Despelote: A Soccer Game About People
Think about football video games and it would be natural to immediately think of FIFA (or rather, EA Sports FC these days), super slick titles that aim to replicate the experience of watching the beautiful game on television. They tap into the cutting edge tools of Unreal Engine to deliver photo-real results, but somehow leave the emotion of the sport behind.
A Personal Experience
However, for indie developer Julián Cordero, designer and programmer of Despelote, described on Steam as “a soccer game about people”, he was inspired by a more immediate, personal and universal experience.
“I grew up playing so much football in Ecuador, and I was very passionate about it,” he tells me. “When I was thinking about what football meant to me, it’s not FIFA. I’ve never played in a stadium full of thousands of people with Cristiano Ronaldo next to me. It’s been just more like playing in the neighbourhood, kicking a ball everywhere. That’s what we wanted to show in Despelote, the experience of actually growing up with it.”
The Game
While you can kick a ball around then, the Unity-made game also acts as a time capsule, transporting players back to Quito, Ecuador’s capital, where the now New York-based Cordero spent his early childhood. It’s set in during the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, all the more significant as this was the first time the country would reach this international milestone.
Visuals
To recreate that period visually, Cordero sought out artist Sebastian Valbuena, having already been a fan of his work. Indeed, his music video for ‘Saturno’ by Ecuadorian artist La Madre Tirana, has an aesthetic that has monochrome hand-drawn characters juxtaposed with real environments layered with a grainy filter and palette that Despelote also uses.
“We wanted to combine these characters that are more expressive with a setting that is more real and evokes what Ecuador was like in those years,” Valbuena explains. “The world has this gritty quality that is more like the textures that you actually see in the street. We really like the contrast that it had with the characters that really stand out because they’re just like these cartoon characters.”
Photogrammetry
The key difference being that while the characters are two-dimensional, you’re actually moving around in 3D environments as Cordero wanted to be able to capture the physical sensation of kicking a ball around in a 3D space. 3D modelling as well as working on a game have been new experiences for Valbuena. But recreating Quito has also been an approachable process with photogrammetry, a 3D-scanning technique of capturing real-world textures and environments that is as accessible to indie developers as they are to AAA studios.
The Filter and Palette
The filter and purple-sepia palette adds to the nostalgic feeling that you’re stepping into a photograph come to life. That said, this version of Quito is just a digital representation rather than a 1:1 recreation. Having lived in New York for so many years, Cordero admits that the city in the game is more of an “idealisation”. It’s also for practical reasons, as Valbuena describes the environments as “more like a collage of different places that we mash together.”
Conclusion
Despelote is a game that is deeply personal to its creator, and it shows. The attention to detail, the passion, and the love for the sport shine through in every aspect of the game. It’s a game that will resonate with anyone who has ever played football, and it’s a game that will make you feel like you’re part of something special.
FAQs
Q: What is Despelote?
A: Despelote is a soccer game about people, developed by indie developer Julián Cordero.
Q: What inspired the game?
A: The game was inspired by the developer’s personal experience of growing up playing football in Ecuador.
Q: What is the game set in?
A: The game is set in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, during the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Q: How does the game use photogrammetry?
A: The game uses photogrammetry to capture real-world textures and environments, making it possible to recreate Quito in a 3D space.
Q: When is the game coming out?
A: The game is coming out later this year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC (Steam).
