GLOOMWOOD ENGINE SOFTWARE

The Portal inspiration is more about the vibe/feel than anything else - the 'silly on the surface, dark humour underneath' feel. Another inspiration was the BBC Micro game 'Imogen' - in which you transform between Wizard, Monkey, Cat - this was the seed of the idea that it would be cool to switch between different entities to exploit their ability set. MindThunk: The Sentinel was the starting point for the serialization mechanics - we've taken the basic idea and extended it. What were your original inspirations for CAE? I read it on Steam Forum that the starting points were Portal games and The Sentinel (1986), which I believe inspired DAD and serialization mechanics. Three years later I had transformed the game into the kind of game I felt it had always wanted to become - a full-blown, open, sandboxy immersive sim. After four years of working together part-time on it, we couldn't agree the future direction of the game, and I wanted anyway to go full-time on it to complete it. we couldn't resist getting carried away, and our 'small puzzle game' quickly morphed into something much bigger.

Our ambitions were modest at first, but as we gained experience and saw the power the engine gave us. When game engine tools matured sufficiently roundabout 2015 (Unity engine), it seemed irresistible to have a go finally.

GLOOMWOOD ENGINE SOFTWARE

MindThunk: Chris and I are both veteran software developers, both always wanted to make games. What were the reasons that you and Chris decided to make CAE 7 years ago? And what eventually drove you to become a full-time solo dev? MindThunk was just a cool sounding name to create the illusion that there is a proper game studio here. MindThunk is me (solo dev), but it used to include former co-developer Chris. MindThunk: My name's Francis, born and bred in jolly old England. Thanks again for making Ctrl Alt Ego! Can you tell us about you (or MindThunk identity) a little bit? So I figured TTLG forum would be the best place to post it, hope you like this interview! The game currently has a 99% positive rating on Steam, check it out if you haven't! Have a look and add it to your wishlist! The interview down below was initially intended to publish on various Chinese gaming sites, but it would be a pity to not to post it in the English world. It got its influence from classics like System Shock, Thief, Dues Ex but managed to be totally different from them, with its puzzle/sandbox emphasis and dark humo(u)r/digital consciousness philosophy theme. a parasite or a bug), able to leap between different equipments, electronics, robots on a space station. The lack of VA didn't bother me because the number of conversations between guards is limited, there's maybe 6 total throughout the campaign.If you don't know Ctrl Alt Ego yet, it's an intersting immersive sim about being a wandering ego (a.k.a. One single, passionate developer, and he did a stellar job with the limited resources at hand.

Then again, the game was made by one person. Guards do have 'tap shoes', the sound engine may not be as good as Thief's (but then again, none actually are), but you can easily tell where a guard is by sound alone, how far away they are and what surface they're walking on, even when the sound is muffled by a door.Īnd yes, the game is not as good as Thief 1 and 2 - the maps lack verticality, there's no mantling, no rope arrow equivalent, no water arrows, no pre-mission purchase screen, no voice acting, the guards are 2D sprites, as are many of the objects, the maps are smaller than the ones in the Thief games (but there is no in-mission saving, so you have to be careful). I have to wonder how much time you actually spent on the game considering you can't even complete the tutorial without actually leaning, and the tutorial takes up all of 10 minutes.

Gloomwood engine