Our strategy gaming veterans sit down with Tatsu, a multi-talented developer working on several exciting RTS projects, to explore his remarkable journey from web development into the heart of strategy game creation during Steam NextFest coverage.

Listen: https://criticalmovespodcast.com/listen

This episode provides an intimate look into the life and work of Tatsu, a developer whose personal tragedy during COVID became the catalyst for an extraordinary career transformation in strategy gaming. The conversation explores his work across multiple high-profile RTS projects including Sanctuary Shattered Sun, Zerospace, and Ablight, while examining the broader challenges and opportunities facing modern RTS development. From managing art teams to running Kickstarter campaigns, Tatsu shares insights into the diverse roles required in modern game development beyond just coding and art creation.

Critical Moves Podcast – Episode 33 Show Notes

Episode Title: Steam NextFest Special: Developer Spotlight with Tatsu
Hosts: Tim, Jack
Guest: Tatsu (Developer – Sanctuary Shattered Sun, Zerospace, Ablight)
Episode Length: ~92 minutes

Episode Summary

The conversation begins with Tatsu’s unexpected entry into game development, triggered by personal loss and the COVID lockdown period that provided both motivation and opportunity for career change. Originally working in business-to-business web development, Tatsu found himself with free time and a renewed sense of urgency about pursuing his passions. What started as a hobby project eventually evolved into Sanctuary Shattered Sun, attracting over 14,000 Discord followers and establishing Tatsu’s reputation in the strategy gaming community.

The discussion reveals the multifaceted nature of modern game development, with Tatsu wearing numerous hats including community management, investor relations, team coordination, and strategic planning. His current involvement spans multiple projects: managing the art team and community for Zerospace while serving as community manager for Ablight, demonstrating how experienced developers often contribute across multiple titles simultaneously.

Throughout the episode, Tatsu emphasizes how strategy gaming principles translate directly to business strategy, from resource allocation decisions to long-term planning and tactical execution. His insights into the investment landscape, particularly regarding wishlist targets and funding requirements, provide valuable perspective on the financial realities facing indie strategy game developers.

Personal Journey and Motivation

Tragedy as Catalyst

Tatsu’s entry into game development began with personal tragedy when his best friend took his own life just before the COVID pandemic. This loss, combined with the enforced isolation of lockdown, created a powerful motivation to pursue dreams immediately rather than postponing them indefinitely. The experience taught him that life is unpredictably short and that passionate pursuits shouldn’t be delayed for some hypothetical future convenience.

The massage table he maintains, learned from his departed friend, serves as a continuing connection and reminder of the importance of maintaining meaningful relationships and skills beyond professional accomplishments. This personal detail illustrates how individual experiences and relationships continue to influence professional decisions and creative output.

Professional Transition Strategy

The transition from web development to game development wasn’t immediate or reckless. Tatsu leveraged the financial stability of his consulting work to provide the security necessary for exploring game development as initially a hobby project. The lockdown period provided additional time and reduced social obligations, creating an ideal environment for intensive learning and experimentation.

His approach demonstrates how career transitions in creative industries often require maintaining financial stability while gradually building expertise and reputation in the target field. Rather than abandoning his existing skills, he found ways to apply web development experience to game development challenges, particularly in UI design and community management.

Game Development Philosophy

Strategic Zoom Advocacy

Tatsu strongly advocates for strategic zoom functionality in RTS games, viewing it as an essential feature that significantly enhances the strategic gaming experience. His frustration with games that omit this feature reflects a broader concern about accessibility and information management in complex strategy titles. The strategic zoom allows players to seamlessly transition between tactical detail and strategic overview, enabling more intuitive command of large-scale operations.

His comparison to Excel spreadsheet tournaments humorously acknowledges that some players actively seek information-dense experiences, while recognizing that strategic zoom requires gradual introduction for newcomers. The feature represents a design philosophy that prioritizes player empowerment over artificial limitations, allowing commanders to maintain awareness across multiple scales simultaneously.

Passion Over Market Research

The decision to create games based on personal passion rather than market analysis represents both a creative philosophy and a business risk. Sanctuary Shattered Sun emerged from Tatsu’s genuine enthusiasm for Supreme Commander-style gameplay rather than attempts to capture trending genres or monetization strategies. This approach can lead to more authentic and innovative products but requires accepting potentially limited commercial appeal.

The strategy proved successful in building a dedicated community, suggesting that authentic passion can attract similarly passionate players even in niche genres. However, Tatsu acknowledges this approach might not work for all developers, particularly those without the financial stability to pursue passion projects without immediate commercial returns.

Multiple Project Management

Zerospace: Starcraft Meets Mass Effect

Zerospace represents an ambitious fusion of competitive RTS gameplay with narrative RPG elements, combining the tactical complexity of Starcraft with the universe-spanning storytelling of Mass Effect. The persistent galaxy map creates opportunities for meaningful player choices that affect not just individual matches but the broader game world, potentially creating emotional investment beyond typical competitive gaming.

The project’s focus on community feedback and iterative development reflects modern development practices where player input shapes ongoing development rather than being limited to post-release patches. The successful tournament organization with significant prize pools demonstrates the game’s competitive viability while the campaign development shows commitment to single-player experiences.

Ablight: Age of Empires Evolution

Ablight aims to fill the void left by Microsoft’s limited innovation in the Age of Empires space, offering steampunk-themed gameplay that combines familiar resource gathering and base building with aerial units and industrial aesthetics. The game addresses a specific market gap where players seeking Age of Empires-style gameplay have few alternatives to Microsoft’s offerings.

The development team’s focus on technical excellence before visual polish represents a strategic choice that prioritizes functional gameplay systems over initial marketing appeal. While this approach risks reduced wishlist conversion, it ensures that artistic investment builds upon solid mechanical foundations rather than masking fundamental design problems.

Sanctuary Shattered Sun: Supreme Commander Spiritual Successor

Sanctuary represents Tatsu’s most personal project, embodying his vision for Supreme Commander’s evolution with enhanced destruction mechanics and environmental interaction. The ability to create holes in the map through super weapons, with units and water falling into the sun below, demonstrates the kind of spectacular environmental destruction that distinguished the Total Annihilation family of games.

The game’s strategic zoom implementation and comprehensive campaign following three interconnected factions shows commitment to both competitive multiplayer and narrative single-player experiences. Chris Taylor’s endorsement provides significant credibility within the RTS community, validating the game’s design philosophy and execution quality.

Industry Insights and Business Strategy

Investment and Wishlist Dynamics

Tatsu’s explanation of wishlist-based investment thresholds reveals how modern game funding operates, with investor confidence tied directly to measurable community interest metrics. The specific mention of $5,000-$10,000 investment opportunities demonstrates how indie game funding can be more accessible than traditional venture capital, enabling smaller investors to participate in game development.

The relationship between wishlist numbers and funding decisions shows how platforms like Steam have become crucial marketing and validation tools beyond mere distribution channels. Developers must treat wishlist cultivation as seriously as actual development work, since funding often depends on demonstrating market demand before development completion.

Development Team Dynamics

The evolution from solo developer to team coordinator illustrates how successful projects naturally require increasingly specialized skills. Tatsu’s transition from coding and art creation to management and business development shows how individual strengths often emerge through practical necessity rather than predetermined career planning.

His recognition that specialized team members consistently outperform generalists in specific areas reflects mature understanding of collaborative development. The willingness to step back from hands-on development work to focus on areas where he adds unique value demonstrates the kind of ego management necessary for successful project leadership.

Marketing and Community Building

The distinction between active community members and actual player numbers highlights the complexity of modern game marketing, where vocal minorities may not represent broader player preferences. Discord communities often skew toward more engaged, competitive players while the majority of eventual customers remain silent until purchase decisions.

The emphasis on co-op gameplay as the future of RTS reflects broader gaming trends toward social but less competitive experiences. Players seek the strategic depth of RTS gaming without the stress and time commitment of competitive multiplayer, creating opportunities for developers who can serve this underserved market segment.

Technical and Artistic Considerations

Graphics Versus Functionality Debate

The discussion of Ablight’s visual development strategy reveals fundamental tensions in indie game development between technical excellence and marketing appeal. While functional gameplay systems matter more for long-term player satisfaction, initial visual impressions often determine whether players investigate games further.

Tatsu’s support for the “functionality first” approach reflects his technical background and understanding that visual problems are often easier to solve than fundamental system issues. However, his acknowledgment of graphics’ importance for sales demonstrates awareness that business success requires appealing to players who may never experience the underlying systems.

Steampunk Aesthetic Challenges

The challenge of communicating steampunk themes through early-stage art assets highlights how genre conventions require careful visual communication to establish player expectations. The distinction between steampunk and “sewer punk” aesthetics shows how developers refine thematic elements through community feedback and artistic iteration.

References to Arcane and Arcanum suggest that successful genre fusion requires confident artistic vision rather than strict adherence to existing categories. The most memorable aesthetic achievements often come from creators who use established elements as starting points rather than limitations.

RTS Genre Analysis and Trends

Competitive Versus Cooperative Gaming

The observation that cooperative RTS gaming is expanding while traditional competitive multiplayer stagnates reflects broader gaming demographic changes. Players increasingly seek social gaming experiences without the stress and time commitment required for competitive mastery, creating opportunities for developers who understand this market shift.

The success of Starcraft’s cooperative modes demonstrates that RTS mechanics remain appealing when separated from competitive pressure. This trend suggests that future RTS success may depend more on creative social features than traditional competitive balance improvements.

Strategic Depth Versus Accessibility

Tatsu’s distinction between tactical games like Starcraft and strategic games like Supreme Commander reflects different approaches to complexity management in RTS design. Tactical games emphasize rapid decision-making and mechanical execution, while strategic games focus on planning and resource allocation over longer timeframes.

The preference for slower-paced combat with higher unit health reflects a design philosophy that prioritizes decision-making time over reaction speed. This approach can make strategy games more accessible to players who prefer thinking over rapid clicking, potentially expanding the genre’s audience.

Innovation in Traditional Frameworks

The discussion of traditional RTS mechanics versus innovation reveals tension between serving existing audiences and attracting new players. Successful spiritual successors must balance familiar elements that satisfy dedicated fans with innovations that justify their existence alongside established titles.

The emphasis on passionate development over market research suggests that authentic innovation often comes from developers solving problems they personally experience rather than attempting to engineer commercial success through calculated design decisions.

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Episode Verdict

This episode successfully captures both the human story behind indie game development and the technical challenges facing modern RTS creation. Tatsu’s journey from personal tragedy to multi-project success illustrates how individual passion can drive industry innovation, while his insights into investment, team management, and genre evolution provide valuable perspectives for both developers and players. The conversation’s strength lies in balancing emotional authenticity with practical business advice, showing how personal values and professional strategies can align in creative industries. His work across multiple titles demonstrates the collaborative nature of modern game development, where experienced individuals contribute across projects rather than focusing solely on single titles. The discussion of strategic zoom, cooperative gaming trends, and visual development priorities offers concrete insights into current RTS design challenges while maintaining optimism about the genre’s creative potential.

Next Episode: When RTS Was King: The Best Real-time Strategy Games Ever Made