PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:

Hi, I'm Oliver from 4 Hands Games. I have been developing games together with my wife Andrea for 6 years as a hobby alongside our regular jobs. I started programming and developing my first games when I was 13. At the age of 23, I developed the browser game "Evergore" together with a colleague, which was very popular in German-speaking countries in the good times of browser games. After about 10 years, we handed the project over to the community, which is still being run today.

After a few years of game development break, we developed the mobile game "Heroes & Merchants" together, which is still actively played after more than 5 years. In 2021 we started with "Tormentis".

TELL US ABOUT TORMENTIS.

I have been maintaining a list of game ideas for a number of years, where I continually add new ones or go through and add notes from time to time.

The idea for Tormentis had been on this list as a concept idea for a number of years already. Before we started development, we spoke a lot with players of our previous games and presented our favorite game ideas and discussed them.

When the final decision was made we developed the core functions as prototypes to ensure that the core mechanics really work. The dungeon editor was a particular focus here.

"Tormentis" is a multiplayer action RPG game in which you have to design and continuously improve the defense of your own dungeon in order to prevent raids by other players, and on the other hand you try to plunder and conquer other players' dungeons with your own hero.

By playing other players' dungeons you collect trophies that count towards the current league season. At the end of each season, all participants receive rewards and unique decorative items that they can place in their dungeon. Not every piece of loot is needed by yourself and can be traded with other players via a barter system or an auction house, as long as it is not bound to the player by enchantments.

Tormentis is a classic action RPG like Diablo, but with less time requirements, as the core game consists of time-limited, completed dungeons. By designing the dungeons by players, there are tons of possibilities and challenges that are constantly being rebuilt and optimized. Both casual players and players who are looking for one challenge after another will find what they are looking for.

HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN

Overall, development went well. As a software engineer with over 20 years of professional experience, I can say that it is quite normal that there are always ups and downs, that concepts need to be adjusted or that the requirements of the users are actually somewhat different to what was initially imagined and planned. Very early in development, we carried out several closed tests with players in order to identify problems. Thanks to our community and testers, we received really helpful and detailed feedback to continue to improve Tormentis step by step.

WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

Since we have already developed our mobile games with Unity and we are very familiar with the engine and enjoy working with it, we also decided to develop Tormentis with Unity. However, there were a few weeks in the middle of development when we had doubts. When Unity was in the negative headlines for a few weeks with its attempt to force additional fees per installation, we considered changing engines. However, that would have set us back more than a year - so we stayed with Unity.

WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?

Since Tormentis is a very huge project compared to the previous mobile games we have made, it was initially difficult to estimate when we would finish a stable, error-free demo version and how long the development would take overall. Even with good prioritization, there were some tasks during development that required an enormous amount of effort and time, which was difficult to foresee at the beginning.

Another big task is balancing the monsters and traps that can be placed in the dungeons against the strength of a hero and his equipment. Even though Tormentis is functionally complete, we are releasing the game in Early Access in order to carry out this balancing together with the community and, above all, to implement further requests from the community after the release on July 22nd.

ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?

Start small and try to finish a manageable game so that it is well-tested, error-free and other people can play it. It is always a good idea to start building a community with small games like that, which can support you later and answer questions from the player's perspective. Not every idea works as a game, so I think it's important to turn ideas into prototypes. If the core game mechanics are fun in the prototype, then an idea has potential.

The most important thing, however, is that you have fun. Complex problems are much easier to solve these days, with AI help and tons of online tutorials. 25 years ago you had to buy very expensive books and hope that your problem was somehow described and solved.

ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?

-For me, game development has always been a way to express my creativity, which is rarely possible at work due to predetermined tasks and goals. It's a great feeling to bring joy to other people with ideas and games and to give them a great experience. Nevertheless, it is important to have a good balance in life and to enjoy life without the PC and Internet as well!

- Oliver

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1782480/Tormentis/

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