In early testingProject Seaborne
“Every sail is shaped by the wind, every hull is yours to build, and every voyage is a bet against the sea.”
My journey into gaming started in the early nineties, when my older brother left for the Navy and handed down his Super Nintendo games. Among them was Uncharted Waters. It was a revelation: the first real open-world game I'd ever played. The loop was beautifully simple and impossible to put down, and I played it over and over. Years later, nothing I found ever matched that magic.
So I decided to build my own.
Without the skills for high-end graphics, I started small, with 2D top-down scrollers that captured that retro feel. Once the basic systems worked, I wanted to push further, which meant moving into 3D. Learning an entirely new engine while working a demanding job was tedious. I'd be away from the keyboard for weeks, and every time I came back I'd forgotten the syntax I'd painstakingly researched. Development threatened to grind to a halt.
The turning point
What changed was finding a way to keep momentum, even in short stretches between long shifts. Development went into overdrive, and what began as a top-down scroller became an ambitious 3D ship-sailing simulation.
Just as vital has been a long-time gaming community: friends who stepped up to help figure out the architecture, refine the mechanics and bring this vision to life.
Two visions for maritime simulation
Along the way I realised I wanted to capture the two genres I love most through two separate projects, both heading to Steam. Both are open-world, with completely different gameplay loops.
Project Seaborne is a campaign-based exploration game. You define the look and vision of your vessel, and the deeply simulated mechanics handle the engineering underneath, leaving you free to focus on trade networks, fleet dynamics and the open water.
Hullcraft is the build-it-yourself opposite: a hardcore, entirely mission-based experience. You build every component of your boat from the keel up, including decks, hulls, engines, propellers, gearboxes, switches, lights, wiring and computers. The simulation is unforgiving. It doesn't care how beautiful your boat is. If the mechanical or electrical layout doesn't work, your boat will sink.
These games are the culmination of my journey from passionate player to developer, merging the freedom of open-world exploration with the reward of deep engineering.