⛵️ Hi there, Navigators! ⛵️
For any players out there who are enjoying Sagres and were wondering a little bit about where it came from or how it was made, we thought we would take a little bit of time to sit down with the developer, ooze, and share some of the stories and insights from its development.
We’ll keep things nice and brief, though let us know if you find any of this sort of stuff interesting and would like to hear more!
***
The first thing we spoke about was what gave ooze the inspiration to make Sagres in the first place.
“Hi folks! I’m ooze, a solo indie dev based out of South Korea, and though I’ve not done too much travelling myself I find the study of world history fascinating.
My main aim when setting out to make Sagres back in April 2022 was to present a world in which the player could explore and discover, perhaps for the first time, some of the fascinating real life history that’s out there.”
Right now we live in a world that feels divided - of course into countries, but also peoples and cultures. One of the things that connects us all is this planet we live on and our shared collective history. Was this something that ooze wanted to explore? And why did he end up using this specific (and underrepresented!) time period setting?
“During the Age of Discovery in the 1400s there was a concerted effort to make connections across the globe. I wanted to explore and encapsulate that spirit of adventure, discovery and, ultimately, connection.”
Real world history throws us some stark lessons and often dark events overshadow things. This was something ooze was conscious of too when creating the world of Sagres.
“Of course, there are dark sides to history, and I make sure to represent that in the game too. Primarily though I wanted Sagres to be a warm experience, where players could feel that sense of connection to history in a positive way.
One area I was very concerned with was the authenticity of the historical elements. I grew up and live in South Korea, so there are certain things outside of my immediate innate cultural knowledge (for example what was it like in South America in the 15th century?). I wanted to make sure I presented things meaningfully for people discovering them for the first time, but also for those who are really familiar with them.
After all, the landmarks and discoveries that feature in the game are often extremely precious treasures for the cultures that they hail from, and so I was very conscious of presenting them accurately and with care.
I hope I did a good job, and that players will let me know what they think!”
***
That’s all for now. Next time we’re going to pester ooze for his thoughts and recollections on Sagres’ cast of characters. We’ll find out where they came from and how they changed over the course of development.
Until then: Fair winds and following seas!
Ooze and Kakehashi Games