Tony Hawk’s Pro Swordsman in VR

Our Accidental Prototype

Hi, I'm David, and this is my space to discuss what I love most: creating video games with my 14-year-old son, Luke. Last year, we released a roguelike called Brawlberry. Now, we’re working on an Irish-themed couch-coop 3D platformer called Druid’s Crown. This is where I share my progress and nerd out about all things games and game development.

Something happened since the last post that I just have to talk about. Luke and I spend a lot of time talking about games; it’s our shared language, and keeping the creative muscle firing is a big part of generating good ideas. So, as we come up to the launch, it was a bit of a surprise when, during a run in the nearby woods (prime ideation time), Luke bowled me over with an idea so good it made me question the last few months of work on Druid’s Crown.

Now, part of this is the fact that coming up to the end of a sprint, as we are now, I hate the game we’re making. That happens pretty often in game development, I think. I can see all the problems, but I can’t see the fun anymore since it’s been playtested to death.

But when an idea hits, it hits. As I’ve said, pitching game ideas back and forth is common between us. But this idea was so simple and so clear that I instantly thought: should we drop everything and just make that instead? He pitched it like this:

Tony Hawk’s Pro Swordsman in VR.

With just that, I knew what he meant immediately. Maybe it’s our father-son bond, maybe it’s our shared game knowledge, but the idea of a trick-based swordfighting game in VR instantly had its hooks in me. Imagine: you throw your sword into the air, it spins, you spin, you bounce it off a wall, you jump and catch it, all building up a combo that powers the sword to deal massive damage. Genius.

VR is an odd one. We’ve got a Quest 3 and a Quest 2 in the house. We’ve tinkered with VR development: I played around with a language learning app until Noun Town beat me to the punch, and then we both worked on a VR adventure game inspired by Irish folklore and point and click classics. Both had merit, but VR games really only take off when they lean hard into what VR does best. Beat Saber is the perfect example. Slashing through blocks is fun on its own, and adding music makes it unforgettable. Limited movement, no solid impact, instant immersion. That’s why it’s the biggest seller.

We always said we would only make a VR game if we found that one mechanic that just works in VR and is fun on its own.

Luke finally found it.

So we did what any responsible game developers trying to hit a launch deadline would do: we took a break from our main project and prototyped it. Maybe it was just a fun idea in theory, better to test it and move on. Big mistake.

It’s fun. Really fun. I’ve never felt more like a badass ninja. Borrowing a page from Superhot, we added slow motion while the sword is out of your hand. Luke coded a trick system that makes adding new tricks easy, plus a dash mechanic. Boom, prototype done.

But what now?

We noodled around, making new tricks by just trying cool stuff in-game and attaching tricks to it. Then we looked back, a little forlorn, at Druid’s Crown and went back to work.

But fear not, it won’t end there.

Jonas Tyroller has a great video about “plumbing the market” with multiple games to discover which ones have real commercial potential. We’re not overly worried about money, but of course, we hope our games do well. Releasing the Druid’s Crown demo is a step towards finding out if it’s fun enough to pursue further.

Funnily enough, Luke dug up his old YouTube channel and started making shorts, the same ones I’ve been posting here on Notes. The Druid’s Crown cinematic video? About 238 views. The two shorts he made for the VR sword game? Both have over 2,000 views. That’s a strong signal that, at the very least, the algorithm prefers one over the other.

So, while we wait for feedback on the Druid’s Crown demo, we’ll double up. As soon as the demo is out, we’re switching gears to make a demo for the VR sword game.

Game development is a fun hobby for us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take it seriously. We want to make someone’s favourite game. We’ve gone down wrong paths before, and staying flexible is key. Either way, the learning never stops.

For now, though, focus: Druid’s Crown has potential. I’ve seen the fun in it, even if it’s hard to see right now. It deserves our full attention. The Steam page is live, and the next article on Druid’s Crown will be about its launch.

Wish us luck, and thanks for reading.