Good afternoon, and today I would like to present you with an interview with Vitaly Permyakov, an indie developer who is currently working on the Russian Wargame, which is quite popular in narrow circles – Fantasy Battle.
I myself learned about the original franchise six months ago, but quickly got involved and fell in love with the confrontation between three sorcerers. oh, I wanted to say the confrontation between the necromancer, the sorcerer and the sorcerer (and the guild of Free Shooters). Well, after reading it, I started thinking – are there any video games based on BF? ? After all, the main role model of BF – Warhamer is almost 50 percent associated with video games. As it turned out – no. OFFICIAL and already released. But the fan version is already being developed !
So get ready to find out: how the game will differ from the board game ? What stage of development is it at now? ? How to move from horror development to strategy? And much more. Happy reading.
1. First, tell us a little about yourself – how you came to the profession of game developer ?
It all started in distant childhood. I was probably 12 years old when my father brought home a ZX-Spectrum. I was immediately hooked by the games on it. The first game cassette was played several times. It was then that the desire to do something of my own arose. They bought me a book on Basic and after a couple of months I already had my first simple game recorded on cassette. After that there was a huge break. Other hobbies, study. Before buying a laptop. Then I decided to remember my skills, which, by the way, were already useless. Basic has sunk into oblivion. I had to learn everything again. New engines, new programs for 3D modeling. But the desire to create my own game was higher than these difficulties.
2. Before the development of BF, I counted at least 2 projects that you worked on – Mini Soldier’s and Panacea. Tell us a little about them. How did you come up with the idea for these projects?
I won’t even tell you how https://casinometal.co.uk/login/ many games there were. My first game was Panacea: Last Will, which I created under the impression of the game Amnesia. And at the moment it is not completed. Only the first chapter is on Steam. It took me 4 years, including training in new programs. In the end, the game didn’t work out well, but it was a very good first experience.
Next was the game "Frank and 10 Roots". Hardcore isometric platformer, which is also on Steam.
Mini Soldiers is my first multiplayer game, which I made with two more people for mobile devices.
After this project, I managed to get a job at a mobile game development company, where I took part in the development of about twenty different projects.
Also, at the end of February this year, I released a very short horror film “FOOD” on VK play.
3. How successful were your previous projects??
Project success? It’s hard to talk about this. If we consider big sales of a game and a huge fan base to be success, then no, they were not successful. But I haven’t seen any hate towards my projects either. They had their own audience. Small, but sufficient to maintain the desire to do your own thing.
4.Now let’s move on to your modern project – Fantasy Battles. How long have you known this franchise and why did you decide to make a game based on it? ?
I learned about Fantasy battles about 4 years ago. In the 90s I had Technolog’s animal robots, but then I didn’t even imagine that they could somehow be played with. They were just sitting on my shelf. To be honest, to this day I have never played a board game. There are no acquaintances living nearby who would be interested in this. It is for such people, who have no one to meet or play board games with, that the decision was made to take up the development of BF for PC.
5. Have you been/were contacted by a Technologist?? Was there any feedback from them??
Haven’t talked to Technologist yet. I only know that Dmitry Leonidovich is aware of the development of the PC version.
6. So far you have shown only Espanda models on your blog. Question: will there be other playable armies and tailcoats?
4 squads are planned at the start. One from each faction. The remaining units will be added after the release of the main game in patches when ready
7. How elaborate and important will the plot be in the game? ?
It’s too early to talk about the plot. At least at the start it definitely won’t be there. First, let’s test the game, let’s see how the mechanics from the board game take root.
8. Reading the blog, you can understand that you are focusing on the authenticity of game mechanics to tabletop ones. But will there be significant differences? ? And what ?
There will definitely be differences in the desktop and PC versions, but I will try to keep them minimal. A PC greatly simplifies calculations and a gaming session can turn out to be very fast and not so deep. Well, the main difference, perhaps, will be the lack of opportunity for the players themselves to place objects on the map. Walls, mountains, fortifications. The game will have a set of ready-made cards. There are 2 reasons for this. The first is unscrupulous players who will be able to ruin the gaming session with a completely unsuitable placement of fortifications. Well, the second is the ability to write a plot that will be displayed on locations in seasonal packs.
9. What modern/retro games were you inspired by when creating yours? ?
I didn’t have any games for inspiration. I usually get inspiration from the development process, watching how the project gradually acquires mechanics, visuals, turns from a prototype into a finished game, finding references that I like in the process. They are not tied to any particular game, the main thing is that they suit the style and give rise to the desire to add something similar to your project.
10. How many people are in the development team? ?
While I’m working alone. The eternal problem of developers is that they won’t be able to attract good specialists with enthusiasm, and working with beginners can be more expensive.
11. At what stage is development now? ?
The development stage can be called "Initial prototyping" 🙂
There is still a lot of work, but on the contrary there is time for it. You have to try to devote most of your free time to the project. It’s too early to talk about the expected ending, but despite the difficulties, we are moving forward in small steps!