Interview – Almighty: Kill Your Gods Developer RUNWILD Entertainment

Almighty Kill Your Gods looks like a neat mix of some of the best the action RPG genre has to offer. What were some of the games that inspired the design of the game?

We started off by knowing that we wanted to do a multiplayer game where the focus was on co-operative play but that didn’t force you to co-operate in a way that meant you couldn’t progress in the game playing on your own. As we developed things we looked around at games we had played or games we thought were doing aspects that we wanted to include.

There are probably quite a few games that influenced us, but the main ones we discussed early on were Infamous, The Division, and Monster Hunter. Not because they were exactly the type of game that we wanted to make, but because they included elements we were considering and did them well. We iterate and evolve so sometimes we see where the design will take us as we implement things after the initial inspiration.

What are some ideas you had in mind when starting the development of Almighty Kill Your Gods, that guided the design philosophy of the game?

A focus on co-operative play was one, and specifically encouraging players to co-operate rather than forcing them was a key one. The easiest and most efficient route to progress is to team up, but you can Lone Wolf it if you want.

Allowing players to define their own play styles and looking to get emergent play by allowing players to design their own classes rather than relying on fixed ways to play.

What has been the most rewarding part of developing the game?

Seeing the game evolve and become something bigger than we had initially planned, and trusting that iterative process. Developing games can be challenging for lots of different reasons. It’s often hard to step back and take a look at things objectively as all you can see are the areas that you would like to improve. As we approach Early Access, and we are pulling all the different systems together, polishing, bug fixing, optimizing, I think you start to appreciate all the hard work you put in.

Is there anything you wanted to do with the development but ultimately did not make it into the game?

There is quite a lot that didn’t make it into the game, some features we tried out and some that didn’t make it off paper.

We had more of a stealth element in there early on, where you could sneak up on enemies and rip their spines out, but the stealth element became less important the more we developed the game and the scale of battles became apparent so it got dropped.

Monster mating behaviours was parked in preference for other high priority features, and we have a design for a PvEvP mode but decided to focus our efforts on PvE so that never made it off the page.

Some ideas we may come back to as the game develops further, we will see how things go.

What can you best compare Almighty Kill Your Gods to, in its current form? Be it video game or otherwise.

Well it’s not quite finished yet, and in some ways the journey is only just beginning with the game with Early Access launch. So we have loaded up the truck with the equipment we need, fuelled it, and are ready to set off. Where we end up is not entirely decided and we would like players to help decide where the final destination will be.

What have been some of the difficulties you have had when developing the game? Did the pandemic have a major impact?

The pandemic has had a bit of an impact as we haven’t been in the office since March last year. We got everyone setup and working from home fairly quickly, and some people worked remotely already, but the way we worked was to try and quickly iterate, which relied on just throwing ideas around and talking to each other as we went.

Slack and Discord have helped with this to some degree but there’s no substitute for a team working in the same area together. You can ideate and iterate a lot more quickly, and more easily communicate what needs fixing. So it’s probably taken a little time to adjust and change the way we work. You also have things like home schooling to deal with which is obviously fairly disruptive to a normal working week.

What do you feel is the biggest selling point of your game?

We think we have a different approach to multiplayer PvE looter shooters. While a lot of the mechanics we use are tried and tested in the genre, the blend we have we feel gives a unique experience. It has a co-op focus but it doesn’t force it on you with mechanics that stop progress. Killing a god on your own will be incredibly difficult but you can still do it on your own, and you don’t have to be online to do it either as we support offline play.

What can you tell me about the music in the game? Is there any part of the soundtrack you feel particularly proud of?

We wanted something a bit unique for the game, we licensed some music early on when we were putting the prototype together that was your usual orchestral stuff which is cool enough, but we wanted something with a bit more attitude, something a bit more punk and rebellious. Your fighting against an authoritarian power and so it needed to reflect that spirit.

We also wanted something that reflected the visuals in the game, and because we were looking at a lot of Mongolian architecture and armour at the time we started looking at Mongolian folk-rock, bands like Tenneger Cavalry, The HU, Nine Treasures, and the music kind of evolved from those influences, with maybe a bit of Black Grapes cover of Pretty Vacant thrown in for good measure.

How do you feel you can have Almighty Kill Your Gods stand out among the wide selection of games right now?

Well that’s certainly one of the main challenges any game faces today with the amount of games that are released on Steam each week. We feel we have a unique theme and setting for the game, it doesn’t really look like much that’s out there at the moment, it’s over the top and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The ability to build a home in addition to the usual power fantasy of character progression and upgrading. Whilst base building is not new, rebuilding your Home Island, which is persistent and evolving, will directly affect your progression and power. You can visit friends’ islands, and they can visit yours and you can help each other to rebuild as well as defending it from enemy raids.

The visual style for the game is a rather interesting one. How did you decide upon it?

We let the game lead us to some degree, a lot of the influence for the players character came from Welsh mythology and where the wolf theme started with the Cwn Annwn. That lead us to some Mongolian mythology with Ghengis Khan being born of wolves where that eastern visual influence came in, so we evolved an ‘east meets west’ theme for the players race and architecture. We also preferred the martial arts approach to magic which suited the kind of action we wanted, we didn’t want bearded guys in gowns jumping around waving sticks.

The Elder Gods have a Technomnacy and Technocracy theme, a greater emphasis on using machines and combining flesh and machines to enhance their magic. So more of a sci-fi element came in with them. Whilst we didn’t want to make them actual aliens they needed to be an alien culture to the Kun Anun. The Elder Gods also draw influences from Sumerian lore, the Annunaki and the idea of these powerful beings interfering and influencing things in the distant past, with a bit of Lovecraft thrown in for good measure.

Do you have anything you would like to say to the readers of Real Otaku Gamer?

We hope your readers will consider giving the game a go in Early Access. We are working hard to make sure the reduced price point we launch at provides a value proposition and fun experience from the start.