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FORCED: an interview with BetaDwarf artist, Klaes Simonsen

FORCED is a top-down fully-3D cooperative arena combat game for 1-4 players, which has won an Intel award for Best 3D graphics in an indie game. Find out more in our feature interview...

Klaes Simonsen is the 3D environmental artist on BetaDwarfs award-winning computer game, Forced. Forced is a top-down fully-3D co-operative arena combat game for 1-4 player. It won an Intel award for Best 3D graphics in an indie game and was released recently on 24 October. There are lots of interesting things about this game and the story behind it, so lets jump right in!

The approach to Wrathhoofs lair

3dtotal: There are a lot of computer games on the market these days, what makes FORCED special?

Klaes Simonsen: FORCED is about fun mechanics, a mix of enjoyable combat, tactics and puzzle-solving. At BetaDwarf we share a common love for co-op games and playing games with your friends. A lot of the main mechanics in FORCED are made to create communication between the players playing together e.g. talking about the selection of skills, the tactics in each arena and the control of the spirit mentor; Balfus (the player-shared Orb). Each player can control Balfus by pushing a button and he floats towards your character, and you have to utilize his path and control him. It becomes really collaboratively demanding and interesting because people now have a lot of reason to communicate.

In Bloodforest, the trees feed on the vitae soaked ground

3dt: Your website makes a big deal of FORCED being about arena combat, but your screenshots give the impression of area exploration. Whats going on there, are the arenas really big? Are there areas outside of the arenas to explore?

KS: All of our levels are based on the arena concept. Meaning that you are restricted to fight in one area. But sometimes we take that experience a bit further and have the player run around in a bigger environment, containing smaller areas in which the arena fighting takes place.

In accordance with ancient fantasy tradition this boss room features lava

3dt: You also make a big deal of being able to customize your character and fighting style. A lot of games that offer this sort of option fall flat because for all of the choice a system offers you end up having to go with one of a handful of optimal builds to do well. How has your design team avoided this pitfall?

KS: In FORCED you dont have to go with a certain skill setup to complete a trial. As the player progresses through FORCED, they will unlock new abilities by collecting crystal that you are being rewarded with when you complete a trial. This way, they can learn and master the different abilities as they progress through the game, and over time they will find the right skill set that suits them and their character perfectly. We have given the player the option of choosing up to three different abilities and passive skills before entering a trial.

The heroes face Wrathhoof, the boss of the first chamber, in a gladiatorial arena

3dt: Theres a mention of smart enemies too. Without spoiling how you did it, whats the coolest cunning trick youve seen one of the enemies spontaneously pull off?

KS: Our enemies all have an AI, with the ability of working together; for example, our 'Boomer' creature is an enemy that runs directly for the player and explodes and does damage when it gets in contact. When this happens, our 'Swarmers' know to stay away from the explosion and wait, before attacking the player right after the explosion. This adds an increasing level of stress to the player, which we love!

Wrathhoof was in a bad mood before well armed adventurers showed up to try to kill him

But to tell you a fun, unexpected element we hadnt planned for: In the trial 'Run For Cover' (chamber 2, trial 5) where we have a laser beam rotating in the middle of the level, we have an enemy called a 'Cleaver'. It is a big monster with an even bigger axe, which runs towards the player and when he hits the player, the player gets pushed away from the 'Cleaver'. We had a funny example where a 'Cleaver' would hit the player and push them back into the laser beam, instantly executing the player which caused a lot of laughter.

Some objectives are easier said than done

3dt: From the trailer we wouldnt have known that this game had come out of an indie studio rather than being a big-budget production we can see why its won awards! How did you manage to pull that off with limited resources?

KS: Our graphic department holds 5 people. An art director, two 3D artists, one animator and one VFX guy. So it's a small team with all the necessary abilities we need to form a strong and solid collaboration. The art style of the game takes inspiration from the art in games like Diablo and Darksiders. When we create objects for the game, we make sure that the object can be rotated and scaled in many directions so we can get full exploitation of any object we create. We do spend a lot of time on making our textures just right, so they can be reused on other objects. Low-poly objects and texturing is such fun to work with, as it challenges your modeling and drawing skills to the fullest.

Winning the award is something we are really proud of at BetaDwarf. Its a really nice pat on the back and to be honest with you, it made my day for months.

FORCED features tricks and traps as well as enemies, such as these deadly beams of energy

3dt: Getting a little more personal, when you got in touch you mentioned that there was an interesting story behind how this game came together, something about annexing a university room for living quarters? What happened?

KS: When BetaDwarf started, they didnt have any money, so they moved into an unused university classroom during the summer vacation. But one morning after 7 months a teacher randomly entered the room and discovered eight guys in underwear brushing their teeth in front of a ton of hardware. They were thrown out and had to go home, resulting in a rapid Googling of the cheapest place to live in Denmark. Consequently, a few weeks later they collectively paid the rent of a very cheap but massive house in the middle of nowhere.

It was like a dream come true. They were 15 geeks in a house working on a cool game.

They stayed there for a year while making a successful Kickstarter and, finally, they left isolation and moved back to Copenhagen again (today only 4 guys live at the office).

Check out the full story here.

The cameraman has a gun in his other hand

3dt: Whats been the toughest challenge that you personally have overcome so far in making FORCED?

KS: For me personally, I came to BetaDwarf about a year ago when they only had the money to buy the computer equipment and office space, and couldnt really offer any salary. So I was left with the issues of wanting to work on FORCED so bad, but also trying to put food on the table and paying rent. For me, it was more a question on how to maintain a work day of 8-12 hours at BetaDwarf, and still having money enough for the rent.

Luckily for me, we have in Denmark a political system that allows unemployed workers to get a small amount of money every month for about two years, while trying to get a job. That little cash flow kept me going and gave me the opportunity to offer everything I had in me to BetaDwarf and FORCED the game.

Meat grinders offer a grisly fate to careless or unlucky heroes

3dt: Creative satisfaction can be an odd thing, sometimes getting some tiny detail right or pleasing some individual means more than more dramatic achievements. Whats been the most rewarding moment?

KS: Thats a tough question. For me its about creating the small details in my object and textures, for the team to know that it will fit perfectly into the world that they are creating. Its the satisfaction of working together on a big environment and seeing how it all comes together nicely.

The most rewarding bit of making FORCED will be to see it on release day. Its to take a deep breath and let go of all the stress that follows with a release; its to pat your mates on the back and say well done mate. (Without it sounding too corny, it is really rewarding to see something you work on so hard being on the Steam community. That little download button is so freaking awesome).

The estate agent described it as charming, classic and rarely if ever plagued by the screams of its victims

I have a strong opinion that games graphics is art. Art is a way to express a certain feeling or emotion to the viewer, and for game artists the 'viewer is the player'. Its to welcome them into a world that has been created for their enjoyment. Taking the player through these emotions with a well-constructed environment and good character designs make it art.

The group of people who dont call it art are mostly people who don't understand the desire for creating that a true artist is born with.

The Hall of Trials acts as a hub, connecting the rest of the worlds together

3dt: Last question then: If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

KS: The key to happiness lies within our self. Just smile and accept the difference of the guy next to you, and everything will be alright.

Forced Trailer 2013

Forced Summer Trailer 2013

Related links

FORCED the game
FORCED on Facebook
BetaDwarf on Twitter
BetaDwarf on YouTube

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