Hi there! So, weve held an AMA session on Reddit, we also collected questions that popped up here and on our social media. And because there were so many good ones, we decided to get the best questions in one place for everyone to read! If you wanna browse through the whole AMA, check out our reddit thread, Discord server, and social media (Twitter). Ready for some bonus info? Q: When is the official release date? A: November 8th! Q1: So I've seen that the project started as a TTRPG. What was it inspired by mechanically, and what did it play like? A1: It was a GURPs campaign. I hosted the original campaign for some friends back in 2016. At the time, I was interested in the idea of creating an "urban crawl". Sort of a hexcrawl open-world hybrid type-thing. The idea was to mimick the hexcrawls of yore but in an urban environment. The campaign I ran was pretty short, I only ran it for a few months before my players found a satisfactory end for the game. It was overly ambitious to try to cook up an entire setting for the campaign from scratch, so I decided to take my notes and turn it into a source book. I ended up licensing the EABA role-playing system for the sourcebook. This was a mistake because EABA is a total nightmare.
And here are the absolute garbage rules if you're even more curious:
Q2: Is there a plan to maybe pick up the TTRPG concept again? A2: Not right now. Q: What were the key inspirations for the project and how did it come to be? A: In 2015 I got a job across the country from where I was living, so I listened to the book "Snow Crash" while moving from Denver to Philadelphia. I found the book really captivating. Sunset draws a lot of inspiration from "Snow Crash" Star Wars is also a big influence on the game, and I think it's pretty easy to see that in the visual design Q: Whats your favourite idea that had to be cut? A: We originally planned to have 6 episodes, episode 3 was going to be a Mad Max-style wasteland. We ended up dropping this because it would have been a lot of work and didn't really serve to advance the plot of the game Q: I believe you've said Sunset was developed in GZDOOM because it's what you were most familiar with but do you have any regrets about choosing to make the game in that engine over more modern ones? Do you feel it made for a better/worse game overall? Was there anything you absolutely couldn't do that you wanted to while working with a ~30 year old engine? A: I have a mixed mind about this, but the short of it is that I have spent a lot of time adding features to Beyond Sunset that are considered industry standard for most game engines. Stuff like navigation meshes, behaviors trees, menu systems, etc. Lots of nuts-and-bolts stuff. I have become a pretty capable programmer with a much deeper understanding of some otherwise difficult computer-science concepts for sure. So, I don't regret having to do a lot of this stuff myself. The flip side is that throughout development, it's been a constant struggle against the limitations of the engine. I can't speak to how this affected the overall quality of the game, I don't know what sunset would look like I had migrated to Unity. There's a bunch of little gzdoom-isms in Sunset that I overlook, but I think general audiences who are unfamiliar with gzdoom might find them off-putting. In hindsight, using GZDoom created a lot of limitations that I would rather not have had to work around. TL;DR: If I make another game with the same ambitious scope as Sunset, it will not be in Gzdoom. I have another gzdoom side project on the backburner that's a lot less ambitious than Sunset and I think better suited for that engine.
Q1: Do you plan on releasing the UDB config file for user maps? A1: Uh, yes, we definitely have a very real UDB config and are not still building the game as though it were a Doom mod. Q2: Ha, in that case, how many errors does your UDB throw up when you open a map? At one point, RF had like over a hundred A2: Several of hundred. Q: I don't know if this question was answered yet, but where there any cool extra cosmetics added to the game for weapons? A: We don't have any cosmetic modifications for the weapons. We're mostly focused on keepin our weapon roster as small as possible and keeping the guns focused on utility first. if we do end up making any cosmetic changes, they'll probably be fairly basic, like color swaps that said. we have like a gazillion upgrades for them Q: Will the game be divided in levels like classic Doom, or will it be more open? Or maybe have a hub area? A: The game has pretty large non-linear levels that run across multiple maps. I would compare it to Hexen. Q: What I've seen of the game is definitely impressive. Did it push GZDoom to its limits technically, or is it well within the engine's bounds? Best of luck on the game! A: Thanks! One of our design goals was to ensure the game has Vanilla GZDoom support. We made no engine modifications to ensure that the game will remain playable with new GZDoom features well into the future.
Q: I just got recommended this, so I don't know much about the game, but I wanted to say it looks neat and I hope you guys are having fun making it. I guess my question is, why the Doom engine, just for the style? A: Style and comfort. Ive been making doom mods for 20 years, its what I know how to do the best. Q: What are the pros and cons of using GZDoom as an engine compared to other popular engines? How easy is it to learn? A: Pros: very quick prototyping, easy-to-learn mapping tools. Cons: basically everything else. Q: How many chapters or episodes will the final game have? A: We have 5 planned at this time. Originally we planned for 6. We may bring back the lost episode as DLC in the future. Q: Will the game have accurate mouse control, haven't played many GZDoom games, but i remember some having inconsistencies with the x and y axis. Also will the game have QoL stuff like fov, head bobbing... etc A: The mouse control is the stock gzdoom mouse control. Freelook is supported and the sensitivity can be seasoned to taste. Q: What is your preferred approach to storytelling in boomer shooters? I'm mostly thinking on a scale like from Doom 2016 to the original doom, with Ultrakill somewhere in the middle. I've seen some of how you approach story in your own game, and I could assume your game reflects that, but I am also interested in your personal approach to gameplay vs story in this genre. A: Ive taken the approach of letting the story play out through environmental storytelling and interactions with non-player characters. Theres a lot to discover in the game world that helps reveal the full story. I like to reward curious players with deeper lore. Q: Console release? A: Heya! This is Rin from Movie Games, the publisher. Were currently researching options for porting the game. No promises yet but were certainly looking into it!
Q: How does your game stand out from the boomer shooters of the past few years? The list is long and thanks to awesome devs like you it keeps getting longer! A: Beyond Sunset has a more fleshed-out game world than most retro shooters. I see Sunset as a vehicle for its story. Q: This looks so much fun! Just added it to my Steam Wishlist. How big is your team? And how long did it take to make the game? A: 3 Devs, it's taken about 2 years so far. Q: What were the main inspirations for the setting/aesthetics? I really like it A: Im a big fan of synthwave. I wanted to make a synthwave boomer shooter. Q: What game was your introduction to Boomer Shooters? A: Doom 95 If theres still something you wish to know, simply drop us a message! Stay tuned people!