Talking about handcrafted levels
FAQ - What does handcrafted levels mean and how does it benefit you
Hey guys, Jan Rawski, lead game designer of Homicidal All-Stars here. A common question from the community has been what it actually means that the game is “handcrafted” and what’s in it for you. Well, I’ll be happy to answer!
After our past work on the original Hard West and Phantom Doctrine, we knew exactly what kind of experience we wanted to deliver in our next tactical game. Briefly put: we wanted it to be an intense and fun ride where the combat is as good as possible at all times, and where no battle is like any other. We also wanted to give the player a very strong sense of progression, with the battles gradually becoming more intricate and demanding as the player also gains more powerful characters and tools.
We are convinced that the best way to achieve that is to do literally everything by hand: the placement of every single wall, box, and enemy as well as levels designed as exciting sequences of events, rather than just battlefields in different shapes and sizes. But let me elaborate.
One general advantage of this approach is that we can deliver the maximum quality. With procedurally generated combat encounters (which we ourselves did to some degree in Phantom Doctrine), we would have limited control over what actually happens on the levels. The enemy placement, the player’s approach options and not to mention the pacing and difficulty curve - we did not want to entrust the RNG gods with such important matters! And as experienced players of the genre ourselves, we feel that, while procedural encounters can be enjoyable, the story missions are usually the highlights - so why not make an entire game this way?
By doing things by hand, we can guarantee that every one of our levels is good and unique. For instance, our many different enemies appear in just the right place at just the right time, so they can give you one of those satisfying headaches that you play turn-based games for. As a bonus, all of this also gave our talented artists the ability to make every level visually striking and memorable.
We also wanted to achieve maximum gameplay diversity. Every single level has a central idea which gives you a different kind of challenge to overcome, requires a different approach, and delivers a unique experience as a result. The ultimate embodiment of this philosophy are our different level mechanics and the involvement of the show director. Combatants get run over by trains, have explosive barrels dropped on them or doors get locked just under their noses - we’ve got it all.
Finally, with Homicidal All-Stars we wanted to deliver a story-driven experience centered on cool and memorable characters. The game is the personal journey of Scarlett and the companions that join her along the way. You can expect many twists and turns and a mad, mad world that’s a disturbing joy to discover. Again, developing the game as a tightly designed sequence of levels and events felt like the best way to deliver on this.
In all of this, you still get a lot of tactical freedom, especially as your squad grows and your characters gain a wide array of unique abilities. And the same encounters do have a tendency to develop in different ways, especially if you mix things up on your end!
We did prioritize delivering one awesome experience over replay value, but if you enjoyed your first ride, you will find reasons to do more than one playthrough. You can replay levels with a different combination of sponsorships, team members, items or weapons. For the completionists we added a lot of secrets and optional battles and objectives. And braver players can also try their hands on hard difficulty and in iron man mode.
Anyway, we really enjoy all the feedback that we’re getting and we thank you for sharing your experience with the demo. We can’t wait to let you play the full game!
Cheers!
