PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hi, I'm James and we are Malformation Games! We are a remote-first indie studio formed after I got tired of working for other people in the games industry. We've been around for a few years now as a small but tight-knit group in Europe, North America and Asia. Currently we are working on our first title. During the day I work as a consultant to fund the staff and by night and weekends I program and wear a large variety of hats. The rest of the team come from various backgrounds, with the common thread being good, hardworking people aiming to break into the industry. Right now they are working on 3D art, level design, scripting and animation.
TELL US ABOUT GROUND ZERO.
The game we are working on is Ground Zero, a fixed cam pre-rendered retro survival horror aiming to emulate the quality and scope of the heavy-hitters of the late 90s and early 2000s. Set in post-apocalyptic South Korea, you play as Seo-Yeon, an elite soldier sent in to investigate the remnants after a catastrophic meteor devastated the country. The game has some obvious DNA with the classic survival horror titles of the 90s, but our inspirations come in all shapes and sizes.
The idea came after my partner and I sat in a café discussing where to take the company, and the story flowed out over a cup of coffee. As a bit of a jack of all trades and an insatiable appetite for challenge, we set out to make a truly pre-rendered fixed cam survival horror.
We knew what games we loved, and my partner's knowledge of game design really helped us to logically navigate what could have ended up being a mish-mash of all my favourite ideas in an un-cohesive mix. We wanted to pick a country that's not often portrayed and considering Korea is such a horror powerhouse for its movies, it felt like an obvious choice! We wanted grotesque monsters where we could pretty much do whatever we wanted, and considering we both loved The Thing so much, an alien fungus that mutates and merges DNA of any creature it comes across was the vehicle to allow our imaginations run wild with creature design.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
The journey has been quite enjoyable so far, which is sometimes a rarity in game development! We were quite fortunate to have such a strong cohesion when working together that a prototype came together very quickly, and the ideas flowed from everybody.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
We are using Unreal 5, of which we had various levels of experience in.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
Given that UE5 is such a powerhouse with a huge variety of features, the biggest challenge so far has actually been setting up the pre-rendered backgrounds - UE5 is designed to run a lot of rendering techniques that we simply don't need, so fighting that has been tough. No regrets though, as it's allowed us to fly through development!
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
For those doing their own projects, my biggest piece of advice is to start simple and choose who you work with very carefully! Teamwork is key, as is attitude, team bond and trust when working with others and sometimes just being friends doesn't cut it. You need to rely on each other and deliver - After all, the success depends on everyone pulling their own weight. Set realistic, small goals. You won't know just how complex making a game is until you're deep in the thick of it. Engine doesn't matter, use whatever is comfortable for you. And finally, shed all ego and approach game development knowing that you almost certainly don't know as much as you think you do.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Actually I would like to add one more thing - Marketing is really, really hard! Never give up and don't get discouraged.
-James
❤️
