The hero lies in a ditch with broken ribs. In order not to die, he will have to swallow a homemade potion of moonshine and leeches. No one guarantees that the bandits in the bushes around the corner will not interfere with the miraculous healing.
Stoneshard is an uncompromisingly difficult game.
A mixture of simulations is responsible for generating such stories for your personal fantasy series. She controls everything from the behavior of monsters and bandits to your character's PTSD.
It took St. Petersburg-based Ink Stains Games four years and a successful Kickstarter campaign to make this system. But the game is still far from full release - it is now available in Steam Early Access, and will be there for at least two years.
But Stoneshard is already called one of the best RPGs of recent years, and in the players' reviews you will notice a special combination of emotions - both deep love (“this game broke me, 10/10”) and no less intense enmity (“leave me alone, life is not sugar without you ").
We met Ink Stains Games at the Indie Cup, an independent developer competition. Then the developers did not manage to win, but Stoneshard turned into a source of inspiration for all new members - even if it doesn't work out now, don't give up.
To remind everyone who applied for the summer Indie Cup season , we talked with Anton Grishchenko about how Stoneshard came to Steam Early Access, what has changed in the game over the past two years, how the team feels, and why it is so important not to give the player persist at will.
How would you describe Stoneshard for someone who has little experience with roguelike?
Open-world turn-based Diablo.
How has the team changed in the two years since your Kickstarter campaign?
We have expanded our staff considerably. We've got new programmers, animators, the number of community management has noticeably increased. Previously, it was almost entirely on Andrei, our game designer.
Now, in addition to the community manager himself, we even have a separate person to work with the Chinese audience. It is very specific for us, and it does not come out to cover it in traditional ways.
You work remotely - can you describe how the work at Ink Stains Games is organized?
Pretty standard. We call twice a week, discuss and adjust the strategy. Based on it, we sketch out the tasks. Then we go through them, we close the part. If something did not work out, we discuss why to avoid systematic problems. Thus, on the one hand, everyone can see who is doing what. The main thing is what difficulties arise and what solutions are required.
But this only applies to the core of the team, outsourcing is not included in this. Moreover, each department (for example, art or programmers) can attract outsourcing for their tasks independently. The calls only discuss the budgets for this business.
How did you get started with the publisher HypeTrain Digital and how did they help you?
We worked together on a previous project, 12 is Better Than 6 , so we turned to our old partners with a new game.
The guys helped us make Kickstarter and solve the financial issues related to it. [They also] give advice on promotion strategies, take over communication with platforms and stores, and provide any legal support. In short, they remove the headache from the developer and allow you to simply make the game. We love it.
What has been the biggest development challenge since crowdfunding?
Probably going to [Steam Early Access] and showing the potential - not to lose face after a successful Kickstarter. After all, the prologue on "Kickstarter" we had a plot and a linear one. And in "early" it was necessary to go out with an open world-sandbox, to show a completely different side of the game.
What's more difficult - doing a crowdfunding campaign or working on an Early Access game?
The crowdfunding campaign is such a tight early access, I think. But this is more of a rehearsal. Early access itself requires better quality updates, and although not so dense, but regular communication with the audience.
Which is easier - I can't say. In my opinion, the main burden with "Kickstarter" lies with the community management. Although, given that [with the release of early access on Steam] we had to expand this direction, I think "early" will still be more difficult.
Stoneshard simulates dozens of different things, from character injuries to animal and faction behavior. How does the team plan the interactions of all these systems?
We have a wonderful game designer - Andrey - who brings it all together day and night. Then we play and see how it feels, we give part of it for processing.
Something is noticed by our QA team - here it also fully influences the development of content and systems, providing its feedback on new mechanics.
How do you approach collecting early access feedback?
We carefully read all Steam reviews and comments on its forums, as well as discussions on our Discord channel. Even the QA team has a duty to monitor the bugs [found by the players], and regularly file them - we are seriously monitoring this.
We learn all sorts of common things through periodic devpolls. This is a concentrated opinion on several points of interest to us. For example, how difficult it is at the beginning of the game. The answer to such questions cannot be obtained through forums, they must be asked directly and receive an average opinion, usually broken down by age groups and other factors.
After [the Early Access release], however, we haven't done them yet, because all the weak points are clear anyway. After correcting them, let's resume this practice.
How much does player feedback affect Stoneshard updates?
They influence strongly, but not directly. We're not looking so much at what players want, as at why they want it - and how they generally play.
For example, streams help a lot. There you can immediately see how people play, what they do, what they don't, where they play as intended, and where they don't.
Are you ready to give up your vision over testimonials? For example, make the game easier, or add quick saves to it
No, not ready. Otherwise we would have done it a long time ago :)
We are rather adjusting the positioning of the game. We are trying to fix the page on Steam - so that the "cover" of the game makes the correct first impression, and, accordingly, would work better for those who will potentially visit the game.
Reviews where game solutions are criticized, and not bugs or hack-work - after all, it is the problem of positioning the game, and not its content.
What part of the game you didn't want to change but had to?
We decided to make the game more story-driven. Because of this, we had to concentrate more on pre-built elements, rather than procedural generation, as planned.
For example, at first we wanted villages and dungeon entrances to generate differently every new game. And now we are focusing on manual level design. It seems to us that this benefited the game - the locations are thus better remembered, the emotional response from them is much higher.
What won't you change?
Perspective, art style, engine - anything that is technologically too expensive to redo.
A lot of reviews are negative about the save system - why is it so important that saving in Stoneshard is not easy?
I dare to quote one of the reviews that defended it - "you are not complaining that the race cannot be saved in the middle of the race." It couldn't be better here.
There is a game cycle, and there must be a risk of not returning home as part of the race. Saving at more frequent intervals will break the "risk game" that the genre is based on.
Why is Stoneshard worth playing in Early Access?
Well, if you want to play early, see how the game is developing, discuss innovations and teasers in the discord, build theories about what will be implemented next and how - you are welcome.
It's a social story for the most part. Another price. In release, the price will be higher than in Early Access. And so - you can wait for the release, we do not impose anything. Many people enjoy playing a ready-made game, there is nothing wrong with that.
What advice is there for a player who decides to buy Stoneshard now?
Enjoy, what else can you advise.
Maybe not pay too much attention to the amount of content - in the game now it is only ~ 15-20% of the planned.
When will you decide the game is ready?
When we introduce all the planned mechanics and content. We are moving according to plan. We have, although not a thorough, but still an idea of what the game should be, and in what sequence - a huge internal "feature list" that determines the number and order of new mechanics and allows you to track progress.
Can you tell us more about the Way Forward update? You said this was the biggest update ever for Stoneshard.
Yes, this is the largest of the existing ones. It lays the foundation for further expansion of the game.
Many people know that we now run out of content at about the tenth level. But not everyone understands that we cannot continue to stamp it linearly. More precisely, we can, but it will be too uniform. Mobs will be different pictures with different numbers, new dungeons will be redrawn crypts and fortresses. In order to create more variable enemies and dungeons, we need to change the current approach to AI and generation.
In order for the wounded enemies to retreat, the arrows kept their distance, the mobs did not choose the closest position for attack, but the most advantageous one for a number of reasons, including by assessing the chances of their survival. So that dungeons can contain secret rooms, hubs, complex structures, rubble, underground rivers and similar things.
Without AI deepening, new content won't feel new. These will be pictures and numbers. Not the effect we want.
Only then can we maintain interest and the effect of novelty throughout the entire game. By the way, this will also allow you to fix the current problems of complexity, when at the beginning it is difficult, and at the end it is too easy.
You've been making Stoneshard for several years now, there are still many tasks in the plans, and the release is scheduled for 2021. How many times has there been a risk of burnout?
There is always a risk of burnout. It may even have happened several times. But this is the job. Burned out - slowed down, improved strength and returned.
It happens that someone sags for a week or two. More often this is due to personal problems. But this rarely happens, and does not greatly affect development. So we treat this democratically.
Aren't you afraid to promise more than you can do?
We are quite careful about this, as it seems to us. Everything that we declare in our plans for the future is preliminarily discussed with each member of the team within the limits of his competence. Until everyone gives the go-ahead, we do not include the feature in promises.
How did you hear about the Indie Cup and decide to participate?
It seems to me that when you are involved in game development, you know about all the more or less serious contests and events. They heard for the first time a long time ago, before Kickstarter - then they thought, why not participate.
How did the Indie Cup help you?
Participation in any competition helps to get an opinion about the project, especially at an early stage, to assess the competitive advantages and interest in it.