Chris Hunt is a British journalist, magazine editor, and author. He has worked in journalism for over twenty years, most often writing about football or rock music. He was managing editor of Match from 1993 to 2001, a period that saw the weekly title become Britain's biggest selling football magazine. Between 2001 and 2006 he was the Editor of a series of special editions of UK music magazines, Mojo, Q, Uncut and New Musical Express, producing themed publications on subjects such as The Beatles, U2, Kurt Cobain, Oasis, punk rock and mod. He was the editor of the series of three special editions of Mojo magazine that told the story of The Beatles one thousands days at a time - the three magazines were eventually published as the book, The Beatles: 10 Years That Shook The World, by Dorling Kindersley in 2004. His book, World Cup Stories: The History Of The FIFA World Cup, was published in April 2006 to accompany a BBC television series of the same name. The book was updated in November 2006 and published in a Greek language edition in 2010. His second book about the tournament, The Compact Book Of The World Cup, was published in 2010 in both the UK and North America.
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» All Journalist InterviewsHi!
I am working on Kenshi, a squad-based sandbox RPG with RTS element. I started the project solo, somewhere between 6-8 years ago. The first 4ish years I spent working alone whilst working 2 nights a week as a part-time security guard, living the cheap life.
During this time I turned down a job with a AAA developer, and kept batting away the advances of a publisher that wanted to give me half a million dollars.
When I finally released the first early-access version end of 2011 it instantly made me enough of an income to quit my part-time job and work on the game full-time, with the occasional freelancer.
When Steam started Greenlight almost 2 years ago I jumped in and Kenshi got approved in the first batch! Money rolled in and I have been taking my time since then slowly recruiting a super skilled team, we're now up to 6 people.
Some useful links:
Greenlit on Steam in 2013
http://store.steampowered.com/app/233860
More info on our website
Got some attention on Reddit back in 2012
http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/zqtzu/i_like_it_when_a_dev_shows_a_little_sense_of_humor/
Proof that we’re us:
I will be answering most of the questions, but other team members may drop in if it matches their field. I will list them here if they do:
Myself- Chris Hunt, Head Developer - Captain_Deathbeard
Kole Hicks, Sound Designer & Composer - …………………………….
We’ll be around to chat all day today.
Free Steam keys!
The top 3 questions or comments with the most upvotes will win a free Steam key for Kenshi.
So please ask away :)
EDIT Finished! I need to sleep now, thanks for all your friendly questions!
In the "later" parts of the game, if/when the player gathers a large number of people, stable base/s, are there any plans to have government-type options available, like appointing a character to do the micromanaging of a distant base, or have "vassal" settlements that pay taxes to you if they like or fear you enough?
With regards to the player party, will they ever get more personality and individualism, or is it planned for them to continually be blank slates/pack mules?
And finally, will we be able to make slaves of captured enemies?
Thanks!
I'm planning to have citizen NPCs, so they can run your town for you and you won't need to manage 30 characters to run everything.
More personality in characters is possible now, but I have to be careful to keep dialog from being annoying or repetitive in a sandbox game. Don't want "arrow to the knee" syndrome.
As for enslaving others, I'm not sure about it yet, but quite possibly.
What was the biggest technical challenge you faced in the development process?
The pathfinding system. It's the single biggest technical constraint we have. Normally it's easy, but if you have a seamless world, it gets way more difficult because you have to stream it in sections and stitch them all together. Plus the player can build things, so it needs to be dynamically changing. Then the player can build walls, how do you trace which areas are inside/outside the walls? The AI needs to know. What if the walls are vast, overlapping zones, or going into unloaded areas? What if they close off or open up an area? It's insanely full of problems.
What is your opinion of the Greenlight process? Do you think developers are all given a fair shot? I always see interesting proposals, but the games that are greenlit are disappointing, Rock Simulator for example.
I can't say for sure what it's like now, I got through at the very start so I'm sure it's a different experience now. The place is probably flooded with games, good and bad. I think I got lucky that I released Kenshi just before the indie boom, so it got the attention it needed. I see a lot of bad games getting through, so that worries me, but I have no idea how many, if any, good games are getting missed.
What about taking online interns? Clearly your resume is insanely important in the gaming industry; even more so than most careers if gamasutra job ads are to be believed. There are tons of kids desperate to be involved in a project like yours just to gain experience and add notches to their belt. Wouldn't that be a viable option as it doesn't add overhead yet adds much needed manpower? That would apply to any legitimate indie developer, IMO. I know my school is huge on co-op programs but I'm sure there are some in your area.
No unfortunately if you don't pay people, they don't work, no matter how excited and sincere they are about it. I tried all the volunteer team stuff way back at the start, it simply doesn't work, and you waste all your time emailing them and briefing them.
There are exceptions of course, but they are 1 in 100. Methelina has made us a couple of awsome creatures for example, she's great. But in general I have a policy of not accepting free help for this reason. It actually hinders more than it helps.
having the ability to micro alot would be good for those of us who can handle it
Noted.
Mr. Hunt, the Deathbeard of Captains. Big fan, I've been following your game since 2012 now, and I love the games uniqueness in today's market.
Question: You were a security guard before you became a full time developer right? Any good stories from that job?
I loved exploring the abandoned factories and stuff on patrol.
One time I went to the top floor of an abandoned warehouse. It was a huge, empty dust covered floor, with an equidistantly spaced grid of dead birds, in various states of decay. Seriously a vast, perfectly spaced grid.
One time I got charged by a badger.
One time I had to work a whole night paired up with a nazi.
Usually I slept through most of it so I could do more programming in the day.
If I found intruders, usually I politely said that they had accidentally wandered into private property, and they always went along with the farce and politely apologised and left. Sometimes I'd just scream and chase them and they'd freak out. Depended on my mood.
I'm not sure if I'm too late for this but, Ihave two questions.
Through the history of Kenshi's forums, time and time again people have requested different styles of weapons like polearms and knives and dual wielding (though usually not spelled correctly). Do you have any plans for additional weapon types and/or dual wielding in the future?
We've all been eyeing that greyed out race button with curiosity. I've heard some people say there are plans for a robot race, and I've heard in an interview "maybe a goat". Can you share any plans you currently have for other races? Will be there be catgirls aka Nekuman? If there are robots, what sort? Will they blend in with Kenshi's current graphical themes (big, bulky, lots of iron, slipshod, and worn-down), or will the juxtapose?
Thanks for at least reading, and thanks for Kenshi!
1- Polearms, knives, 1 handed weapons and unarmed combat are the plans. Not dual wielding though.
2- They're still in design phase, but so far we have 3 solid designs and 2 vague ones, maybe I will show them at a later date.
If you're starting a brand new settlement, how do these citizens come about in the first place? Are they just naturally drawn to your settlement once it gets big enough, can you "hire" them to your city like you would your party, or do you have some other mechanic in mind to bring random NPCs to your man-made settlements?
Refugees and freed slaves I think would be the main source.
If you do implement the enslaving of others, will we be able to create massive slave armies?
Yeah but it would be an army that can turn on you at any moment.
Well, I guess I'll get the ball rolling.
WHEN IS THE NEXT UPDATE!?!?!?!?!?!
I read the thing on the website about the ai dialogue system, which sounds really cool. Where are you planning on taking it? And what do you think it will be capable of?
Also, do you have any top beard care tips? What is your favourite kind of beard? Have you visited /r/beards?
I've seen bees mentioned on the kenshi forums, but I arrived to late to figure out what it's all about. Care to explain the significance?
The next update is being held back by the pathfinding system, that has to be finished first, until then all the other new features are held hostage. Hopefully less than a month.
The new AI/Dialog system is awesome, modders will have tons of power with it. You can branch off dialog based on all kinds of complicated readings of the situation, and dialog lines can trigger actions too so it becomes gameplay. I just made a guy who hurls abuse at you if he sees you in town, then says "Watch your back!" and goes and waits outside the town gates for you. Then he follows you later when you leave, hurling more abuse, and attacks once you are out of range of the town guards.
You could do more too, like make him a racist that only attacks if you are a certain race, or make him only hate you if you are tall or something random like that. They can also remember what you did.
I'm more of a short-beard man myself, but I like all "Evil" beards.
There is a person on the forums called "Bee Salesman" who occasionally pops into a thread and tries to promote bees. It sort of took off and infected peoples minds, and I made it worse by censoring the word "bees" on the forum for fun.
Have you thought of a system so we can controll more then twenty people ?
I'm planning to have a squad organisation window, so you can divide them up into different squads.
Do you find that having too many characters brings too much micromanagement or makes the game less fun?
Is there any plans to better the trading part of the game? Dynamic pricing with actual commodity markets? Also caravans with pack animals would be amazing. I've really been impressed with your community updates and the rate at which you deliver quality content. I bought in two years ago and haven't been dissatisfied at all. I wish more green light/beta/kickstarter teams would follow your example.
Traders will have pack animals for sure.
Real simulated commodity markets though, as awesome as that would be I think that would be stretching things too far for us. Too much complexity involved, too much bug potential.
1: I was wondering as you develop your game do you come up with new things to add continuously or do you already have all that you want for it mapped out? 2: And if you do come up with new ideas as you go does that push back your ideal release date?
I'm always coming up with new ideas and stuff. Generally though anything new usually just refines existing stuff, or constitutes a new game.
You guys have talked about oceans and rivers before, so are you also considering boats/other ways to travel on water? And if not how would we cross rivers, just swim across (with our massive backpacks that weigh 40 kg), build bridges, use bridges that are already there?
Swimming and building bridges, but you won't be able to swim in heavy armour.
Hey there, Chris!
I had a question concerning custom content. One of the elements that I see taking part in gameplay from users is role-playing, or self-story based play. With the new dialog options, and more life-like AI's, is it conceivable in the future to actually be able to mod in a solid story-like adventure, based on events and triggers/flags? Effectively turning the game into a more story-line game via modding?
Yes, that should be totally possible now.
Last time I played the big towns/cities wasn't as lively. Are you planing giving the bigger cities mor significans than "just a place to trade"?
Yes, absolutely. Not the current cities, but when we make the new world map they will be better. Defences, gateway control & searches, places to rob, guilds to join, slaves to free, executions to escape.
Since you have the beasts that will be coming out soonish, will you be able to tame them and breed them to get leather or something to that effect?
Yes, they could also join your squad. There will be a taming skill. You'll also be able to steal eggs/pups and raise them yourself if they can't be tamed as adults.
So when you say refugees, what do you mean? Sounds to me like people who lost their homes to war or banditry and are coming to your city to start new lives or escape from danger, but is there any possibility to have something where citizens in other cities may think 'gee, I might do better living over there, why don't I give it a shot' and you get people genuinely interested in living at your settlement?
Like you said, displaced by war and banditry, probably not from normal cities.
Hi, I recently desided to also make game that I would enjoy. And it was thanks to you and Kenshi, that I managed to figure it out. So I would like to thank you and tell you, that you are inspiration for me.
And now the questions:
1)Are you planing on making animals mountable?
2)Will there be possibility to take city by converting it, or by getting population on your side?
3)Will there be granades or other kind of explosives, maybe for blowing up gates or alternative lockpicking?
4)Have you ever thought about ending the game, becouse you couldn't afford it?
5)Do you like jello?
6)After how much time of development or in which state of the game did you shown Kenshi to the outside world?
7)Do you have any plans after you finish Kenshi?
8)How many people do you have to kill with your beard to earn title Deathbeard?
9)And how did you make your beard look so awesome? My still looks shity.
10)Where did you get the willpower to read all my questions?
End of question part.
Thank you for reading my comment and I wish you luck in your further work. I look forward to the future updates.
1- not likely
2- unsure at this point
3- no
4- no, that would be crazy
5- no, jello is stupid! Stupid jello.
6- I guess the first trailer. Search Kenshi 1st trailer on youtube. The game had no audio whatsoever for the first couple of years.
7- I have more games lined up.
8- Four
9- You have to think manly thoughts every night before bed, and brush your teeth with beer.
10- I'm half asleep and therefore can't experience suffering.
1) What's it like to be a game developer? 2) What's the biggest challenge of what you do? 3) How successful has Kenshi been?
1) It's totally awesome
2) Publicity, marketing, maintaining releases and keeping the players happy.
3) It's sold about 100k copies. We have enough money to run the team for about another year before we finish.
I've been watching the development of your game for over a year now. I've been tempted to buy the game but haven't yet due to the completion percent of the game. My question is this: With the abundance of talent in the community and other areas online have you ever been tempted to expand your team, allowing you to finish the game quicker? Why or why not? Purely monetary reasons? Thanks for doing this AMA. Can't wait for the finished product.
I feel 6 people is enough, I think it's the ideal team size. Remember the advantage indies have is their small teams, the bigger the team, the more money you need to survive. The more your games have to sell in order to break-even, and if you slip up your company is done for. This is especially important at the moment, as the indie game industry is growing so rapidly meaning it's less stable and less attention and therefore money to each individual game.
Less money needed to survive = less sales needed = less pressure + better games
What kinds of Biomes are in the new world map and when can we expect oceans or lakes?
A quote from Oliver, the mapmaker himself:
"The new world isn't rigidly defined yet and evolves dependent on whim, fancy, and sometimes rules, like neighboring biome influences.
There are varieties of forlorn wastelands, many different deserts, saddening valleys and sprawls of cataclysmic loss throughout.
Oceans, lakes, estuaries, swamps and other sources of water lap at the edges of some of the deserts."
The new map will be released when Kenshi hits "beta", I want to take the time to properly fill the map with cool stuff rather than release it empty.
When you're not developing Kenshi, what are you doing? Do you play other games, or do you have hobbies that arent related to computers?
I always play games but I try to keep it minimal because I'm worried about getting RSI. I usually try to stick to controller-based games for that reason. I also watch a bit of anime. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is the best thing ever.
Also at the moment I'm getting into motorcycles.
What is your opinion on pies?
I prefer bees
I think I missed the questions but here goes, I love the game but what are you thinking about for after this game is fully complete? Do you have the next big thing (a new different game) in mind or a new more powerful kenshi 2? Great game love the beard.
I know this is semi far into the future with the way youve been hitting snags but I am curious nonetheless if you have been looking ahead.
Yes, I have a whole new game planned, it's super amazing, and as cool and ambitious as Kenshi but also completely different. And also a secret.
I may also make Kenshi 2 one day.
How do you feel about the current atmosphere of the Indie game scene in regards to it welcoming new developers?
I honestly have no idea what it is like for a new developer now. It looks pretty welcoming I think. We have Bristol Games Hub for example, that provides cheap desk space to indies and gives workshops and stuff.
Did you have any previous experience in game development? How hard was it/is it to implement things that you want but don't know how to do?
Not really, no education either, I just taught myself from books when I was younger. Nothing is hard to do when you love it. Except 3D maths.
Thanks for answering! and Awesome I am psyched for the years ahead man!
I also have 2 more games after those too, I just hope nobody else thinks of them first. I already scrapped my old zombie game idea years ago.
Awesome. Being an indie dev sounds so fun!
More question!
1) Whats the funnest part about your job?
2) What has been the biggest setback so far?
3) What's your lifestyle like as a game dev?
Oh and I may have to buy a copy of Kenshi! It seems like so much fun from your description of it to other people!
1) Making games, seeing things come to life and hilarious bugs.
2) Replacing the pathfinding system, I now regret doing it, but it's nearly done now.
3) Pretty similar to a normal desk-job, except I'm enjoying myself. Also a much better atmosphere.
When it all started how did you stay motivated to continue your work? Was it you just wanting to see your game idea come to life? Or a strive to finish the game before the community fills the forums with pie?
I think motivation is my default state. Unmotivated days are just a natural random anomaly. I just wanted to make my dream game, what else am I gonna do, be a security guard forever? Get a programming job? All unacceptable.
What upcoming feature are you most excited about?
Do you think the game has gone as you planned/have you managed to keep your vision and implement the all or most features you initially intended?
Do you think the game is going to be able to get all the time it needs.
I don't mean to sound pessimistic, I'm just really excited about Kenshi, snagging a copy way back when it was first greenlit. Since that time I've seen more and more early access games dying or not finishing feature complete.
I love the ambition of what I initially learned about the game, and I think you have been doing quite well with developing and updating decently regularly, so just wondering!
P.S. The new map looks beautiful from what I've seen!
Slavery. Getting one of your characters randomly captured and forced to work in a camp or something, and figuring out a way to escape or rescue him.
It's going as planned so far, but I still want to get the remaining features in. I'm not disappointed by anything.
Yeah, I can do it, failure is impossible.
What is something you find really relaxing?
Playing games. They can even make you forget you're ill.
How mod friendly is Kenshi?
It comes bundled with the tool that we use to make the game, it's designed to be very moddable. Unfortunately there's no scripting languages though.
What made you become an Indie developer, and what motivated you the most when it came to declining a job offer such as the one you wrote about?
Existing games weren't good enough, so I had to do it myself.
Declining a job is not hard when you hate jobs more than you hate being broke. Even if working on games I would have hated it. There was really no acceptable alternative future for me, so I just kept my eyes on the goal.
What work have you done before becoming an Indie game developer?
Ikea trolley boy, Lidl checkout, Assembly line worker, freelance programmer, and I was a street kitchen salesman for 20 minutes but then I ran away.
I don't like jobs.
Hi, first of all I wish to say well done! It seems you worked hard to accomplish your dream!
I have a few questions:
1) Can you describe what's special about Kenshi in 2 sentences?
2) Did you feel some "pressure" during the process of developing your game?
3) Why did you name your game "Kenshi"?
Ty for this ama!
1) Seamlessness and emergence. In what other game can you get randomly captured by cannibals?
2) Not in the past, but now I have a team to pay and public pressure.
3) It's japanese for "Swordsman". A samurai was a swordsman who loyally served a lord, a ronin was an ex-samurai with no master, but a kenshi is literally just a dude with a sword, a nobody.
I have had this game since in went on green light sale like two years ago, and continue to look forward to all the updates.
Q:Since you plan on instituting slavery, as you have instituted cannibals, will "slavers" be a faction or a job (by job i mean the way you can set a worker to do a task)?
Q:So say I want my factions to not like slavery and be an "enlightened society," would you consider instituting something like a legal system where my society would outlaw slavery within my territory? No cannibals! No slavery! No running! Leave heavy weapons at the police station on your way in!
Q:For that matter, will territories be instituted or will they continue to exist only within the city (and i guess sight of the guards)?
Q:You've mentioned having traders and such, but what about guards? Then I could take my band of 10 good fighters off to raid cannibal/slaver camps and such, without having to stay and defend those worker/trader types.
Continue the good work, its inspiring to see someone make a game they want, without caving on their principles.
Edit: or tried to edit formating
1) Yeah I had to adjust the AI to incorporate 3rd part orders from a slave master. So I think I'll have to give the player characters an "obedience switch" in the GUI, so you can still control your character to rebel or leave him to comply as needed.
2) I think that is mostly already handled by faction animosity, but maybe it would be worth adding an anti-slavery flag.
3) Outside of towns is no-man's land. Although you can sometimes get bounties if you mess with the wrong person.
4) Yes, you'll be able to have NPC guards looking after your base.
Will there be hostile creatures in the water? Hippos, Gators, Crocodiles, Piranhas, freshwater sharks? If so i can have some fun chumming the water with disabled bandits, or using them as a distraction as i swim across further upriver.
Most likely
With the planned introduction of creatures, will we be seeing any mounts for our characters? It would certainly increase the danger of running into a mounted patrol, as well as speeding up travel
Not likely, but not 100% impossible either.
Which imagined features do you constantly have to remind yourself that you don't have the time to implement? It seems like there are a million directions to take the game and even you must have a few secret favorites that will, sadly, never see the light of day.
Yeah, I call it Dwarf Fortress Syndrome. You start thinking where this town guard lives and sleeps, where will he get his food from, does he have a wife, where is his bed, does he get paid... Same reason I'm not implementing dynamic economy or boats, and I'm reluctant to add mounts.
will you ever be adding multilayer or giving away your tools you used for modders to CREATE multiplayer? i as much as the game is great and continues to improve even in its early state i feel the ability to import your characters into another game or even create a whole new world for co op players to play/build/live in would be interesting, the time mechanics could be a "vote on" system where is has to be unanimous to skip time, i am sure you get asked this alot, also will you be adding in a "tame" option to tame beasts to pull cart etc for more storage and portability or even wounded members/kidnapped?
Multiplayer is impossible to add at this point in development, it's too late.
Taming will be a thing though.
Since i haven't seen it asked yet, and i know a certain someone who is dying to have it answered.
Will there be catgirls aka Nekuman?
No, afraid not, but it shouldn't be too hard to mod.
Are you ever going to add any hardcore elements such as a need for your people to eat, sleep and maybe even drink?
I mean you currently have bread and rum in the game and beds for the injured, it could be used up on a town basis of stockpile but if you have no town it could be used up similar to that of mount and blade warband's system
Food water is going to be necessary for your base, and for survival in the wilds.
1)Since there are eggs/pups, does that mean there will be a creature life cycle?
2)Will the creatures begin to hunt you down if you do steal an egg/pup?
3) Can I create an army of animals to mercilessly hunt down my enemies?
Yes to all those things
Are we eventually going to able to build into the terrain? Eg: Building mountain bases? The mountains in game could offer some really cool opportunities.
No, technical limitations.
Hello Chris, I'm currently attending school as a computer science major. I've been really wanting to get started on working on my own games but.. That's just it. I don't know where to begin! I've made a text-based adventure game in Java with save features, potions, spells, random monsters, etc... But Idk where to implement graphics or make the game go on any further! Basically I know how to code "logically" but I have no idea how to get started with any sort of UI, graphics, sound, advanced input, etc. So my questions are:
1) As an aspiring game developer, what would be a great place to start learning how to implement graphics into games? 2D, 3D, etc. I know you have to start somewhere, so where?
2) What language have you used to create Kenshi?
3) Any tips on design? As in what can you do to make it adjustable and.. Well prevent it from being a pain to work with later?
4) Any ideas for projects that I could do to get my skills up? I just need something to work on. I love programming but Idk what to do! I feel like I can't really do anything yet with what I know..
5) Is there a way I can contact you personally outside of this AMA and possible get advice/tips as I move on?
Oh and in relation to Kenshi.. I absolutely love the game and it's what I've been searching for for a very long time. I've showed countless people here at school the game, got another dozen or so copies sold, and I just try to promote it as much as I can - once I start playing it again (post update) that'll definitely happen!
Oh. I also can't grow a beard because of where I work. So my last question is..:
6) Have you ever worked at a place that didn't allow facial hair? How'd you get around that? How'd it make you feel?
Bees.
1) Find an engine, Unity is the popular one right now, theres also cryengine and unreal. Read their tutorials or whatever, and you're off. Turbosquid.com is good for free or cheap models.
2) C++
3) Code cleanly, learn design patterns and design your code carefully from the start.
4) Make a game, anything, even a huge project. Just learn as you go, step by step, learn to move the camera, then place a character, etc A 2D game is easiest first because there is less maths.
5) You will get much better advice on the forums of your chosen game engine
6) No I haven't, I'm lucky, but I don't think it's right to control your employee's lives to that extent. I think they do it usually as a domination thing than for any real reason.
Bees.
Is it too late? What's your favorite book?
The Malazan series by Steven Erikson. Nothing compares.
Do you have an immaculate beard? If so, can we see it?
Not until I get to know you better.
boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxers. Commando is too unsafe with button flies
Have you begun looking at or developing future products after this game is completed?
I really appreciate this game, picked it up when you were back around 0.50 version. It was the first game I bought that was in development. I'm really happy with the progress you, and now your team, have made. Thanks for doing consistent work and following through!
I've got about 3 more awesome games to make after this one.
I have a couple of questions about some current features of the game (everything I wanted to ask about development has been pretty much covered by others, and I'm very satisfied by the answers you've given. :) ).
What does "Haul" do? on storage boxes? is this a feature that has yet to be implemented, or am I just being dense?
what is the easiest way to balance a characters attack and defence combat skills? Obviously attack increases at a much greater rate, is it just a case of putting them on "blocks only" for a while? or is there a better way?
I tried to find this stuff out for myself but the Kenshi Wiki thing is useless. Is that anything to do with you? Whoever is responsible for it, I DEMAND A MORE COMPREHENSIVE WIKI!!!
1) They're supposed to automatically fill or deliver the resources from the box as needed.
2) You probably play with a large number of characters right? I find my defence increases faster because I'm getting beaten up all the time.
How will fast travel be implemented?
-If it is an instant teleport option will factions at war with eachother disable their side of the portal? It would open them up to instant attacks if not, and really doesn't seem to fit into the game.
-Will it be more of a caravan system, we say we want to go to X on the far side of the map and pay an amount based on distance to hire guards? Sort of slow travel, but seems to fit better.
-Catapults! You pay, sign death and dismemberment waiver.. they throw you as close as possible. No guarantees you won't splat on the wall, go past the town into a cannibal camp, or just a short ways into the desert. Team members arriving in the same area not guaranteed.
Maybe you have something different in mind, i favor the catapult one though.
It's not guaranteed at this point, but something like in fallout 2
What are your favorite video games?
X-com games, Jagged alliance 2, Original War, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Elite
Not sure If I missed this or not, but heres my question and comment.
I bought this game as soon as it was greenlit, I was under the (possibly wrong)assumption that it was more of a spaghetti western/ samurai game with an apocalyptic world, and being a big Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven fan, I was sold.
Since greenlit I haven't seem much as far a new ideas that give me the idea that I was correct.
Will you implement more of a western feel as time progresses? (Hint, please I so badly need a cowboy hat & serape along with my Katana ;)
I have many early access and greenlite games, this is by far my favorite. Praises to you and your team, I have stuck by through the "soundless days" I look forward to the future of Kenshi.
I don't know, the western theme seems to be slipping away slowly as the world takes it's own form and style, but I think there will always be a hint of it.
Do you ever play Kenshi for fun? (Not to test a new feature)
Yes, but it usually turns into bug-fixing.
It may have been answered I am 6 hours late, but when is this gonna be early access again? I mean I started playing this before there was even sound or talk of sound being worked on, and now every time I see something about this its like a toddler kicking me in the shins, instead of something that got me excited. I mean I am jonesing bad for this, but I know the last version we got isn't even the same engine as the new one, I expected to wait months for 64 bit, I knew that, but I kind thought once it was done we would get it in the early access version so I can play with out the memory crashes happening like crazy, and now last update I saw I saw a list of like 5 things that you want to finish before the next update.
Basically I miss feeling like I was part of the early access, I mean basically right now I got leg one of beta stage, I consider the other stuff all alpha, and when this patch hits I will be at final stages of beta, like 6 months away from a game EA or Sega would sell as 1.0 then patch a dozen times...
Yeah, all the features are being held hostage by the unfinished pathfinding system, I can't release it until the pathfinding is ready, or else the game would be unplayable.
As I recall, earlier versions of kenshi had blood effects in some of their screenshots. I think I heard something about the blood being taken out due to conflicts with the lighting system, but I don't know if that's true. Would you mind sharing why blood was removed and if / when-ish it might come back? And just how bloody will it be?
Thanks!
It was just too buggy for release, but soon we will make it super bloody.
I have followed kenshi for maybe 2-3 years now a while before kenshi was ever on steam and bought it on desura anyways...
1)What would you say is your favorite feature in Kenshi that is already implemented or planned?
2)Do you any sort of ETA when the first slaves will be in Kenshi?
3)Did you expect kenshi to do this well? better? worse?
P.s. signed up for reddit just for this event :)
1) The medical system
2) Probably the update after the upcoming one
3) Yeah, I pretty much expected it, but it's still a shock.
Alright, so I just registered on Reddit for the sole purpose of asking you this: When is limb amputation going to be added to the game? (And blood, but that's just cosmetics)
Btw ur awsome
Not for a while, it will be nearer the end of development.
Who was the AAA developer? The Publisher?
It would probably be unprofessional of me to say.
Will more features be implemented to allow you to play a character without the need to start making a large base?
For my first characters I think I would rather just purchase or rent a house in a town that would be a place to store things securely and maybe set up a workbench to attain some medium level technologies without going all out and having a walled base somewhere.
Or maybe the ability to be a traveling caravaneer with a wagon to bring everything with you, with high chance of being robbed.
Yes, and you can already buy buildings in town, if you click on the door you sometimes get a buy button.
I think I can say for a certainty that beards are epic. People with beards are even more epic. Characters in-game with beards are perhaps the most epic of all. I really love Kenshi, but I do have a question, about beards. Will I be allowed, at some point, to have a female character with a beard?
As a girl I've always fantasized about joining the beard club, but I’m forever cursed with the genetic inability to grow one. Could Kenshi be the self-realizing-beard-power-fantasy I’ve longed for, and is such sorcery even possible?
It's not really worth the effort, because the model is different we'd have to re-make all the beards and textures to fit the female. But you are right though, beards are awesome. Especially girls with beards.
Question for potentially any and all of the Kenshi staff: what was your biggest facepalm (or equivalent action) moment while working on Kenshi or reading the forums?
If you were to have a character in Kenshi, what would would his/her name be, and what would be their back story?
If you had to vote on a company motto for Lo-Fi Games what would your vote bee?
And because Lumi and I were getting into an argument about (yes, this really just happend, and you dont have to answer the following question) what the best type and color of underwear are, what are your favorites and do you plan on adding an option to change or choose different underwear in Kenshi?
A freelancer I had working for me played the game and thought it was an MMO, he said he was trying to find the talk key so he could tell the bandits to stop being dicks and attacking him all the time.
I don't like company mottos, they always seem pretentious. I was going to call the company "Captain Deathbeard and his Magic Company" though.
The underwear is baked into the base texture, so more varieties of underwear would waste vast amounts of texture memory.
I hope this is still going on...
My question is: How is fighting the large beasts going to work? Is ranged the only type of weapon that can be used against it? They seem to be too... unpredictable? to be able to hit with any sort of melee weapon, so just wondering.
I plan to experiment and find out.
When you look back from when you first started making the game are there things you wish you could have add that were possible then that are impossible now because of how far the game is?
Not really, although I would have liked to have multi-threaded it a bit more.