Studio Thunderhorse

Indie Game Spotlight: Flynn: Son of Crimson

This week’s Indie Game Spotlight is one of secret pathways and monster battles. It has relics of ancient Rosantica along with effigies and monuments that reveal hints to the past. It allows you to assume the role of a young man who was orphaned as a child, and now seeks to understand the shadows of his upbringing while awakening an ancient power within him. Meet Flynn: Son of Crimson.

We had a chance to speak with Simon, Designer/Producer and Case, Designer/Programmer with some music insight from composer Jacob Lincke. Simon and Case co-designed Flynn: Son of Crimson from the beginning. While Simon is in California and Case is located in England, they make the time difference work by never sleeping. How great is that? Talk about teamwork!

Who is Flynn and how did you come up with his concept?

Case: Flynn had many iterations in the early days and we built him up slowly and carefully overtime. The name “Flynn” has an Irish origin meaning of the “son of the red-haired one” and this was a pretty solid anchor for it to stick and has done ever since (We love red stuff, okay!?). He is a young adult taking care of the small island he lives on with his lovable companion (and island guardian), Dex, and surrogate father, Borin.

What are some major influences to the game?

Case: We take inspiration from a mixed bag of games which you’ll be able to eyeball at different parts of the game. Legend of Zelda: BOTW is a big inspiration of mine when it comes to combat mechanics and areas in which you learn how certain tools and abilities interact with each other. Castle Crashers and Full Metal Furies combat styles stuck with me for a while and I wouldn’t be too surprised if they influenced combat in Flynn without me even realizing it; those games are fantastic!

How did the team come up with the design and animation style? 

Simon: We’re lucky to have such a great art team behind Flynn. Phil Giarrusso is on the environmental and character design, Hunter Russell does all the animations, and Jaya Ply creating all the concept art. When designing the current Flynn, we decided to go for a slightly simplified system allowing for a fluid style of animation that wouldn’t take about 60 years to complete. It has been going very well for us so far!

Sound is always an important factor to storytelling. What can we expect from the game’s soundtrack? 

Jacob: Capturing story and atmospheric themes is indeed important and has been a fundamental aspect of the scoring process. Music arrangements and overall sound has shifted as the game continues to evolve but the essence of our musical themes has remained. Flynn: Son of Crimson will feature a soundtrack full of fiery, serene and hum-friendly melodies inspired by traditional folk music from various cultures and accompanied by a symphonic orchestra.

Dex looks like the best boy. How did you come up with creating a companion for Flynn? Is Dex inspired by any real-life companions?

Case: She certainly is a best boy! Originally Dex started out as a sort of cat-like robot when Flynn was in the very early stages of development and the name was short for “Index.” However, after a big development overhaul, we decided to change the feline inspired bot into something more lovable. The name Dex stuck and we decided to go with a huge fluff ball because, well…dogs are better than cats (Yikes! Did I say that out loud?).

How important is community involvement and feedback to the game’s process? 

Simon: We’ve always loved the thought of having unique designs from different people all over the world filling up the world of Flynn with their visions! Community is a huge part of indie game development and we try to be as involved as possible. Showing what we’ve been doing, no matter how rough the idea has been, has been a huge help with the community’s feedback, so we try to keep our development open and honest as often as we can without spoiling too much.

Flynn from Studio Thunderhorse’s independent action/adventure platformer: Flynn - Son of Crimson.

Flynn: Son of Crimson is simply delightful to look at and you can find fellow developers @thunderhorseco right here on your favorite blogging platform.

The game is on Kickstarter right now and has already reached its goal. It’s got your classical platformer promises, with a bit of world-changing and companion mechanics thrown in the mix.