by Alexander Schach & Tobias Lindberg (Fishmoose Interactive)

Before “Cosmic Kites” was a thing the game was called “SPHERES”. We will have an article out regarding the name change, and the process that went into it later down the line.

The origin of the name SPHERES was simply that Tobias suggested it as a project name after playing the first prototype, and the name stuck. Our biggest problem with the name was that it lacked personality and memorability, plus that it basically didn’t say anything about the game.

This basic lacking of personality and originality was something that we felt applied to the graphics as well, combined with problems concerning feedback to the players, which further led us to consider remaking the graphical style entirely.

From the earliest prototypes all the way to this overhaul, the graphics had been in a more abstract / retro / minimalist fashion with basic geometrical shapes as characters and game objects. Simple, clean, but highly forgettable, and what some people consider “programmer’s graphics”.

Initially, there were never any concise plans on keeping the simpler graphical style, but after months and months of working with them, we had sort of grown attached to them, which resulted in us holding onto them for way too long. We were also a bit misguided since people told us they liked the current visuals, and of course they told the truth; they did like it, or at least, and probably more commonly, did not dislike it. That does not mean that the graphics are great though. It’s simply means that it’s not ugly.

Continue reading over at our hompage.

(Because I’m too lazy to reformat the whole post.)