In the beginning, Camilo Frões and I joined forces to start brainstorming the script for the game. I have a clear vision of the game I want to create and prioritize two very important aspects: narrative and gameplay, on the same level, on the same shelf, on the same plane. To me, one cannot exist without the other. These six months have been a long process between art and technical aspects, because there’s no point in having a brilliant idea if we don’t have a mechanic to develop it.

The first steps, after creating the narrative for the first chapter of the game, were to focus on the main mechanic and the creation of the first level design. While Jalison Falbet worked on figuring out the best way to make the projector function (it took us a month and a half to find a solution), I analyzed the narrative from a spatial point of view, deciding where each event would happen and how it could adapt to a real environment.

Brasil 99 explores the world of Brazilian art, mainly cinema, and being a project created here in Bahia, I wanted to set the first scenario in Gamboa, located in Salvador. Therefore, I started researching photographic mapping, Gaussian Splatting, photogrammetry, and other tools, all of which helped me better evaluate the environment and see more clearly what we could achieve.

I began working with procedural processes to create walls, fences, and houses without needing to place them one by one. Optimizing the process has always been my priority from the beginning. Jalison encountered the first problems with the number of movement and projection rules I was asking for. My goal was to create very realistic physics for the character, thoroughly exploring the controller by adding vibrations and making the experience as sensory as possible. We didn’t work with “hedge,” meaning we don’t have specific points where the player anchors. We left it quite free, so that jumps are performed more naturally, along with the insertion of the projector and upcoming enemies.

Meanwhile, Caique Pituba was creating the first pieces of art. We worked to ensure that Luce and the environment around her reflected the narrative, the story we were telling. We thought on two levels: the real level of Brasil 99, a dystopian and dark Brazil, contrasted with the Brazil of the past, where colors vibrate and the sun still shines in the sky.

I started modeling houses and characters. We are still in the process of creating the main models, prioritizing the narrative and gameplay for now. After six long months, we are close to entering the second phase, with our character almost 100% complete and the projector functioning. The next step will be to introduce the enemies, the temporal pools that can be seen in the gallery of environment art, along with the entire character inventory.

We still have a lot of work ahead, but we are confident that what we have done so far is good enough to show you.

Continue following the project on social media.

Brasil 99 is a tribute to art and culture, to everything that is expressed in the most abstract and absurd way, to chaos and the freedom to be who you are.