The Resolve – Exploring Moebius « Phoenix Online Studios

The Resolve – Exploring Moebius

by stika on May.20, 2014, under developer diary, featured, moebius

There are things in life that become a random draw of luck, they can grow into opportunities or grow into learning moments; however, very few times we find ourselves into a space of certainty and defining choices which make everything somewhat become a true test of endurance and hard work.

Unlike The Silver Lining and Cognition, Moebius does hold itself as a very unique experience for all of us, it wasn’t our design – it wasn’t really our story to tell; but we had the one in a lifetime opportunity to do magic to make someone we admire dreams come true. Needless to say, expectations were to the roof, and I have been trying to get my thoughts together for days hoping I can share the story in the worth it truly deserves.

I will never get tired of sharing this photo. Look at all those fanboy/fangirl faces right there.

At this point, we have successfully done plenty more than we ever even imagined of accomplishing, with both development and then inherently trying to move through publishing as well. Everything we had learned up until then became tested, and without a shadow of a doubt Moebius was and will always be something we are proud of – from the production record to being able to comply with such discipline from Jane Jensen and Andy Hoyos, both well-known names that have inspired us all to grow and love what we do.

Phoenix got started around September 2012 with Moebius, inbetween pre-production and sharing the workload with Cognition, Moebius’ year was 2013. I must say that 2013 was a year that tested our patience, our dedication and our passion. Overtime was quite brutal and milestones were unforgiving – not because we weren’t familiar with them but because if we missed them it was deducted from payment. The stress and focus was excruciatingly demanding. Working directly with Jane Jensen and understanding letting her down was simply not an option was overwhelming; however, this is something that we are aware has made us a much better team nowadays. It felt like a test and we accomplished it month after month until the release. We have grown and learned so much from this, I think results will be evident with the Gabriel Knight remake.

Moebius is the first Phoenix game that was efficiently produced on time. Ready as planned from the get go.

Even though we have been through hell and back with both The Silver Lining and Cognition, working directly with industry veterans sure frames a lot of perspective, focus and resolve to understand that their experience is invaluable and their expectations are perhaps above your current skills, and that didn’t become a problem but instead a challenge. We did nothing but our best to stay true to Jane’s design, to keep up with production’s tight deadlines – everything needed to feel perfect and ready to go at all times. It really taught us discipline and production values in prioritizing and understanding urgency.

The biggest lesson learned was not our test through all these challenges making the game come true, but everything else that came right afterwards. Moebius became something that inspired such polarizing points of view. When we would be reading a fan letter from the community, we would also be receiving links to the crude comments on known editorials; at the time, I sincerely had no idea what was going on – it simply did not make any sense. What was worse was on the day of the launch we kept getting reviews coming through over midnight and we were getting crushed and destroyed with each link, we were up until about 5 am working to set up and make sure launch would go through. We were tired and confused, and we had such long day ahead.

I am probably going to take such bold risk to open up like this, but I think it has got a lot of value to share – some of you may know and remember me from hosting the live stream, which is something we do as Phoenix family, and I remember Jane being the very first one to join, so taking time waiting for others to join the hangout I asked her: how she was doing, how she was feeling, hoping she hadn’t read anything yet. Unfortunately she immediately looked down to her desk and with the utmost grace and humble words she said that she understood some people may have not enjoyed the concept of the game, however she was quite happy and proud of the game we had done. Then she looked up with a big smile, ready to tackle the event. In that moment, I think I truly learned how a true competent game developer behaves – she could have said anything, yet she was as well-spoken and put together as someone else in that situation has any reason not to be. She was kind and sweet, the way nobody else was being to her at the time. I must say, Jane Jensen is truly a remarkable professional, and it has been nothing but an honor to be able to be part of Moebius.

I would be lying if I were to say it reading all that didn’t hurt – of course it did. We were aware of Moebius being quite an ambitious title, yet even with all its flaws it is by far from being the worst game in the industry as some would dare to argue. This is a risk we accepted and we are proud of what we crafted with such a small budget, when in reality the budget of a game like this needed to be at least 3 times of what it was. Nevertheless, some reviews felt like it was much more than pointing out obvious problems, but instead repeating itself over in the worst choice of words with nothing but the purpose of morbid entertainment.

Where Malachi and David’s bromance at first sight began.

We wanted to make Jane’s dream happen. We invested time, money, and love to have her story conceived, and so we decided to bite the bullet and do everything we could to make that dream come true. In some aspects it came out wonderfully, in others there’s room to improve. It is not as grandiose as Gabriel Knight, but Moebius is a mature story that has all the keys of a Jane Jensen work all over it.

There is only one more thing that I must say from all this experience, and that is while reviewers were less than kind, the community became once again a saving grace. I don’t think I ever read as many lovely emails as I did with any release before. Somehow Moebius welcomed a whole weave of followers, including some that had no idea Phoenix existed, and now are part of the family. I do admit, their long replies and emails about how much they enjoyed the game is what kept me through such long days.

Yet again, the circle goes back to where it started. We breathe as a community, we work as a community, and we are here because it is the community that believes in us. Do know that you make a difference in what we do and how we do it.

As always, thank you – for everything.