Developer Spotlight - Taylor Bair, Twin Otter Studios!

Comprised of sibling duo Taylor and Becca Bair with help from friends, Twin Otter Studios have just launched the Kickstarter campaign for their character-driven tactical RPG, Arcadian Atlas.

Arcadian Atlas is a gorgeous, 2D isometric RPG about “the choices people make in pursuit of the things they love, and the havoc it wreaks on a kingdom”, featuring a moody jazz soundtrack, innovated job classes, and a medley of modern elements and classic aesthetics.

Today, we’re shining the developer spotlight on Lead Writer, Cinematic Director, and soft animal lover Taylor Bair. When he’s not “working on the newest cutscene or rambling about which character is going to betray whom”, you can find Taylor writing about games for Planet Destiny or working on his personal project, The Business of Indie.

What does your work with Arcadian Atlas entail?

My work revolves around story development primarily, and my sister helms the art creation, though we share responsibilities.

Game creation, at least with a small indie team, means you do everything if needed. That’s great, but requires a lot of flexibility. It makes you at least modestly competent at everything, but at the end of the day you’re also a bit scatterbrained and definitely have to keep meticulous sticky notes.

Especially with our ongoing Kickstarter, when a need arises we immediately text each other and delegate who will handle what. It’s a well-oiled machine (most of the time).

What was it that drove you to game development?

Childhood drove us both. Children typically mimic the things they love, and we loved video games. We played them constantly, and when we weren’t playing games we were creating LEGO sets and stories or making crafts.

So we just sort of… started making games. I can’t even recall how it happened. We probably searched online for some game engine, made some silly plot up, and started at it. That evolved and expanded as we got older to game jam projects and eventually our 7 year project Genesis, which underwent several iterations until we completely revamped the graphics and released a demo.

What hardware/software do you usually use?

We both use Macs, myself with a Macbook Pro for mobility, and Becca with an iMac.

For software, we use RPG Maker (looking to use Unity or Game Maker as well down the road for alternate platform releases), Photoshop, Pyxel Edit, and the Final Cut/Motion video-editing suite.

What misconceptions do people have about your job?

Game development is, like all jobs, a bit of a grab bag. You have good days where you’re focused on the things you really enjoy (writing for me, art for Becca), and then those that are a bit more of a slog.

We’re in the midst of a Kickstarter as well, which is a blast, but time consuming and primarily focused on marketing. That has its place, but it’s definitely something we’re happy to put on the back burner once the Kickstarter completes.

But the best part of game development, outside development, is the community. They’ve been awesome, and it’s a blast interacting with them. That’s what the Kickstarter has really opened up for us.

What do you love most about your work?

I love characters. I once heard someone compare writing to being an actor but all in your head, and that’s pretty true. So anytime I can just focus on what characters would do in particular scenarios, develop dialogue, and script out scenes, that’s when I’m most excited.

Since Becca is my sister, we’ve discussed this a lot, and I know her favorite part is the design phase. She loves aggregating ideas to create something fresh with the class and map designs, though the actual animation work isn’t her favorite.

Do you have any advice for budding game developers?

My advice has always been to create, and even if you aren’t developing games keep creating the sort of work you love. That hones your skills and broadens your interests.

But I add to that: find people who share your passions. Friends, if you will. People who you create well with – and then learn to defer to each other. That’s the hardest part about teamwork: humbling yourself and taking a back seat on things. We all have skills, and we all think our way is best, but it isn’t. Sometimes we need to defer to the skillsets of others and learn to be dependent.

If you could’ve worked on any game in the past, what feature would you have added?

My favorite games, I literally wouldn’t change. Chrono Trigger: No change. Mario RPG: No change. But if I had to pick a game I still love, but was flawed, I’d pick Final Fantasy Tactics. The script, even after re-writes, was a bit wooden and some jobs classes were stepping-stones rather than significant on their own. It’s a gorgeously crafted game though, and it’s the only PS1 game I still own a physical copy of.