want to do? We wanted to keep the color, but we didn't want the walls to be blank with many colors. We had no refinement in each level.
We hired a concept artist to draw us up some level designs and some puzzles. He did quite the job with it. We began immediately blocking out the new level one. Once it was blocked out, it was time for more detail. We added color, lights, texture. We added pillars, grates, and a river. We loved the idea of having a moving river and waterfall in the game, so that's exactly what we did. We love experimentation, and I believe this shows it.
We wanted to create more of a sense of adventure, so we decided to build the levels larger than the older ones. We wanted more fun and secrets to be revealed. Although secrets are minimal in the new level one, it shows that we had the strive to finish the level that we wanted to do all along.
