Baton Rouge-based Godric Johnson, the founder of Jetstreame and the creative mind behind digital novel “Cyberpunk Casanova,” is making his childhood dream a reality.
Johnson is leading the gaming and technology movement in Louisiana as the lead designer for Jetstreame. He is also developing his fourth gaming title.
“Cyberpunk,” a video game inspired by the anime and thriller genres, has been in development for seven to eight months and is half finished. Johnson said he’s hoping for production to be finished by July.
Jetstreame currently operates from the Louisiana Technology Park, which houses several different game development companies. Godric started the company in 2012, and he has been in the LTP for two years. This location serves as an incubator for independent game developers.
The idea for “Cyberpunk” originated from Johnson’s business partner, Derek Scott. Scott was inspired by a web comic and asked Johnson to help him digitize it to make it into a visual novel. Scott designed the novel, scored the soundtrack and wrote the story lines. Johnson’s responsibility in producing “Cyberpunk” was helping Scott design the game.
Johnson did not create his digital world alone. The other creatives behind “Cyberpunk” include two principal artists, a user interface artist and a programmer.
The game was made frame by frame, through a process of drawing, digitizing and animating.
“Cyberpunk” is a visual novel, a digital 2D comic that has animation. “Cyberpunk” is a dating simulator, where there’s one protagonist with varying romance options, Johnson said. The main character tries to court all of the dateable options and get the best ending.
“With ‘Cyberpunk,’ our visual novel, it’s written in a western tone where the main character is put in perilous situations with the women he’s involved with,” Johnson said.
The story is set in a futuristic dystopian world. The target demographic is people 18 to early 30s who like anime, comic books and visual novels. Johnson said “Cyberpunk” caters to a niche market.
“From typical dating sims and visual novels, what makes it different is that it’s written in that western tone and thriller approach where there is real danger,” Johnson said.
Johnson said “Cyberpunk” consists of three mini games, with the possibility of a fourth depending on funding. The game is explored through the building and maintaining of three basic stats: composure, precision and athletics.
Steam, an online game distribution platform, green-lit the game’s production. “Cyberpunk” will be available on mobile platforms, including iOS, Android and tablets for about $10.
Johnson said he and his partners have been promoting the game locally through live art events and social media. Johnson is planning to increase exposure at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Johnson funded the project primarily with his own money and partially through a Kickstarter account. The project currently has 111 backers. Johnson said he ideally, wants $15,000 to bring the game to Japanese localization.
Being an independent game developer comes with its own set of challenges. Johnson said making the investment into a project and getting the game approved can be frustrating.
“The big thing is capital. Number two is finding a good team,” he said. “Retaining talent is really hard.”
Johnson hires many of his developers from the local colleges and universities. He recently judged a gaming competition at the University and is actively involved with Baton Rouge Community College.
“I want to put Baton Rouge on the map for game development,” he said. “I really want to help foster that game community and pioneer that group.”

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Anjana Nair

Local game developer Godric Johnson of Jetstreame has created a new dystopian visual novel game called "Cyberpunk Cassanova" which will be showcased at the Spring 2016 edition of Pop! Smart Show.