Welcome everyone once again to our Meet the Team Q&A of Black Eye Games, which will introduce a new member of the team and give you some insight into the people behind the magic of Gloria Victis.
This week our new victim is: Damian Sobczak!
1) What is your position on the team?
I'm lead programmer and network administrator.
2) What is a typical day like working on this project?
Code – test – refactor. Repeat ;)
3) How did you first hear about Gloria Victis?
It was on GameDay event. It was in about six months after the project started and the team was searching for new members. I wanted to be a part of such indie project and I applied.
4) What do you enjoy most about being part of this project?
Working on Gloria Victis is a very creative job. It's very rewarding when you see that someone likes it. Creating something out of nothing makes me proud of the entire team.
5) What are you working on at the moment?
Right now I'm working on the Auction House. I believe this feature will bring the game's economy to higher level.
6) What is your best memory of Gloria Victis? Any funny/interesting in-game stories?
Working on the game is exciting itself. And of course the Steam EA launch time, when the entire team gathered together. We had been sleeping for three hours a day for about a week but everyone was happy. Yeah, it was a crazy time!
7) What is your favourite aspect of Gloria Victis - any specific feature(s)?
I really like bows, I think archery is very well done in GV. Especially shooting from walls to enemies at the gate :) And of course the tourneys!
8) What is the feature/addition you're most looking forward to?
For now – the Auction House which I'm working on right now.
9) What type of character do you usually play (role, weapon, armour, play-style, etc)?
I'm usually using the sword/shield/bow set with chainmail armor. Hurt enemies from distance, then rush and finish them in close combat.
10) In 3 years from now, what is your vision for Gloria Victis?
Top 10 most played MMO games :)
11) Weirdest bug you've ever seen in GV?
I don't know if it's the weirdest but there was a time when we had a lot of the ghost-mobs in the game and we couldn't figure it out. I spent a lot of time on it and finally I found that it was caused by a bug in the networking framework.
12) Your biggest accomplishment in GV, either personal or for the team in general?
I think the biggest accomplishment is to create such big and complex game completely without any budget and working after-hours. Almost every one of us was located in different city and we only could collaborate online. It was really hard to work on the game every single evening, being tired after the "normal" job. We had incredible luck that every team member was very passionate about what we were doing. It proves that hard work makes dreams come true.)
13) Are there any features you had in mind that could not make it into GV; and if so, what are they?
I was thinking about a complex, auto-balanced economy based on strictly limited resources. In the end it became clear that it wouldn't fit the game. We realized that such feature would have to be the core of the game, while in Gloria we wanted PvP to be at the center.
14) Outside of Gloria, what are some of your favourite games?
There are games that you'll remember for your whole life. In the first place I would put the first two parts of X-COM. I spent months inventing new technologies and fighting aliens.
The second one is the original Diablo. It's the first game ever I have played online. Me and my friends created a clan of warriors which were the weakest class in PvP. And we were winning!
But the most important game of my life was Ultima Online. It's one of the very first MMOs and it's still alive. Many games try to copy some solutions from UO but none of them are as complex. It was also my first step into game development, as I tried to create my own server with a custom map, buildings and mechanics.
Nowadays I play mostly fast-paced games that are not so time-consuming, like CS:GO and PUBG, but from time to time I dive into some interesting single-player story.
15) If Gloria had a $10,000,000 budget, what would be the first feature you would want to add?
Mounts and housing. Taming animals would be great too. Breeding, training and finally selling the best horses in the world.
16) Favourite type of music?
Mostly Rock. Starting with Queen, through Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, to Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
17) Favourite movie/type of movies?
One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. It's a story about fighting adversities, achieving success and despite the various turmoil, remaining yourself.
In general I like movies that have something to say. I think it's a measure of art, not only for movies but also music, literature or even games, when it tries to answer who we are, touches feelings and brings something valuable to our lives.
18) Something unique or interesting about yourself?
I would describe myself as the mix of strict mind and humanist. My plan for retirement is to become a writer :)
19) Anything else you'd like to say to the players?
I'd like to thank all of you for the motivation you gave – and keep giving – to us. It's extremely rewarding when we are doing something and it makes you happy. And it's very important to receive your feedback when something is wrong.
20) And final question: Ismir or Midlander?
Born as Ismir, raised as Midlander, roleplaying as a "spy" in the ranks of Azebs.