FUSE Interview with Red Blade Games, Dystopia: After Civilization

I’ve interviewed with Red Blade before, but that was back when the game was a small child, now it’s an adult at the moment, showing more and more progress as it goes along. I’ve been following them since then and I thought I’d interview them a second time to see what they’d like to tell us and show. Please welcome Red Blade once more as we dive in some deep waters of their game Dystopia After Civilization.

Okay, I asked this last time, but since that was several months ago, are you planning on keeping the name Dystopia: After Civilization as the final title? If not, what would you like to call your game? 

Yes, we are planning to keep the name Dystopia – After Civilization.

Dystopia is nearing its first demo release and your visions are coming together nicely, when do you think the game will be nearing the final release? 

Not for a while. We can’t say exactly how long, at this rate 4 years, but we have some things planned after the demo release that may get us moving a bit faster. If all goes well, 2 – 3 years, is our estimate (not final date decided). 

Since the last time we talked, you said you planned on making various NPCs that were supposed to be raiders and shopkeepers, have you named these people? Do the raiders have a name and what about the good guys? Do the raiders have enemies other than you and the good guys?

We have decided to not include any NPCs besides mutants in the demo. We haven’t discussed much else for them, we’ve just come up with ideas for including them in the final game. We’ve already made up some names, although we won’t share them yet.

From the new mutant enemy types you guys have revealed, it seems like you’ll be giving a pack mentality to the enemies like they have a leader of some kind. If this is the case, are you planning on giving certain types of mutants a role when meeting with other mutants?

The alpha mutant will lead packs of mutants and will make the normal/basic mutants smarter in ways. We’re also discussing making it so if you kill the alpha leading a pack, the basic mutants will get more confused and maybe some of them run away from the fight. We really want to make cool and interesting AI for Dystopia.

You’ve shown us broken pit stops and bunkers, but what other locations are you planning the player to explore?

We can’t really disclose any other locations besides the bunker location and the Midway map. Those two maps will be included in the demo. Keep in mind though that the demo will not be open to the public, only testers and a small group of influencers and some other gamers.

With how little we know about the game, what kind of story do you guys plan on showing us? 

We have a very detailed and long story created for the final release of the game. The demo’s story/mission will not be the same as the final games, as we do not want to ruin it for testers or those we play the demo. The demo is specifically for showing off mutants, gameplay, maps, and the various systems we’ve made.

What’s the goal that the player has throughout this entire game beyond survival?

There will be small decisions the player has to make throughout the game, like as an example, saving or not saving a family. The main goal for the player is to escort an important person and also in the meantime make decisions, figure out more to the story with hidden messages, etc.

There are a lot of games out there that have so many enemies to mess with, but most have a hierarchy ladder that each enemy stands in. Will human enemies be at the bottom of that hierarchy? If so, do you plan on showing that through AI interactions with each other, like raiders running away from mutants and gunners running as soon as mutants get near?

So far mutant AI has been our only concern when it comes to enemies. Some mutants will be stronger than others and the size of them may or may not be bigger than the player. With that being said, the player will stand at the middle of that hierarchy, with harder and easier mutants to kill.

Below are renders of the crawler mutant (1st) and dusk hunter mutant (2nd).

Mutants seem to be described as monstrous beasts that will make the player question encountering them, will you make certain weapons their weakness like spears for runners to be impaled with or rifles for armored enemies? 

We haven’t discussed making certain weapons better for the different mutants. Although that is a really cool idea we can implement. 

Here are some renders for some weapons that will be included in the demo.

You have shared some logos like the DK and 420 stores. Are you planning on having this kind of humor and inside jokes throughout the game? 

We are. We think having some humor and references is funny, although overdoing it is a concern. 

I think I’ve asked this before, but I want to know more since the game has gotten a lot more development since the last time we talked. The game’s genre seems very vague or more so a mix with several. What’s the definitive genre for your game?

Dystopia is an adventure/survival horror based first-person shooter. Dystopia brings the player through a great written story and detailed and spooky locations. Speaking of spooky locations, here are some screenshots of the bunker level.

Thanks for reading this and everything. If you’re interested in this game or would like to watch the development of their game, please check out their Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, their Youtube channel or Twitch. They have a community on Discord, so if you want to join you can. Again, thanks for diving with me on this interesting game and its creators. The devs are amazing people and are creating a very ambitious game. I wish them luck in the future and whatever else comes along their path. And til next time…

 

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