Ugly: How Indie Hardship Created Something Beautiful

Team Ugly was formed by four entrepreneurs, developers, and game designers who were blinded by their romanticism for the world of independent games. Gerard Singuerlin was the original stray shot of this story. He tried to turn some drawings on napkins into a game more than five year ago.

The guy in the cloud went to his first encounter with a programer, but despite his initial excitement, he was not able to keep it up. Unattractive didn’t go forward… The ideas weren’t enough to drive the game’s development, and the encounter ended as a failed attempt, with Gerard stuffing his napkins in his pocket.  As he toiled as an F2P animator, his heart began to sink as he kept on dreaming.  

One day the skies stopped being so gray, and Gerard attracted the attention of another programmer – David. In David, he saw another chance to put his creative ideas into action. This new duo clicked, and the technician’s obsession with squaring the circle helped the indomitable artist, and little by little, they began to develop the first prototype. 

A mirror is at the heart of this game. The prince is ugly as a potatoes. The mirror allows players to create an exact copy of their prince who will mirror all your actions. It was later expanded, allowing for different puzzles. The game became addictive when platforming mechanics began to be introduced. The design of the mirror mechanics was crucial. It took a lot of time to figure out how the mirror can be used.

The collection of keys, in addition to mirrors, is also a key component to solving puzzles. Puzzle design now had two major mechanics. As the puzzle mechanics began to be implemented, it became clear how much fun they worked together. Next, we focused on the game’s story and lore. Also, we knew that we aimed for around five or six hours of gameplay. We wanted our artists to concentrate on each room’s details. Each room needed to be given a great deal of detail because the game is heavily visual. We decided to only use the most creative level design before we started production. After playtesting, we selected the best puzzle rooms and then started working on the story.

The game and team behind it was coming together, and the clouds around Gerard’s head dissipated, even though an important piece was still missing. Gerard and David were not accustomed to – or even comfortable with – pitching their game to get funding, nor did they even know how much development would cost. The stereotype was that they were introverted developers who didn’t want to be seen. It was easier to work with Unity or Photoshop than real people. It was also difficult to turn this small game into a real-world product because there weren’t enough hands.  

That’s when I, Rita Fortuny, came into the picture. In my heart, I’m an artist. But at that time, I worked as an art director and project manager for an eLearning company. My high heels were traded for trainers and I exchanged my jackets of business for Crash Bandicoot T-shirts. My hobby was now my job! I was able to paint the backgrounds and logos as well as lead communication. The front woman was me. I spoke about everything. Unattractive All the places that I can think of. The game was well received and we were able to get into a Business Incubation Programme (Game BCN). We already had a good idea of what the game would look like, so we could start talking with publishers about funding. It was all part of a strategy. It’s always better to be prepared than not. This plan was driven by me. 

In the early stages of production, there was a glowing light on the way to the film’s release. It looked like a shining star, or perhaps a chest of treasures to be unlocked. Jaime Vicente is an artist and was next to join the group. I have never met someone so unique in my life – he is one of those people who sees the possibility of an overflowing glass in an empty glass (or maybe he doesn’t even see the glass at all, but a beautiful unicorn). We needed a certain sensibility. Unattractive didn’t have any visual effects (VFX), no fancy lighting – it was missing that special glow. Now with Jaime’s inclusion, we were ready to take on the huge variety of tasks at hand.

But wait, there’s more! Money. We didn’t have it yet. All we could do at this stage was to spend our blood, sweat and tears. David, the engineer who was working on this project, then left. Gerard was also living from his savings. Team Ugly consisted three artists and a flopped plan. But the battle is not lost if you don’t give up.

With the money we raised from indie contests, we hired a programmer who helped us create a demo. But then he left, rightly so, as we… had no money again.

Francesc Porta answered our second call to programmers, rushing in from Spain to rescue us all! As passionate as we are about indie gaming, Francesc Porta was also. It was not only that he played in a rock band, but also as a programmer. He had a great understanding of artists and an unwavering empathy for them. Gerard and he worked non-stop on debugging mechanics. Franc was a perfect symbiosis for us. 

All of a suddenly, the pitching we did to publishers was paying off. Graffiti Games agreed to publish our game. We signed the contract. We were finally going make it with their help. The development could be completed while we ate and lived in peace. Unattractive. 

Then, everything was easier. Composers joined the project as well as an audio team (Jan Fité, Andre Nascimbeni and Pau Busquet). A team of incredible artists (Nerea AAAA, Miriam Miriam Ocaña, Nerea Cano, Javi Roldán, Javi Chaler and Manel Soto) joined the ranks to help out. The game continued to grow and improve every week. 

With a plan and the best teammates we could imagine, we spent the next year finishing the game and, now that we’re about to hit release day, we’re so excited for gamers to experience all the hard work and love that went into making Unattractive.

Unattractive S & Xbox One will be available on September 14th.|S and Xbox One on September 14.

Unattractive

Graffiti Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99

$17.99

This dark and twisty fairytale is not what it seems. Explore the desolated recesses of a tormented nobleman’s mind as you progress through challenging puzzle rooms and topple towering bosses in this reflective puzzle platformer.

Create a mirror reflection using an innovative mechanic. This shadowy version can be swapped with your own to help you solve puzzles, and navigate this evil place that’s full of mysteries and tragedy. This perilous self-reflection journey will require both logic, and the ability to use your skills.

You will discover a story that is deeply compelling as you attempt to remove the dust and cobwebs from your past. The mirror reveals all…but beware. Sometimes the truth is ugly.