I tend to have an indie or two each year that I don’t shut up about.
Five years ago, Blue Manchu’s roguelite strategy-shooter,Void Bastards, wasthatgame for me.
Can you talk about how this game found its shape in the years since Void Bastards?
When did the team decide to develop another game in the same genre?
Lee: We started pre-production about three months after the release of Void Bastards.
Wild Bastards is all about playing a myriad of distinct characters, instead of a procession of random prisoners.
Wild Bastards certainly has strategy/shooter DNA, but we have focused on much more complex combat encounters this time.
Were there any obvious successes you knew would carry over from Void Bastards when you were developing Wild Bastards?
There were plenty of both!
The main thing we carried over was probably more on the technical and production side.
We wanted it to be unshackled from that game as far as our design space went.
The initial versions of the game did not even have space travel as it is implemented now.
It was much more of a huge planetary map exploration thing.
More broadly, the roguelite/roguelike space is so densely populated–on PC especially.
What’s it like sharing digital real estate with so many games trying to appeal to similar players?
There is not quite yet an oversaturation of strategy-shooter hybrid roguelikes as far as we see things.
Void Bastards was inspired by BioShock and System Shock 2.
What are the main inspirations for Wild Bastards?
I can only speak on the thematic influences to the look and feel.
I was raised by a mother who loved sci-fi and a father who loved westerns.
Wild Bastards creative direction was inspired mostly by cinema.
As long as we can make games, we will make games.
To that end, is there a future third Bastards game in the team’s mind?
After space sci-fi and westerns, is there another narrative genre you’d like to explore?
But its a secret for now.
Void Bastards was originally very serious and quite depressing in tone.
None of us complained.
Did you ever consider moving away from the comic-book art style for Wild Bastards?
Why did you end up back with this style in the end?
There is no cover page, no panel borders or visual onomatopoeia sound effects for example.
Wild Bastards is more in line with a kind of acid trippy traditional animation as visual style.
WB’s systems feel so intricate and layered.
Is there ever a point in development when you must rein it in to avoid overcomplicating the game?
How do you know when the game’s systems have the right depth without becoming too deep?
Short answer: Yes.
The game features 13 playable gunslingers.
I assume others were designed but ultimately left out.
What made these characters the ones to make the cut?
Do you have any favorites, or any expectations as to who players will gravitate toward?
We started with in-game mockups for each one before going ahead with visual design or dialogue.
Its this variety and depth that really sets the game apart from our previous efforts.
Do you have any post-launch plans for Wild Bastards?
But check back with us post-launch for answers to that question!
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