From Doom Mods to Retro Horror FPS: the Journey in Progress

Introduction

Hey there. My name is Gregory, also mostly known as Rekkimaru. I'm from Poland and I'm a self-taught game developer currently working on my horror FPS game called "Shraud". 

My passion for creating my own game came from the 90s when I owned an Amiga computer. It was then that I started to dabble in music and painting software, creating some tunes, tinkering with game files, replacing sounds in games, painting custom maps for "Worms" and so on. 

There was also this programming language called "Amos Professional" where I took baby steps in creating my own stuff. Even though the best I could do was to project a rotating cube on the screen with the help of a manual, I was still really proud of creating something myself. 

After that Amiga period, there was not much going on in terms of me progressing with my game adventure. That was until many years later when I discovered "Adventure Game Studio" (AGS) on PC, a software that lets you create your own point-and-click games.

This got me excited since I'd wanted to make an adventure game since childhood. I always loved playing them.

During my time with AGS I've managed to make a short demo game and a project called "bYTE" that I still haven't finished until this day because my attention was steered away into 3D graphics. I started making some 3D-rendered images with Bryce 3D and using them to create small horror projects, mostly just as a hobby without the intention of releasing them anywhere.

As years passed, I figured I wanted to work on a retro-style shooter. That's when I went into GZDoom and Doom modding, trying to create my standalone game with it. But that wasn't enough for me. I wanted a less limiting game engine even though I didn't know how to code at all. That's when I reached for Unity and started experimenting with it, following small tutorials and reading documents. Then I discovered Blender and started making my first simple models. From there, I've spent the upcoming years slowly experimenting with both the engine and Blender. 

While my time as a full-time game developer was short because of layoffs, I've managed to work on "Core Decay" with 3D Realms/Slipgate Ironworks, "Derelikt", an independently developed immersive horror FPS inspired by Alien Resurrection, and "Age of Hell" by Hellforge Studios. I was the 3D and 2D artist on these projects. 

My journey with 3D Realms started when Shraud was already in development. During that time, my mind was already set on what I wanted to do. So while I did have a fun time working at 3DR, my vision was already set in stone. 

Shraud

My goal with "Shraud" is basically to take the fun gameplay of old Build Engine games, move it to full 3D, and expand it a bit with more exploration and some puzzle-solving parts. I was hugely inspired by "Nightmare Creatures", which was mostly a third-person action game. I wanted to take that thick, creepy atmosphere and a similar setting and make an FPS game in this style.

The game takes place in a fictional world in a cross between Gothic/Victorian and medieval settings, which lets me do all kinds of interesting stuff design-wise. I basically wanted to relive "Nightmare Creatures" again by making a spiritual successor which isn't just a direct copy. Yes, there will be enough action, but you'll also find some dungeon areas filled with deadly traps that you need to avoid. There will be some puzzles to solve and gold to find, which is useful for buying items that will aid you along the way. 

I think nowadays there are many new fast retro FPS games. But for me, some of these are missing one core element that would make these games fun and that was exploring these big, maze-like levels, hunting for secrets, hidden items, and easter eggs. It was all part of the adventure. And I think players can really look forward to that in my game.

I still rewrite the story of the game because I've changed a few elements and it's all going to be revealed later on, along with the main protagonist design.

Enemies & Weapons

You will see some very classical enemies in the game like werewolves, harpies, and gargoyles, of course with my own spin on them. As I've said, I'm a big fan of "Blood" and "Nightmare Creatures" and I love the old-style monsters from movies, comic books, and games, but you'll also see my own, twisted designs that came out of my head, but those will also fit with the existing world and setting. 

As for the weapons, I want to keep some surprises before revealing them fully functional (hopefully with a demo). The basic starting weapon is an axe. And you can actually dual-wield them if you find another one and also use the additional one as a throwing weapon. Of course, this comes with a risk of losing it. 

There are also double shotguns, which are basically your primary firing weapons with alternate fire modes. But then there will be some more "exotic" weapons like a throwing glaive that acts like a homing boomerang cutting through enemies or an explosive arrow bow. 

All this will be mixed with additional skills you'll unlock while progressing through the game. And some of these skills will not only help you deal with enemies but also some traps.

I think every model I make is my little baby but I always catch myself liking my current new model even more, so it's hard to pick. 

Shraud is being developed in Unity. This is the 3D engine I started with and I have stuck to it ever since.

I think it's important, especially as a solo dev, to just choose one engine, keep learning it, and stay with it, even if it's hard sometimes. Unity is big enough and gives me enough freedom to do what I want with the game while not being massively complex and huge in size like Unreal Engine. But who knows, maybe if I started with Unreal, I would have gone in that direction.

Shraud doesn't specifically aim to replicate the PS1 look. It doesn't have texture warping and it uses a higher resolution initially. It's mostly stylized as an old 3D PC title. 

The game uses a PSX pipeline, though, which is the HPSX Render Pipeline for Unity that does come with some faithful PS1 rendering options, and Shraud uses some of them but not all. I always thought, "What would it look like if the PS1 had a bit more power without all the artifacts?"

Conclusion

I think the next step for me will be releasing some gameplay footage of the game when I'm done with all the important gameplay mechanics and slowly working towards the demo.

I'm still facing problems with work after the layoff, but if things change around for me, the demo might be finished in September. If not, I suspect early winter will probably be the first time everyone can get their hands on it and play a bit of the game. 

I wanted to thank all my wonderful followers on Twitter who keep supporting the game, and if other people want to also support my project there's a crowdfunding goal set on my Ko-Fi page now.

I also have a Patreon page, so you can support me there as well.

Rekkimaru, Game Developer

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine