Sleeping Dragon: from project to portfolio, the game has become a robust platformer | Mundo Indie

The definition of independent studio, indie, is broad and includes studios of different sizes: from developers working alone on a personal project to more robust studios that even have the capacity to help smaller developers to grow.

In this first case, we find Vermillion Studios, which is currently working on Sleeping Dragon, an adventure and puzzle game set to be released in 2024.

The 'one-man army' behind the game is Hugo Damião, the creator and project coordinator. Recently, the Mundo Indie team spoke with Damião about the history of Vermillion, what we can expect from Sleeping Dragon, and more.

The emergence of Vermillion Studios

The history of Vermillion Studios began when Damião was trying to break into the gaming market. The lack of a portfolio, however, led him to figure out how to take the first steps in the sector.

"I wanted to enter the (gaming) market, I wanted to work with games. So I thought I needed to have a portfolio, and it's even kind of redundant, right? You want to have a portfolio, but no one can hire you to start," he says. "So I started doing it myself." With a focus on entering the gaming sector, Damião joined the Panamericana School of Art & Design and graduated in Game Art Direction and Game Design. In parallel, he started studying programming. As a developer, he specialized in the role of Tech Artist.

The idea behind Sleeping Dragon

The current version of the game was conceived after the developer decided to focus his efforts on 3D games. From there, Damião developed a platform game project that caught the attention at industry events. However, there was an obstacle: the new game did not have a story. The solution was to rescue the narrative conceived for an old 2D project presented at Panamericana, while he was a student, where players navigate through the lost memories of a sleeping dragon.

The project's result pleased the creator of Vermillion Studios, who decided to stop seeing the game as 'just' a portfolio piece. "This project was so cool that I decided to 'take it seriously' and work on it as a publishable project," explains Hugo.

Game summary and inspirations for Sleeping Dragon

Sleeping Dragon is a 3D platform game reminiscent of Nintendo console games. In the game, players will explore small scenarios that can be manipulated to solve puzzles and reach the end of each level.

"The gameplay was very inspired by Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, which is a spinoff of the Mario series. But I brought mechanics from other games, games that I admire from Nintendo. I brought the paraglider from Zelda, for example," he shares.

In the narrative part, the game levels are memories of the Sleeping Dragon, the villain of the story behind the game that bears his name. As players progress in the game, they will 'navigate' through the dragon's memories and understand his past.

Help from other developers and studios

Despite the expression we used at the beginning of the text 'one-man army', Damião himself dispels the idea that he worked alone on Sleeping Dragon. Although he coordinates the project and is responsible for most tasks in the game development, he highlights the support he received from other developers and studios on the project.

"Vermillion Studios is practically me, but during this journey I had a lot of help. Many people helped me, supported me, participated as freelancers, or even gave me tips to guide me," he explains.

Among the contacts made in external projects, the developer sought help from a colleague on the PKXD project: Fun, friends, and games, a 3D game aimed at children. Finding a game designer who shared the same sources, with an appreciation for the same references, was also a challenge. "The material I have here, which I haven't disclosed yet, has some things from her that are very promising," says Hugo.

Vermillion Studios plans to release Sleeping Dragon in the second quarter of 2024. Add Sleeping Dragon to your Steam wishlist.