Hell Hunt Developer Q & A

The Developer: T19gs

T19ps is an independent indie game developer and artist. In fact, Hell Hunt the game I recently did a demo review of is their first game ever. As a result, all of the intricate coding,  painstaking modelling, and time-consuming drawing is done by them. I sent them a few questions for this Hell Hunt Developer Q & A.Let’s take a look at their answers. *Also check out the Demo Review I did for Hell Hunt*

Q: Firstly, How did you decide on the art style?

A: I wanted to develop a game with a modern shooter feel and retro shooter settings from the beginning. From the start of the art style, I was going to explore a new form of artistic expression: low-poly model and pixel texture. During the exploration process, I deliberate many times on the art style, including how low is the low-poly? How big should the pixel size be? The drawing style, and so on. I worked really hard to finally get the results you can now see in the demo. I’m very proud of this result. It still has good recognition when looking at a distance, and also can feel pixel art while getting close.

Q: What is your process for modelling the weapons, characters, and environments?

A: I will first build a low-poly model, remove any parts that do not affect the appearance, and then texture paint the model. Finally, weapons and demons will have their own animations and unique parts. This part I will spend a lot of time on to polish and get it right so that it has a unique animation that reflects the specific weapons or demons. The animation can tell us without a doubt how the weapon shooting feels and what type of demon you’re facing.

Q: How long have you been working on this game? How did you get started on Hell Hunt? Why did you decide to make this type of game? And Inspirations for Hell Hunt?

A: Hell Hunt started development in Sep 2019, I am a retro shooter fan, I will replay some classic 90s boomer shooters often. I am also an enthusiast of competitive FPS games, I like Counter-Strike, Overwatch, and Apex Legends. I have always wanted to develop a game with a modern shooting feel and a classic FPS single-player experience. In the fall of 2019, I started to develop Hell Hunt. In terms of character and background setting inspiration, I really like John Wick movies. I really like his agile and deadly fighting style mixed with smooth flowing non-stop combat. I watched that he likes to shoot enemies in the head to kill them at the fastest speed. It shows his fighting style, and the fluidity of his moves something I wanted to bring to Hell Hunt. Also, it’s a skill that the player in Hell Hunt that can trigger called “bullet time” by getting headshot kills. In addition, the Punisher franchise also gave me a lot of inspiration, I am a fan of the Constantine franchise, so I set the story deep in the depths of hell. You can understand that the prototype of Hell Hunt comes from John Wick + Constantine + Punisher combined into a fast-paced action-adventure.

Q: Since this is a fast-paced shooter how are you building the game to give the best experience across the board?

A: Yes, Hell Hunt is a fast-paced shooting game. First of all, characters move faster than usual FPS (monsters move fast as well), and characters have a Dash skill that allows players to have advantageous tactics. You can choose to stay away from some particularly dangerous monsters, or you can choose to dash to some targets and go for that up close and personal kill. I often see that many players will use the dash to dodge projectiles, dash to approach the enemy and use the Shotgun to kill, or dash away from the enemy and use the revolver to long-range shooting in their playthrough videos, which is really beyond my imagination. After master Dashing, the entire game experience has risen by one level. I think this is a good experience from modern shooting games: manual tactical skills. This also brings Hell Hunt a good fast-paced experience. As mentioned, I hope that the character is like John Wick, an agile and deadly killer.

Q: Any recommended system specs?

A: Because it has not yet entered the stage of graphic optimization, it is difficult for me to give very specific system requirements. I hope this game will run well on low-end computers. I can give a reference: on one of the tested computer (i5 4590+GTX 750Ti+8G Ram+Windows 10), most of the time it can run at 200+fps (1920×1080).

Q: Is this a game for fans of retro shooters? Modern fps lovers? Or both?

A: Both, I hope that boomer shooter enthusiasts can feel some of the advantages of modern shooting. In fact, I believe that even retro enthusiasts will also play the new FPS as well. I also want to attract that modern FPS player hoping they can experience the charm of retro shooters, Including the staples of retro FPS games such as keyCard system, map with maze nature, and interesting secret areas.

Q: Why include a bullet-time mechanic? Are there other unique skills we’ll see in the final game?

A: Bullet time is another unique feature of Hell Hunt. In fact, it is another skill of an agile killer. During bullet time, players will find it is easier to aim at the next target and dodge the projectiles. From the demon’s angle, you are actually ‘acceleration’. It’s fun watching the monsters in slow motion killed by you, as you go through their blood flying in the air to continue to kill the next one. It really has an epic feeling like in an action movie. You can really feel like you the badass you always wanted to be.

Q: How long do you plan for the game to be?

A: The playtime of the game will not be too short, at least that is the plan. I watched over and over that most players will take about 40-50 minutes the first time through to complete the two levels of the demo. This is basically what I expected, and the contents of these two levels are only the first episode. The first 2 levels in the demo only account for a small part of the entire game.

Q: Release date? and platforms or places to buy the final game?

A: Hell Hunt is still under development. My goal is to reach early access within the year. It depends on whether the quality reaches the standard I want, so it is impossible to confirm the specific date. The final version will not be this year. My first and foremost goal for the game is to get it on Steam and GOG. The steam version will definitely be a sure thing. Many players want the game to land on GOG, so GOG will be one of the important choices. As for other platforms, it will only be considered after Steam and GOG.

Q: Will there be expansions and add ons in the future? What will they cost if you do?

A: Does it mean DLC? This should only be considered after the full version of the game is released.

Q: What has been the most challenging thing about making your own game?

A: The most challenging is when the content of the project just becomes more and more. How to make everything run stable is a big challenge. For example, when you have A and B, and you have to put in C. You only need to test AC, AB, BC, ABC which works just fine. The problem comes when you have from A to J, then put in K. It can become very confusing and it is a very large test to make all combinations run smoothly.

Q: How can people get in touch with you?

A: You can DM me on https://twitter.com/T19gs Or email me: t19games@gmail.com

Q: How can people support the game?

A: When they find some game bugs or have suggestions, please let me know because it is very helpful for improving the quality of the game. Hell Hunt’s first public demo was on May 28, and it has been updated 3 times now. If you have played both the first demo and the latest version, you can tell there is a big improvement. Thank you, players, who have given me feedback. In addition, if you think the demo is not bad and worth sharing, telling your friends and send them a link to the demo, which is also a great way to support me.

Q: Finally, Anything else you’d like people to know?

A: From the first announcement of the game to the present, Hell Hunt has received good attention and positive honest criticism. I really thank those friends who supported me and gave me advice in this process. I would like to say to them: I looooove you guys : ) What did you think of this Hell Hunt Developer Q & A? Are you interested to play Hell Hunt? Finally, What other devs would you like to see us interview? Let me know in the comments section below! Stay tuned for more from the Lv1 Gaming Team! <—Random Article | Demo Review—> Leave some suggestions on what we can do better or change. Are you interested in writing, editing or just being a part of Lv1 Gaming? CONTACT US HERE! Like, Share and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Give us a follow on Twitch as well! Twitch.tv/Lv1_gaming Follow us on twitter at @Lv1Gaming Also follow our Facebook page! #wheregamingbegins