One For The Team

Today’s devlog is going to be a bit different. For a Christmas special we thought to introduce ourselves properly! That’s why I asked everyone from our team a few questions, so that you get a better image of where we come from, what draws us to game development and games in general.

Here we are, that’s the team at Axon Flux:

Question Time!

What are you doing at Axon Flux?

Oliver: I started this whole thing together with Nils. I’m the guy taking care of the bureaucracy and administration. I also work closely with Simon on the marketing. But when it comes to the “real” work, I focus mainly on game and level design.

Nils: I’m working on everything in development. Mainly I’m responsible for the technical aspects, such as the game code, partially for the technical art and partially for audio engineering. I also make sure our source control solutions work. Fortunately, Oliver takes care of most of the bureaucracy, so I can focus on the game.

Pierre: As the 3D artist I am responsible for making the game look as good as possible. I model and texture the objects you can see in the level and in the near future I’m gonna add animations for our cactus and their enemies.

Alex: I’m creating the soundscape for the game, which includes Audio, Voicing and SFX. I’m doing my best to create an immersive experience that helps to enhance both fluidity, emotional experience and auditive feedback.

Simon: I’m the marketing guy, which means I gotta raise attention to the great work the others are doing.

What is your background?

Oliver: I’ve worked as a photographer for many years, before switching to game development. I studied game design and production at the Games Academy in Berlin, where I first met Nils. After graduating we’ve worked together at the same company for two years, and now we started our own studio, Axon Flux.

Nils: Since I’m the youngest of us, there is not much I did before I started my career in game development. Since I was really young, I wanted to become either an architect or a game developer. After school I immediately moved to Berlin where I studied game design & programming and where I met Oliver.

"The music in particular has had a great impact on me from a young age."

Pierre: After finishing school, I started studying law. I soon realized that wasn’t for me so I studied game art and 3D animation at SAE Zurich instead.

Alex: I have been producing and performing music since I was 14. Besides that I’ve always had a great passion for video games. The music in particular has had a great impact on me from a young age – back from when I played my first Zelda on the N64. I met Oliver, when he was studying in Berlin and was involved in two of his student projects. When he asked me to create the music for Cactus, I was immediately on board.

Simon: I’ve long been fascinated with all kinds of story-telling, be it in movies, books or videogames. When it came to it, however, I didn’t have the guts to study something creative so settled with communications instead. That’s where I met Alex. I’ve never fully given up my creative ambitions and sought an opportunity to enter the videogame industry as a writer. Alex told my Axon Flux needed help with marketing instead, and given my studies, I’m now gladly helping.

What do you enjoy the most about developing a videogame?

Oliver: I always love to see how work from different people add together to create something bigger than its parts.

Nils: That’s a difficult question for me. I think I enjoy the whole learning process the most. Getting to know ever more systems and techniques that are used in games. So, when I finish a game, of course I’m happy to have achieved my goal, but I’m even happier about the amount of stuff I’ve learned during development.

Pierre: I guess my answer would be game assets. I really like the whole pipeline. But if I had to pick one step of it, I would still pick two. Sculpting and texturing. I feel like I can let my creativity go loose there.

Alex: I love the idea of creating a world for others to interact with. Knowing that they partake in something that you created. I make music for that very reason.

Simon: I’m generally fascinated by the processes of creative problem-solving, be it in story-telling or game development.

"I’m happy to have achieved my goal, but I’m even happier about the amount of stuff I’ve learned during development."

What are you most excited for about CACTUS?

Oliver: We learn a lot during development, and it’s great to see our progress both “physically” on the game but also mentally. Of course, I’m also looking forward to (hopefully) deliver a greatly entertaining game experience.

Nils: The core idea of a shooting cactus has occupied my mind for years now, so I’m excited to finally make it come to life. I want the game to feel good and find a place in the shooter genre. I hope players will have fun and fall in love with it.

Pierre: I can’t wait to get the game to a point where we can show it to the people and they can play and enjoy it. It’s a great feeling when you worked hard for something and then it finally sees the light of the day.

Alex: I love seeing the progress of the game, step by step taking on its form.

Simon: I’m excited to see how the mechanics and level-gimmicks, the others come up with, translate into various strategies to beat the game.

What is your favorite videogame?

Oliver: There is no right answer here, so I’ll put it this way: in recent years, no game has baffled me as much as Outer Wilds.

Nils: I play a lot of video games, so it’s hard to say. From childhood, I love the Command and Conquer series. Other than that, I of course love to play shooters. Overwatch keeps me drawn in for a long time now and Risk of Rain 2 is probably one of the best indie games I’ve ever played.

Pierre: At the moment it is for sure God of War Ragnarök. But the game that will always have a big nostalgic place in my heart is Divinity 2 Ego Draconis. That game was lovely and you could play as a dragon. I mean how dope is that?

Alex: Hard to choose. If I had to pick one, I’d go for Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Honorable mentions are World of Warcraft, Undertale, Halo or the Metal Gear Solid series.

Simon: I’d say the Bioshock series has left quite an impact on me. But I also absolutely love God of War 2018 (haven’t come around to play Ragnarök yet). I also gotta mention Magic the Gathering, but that’s kind of a love-hate relationship there.

  "The core idea of a shooting cactus has occupied my mind for years now, so I’m excited to finally make it come to life."

What is your favorite videogame-related Christmas memory?

Oliver: Uh well...

Nils: I once wished for a GameCube, but my parents got me a PlayStation 1 instead. Best mistake they’ve ever made.

Pierre: That would be me and my sister getting a Nintendo DS. I think it was the first console we get. A couple more followed since then.

Alex: I was SO hyped for the Elder Scrolls: Morrowind when I got it as a present. Unfortunately, we were abroad and I had to wait to play it until we got home a few days later. I remember reading the manual about 50 times.

Simon: Sadly, I’ve never gotten a game or console for Christmas. But for a few years in the advent time my dad would download a Santa Clause platformer which I could play and that was lots of fun. 

Happy Holidays

Now you got to know us a bit better. We wanted to use this occasion to wish you a merry Christmas! Enjoy your time with your family. You’ll soon hear more of us, as we work diligently towards that demo!

Free Demo

We will release a free demo in Q1 2023, so stay tuned.

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