Nerdfactory Customs Studio

HELLO THERE!

7/31/2024 · Game Design!

My name is Richard Berti and I am beginning a journey I thought some people may be interested in: I’m going to be developing my first video game! I am starting things out with no experience in music, a little bit of education (from forever ago) in programming, and minimal work with 3d modeling (really just cutting things up for my 3d printer, but I wanted to sound a little impressive!). I have, however, had some decent experience with writing fictional stories. If you want to watch as a complete novice fumbles his way through making a lifelong dream of creating his own game come true, this is the place to be!

First, though, a little about me, then onto the game. I’m old. like “I remember when the SNES came out” old. I’ve been an avid gamer since the 80’s and have explored a variety of genres and versions of the industry: tabletop, CCG, board games, miniature wargames, etc. My first love will always be video games though! I’ve been through a lot since that first time I loaded up a game of Zelda with that beautiful gold cartridge, though, and am now sitting in a position where I feel compelled to come back to that age old desire of making something like that. I run my own small business (i.e. it’s really just me!), Nerdfactory Customs (https://linktr.ee/nerdfactorycustoms), where I do commission paintwork of board game and display miniatures and decided to build on that into making video games.

As far as the game itself goes (I know! “Finally he gets to the point!” Right?!) I have an idea! I know my idea is a little… ambitious, but if it’s not something I want to play than what’s the point? Picture it: Sicily. 19… no, wait. Sorry. The wife’s had a lot of Golden Girls going on in the background. Anyway! The starting thought for the game was “what would it look like if a modern looter-shooter was made in the era of beat-em-ups?” Imagine a 16-bit 2.5d side-scrolling version of Warframe or Destiny! All the trappings of a modern live-service game (without the money-grubbing pay-to-win crap if I have anything to say about it! And with this I do!!) with all the style of TMNT: Turtles in Time. If there’s anything out there like this, I sure haven’t seen it.

So now we have the idea for the gameplay, mechanics, and art style. “What about the setting and story?” you may ask. I struggled with that for a while, trying to come up with a world that has a lore-conscious reason why you can transform into multiple different characters at will and have superpowers and fight bad guys. Finally, I struck on a great idea: what if, instead of a space-psychic kid jumping his brain into living armor (no shade here, I’m a big Tenno at heart!), you were essentially a Power Ranger? One who could transform into any available Ranger form when needed? Defending Earth from an alien invasion? A quasi Super Sentai setting would be perfect for this world!

That’s what I have so far! A looter-shooter in a SNES beat-em-up style with a Power Rangers inspired world setting. I’ve been filling a notebook with ideas and details along those lines since I got the inspiration to do this. The inspiration, I might add, that was sparked by one Thor Hall of Pirate Software (if you’re reading this Thor: thank you!) while watching his videos and streams. I don’t know how much I’ll be updating this blog exactly but I will try to make it often, I just don’t want to post updates that don’t add anything to the discussion either. So if you like what you’ve heard so far, want to keep an eye on my developing game, or maybe just wanna follow along on my journey through video game development… keep an eye on this page!

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