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The E3 2021 showcased many amazing indie projects, including Lifeslide by Dreamteck Studios.
Lifeslide was originally released back in 2019 for the Apple Arcade platform. Recently, Dreamtrek announced the debut of the game on the PC platform through steam. The lifeslide was also highlighted as part of Steam Next Fest, along with its major presence in E3 2021.
Leading up to the official PC release date of August 6th, in an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda’s Suryadeepto Sengupta, the creative director of Lifeslide and the CEO of Dreamteck, Mitko Tsaprev opened up about the game, the future plan of Dreamteck, and much more.
With E3 2021 coming to an end, one of the games to stand out the most is Lifeslide. With the steam release imminent, what can you tell us about this game?
Mitko: Lifeslide is an atmospheric paper plane flight adventure game that takes you on a journey through life. You will go through 28 unique stages, each depicting a given aspect of life. Despite its serene looks, the game does pack a challenge due to the flight mechanic - you will have to learn how to fly and use the terrain to your advantage. we are releasing on Steam on August 6th with three game modes - Story, Zen, and Weekly Challenge.
Compared to the original apple arcade release, what are some of the hurdles you and your team have faced porting the game to a pc platform? From a touch-based control to a keyboard and mouse support, was there any major consideration while translating the control.
Mitko: Lifeslide has always played best with a controller or a keyboard. The biggest hurdle we had was making the game more challenging and changing the difficulty curve to appeal to the PC demographic.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the E3 2021 was held digitally. How impactful was the event compared to the physical presence at Los Angeles Convention Center? Do you think the Digital E3 has a larger global reach compared to an in-person event?
Mitko: I think the numbers would be for E3 to share but us indies had an amazing opportunity to showcase and announce due to the event being online. Our studio could not have afforded to travel and be physically present and this gave us the outreach we very much needed.
Lifeslide is one of the few cherry-picked indie games highlighted in Steam Next Fest. How does it feel? How important and impactful for an indie is being highlighted by the platform?
Mitko: It's absolutely amazing! We have worked on Lifeslide for the past five years, and so seeing it take off and get positive recognition is not only exciting but also relieving. Lifeslide is our debut on the gaming market and how it does there is going to set the scope for our next project. We want to keep making new games and deliver somewhat unique experiences. Being on the front rows of Steam Next Fest is doing wonders for us to ensure a successful launch.
In a competitive world of high-budget AAA games, how does Lifeslide stands itself apart?
Mitko: Lifeslide takes the gaming experience back to a more simplistic form. Instead of designing a game with tons of features and mechanics, we focused on just a couple of things and making them right. We then spin everything around, attempting to explore every possible aspect of the mechanics that we have created.
Graphically, we don't have any impressive tech, so we chose to go with highly stylized aesthetics that hopefully would stand the test of time.
From its debut trailer in 2018 to its upcoming steam release, how has Lifeslide changed over the years?
Mitko: Since the release on Apple Arcade, we have added 12 new levels and reworked 10 other levels, added 4 new paper planes, tweaked, changed and improved gameplay mechanics and behaviors, added new game modes, improved graphics and performance as well as onboarding. Basically we have improved and expanded the game in every possible way.
Other than Lifeslide, Dreamtrack is also known for several unity plugins including Dreamteck Splines and Forever - Endless Runner Engine. What has been your experience going from Unity tool development to game development?
Mitko: It has always been our dream to create and publish games and the Unity plug-ins were a step towards that. We gathered a lot of experience in terms of product support and community management thanks to our tools selling on the Unity Asset Store. We are now slowly moving away from this and will be releasing free tools on our Asset Store account.
what are some of the steps you and your team are taking to gear up for the August 6th launch?
Mitko: We are currently hard at work to tie any loose ends: polish and fix bugs. The rate of features being added is considerably less and we are also focusing on marketing strategies for pre-launch and post-launch.
Will fans see more amazing games like Lifeslide from Dreamtrack, or will the studio completely focus on Unity tool development in the upcoming years?
Mitko: Yes! We are already conceptualizing our new project. Our focus is creating games that despite being non-violent are still challenging and exciting and at the same time provide a special experience for the player. We are currently exploring VR as the potential domain of our next project but nothing is yet set in stone. We will define our final direction and scope depending on how Lifeslide does during its first six months on Steam.
What are some words of advice for any aspiring game developer, with an interest in Unity?
Mitko: Sounds cliché but DON'T GIVE UP! Things will not always happen fast and sometimes it will take a lot more effort than anticipated. If you truly want this, just keep at it. And don't forget to ask for lots of feedback along the way.
