Game Development
Stagebounder: A Radiant Journey
A fantasy/JRPG project with its own world, characters, gates and game modes.
Overview
Stagebounder: A Radiant Journey is a fantasy JRPG project set in Aeldoria, a world fragmented into disconnected Stages — built around world building, character systems and an evolving set of game modes, developed with an AI-assisted workflow for both visuals and code.
The Idea
The world of Aeldoria has been fractured into isolated Stages, connected only through Gates. Stagebounders are the ones who can move between them. The project explores that premise through its characters — including Eira — and through the systems and UI needed to make a fragmented world feel like one coherent journey.
My Role
World building, game concept and character design direction — including Aeldoria's world, its fragmented Stages and Gates, and characters like Eira — plus UI/UX direction, game system planning and ongoing iOS implementation. Visual development and parts of the coding are AI-assisted.
AI Usage
AI supports character concept generation and visual direction, UX exploration for the UI, structuring world and content details, and coding assistance during development.
Development Process
- 01Concept: define Aeldoria, its fragmented Stages and the Gates that connect them
- 02World building: characters including Eira, lore and structure
- 03Systems: game modes and UI concepts
- 04iOS build: implement UI and systems in SwiftUI
- 05Current development: iterating on world, systems and visuals
Challenges
- Making a world built from fragmented, disconnected Stages still feel coherent to play through
- Keeping character and world visual direction consistent while iterating with AI-assisted tools
- Structuring UI concepts that can support multiple game modes without becoming inconsistent
What I Learned
- A fragmented-world premise (Stages + Gates) needs its navigation UI designed early, not bolted on later
- AI-assisted visual exploration works best with a clear, written world direction to iterate against
- World building and system design inform each other — character and lore decisions kept changing early UI assumptions
Outcome / Current State
In active development. Aeldoria's world, its Stages and Gates, and core characters like Eira are conceptualized; game systems and UI are being built in SwiftUI. Not yet released.