The New Zealand game industry is seeing a great surge, particularly in the indie scene, thanks to companies like CODE helping these smaller teams reach conventions such as PAX AUS. This year, CODE is helping 18 talented NZ studios reach this event to showcase their games, with some studios debuting their very first title!
One of these games attending the event is Doomtide, developed by Death Limited, a turn-based RPG with city-builder elements set in a flooded world of monsters and ancient horrors. We spoke to Jack, the creator of Doomtide, about this upcoming title, his impressive experience in the industry including Tales of the Shire, and the current state of the New Zealand game development scene.
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! Can you tell us about yourself?
Hi hello. I’ve been in games for a hot minute, about 18 years at this point. I started my career as an Environment Artist and have sorta jumped around to every other discipline since then. I’ve had lots of experience in emergent tech, whether it was PC, console, handheld, peripheral gaming, 3DS, VR, AR, XR – you name it. It’s given me a great opportunity to tackle all sorts of design challenges along the way. I consider myself a designer, programmer, artist in that order.
Doomtide looks fantastic and really caught our eye. Can you tell us about the game and the inspiration behind it?
The general narrative premise is that cultists have brought about the end of the world, summoning their dark gods and flooding the earth – the Doomtide. The world has become a dark and spooky place filled with monsters and ancient evils, populated by islands, pirates, cursed relics, and teeming with adventure.
The game-loop has players building out their town, recruiting heroes with unique skills and abilities, equipping them with gear and items, and sending them out on adventures to battle enemies and find treasure. Town gameplay focuses on placing buildings, upgrading them, and assigning characters to enhance their effect. Battles are turn-based in classic RPG format, progressing through bespoke and procedural dungeons.
Sunless Seas, Darkest Dungeon, Sid Meier’s Pirates, and Stellaris were my biggest inspiration. Special shoutout to the Garrison in Warlord’s of Draenor as well!
We love to sink our teeth into a turn based game! What made you go with turn based?
I wanted decision making to be an important part of the game experience but I didn’t want players to feel rushed. I wanted to lean more into planning and making hard decisions rather than reactive gameplay or timing, and turn based seemed like the best fit as something that is slower paced and lets players tackle problems on their own time. I have a soft spot for JRPGs of the 90s as well, so that helped.
What is your favourite title from the JRPG golden era?
Favorite JRPG is Earthbound which is also my favorite game. I used the Rolling Hit Points system from Earthbound in Doomtide as well!
City building, turn based battles, ship fights and plotting routes are shown in the trailer. What made you choose these different elements?
I looked at games I enjoyed playing and considered what my favourite aspects were and where I wish they went a little farther. I liked the mood and vibe of Sunless Seas but I wanted a bit more meaty gameplay; I loved how Sid Meier’s Pirates lets you explore the Caribbean but I wanted more in depth battles; and I loved Darkest Dungeon but I wanted to try something that let you actually build out your town a bit more. I tried to take the best parts and mix’em together in a pot – hopefully it ends up tasting delicious!
Some bosses we can see include a giant heart that explodes! What other enemies/bosses can we expect to see?
Ooo that’s a good question! There are a few different thematic tones in the game and I’d like to try to explore enemies for each of them in time; the black & white visuals somewhat emulate 1930s horror films and the monsters they bring. There are also strong narrative hooks for gothic and eldritch, the obvious staple of the “spooky sailing” genre. On top of that I would like to explore a variety of different types of subject matter leaning into different types of fears; I’ve been really inspired by The Magnus Archives and their pantheon of dark gods. I think in the future you’ll see a lot of enemies inspired by specific fears people have of the deep dark sea.
Do you have a rough idea of how long the game may be?
Hopefully not short! The current demo I have for PAX is very “on rails” to be showcaseable for a convention audience, but the full game is very systemic and open; I’ve created a lot of buckets to put enemies, stories, characters, abilities, new buildings, new islands, new areas, etc into, so it’s my hope there will be more and more content for players to enjoy as time goes on.
Any idea for co-op systems or things like that?
No co-op is planned for at this time!
Doomtide and Death Limited are darker themed which is a nice touch and makes you instantly stand out! What made you go this route/theme?
I’m a spooky boy and I like spooky things. 💀
You’ve worked 18 years in the game industry, including recently on the Tales of the Shire. What can you tell us about your journey so far and why you decided to form Death?
I’ve sorta zig-zagged my way through the industry, jumping from AAA to ultra indie and everything in between. I’ve always worked on my own stuff on the side to keep my skills sharp and to try out mechanics or ideas on my own but never really committed to anything big or commercially viable. After my last couple of big projects I thought it might be time to give doing my own thing a shot and thankfully the fine folks at CODE thought so too!
How long have you been working on Doomtide? Is this a solo project?
I’ve been working on Doomtide for about 9 months now as a solo developer!
Companies like CODE are helping the NZ game industry, what was the support like back when you first started in the game industry?
When I started most developers’ only real option was to join a pre-established studio – this was just before the Indie Explosion when Xbox Live was really starting to kick off – so there weren’t a ton of opportunities for smaller developers to really do anything small or on their own. Most studios were making licensed products to get their feet in the door hoping to make their own magnum opus down the line. It wasn’t until Unity and Unreal really started to become more accessible that you began to see more indies.
How do you think the game development industry has progressed in New Zealand?
Up and down – I wish there were more opportunities through government assistance to help studios get off the ground. CODE is doing so much to help but they can’t do it by themselves; we need more support across the board. Many of our best developers are leaving for more lucrative opportunities in other countries and enticing them back won’t be an easy task.
Not too long until PAX AUS! How are you feeling? I assume you may have attended something like this before?
A mix of excitement and exhaustion – it’s a lot of work getting ready for a conference! I’ve been to things like PAX before but only as a guest and not an exhibitor; at least not for my own game. I’m eager to see how things shake out!
For anyone that may want to get started in the games industry, what are 3 things you would tell them?
Gain a basic understanding of other disciplines and how they work, even if you don’t plan on utilizing those skills. Being a good communicator between different departments goes a long way in gaining the trust and buy-in of other developers.
Learn to be okay with being wrong and approach other people’s ideas with an inquisitive mind. This goes double for taking feedback you may not agree with.
Sometimes it’s worth trying to do things the wrong way; it’s easy enough to say “this is the way it’s done”, but to know a thing through practice can help you really understand the ‘why’.
Consider me a day one Wishlist! When do you think we may see a Steam store listing?
You can wishlist right now! 😀
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, all the best for Doomtides development, we’ll be there day one!
Thank you very much for the questions! 🙂
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