Dev Spotlight: Chapter IX – Stellar Settlers
Today I spoke with Burak who lead the incredible looking game Stellar Settlers to life. With a development cycle of only six months, and over 36,000 wishlists on Steam, he offers his experience and advice to other game developers.
- What video game(s) inspired you growing up and what lead you to becoming a game developer?
Growing up, I was inspired by classic strategy and simulation games like Civilization and SimCity. These games not only provided endless hours of entertainment but also sparked my interest in game mechanics and world-building, which eventually led me to pursue a career in game development. The first ever game I played on a PC was Diablo, the first one. The settings, music, the brutality of it (even though you can count the pixels) were just drawing me into it.
- How would you describe the gameplay of Stellar Settlers to someone unfamiliar with the genre?
Stellar Settlers is a strategy game where players manage a colony of settlers in space. The gameplay involves resource management, building infrastructure, and using the limited space in the planet as best as you can. Players must balance the needs of their settlers, manage resources wisely, and make strategic decisions to ensure the survival and growth of their colonies.
- Why did you choose space as an environment opposed to any other setting?
I chose space because it represents the ultimate frontier for exploration and survival. It provides a unique backdrop that challenges players with unknowns and variables that aren’t present in more familiar, earthly environments. Space also allows for imaginative scenarios that can expand the gameplay experience beyond traditional settings.
- How does weather / seasons work in your game and are there any natural disasters that players will need to look out for?
In Stellar Settlers, the concept of weather and seasons is adapted to different planetary environments. Each planet has unique climate patterns and potential natural disasters, like meteor showers or solar flares, which can affect colony operations and require players to adapt their strategies.
- How is Stellar Settlers different from other city builder games and was it important for you and your team to create something unique in order to stand out?
Stellar Settlers as a concept, stands out by integrating the survival and exploration elements of space with the traditional city-building genre. It was important for my team and me to blend these aspects seamlessly to offer a fresh perspective and create engaging, dynamic gameplay that differs from typical city builders. Mechanically, you can build vertically, and every pod needs to be connected, this was not something we saw in other games, and thought would be enjoyable, but it turned out that way.
- The sound and music is so calming and relaxing, mixed with the beautiful graphics it would be easy to spend hours playing your game. Was that an important aspect when you were planning Stellar Settlers or is that just how it turned out?
We market the game as a “chill” city builder. The calming sound and music, paired with beautiful graphics, were a deliberate choice. We wanted to create an immersive and relaxing experience that players could lose themselves in for hours. This atmosphere is crucial in balancing the more intense aspects of managing a colony and dealing with crises.
- Stellar Settlers had an incredible first month sales. What are the main reasons you believe your game had a strong first month and what advice would you give to other game developers?
The game’s strong first month can be attributed to our focus on community engagement during the close beta, the uniqueness of the game’s setting, and effective influencers marketing strategy. Advice to other developers would be to actively involve your community in the development process and to ensure your game offers something new and exciting to stand out in the market.
- What’s next for you and your team? Are you planning on adding new features to Stellar Settlers that you weren’t able to include or are there talks to start something completely new?
Moving forward, we plan to expand Stellar Settlers by adding new features that we couldn’t include initially, such as more complex settler interactions and additional planets with unique challenges.
If you’re interested in seeing how the development for Stellar Settlers turns out… you don’t have to wait long as it’s already been released! Check the game out on Steam now!