Game development was fun, albeit bumpy. Despite the phrase “reverse horror” we use (which admittedly works quite well), I believe that the idea itself does not make our game truly unique. Coming up with the concept was actually the easy part, given that our twisted hearts had already been consumed by the Alien and Predator campaigns in Aliens vs. Predator 1 and 2.
Also, being somewhat obsessively inspired by John Carpenter’s concept of The Thing, I couldn’t help but wonder why the amorphous antagonist could never get his own video game adaptation. As a programmer eager to learn this idea, I started writing the first lines of motion code and soon found that getting the concept to work was actually quite simple. However, making the game solid and fun was a real challenge – it turned out that the arcade monstrous smoothness was not easy to capture!
Of course, Carrion isn’t the only game to use an amorphous physical blob as its protagonist, but I feel like the movement issue has understandably pushed many developers away from further exploring the gameplay possibilities. In our case, being an almighty werewolf with not cumbersome controls, there were also some problems with the design of games and levels. First, we couldn’t use gravity as an obstacle. Secondly, there was nothing stopping the player from stretching across the room, so depending on the location of the monster, it was difficult at times to close some parts of the level.
Physics errors that violate the rules of the game were also more likely to occur due to the number of interacting bodies (that is, parts of the monster) that reacted to the same input. Our rule of thumb was to tackle these problems without sacrificing the entertainment factor and to maintain reasonable and understandable workarounds in terms of mechanics and knowledge.
Being on the verge of abandoning the project several times during development, I could easily understand how other developers might choose a safer route, but we are not called Phobia for nothing – we are not afraid to take a more intimidating route. to get where we go! We started solving all the problems, and, remarkably, the game not only turned out to be interesting and intuitive, but also became very successful, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Finally, the monsters have won!
Beyond the game design and level design, I believe that attention to detail could have played a huge role in our success. Even a great piece of meat requires a bit of seasoning to make a juicy steak! Will the Carrion be the same without the writhing tentacles? I would say that it would be missing one of the components that are critical to the overall experience. The tentacles, once detached from the surface, are physically simulated and accompanied by a wide assortment of “bloody” sound effects (fun fact – the signature “whip” sound was made by cutting the air with a USB cable), making the protagonist feel more organic and alive … On top of that, blood and bloodstains, music, imagery and screams all create an atmosphere of 80s blockbuster horror oozing from your screen.
This is why we are so excited to finally release Carrion on PS4. It took us a while to get there, but we think it was worth it. Make sure of get it today from the PlayStation Storewith a 20% discount! Carrion has already changed our lives for the better, and we hope that it will positively affect yours (at least a little). Have fun, eat people and stay safe.
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