Q&A with Clemenc (Agnès Vuillaume), solo developer at one-woman studio 2054
The Sundew · published
Hi!
This is Agnès, aka Clemenc, the founder and only developer at games studio 2054. This week The Sundew was announced and I want to share a bit of what’s going behind it and my story as a one-woman effort in game making.
I’d like to answer some of the more common questions I’ve been getting from people and seeing online. I hope this helps to shed some light into how The Sundew is being developed.
What inspired the world of Shibukawa that you’re building in The Sundew?
It may sound strange, but the initial idea for this story came to me when I was living in England, in Ipswich, Suffolk, 15 years ago. I had made up a story about a cyber police woman living there. At the time, I wanted to write a comic book. As I am someone whose imagination is 99% visual, I can still see, even now, images from that first story blending in with the story of The Sundew.
Otherwise, inspiration also comes from plants, since I discovered that trees communicate with each other, from microorganisms, and of course, from my love for robotics and psychology.
When and how did you start developing The Sundew?
In 2016, I was working as a painter as well as in a company that manages the French apprenticeship tax files - to pay my bills, as it was difficult to sell my artwork. I worked in a team of very nice people and I liked my work, but I wanted to do a more creative job.
That's when I met Fabrice Bacquart, the developer of the retro video game DreadStar. He converted me to pixel art, and I made the graphics for this game. It was a great experience! I learnt, thanks to Fabrice, how to transpose my experience as a painter in this pixel art which looks a lot like pointillism. An art form that suits me perfectly, because I am fascinated by colours :) But DreadStar is a shoot 'em up, and I like adventure games.
That's why I decided, in 2017, to create my own game, to make the story I like, for people who like the same kind of games and stories as me. That's where the creation of The Sundew started.
As a one-woman effort, what difficulties do you experience in your day to day life whilst trying to develop a game and raise a family?
I have a life that is not really in the norm, because I have separated from my son's father, and we share his custody, between two countries, France and Belgium. My son is with me every weekend as well as during a good part of the holidays. I spend almost all my free time with my son, and a lot of time between the two countries. The rest of the time, usually, I work.
It's difficult because it's tiring and leaves little room for social life, but I don't see myself having another life, because I really, really love my work. And working at the Plaine Images business incubator, which specialises in video games, has been an incredible opportunity for me.
I just think that when you want to, you can. And I also have wonderful family and friends. It helps a lot.
With no coworkers to aid you in development, where do you go when you need extra hands or when you feel stuck creatively?
As I just mentioned, working at Plaine Images has been an incredible opportunity for me, it's a real video game ecosystem. There, and thanks to the experts from SpielFabrique, an acceleration programme in which I took part also, I met or heard about most of the people I work with today. Without this, it would have been particularly difficult for me to get in touch with competent people I can trust.
In the Imaginarium of the Plaine Images, I used to meet and discuss with others video game studios everydays. I still keep in touch with some of them, waiting for the situation to return to normal.
Otherwise, as far as creativity is concerned... when my mind is empty, when I don't get anywhere, I go out and walk in nature. And the images and stories start all over again. The current lockdowns are a great barrier to my creativity.
You mention that you have intentions of developing more games in the same universe. Will these be in the same point & click adventure style? What’s next for 2054?
Yes, I created studio 2054 to make retro point'n'clicks taking place in a dystopian universe. For now, I built the universe where Shibukawa became the capital of Japan after the 3rd World War. The next game will take place in the same universe as The Sundew, and we may find Anna back there, if she's still alive...