"Whether it's for work or for dogs, everything in life requires us to give 100 percent." Shruti Ghosh said. Shruti, art director and co-founder of Nodeding Heads Games, developed Raj: Ancient Legends with fellow co-founder Ian Maud (Shruti's husband) and their friend Avichal Singh. The game was described by one critic as a "gorgeous adventure between architecture and mythology".
Shruti has a good artistic background, and her pursuit of art has always been fully supported: "I am from Bangladesh. From childhood, people are exposed to various art forms, such as music, dance, theater, which is inevitable," she said. My father was really supportive of me, but he thought I couldn't make money as a painter and wanted me to try a 'modern' art form. ”
This inspired Shruti to focus on a course and eventually became a game artist. From the several games she's worked on (e.g., EA's Raging Wild, VC Arts' Fantastic Four, and EA Mobile games' Gems: Lightning Storm), we can see that she's very good at creating visually rich immersive environments, and is also talented at character development and storytelling.
The passion for the game project Raj stemmed from a brief conversation between Shruti, Ian and Avichal in 2016. Initially, they designed the game in a 2D style, but they later felt that there were too many details needed to achieve visual effects. Shruti explains: "At the time we were a small, independent team of three people, and it was literally killing us. "So the team played to their strengths and continued to use 3D technology to create games.
"I've always believed that it's feasible to show the traditional side of fine art in the world of 3D art," Shruti says, "and 3D opens up endless possibilities for us." Anyone can explore any dimension, so I thought, for me, combining traditional art styles with game art styles is a challenge, but also a fascinating challenge. It gave me the motivation and passion to do it. ”
This determination also extends to other aspects of Shruti's life: she and Ian not only work around the clock to make demo versions of the game, but also rescue and feed stray dogs in Pune. They adopted more than one or two.
"We have 12 dogs now!" Shruti said, "We started out just adopting a dog from the street, then it turned out to feed hundreds of dogs during the lockdown, which seemed to be my second hobby in life with Ian. We feel tired all the time, but this thing does give us peace of mind, we love what we do, and these two things make us happy. ”
Shruti and the passionate development team of Nording Heads Games set out to develop Raj because they believed that no game in the industry could yet paint a story inspired by Indian culture well. They worked hard to create games about Indian art, culture and mythology, and the culmination of Raj was full of beautiful visual elements and won several awards for its unique art and narrative style.
"There are very few games on the market that depict what we have formed in Indian culture." Shruti said, "There are no games that can show our architecture or tell the stories we hear from our parents and grandparents. We thought we could present this game to the world, and we could achieve extremely high quality to compete with Western games. ”
In the game, the player will play as a young circus actor named Raj to save her kidnapped brother from the hands of demons. This adventure is full of difficulties and includes exciting battles designed with heart.
Shruti and Ian's process of creating Raj was equally challenging: the founders put all their savings into the project and hoped to get the remaining funding through the Kickstarter fundraiser they launched. Despite having many supporters, they still haven't reached their goal.
"Kickstarter didn't achieve its goals, which was a pretty big blow for us," Shruti said. She also admits that they haven't thought about a backup plan. "After Kickstarter failed fundraising, we learned how important marketing is to a game. We don't know how much hardship we will endure. In fact, we are at a loss for what comes next. We just keep emailing investors and publishers and attending various events. ”
Shruti and Ian are not averse to challenges and struggles, in fact, they are more and more courageous, but in order to pursue the vision of this game, they have to make some major personal sacrifices. "People are very interested in what we do, they want to see the demo, and after playing the demo, they want the game to be successful." Shruti said: "It was the kind of push that made us think we might have to break the boat." There is almost really only one rupee left in our company's account. It was then that I sold my apartment. ”
It was a radical move, but it was also what drove her to complete the project. That gave Nodeding Heads Games the right time to keep running, and then things took a turn for the better: the team built the game using Unreal Engine, and that's when they received an Epic MegaGrant grant. This allowed them to make demo versions, paving the way for the indie studio to find a publisher and eventually release the game on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
"I was in tears of joy, which bought us another few months to finish the game." Shruti said, "In the end, we found a publisher, and that's when we breathed a sigh of relief. ”
That's not the only thing that's been fun for Shruti lately: Raj was also selected for the Nintendo Indie Game World Show. "For us, launching a game at the Indie World Showcase was a big deal," Shruti said, "and when the game was released, we received excellent feedback. I think there is a reason for all the hardships and hardships that we have experienced in the first place. ”
Shruti's constant quest for refinement is the driving force behind the success of Raj and Nordding Heads Games. "I always ask, 'Can we do more?' The best answer is always 'yes'. We are always moving forward. She said.