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Today, we had an opportunity to do a Q and A interview with the developer of “Underrail“, Dejan Radisic. So we talked about everything from game development, game design and his advice for new and up and coming developers.

So, without further ado, please enjoy our interview with Stygian Software’s Dejan Radisic =)

Say hello to the Stygian Software team (the full team consists of Dejan Radisic, Ivana Radisic, Mario Tovirac, and Stefan Cupovic ).

Nenad
How did you come up with the idea to develop the game?

Dejan
It’s something I liked doing ever since I was a kid, ever since I learned to program. When it comes to Underrail specifically, I started development on it, when the industry stopped developing classic RPGs and I saw a lot of potential in them.

Nenad
What was your biggest inspiration for “Underrrail”? A lot of people compare it to “Fallout” 1 and 2, do you agree with this?

Dejan
Fallout, besides the similarities to turn-based combat, mostly inspired the art style. Concerning the game mechanics, most of the influence came from System Shock 2 and Neverwinter Nights.

Stygian Software ran into a lot of challenges while developing “Underrail”. Even so, the single biggest challenge for the dev team was the game’s isometric rendering feature.

Nenad
What was your biggest challenge during the development of the game?

Dejan
Probably the isometric rendering. Specifically, aligning objects in a way that their overlapping makes sense. In theory, this is simple, but when objects of different sizes and purposes appear on the screen, this can create quite a few problems.

Some people say that “UnderRail” is a rather hard game, if not “too” hard even. Well, you know what they say right? Git gud or get rekt!

Nenad
A lot of people say that Underrail is hard, sometimes even too hard. Did you plan to make a game like this, and do you think the games today are too easy?

Dejan
I don’t necessarily agree with the notion that Underrail is hard, and would say that it requires the player to be involved and pay attention. Once the player is familiarized with the game mechanics and weapons at hand, the game gets a lot easier.

Since the game expects the player to make the effort and pay attention, it can look too hard for new players.

When it comes to today’s games generally, I think we have a wide variety of games, thanks to digital distribution, especially when it comes to “niche” games. I think that people today have no problem, finding the games that they find hard or challenging.

“UnderRail” looks and feels like a mix of “X-Com”, “Fallout 2”, “System Shock 2” and “Neverwinter Nights”.

Nenad
Did you have problems translating the game from Serbian to the English language? A lot of games have this problem, where the meaning is lost in the translation.

Dejan
We didn’t translate anything, as we write everything in English. Grammar errors aside, we do get a lot of comments, that the writing is a bit awkward. You can tell that English is not our main language, but I don’t think it’s up to the point where people can’t understand it. Except in cases, where we intended it, haha.

Nenad
Did you use any of the Serbian culture or history, in the game?

Dejan
There are a few references here and there, but nothing major. Typically, we don’t draw inspiration for the game from our history.

The story behind how “UnderRail” came to be is just as interesting as the game itself I have to say.

Nenad
You developed and self-published the game. Did you have problems financing the game?

Dejan
No. I’m very conservative when it comes to money, and very liberal when it comes to the time, and it served me well, so far. To be clear, I did finance the game but didn’t develop it alone.

I did develop the game alone for a while, but two more people worked on the game, and for the DLC we got one more member on our team.

The “Expedition” DLC was released for “Underrail” back in July (2019), and it adds tons of new stuff to the base campaign.

Nenad
Just recently you released a brand-new DLC for “Underrail(“Expedition”) . So, re you planning on releasing more DLC content?

Dejan
We are planning on releasing, a new separate campaign. I’m not ready to share the details right now, but you can expect more details in the dev logs.

Could we get to see an “UnderRail 2” in the future? Maybe, time will tell. As for here and now though, Stygian Software will continue to add new content to “UnderRail” for as long as they can and for as long as the market is hungry for more new “UnderRail” content.

Nenad
When, and are you planning to stop adding new content to the game?

Dejan
I think we will eventually completely dedicate ourselves to the new campaign/game, and stop adding the new content to the base game, but I can’t tell you when. Of course, nothing is stopping us from to add a new object or an area into the game, just for the fun of it.

Nenad
After you are done with Underrail, what are you planning for your next game?

Dejan
That’s too far away, to talk about right now.

Only the future will tell what Stygian Software is going to do next after “UnderRail”.

Nenad
Do you have any advice, for new and up and coming game developers?

Dejan
I don’t have any universal advice since everyone’s situation is different, but if you are starting like me, a solo programmer with little money, I can tell you this. You need to have a clear vision of what you want to make, and if there is something on the market designed to the same or greater extent than what you have planned.

There is nothing wrong with following the genre traditions, but it’s good to offer something new, that no other game has.

Love what you do, and you must be prepared and dedicated to finish the project on your own (regardless of the audio/visual quality). That way if nothing else, you’ll at least have that satisfaction.

Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor