[h1]How it started and the basic game principles and design decisions...[/h1] At the very beginning, there was the vague idea of a nation fleeing a major catastrophe when their home planet exploded. The inhabitants scattered in spaceships to all corners of the universe, trying to find a suitable planet, a new home. And along the way, they have all sorts of adventures. Different characters, different ships, different journeys, different corners of the universe, different events.[b] Lots of possibilities.[/b] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43103544/890d471fab42e5f9150dad1092d00358405b561e.png[/img] A whole series of more or less important, let's say [b]canonical or pivotal decisions[/b] have been made from this basic idea. And these were linked to each other by more and more. One of the first things I tackled early on in the design of the game was the characters.[b] I wanted to create believable characters that players could take on as their own[/b] and relate to. As a father of two young children, I had it easy - it was pretty much a no-brainer that the kids would be the heroes, siblings who love each other and also - like perhaps all siblings - tease each other. That one is rather timid, thoughtful and the other is literally a loose cannon - that's probably clear to the players among the multiple parents as well. At a time when the media is throwing practically mostly bad news at us,[b] we wanted to create a world where good is primary[/b] (I know, blowing up the home planet and all... but...). A colourful world where there are happy little creatures who are willing to tackle life with a smile on their lips despite adversity. A positive, colourful, warmly human world. We'd have a world, we'd have a plot, we'd have main characters. What about them? About 15 years ago, I tried to make a hot air balloon game. I found the concept simply interesting, appealing to the audience, thematically "safe"... except... with a hot air balloon down we stop the player on the ground, but what if it flies out of the screen upwards? From experimenting with dwindling oxygen, limiting the maximum height with an invisible barrier, rapidly cooling the balloon, and about 99 other detours and variations... we've locked the balloon in a giant cave... Down the rock - OK. The ceiling above - OK and with stalactites. We'll definitely want to avoid those... There's no going back, the draft is driving us straight into the cave and the only way is forward into the darkness. Sounds mysterious enough and goodness awaits. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43103544/5b226bc81ee19c36db1e38b02d8e6b999e2aac79.png[/img] By putting the balloon in the cave, suddenly the pile of parts, the various partial concepts lying in the head or drawer, [b]started to make sense, started to work.[/b] And I started to connect these pieces together. So a world began to emerge on a planet with a giant underground complex that is so vast that it has different conditions. A world where people aren't people, they're Happies. A world where [b]technology works a little differently[/b]. A world where [b]the energy for the engines is produced by glowing bugs[/b] that, when fed glittering diamonds, give off huge amounts of energy to power the ship. A world where [b]almost anything can be made by rearranging a crystalline grid on a 3D printer[/b]. A world where [b]swarms of omnivorous piranhas[/b] sail through the universe, and [b]aliens with tentacles [/b]for hands... and in this world, there are [b]two extraordinary kids[/b] who are bored with the adult world and just want to have some fun. [b] Welcome to the world of the Happies...[/b] [i]Next time we'll look at the creation of the characters[/i]