PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hello,
Paul Green here.
I am the Creative Director and Co-founder of the studio Cut to Bits. Although titles don’t mean too much when you’re part of a tiny team—everyone ends up doing a bit of everything. For me, that means being the principal writer, level designer, game designer, occasional programmer, and audio integrator.
I’ve worked in AAA for over 20 years, starting after I got my computer science degree in the UK. I’ve been fortunate enough to work at Rockstar North (GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, Manhunt, GTA IV), Irrational Games (Bioshock Infinite), and Ubisoft (several Assassin’s Creed titles, a Splinter Cell, and a Far Cry). I’ve gone from QA (Vice City, San Andreas) to Design and eventually to Director roles.
TELL US ABOUT VENTURE TO THE VILE.
During my time in AAA, I worked on open-world games as the genre was exploding into the mainstream. Rockstar was leading the charge with its seamless open worlds. But as the late 2000s rolled around, I started thinking about how the old and the new in game design shouldn’t be separate.
I often dreamed of combining experiences like Symphony of the Night with our new knowledge of world-building, blending intricate, hand-designed classic models with more modern techniques. I felt there was a gap that needed to be filled.
Core Pillars of the Genre
Games in our genre typically focus on one of three key aspects: combat, platforming, or exploration. My passion has always been in world-building and exploration. While all core pillars are critically important, I felt that exploration and world-building were areas where there was room to innovate.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
I worked on prototypes that allowed for deeper world exploration. I felt that art in games was often something players just passed by, rather than interacted with. This seemed like a missed opportunity, so I aimed to create a world where 2D games could be experienced in depth while maintaining that classic 2D feel. Think of it like the difference between Mario 64 and Super Mario World—I wanted the 2D environment to live and breathe in a 3D space. This approach allowed players to seamlessly explore areas of the world that would otherwise be just background art. If you see something interesting, why not be able to go there in-game?
I’ve always loved worlds where everything feels lived in, where platforms are justified, not just floating islands in the sky. Where characters and environments reinforce each other. This is something we really pushed to the limits in our genre.
After many years, I realized that my wonderful friends and I could bring this vision to life.
So, we started Venture to the Vile.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
Creating a 2D open world is very challenging, with many technical limitations, as most engines aren’t designed for this. We chose Unity because it offered a blank canvas with the freedom we needed. We leveraged our technical skills to build tools that would allow us to achieve our goals. Although Unreal is amazing (I’ve worked with it a lot), Unity’s flexibility made it the right choice for our specific needs.
Our main goal was to support a 3D world while maintaining the purity of 2D controls. We decided to go 2D using 3D art, which allowed us to keep performance high while preserving the feel of a classic 2D game.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
For us, the challenges were probably the same as for any new indie studio.
Working on a very tight budget.
A departure from the team.
A sudden illness.
Inaccurate estimates.
New deadlines for demos.
All of these challenges have costs that need to be compensated for in other ways.
Marketing and visibility are also big challenges. The indie scene is a fantastic time for players because so much wonder and greatness is being released frequently. However, for a developer, it’s tough to get noticed, and having a solid long-term strategy is key.
As a new startup, we faced some very difficult trials and tribulations:
Covid.
Creating a new pipeline for unproven ideas, like the layer transition tech our world is built around.
Making a full game from scratch. In AAA, we were compartmentalized—we each had our tasks, and things were guided into place. But when we wanted to add features to Venture to the Vile, we had to start from scratch. The Asset Store was a huge help with this, as doing everything in-house often turned into a time sink with less return. For example, using a dialogue system instead of making one from scratch or using Playmaker instead of scripting directly in C#. There are so many little things that need to be accounted for.
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
Choose your engine wisely and investigate all the tools you can use as plugins. Time will be short, so tools are critical to your success.
Always allow for a generous buffer not only for marketing but also for the unexpected. Yep, Covid was a real curveball.
Empower your team. Leading a team is a joy. Staff up to your weaknesses as a developer and then trust the people around you. Be grateful and allow freedom of ideas. As long as they fit into the high-level vision, fresh ideas really do add up, no matter where they come from.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Buy Venture to the Vile on Steam now!
-Paul
❤️
