I’m Weichen Lin. I used to work as a character artist and illustrator in children's book industry. With experience in concept art and background design of games and animations. I’m now a producer of a game project.

This decision came down on a simple question, which also motivated us to develop games in the first place.

What would I rather do in a 90 minutes break?

After collecting all the opinions on this topic from members at that time, we decided to combine three shared activities that we like to do during the break: see a movie, read a novel, and play a game. We want to make games that would let players have it all.

I am one of the artists. Our artists work on the in-game art asset, animation, and any illustration that is on our merches, social media, etc. Two client programmers work on in-game / out-game programming. Two game designers mainly focus on puzzle design, dialogue, and game-flow mechanics.

We are a studio of 8 members founded in 2019. Right now our members include two game designers, two programmers, and four artists. I am one of the artists. Our artists work on the in-game art asset, animation, and any illustration that is on our merches, social media, etc. Two client programmers work on in-game / out-game programming. Two game designers mainly focus on puzzle design, dialogue, and game-flow mechanics.

We made all the decisions based on a very simple reason, to provide an even more immersive gaming experience as if the players live the story.

Stories are the heart of our games. Behind the Frame is a narrative-driven game with escape room coating. Aside from the main storyline, which we hope would touch the players, we also have some breakthroughs on the display of the game scene. We adopted 2D 360°panorama for the presentation of several main scenes.

Every time anyone has an idea about an existing or new story, the person will work on the outline and organize the materials (videos, images, and music, etc.) collected on a mood board first. Then, all members will gather and throw out thoughts and similar cases to review and brainstorm for this idea. This is how we make abstract ideas into actual entries.

Though Behind the Frame is our second project, it is the first project that made it to the end and is finally about to be released. We’ve tried very hard to develop this game. Lots of problems that we faced were new to us, we resolved them, and got experience from them. We don’t expect this game to be a hit, but every lesson we learned, every feedback we received are precious.

Behind the Frame is our first project that has been fully developed and is ready to be released. Most of the time, we were just really focused on the development process, and in the end, we found out we did not take enough chances to make connections with players and the whole industry. With winning such international recognition, we think we earned ourselves another precious opportunity to make up for what we forgot to do, and we are truly grateful for that.

First, our budget is limited, and every member has their preferences. Though there are always different voices that conflict with each other during the discussion, we all understand and agree that everyone just wants the best for the project, and hope the final product is something we can all be very proud of.

Second, some of the elements of the game are out of our leagues, such as localization and SFX, so we had to outsource them. This is the first time we worked with people outside of our studio so closely. That’s when we learned that communication takes some skills. Thankfully, we all found a way to sort things out and got the job done.

Taiwan is a country that is deeply influenced by Japanese and western cultures. Some people favor anime, some people prefer feature animations. During our brainstorming, how to properly combine these two elements together has always been crucial to us. To find the perfect balance between the two and to visually tell our story in an artistic way, has always been our goal and our persistence.

From what I’ve observed so far, this industry is transforming.

More and more developers are trying to adopt different methods to tell a story, and the choices of narratives are even diverse. Niche themes and stories are being told and accepted by players. There are other groups of developers trying to integrate different entertaining media, movies, fictions, devices, etc. so that the players can experience the narratives from different angles and have more connections with the characters.

These are really game-changers, can’t wait to see how these go!

1. Passionate gamers and gaming communities
2. Passionate developers in the industry
3. Passionate team members

I recommend entertainment such as movies, fiction, and manga. Playing more games also helps, AAA games or indie games, don’t matter, the more the better. Old games that have become classics are also recommended. They could be the Muses of a really great idea.

We have seen a lot of examples of movies that combine games and vice versa. I think there will be more or even new technologies for movie and game creators to present what they truly see in their eyes. Games and movies that could create even deeper immersive experiences and emotional connections will thrive.

Hayao Miyazaki.

He is talented and doesn’t make compromises, sticking to what he thinks to be the best. A true shokunin!

We always remind each other to take a step back and review our overall work, to see if there’s anything missing or not quite right. Great quality means great to us.

All we want to say is, don’t forget your purpose in the first place, and remember to always be determined.

Stay safe, stay passionate!