Bringing you up to speed │ Falterstone prototype #6
What has happened since last time and where did the project go? Quite the ordeal actually, which I wanted to share with everyone because the last update for the project was back in June 2024!
To recap: This prototype is an ARPG mix where you play as a dwarf in the mines, and the whole purpose was to, well prototype certain features quickly.
Running low on steam
After the last post (linked here) work has come to a halt, although a quick update with a new test and some bug fixes still managed to come out. Was testing the potential of using grid snapped abilities, governed by an auto camera system. As you’ve to aim and point at the same time to land the character at the right place and didn't want to use extra keyboard shortcuts for this. See it in action:
Link in case broken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUB8kWYT5YA
At the time it just wasn't enough to share in a full blown blog. So it was quietly released as an update with a tiny note on Itch.io only.
It was a vanity project to release frustrations with the industry, but it was put away as once again no publisher wanted to talk shop. Then came Deep Sea Claustrophobia (DSC) which took up all my time. 8 months to be exact.
For a while it seemed that the project would be forgotten forever. That accidentally changed when a boutique publisher decided to actually give this a shot and evaluate it a bit more than just saying “no thanks mate”. We spoke about it for a solid month.
Change of pace
This was back in July/August of 2025 when all efforts were put into DSC to get access to Steam and somehow turn a profit to keep it going. While that didn't happen, something unexpected did.
The same publisher who rejected DSC found Falterstone in my portfolio, and even in its prototype stage they gave it some thought. Which something I’ve never experienced because over the numrous year searching for funding I’ve been mostly ignored. They came to the conclusion that yeah, the stuff that I want to do isn't total garbage and it has more to do with:
It's just a half finished prototype not an MVP or perfect vertical slice
No traction
No company
No sales history
No pedigree
No connections
Wrong part of the world
And one man army
While negotiations didn't go anywhere because they didn't have the money to fund a lean AA, I took the opportunity to make the best out of it, because DSC was also axed by that point. Which is why it's still stuck in “EA”.
To insanity and beyond
I was left with no options and tried my best to sell the idea of this game. Made a new pitch deck and started blasting publishers from all over the world. 100 or so we're contacted, publishers, VCs, etc. Even bugged scouts, marketing agencies, incubators, and gaming organizations like IGDA.
All efforts and time was spent solely on this and trying to craft a narrative that could sell this to others. Obviously knew that it was a tough sell, but the thinking was that if the project is vetted and prior was evaluated to earn between $500-1mil minimum, someone would take notice.
To my surprise some actually did. Even big publishers now sent me rejections, which those, the ones I’m referring to, normally didn't. Some even told me they liked the idea but the budget was too low, or whatever. There was always something, but something other than silence.
Of course having a brief email exchange with Focus Entertainment, or knowing that Annapurna paid a visit on my website just doesn't count because I was still left empty handed. Couldn't brag about either.
It got to a point where I started to “annoy” people, because I managed to talk to a few that were out of my reach and wasn't supposed to make contact with. Because who I am really to talk to anyone important.
That's how I learnt a lot about the Swedish gaming scene, as technically I spoke to all of the larger incubators there, or a bit more about Germany's. The recurring theme there was that I wasn't a resident so they simply couldn't or didn't want to help me. Which was a problem because that was my only hope of ever making it as there were and still no other options for me but to look for help abroad. And that's a tall order.
Moved a lot of stone but it still wasn't enough.
LinkedIn and changing the world
One day I was ranting on Reddit when a guy suggested to hop on LinkedIn. Was reluctant at first, but quickly had to realize that maybe that’s my last after last option to save it all. So registered back towards the end of the year and started building my connections from scratch.
Continued bugging people whilst making somewhat decent content out of thin air, to act busy as they do. This transition also solidified the idea of actually wanting to make a studio not just a solo production. Which tend got tangled in with other ideologies of the time to create a cohesive narrative. Because by that time we were hunting for VCs at the pre-seed stage.
Setting aside publishers was a necessary thing because they don't really fund studios from conception/prototype stages. Very few does, but those require good connections, like how Sandfall landed theirs with Kepler.
So more and more I had to descend into this madness of polishing the company and the separate pitch deck, whilst searching for VCs, doing research on them (which is not easy as most public info is either locked behind paywall, outdated and incomplete) and so forth.
Even managed to talk to some high profile people at places like Raw Fury (publisher) or Play Ventures (VC). Pitching my then “revolutionary” idea. Yes, we all do have that but I still think of it as very different from mainstream.
In the last months it really came together luckily, as translating my intention for a startup wasn't easy to convey for business people and took a lot of tries and failed attempts.
It's still not perfect but I also had to fight for my normal life amidst all of this with the people around me and it did get ugly to some degree. Leaving 7 years behind and a lifetime of preparation was just not something I wanted to let go that easily. As that was my USP to begin with. Still is.
Which, again turned a few heads around as I now saw on a daily basis who visited to some extent: CEO from the San Francisco Bay Area, Investors from XYZ and so forth.
Formulating a purpose
Have found early on that most of the things I did in life always had this underlying purpose to them because that's where I found meaning: To see that stuff we interact with had something to give back to us other than the experience itself.
What I did the past months or so is to formulate that into something tangible other than “wanting mature and meaningful experiences” in gaming. Won't bother you with the details, because it's a long read, but can tell you that it's rather radical. Mainly for the reasons why I call gaming to be in a cultural ghetto that's driven by legacy incentives.
In the land of VCs, especially in pre-seed territory, it is critical to nail. Because conviction is the only way you can be evaluated. So did my best to comply.
The interesting bit is that what started out as a notion, a gut feeling of wanting to make great art, had measurable data in the wild and others were also trying to do something about it, at least from the 80s. But the industry made it so that those efforts were kept tight and often locked away.
Currently there's still a couple of submissions in the process in hopes to get this venture somewhere further. Although would've been nicer if there were more, because all the gating has locked me out of opportunities others could already access. Again as I’m just one guy in an apartment trying to make this thing work.
Still working to make this startup a thing.
Changes in the design and tiny updates
Come to now and most recently decided to bring the art direction of the game a little further than before, as the only thing that was locked down was the main goal of “stylized hand painted” and that's about it.
This was due to not having any time to think about it as I’ve been under constant pressure to save my life, not getting homeless, and to save my self-made career. A lot when you’d need a clear headspace to design things.
Regardless, decided to push it and make some progress in that regard. The goal was to find a style that could convey something a bit more serious than your average stylized art like in World Of Warcraft.
Didn't want it to be too cartoony either as the theme was of Gaelic/Norse and was juggling quite the heavy subjects. So it had to be more grounded and serious in tone. Which also had to be in line with wanting to be a bit more unique and different from others. That semi-realism is a hallmark for enjoyable art, but wanted to put my twist on it. Which is how it all ended up in the mood/character/environment board show below:
Did also think about the practical side of things, like how to make this work in 3D, which is fine. Either by using 0-1 transparency (to avoid overdraw), or straight up using geometry only. Whichever option will suit the best.
Almost forgot to mention that I've also decided to pivot into frame-by-frame animation opposed to interpolated, to give it a bit more characteristic. That idea came after rewatching a GDC talk from GuiltyGearXrd about how they made their assets.
But this wasn't all, as I finally managed to quickly fix a few issues with the build as many scouts have had issues with mouse sensitivity and certain mechanics. So now you can quickly adjust that and not be too bogged down by obstructions in the world. Still bit jank but that wasn't the purpose of the prototype at all.
Notes on prototypes
The funny thing about reaching out to a publisher or a gaming VC with a prototype, that actually is a prototype and looks ugly, is knowing that you're being judged by it as it were the final product. I know MVP with traction. Well fuck that. Have debunked that idiotic approach to funding games plenty of times already (with actual data), and it wasn't only done by me either. Not going to rant about that now.
At that stage that shouldn't matter and mostly conveys the inability to differentiate and understand the appeal of a game and that early of stages.
Timothy Cain had a recent video about this explaining (linked here) the ridiculous nature of this. That indeed most of the time projects get axed because of people having no or very little actual developer experience. Something I’ve been yapping about for years and years and was laughed at for saying.
Updates to the build
Minor fixes and whatnot.
Mouse sensitivity slider
Debris are one hit kill
F1 menu stays open (toggle-able)
Discussion