GUNS GO BRRR
Hey everyone! This is Nate, I'm a game designer working at Phoenix Game Productions here in Osaka, Japan who has had the pleasure of working on Phantom Fury and I heard ya’ll like to shoot stuff. We see you; we hear you. Huddle up, let's talk for a sec.
MOAR!...PLEASE
In “Ion Fury”, Shelly had some awesome weapons. And as awesome as they were, the team heard the feedback from fans and that feedback was “Yeah good stuff but umm…more?”. We take requests like this very seriously so we did make more…In fact we may have gone mad with power. In addition to greatly increasing the base roster of weapons we have added tons of add-ons that can help make your favorite weapons more powerful. You can make these changes at various upgrade kiosks sprinkled throughout the world.
“Wait, that's NOT a bomb?”
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Everyone has their preferred way of killing things and we would NEVER discriminate. That’s why we also made sure to include a broad variety of weapon types and add-ons so people can approach the game the way they want to. In fact there are more than double the amount of base weapons Ion Fury had and made sure that we had a nice spread of conventional, Shelly classic and “experimental” weapon types to keep the gameplay fresh. This is not even mentioning the dozens of add-ons that can totally change how a weapon is used. So, Are you a straight shooter who just loves a clean buckshot to the face? We got you fam. Want to make your enemies suffer as you laugh at their writhing bodies? Yeah, welcome aboard.
Hmm what could this be?
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
I’ll take some time to be a bit more serious to mention that it takes a tremendous amount of effort from a whole team of people across multiple disciplines to get even one weapon fully up and running. A brief overview of the process looks something like this 😊.
*inhales deeply*
Design: First off, careful planning ensures each weapon's purpose and role in the arsenal, maximizing the chances of captivating players and giving them solid utility. As mentioned above we wanted to have a lot more weapons but we also want to make sure we don't have a ton of role overlaps in our arsenal. Quality and quantity requires us to take a critical look at weapons utility in context of the entire arsenal and change or remove ideas that only favor novelty. This can sometimes be a trap though as “balance” isn't always what people want. Ultimately we want to feel powerful but not handed victory on a silver platter and weapon design is a piece of solving that puzzle. So yeah…a little more than “Gun go ‘boom boom’ then people are happy.”
Concept Art: Next some very talented artists bring ideas to life with captivating mockups. This helps inspire excitement but mainly gives everyone a better idea of what their part of the work will entail.
Motherflakker by Arturo Pahua
Modeling and Rigging: Concepts evolve into stunning 3D models and are expertly rigged for seamless animations.
Model by Mathias Gabriel
Programming: Even in the early stages programmers work with designers to start building all the functionality needed to make the weapons actually work. True heroes that always love game designers no matter how crazy their ideas are…sorry Davey I love you.
Animation: Our skilled animators breathe life into each weapon, delivering fluid movements and lifelike actions. This is where you really start to feel these weapons come to life!
Visual Effects: Eye-catching additions like muzzle flashes and explosive impacts are essential to making every hit feel satisfying and unique. These additions with animation take the weapon to near final quality.
Animation by Domenico Antonazzo
Sound Design: Then our audio wizards create immersive effects, ensuring each weapon packs a powerful auditory punch that just makes you just want to keep pulling the trigger.
Playtesting: Lastly, Iteration is key to perfection. Through rigorous playtesting, we uncover any overlooked issues and discover unforeseen opportunities for improvement. Our dedicated QA team and other members meticulously test and refine the weapon until it's simply hard to not smile while using the beautiful bastard.
*exhales deeply*
And then it's DONE. That was a pretty big simplification of the assembly line but as you can see it's a huge team effort to complete even one weapon. Game design is a large part of that but it's certainly only a fraction of what ends up making it fun. I feel privileged to have a small place among all the other talented people at Slipgate Ironworks that tirelessly and passionately work to make not only the weapons but the whole game fun from start to finish. Can’t wait for everyone to play the game and can’t wait for you to pull the trigger on these weapons we have been cooking up!
Nate
If you haven't wishlisted Phantom Fury yet, do so!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1733240/Phantom_Fury/