The Astronauts studio that created the adventure , working on a new project - Witchfire. A year ago developers that the release of this horror shooter about the witch hunt, most likely, will take place only in 2020. Fresh The official blog does not say anything about the release date, but the authors shared gameplay fragments from the new demo, intended for internal testing.
Studio head Adrian Chmielarz, who led the development of the first Painkiller and , said that the creation of the second demo version took longer than the authors expected. It has four types of weapons, two "light" and four "powerful" spells, six types of opponents (including a boss) and three combat zones. Also, the developers have redesigned the interface, but they are going to work on it further, so that in the final version it may turn out to be different. Among other things, the mini-map may disappear.
In the first demo, the player found himself on the beach, where he was attacked by the undead Guards of the witch (Guardians of the Witch). The enemies attacked in waves, each of which was created by the fire in the witch totem. As soon as the flame went out, the last, most powerful spell was activated. If the user coped with it, he could move to the next zone.
In the new demo, everything is more complicated. The authors compare its passage with a puzzle. From the shore, the player finds himself in a cursed village, where he is attacked by musketeers hiding in different places, knights and other minions of the witch. The boss of this location is the Bishop. He sends waves of demons at the player in an attempt to protect the witch. If the gamer cannot defeat him, he, wounded, will hide in the shelter, where the final battle will take place. At this point, the demo ends - the following zones are not yet ready.
Developers go through the second demo in 15 minutes. For the average user, according to Chmiełaž, this can take several hours, and a speedrun will take from 6 to 10 minutes. The level is linear, but in the final game, he promises, the structure will be more complex.
In general, the creators are satisfied with how the second demo turned out. While working on it, they understood how to structure the whole game, and also found out the nuances regarding weapons, spells, talismans and characteristics. However, some elements do not yet work as the developers would like. These include a warning system about the approach of an enemy who is out of the player's visibility (for example, if he is behind him). Chmiełaž notes that this kind of thing is rare in games, which is why there are difficulties. The gameplay is "fun and hardcore" and "unlike anything else" but the balance, AI and enemy spawning need some work.
The developers are going to create a third demo, but the players are also unlikely to see it. The manager calls these demos not goals, but “by-products” of development that help them decide on the direction of work and test various systems.
Witchfire takes place in a fantasy world reminiscent of the end of the XNUMXth century. The authors emphasize that this is not steampunk and refer the game to "Victorian fantasy" (gaslamp fantasy). The shooter is partly inspired by the Souls series (how it is similar and different from its games in terms of game design, Khmelazh told in ) and the Destiny dilogy (Bungie some "non-obvious" design decisions). Apparently, it will really be hardcore: friends of the developers who tested the demo admitted that it was “very difficult” to play. Witchfire puts an emphasis on action and improving skills - there will be no detailed story and cutscenes on the engine.
Nine people are working on Witchfire. At the end of last year, there were eight specialists in the team, and even then Khmelazh noted that they did not plan to expand it. So far, Witchfire has only been announced for PC.
Source: 3dnews.ru