![]() Of course they want it all right now, but at the end of the day they know good things take time and they have been extremely patient about understanding a realistic timetable for new features. Most customers these days are really smart about games and have a good understanding of the development process. The Kickstarter backers and Early Access Steam customers have been great. How much has player input influenced the work in progress? Marketing can help but if it’s a bad game it still won’t sell.ĭescribe the experience of managing the expectations of Kickstarter backers and Early Access players. If it’s a good game people will find out about it and buy it, it’s as simple as that. But you should ask yourself do you really want to give up 60%-80% just to distribute it. If your idea really does interest a publisher than you know it’s worth something. If the world likes your idea and your team can execute on it then you’re rewarded with customers and sales.Īs far as advice goes, if you have a marketable idea, find people to help you make it a reality. ![]() With services like Kickstarter and Steam, self-publishing is a reality and buying digital goods over the internet is widely accepted. The internet is a much bigger place now than it was in 1999 and people are used to buying digital goods. With 4D Rulers we went through the traditional publisher model on 3 games and with this we wanted to do it on our own. (7 Days to Die was routinely in the top ten best sellers during the recent holiday sale.) Did you attempt to get the game published through the traditional process, or was the intent to always remain independent? If the traditional route was attempted, can you speak about that? Any lessons learned in either process that you’d pass on to other indie developers? Similarly, bringing the game to Steam Early Access appears to have paid off. The Kickstarter from August of last year seems to have been a success for you, raising over $500k for 7 Days to Die. We have great plans for the game which will have smooth terrain, random world generation, user world creation tools, skill trees, vehicles, Occulus Rift support and much, much more. We’re still in Alpha but we’ve gotten an overwhelming positive response and we’re adding in new great features every build which we’re trying to kick out every 3-4 weeks. Each game can be customized by the user changing difficulty, 24 hour cycle, zombie walk/run states, and a slew of other options so everyone can dial in the game they want for their own personal zombie fantasy. Our game plays solo, co-op and PVP all pretty well so whatever you like we have a mode for you. And really the only open world zombie game that focuses on zombies. We’re really the only true open world voxel based zombie game. What do you feel makes 7 Days to Die unique? What would you tell a prospective player? We wanted this to be a fun place to work and our core philosophy fun trumps everything. So we kicked around a bunch of names, but “The Fun Pimps” just seemed to fit. We could have stayed 4D Rulers, but we wanted a fresh start. We talked and got to know each other and soon formed a small 5 man team adding a couple more ex-4D Rulers alumni. ![]() This time Joel and I kept calling each other and talking about this game.Ī few weeks later we had a Google docs game design concept and Joel found Chris who was working on Unity voxel technology and a game of his own. This time instead of going back to our normal lives and forgetting our peach pie, we had a moment of genius. Like every holiday, Joel and I talked games and have come up with many great ideas over coffee and my Mom’s peach pies, only this time something was different. We had both been playing a lot of Minecraft and thought somebody should make a game like Minecraft only with better technology, graphics, crafting, and a real zombie threat. We had wanted to make a zombie survival game for many years, but the core idea for 7 Days to Die started in late 2012 after a turkey dinner at our Mom’s house. Joel and I are brothers and worked together on several games under 4D Rulers so we had a history but hadn’t worked on a project together for about 7 years. What brought you guys together and why is it The Fun Pimps? ![]() Was that a purposeful decision on the part of the developers, or was it just an accident? I was curious about the design of the game, so I asked producer Richard Huenink some questions, and he was kind enough to humor me by answering.ĭo we shamble or sprint through some questions after the break? There’s not much time to act like a dick to other players when the undead hordes are swarming around your boarded-up house. Unlike DayZ or Rust, 7 Days to Die features a decidedly abstract look and encourages cooperation by making the zombies a credible threat. 7 Days to Die is one of the better entries in the burgeoning ranks of open-world Early Access survival games. ![]()
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