I’ve recently been dabbling in a would be side project with the working title: “Where the Sand Meets the Sky” The ultimate goal of the project, is to create a retro, atmosphere rich, 2D platformer drawing heavily on a dream I had a couple decades ago. The dream was something of a mashup of Dune and Star Wars, it mostly consisted of an engagement between Sardaukar and Fremen in the Arakis wastes. The Fremen in my dream were running for cover as they had been warned a Sardaukar patrol was inbound. Running across the desert with their practiced pattern free foot falls, so as not to draw Shai-Hulud, they reached a crevasse that offered cover from the approaching Sardaukar. They dropped into the darkness beneath the sand in time to avoid any aerial assault but, their Sardaukar pursuers had seen their retreat, and followed on foot. The crevasse was only a few feet across, wide enough for a man to push shoulders to feet from side to side and hang suspended between the rock faces. Once the Sardaukar dropped into the crack in chase, both chasers and chased produced lightsabers and began a vertical force facilitated duel. The Fremen sabers were colorless and looked more like heat distortion than light. The Sardaukar blades were a deep crimson red. both sides leapt and fell within the crevasse, releasing their hold between the walls, falling many feet before pushing back out and pinning themselves in the rock again. Comrades used physical strength and force to lift and throw each other back up the crevasse. This resulted in a complex calculated, almost chess like acrobatic duel that was a wonder to behold in my minds eye. So far I’ve just been doing some light writing and art design to begin to explore my thoughts and aspirations for the game.
The title, Where the Sand Meets the Sky, is meant to be a colloquialism of the native inhabitants of a desert planet. These yet to be named people make less distinction between time and place than we are used to. The phrase, Where the Sand Meets the Sky is a moniker for the future. Used in cultural writings, and part of the people’s vernacular, it’s significance is not trivial, and offers a glimpse into how the people think.
Beyond the written exploration of my concept, I’ve been trying my hand at 8-bit art. With the help of an awesome web app called make8bitart, I’ve built a series of images of my games prospective hero. Check him out:
