Environmental storytelling has become a cornerstone of immersive game design. This technique is especially impactful in the survival horror genre, where the atmosphere can heighten tension and evoke an emotional response from players.
In CONSCRIPT, developer Jordan Mochi transports players to the bleak battlefields of Verdun where he masterfully blends historical accuracy with psychological terror. We caught up with Jordan to learn more about the creative process that went into developing CONSCRIPT’s atmospheric and historically rich environments.
How did you use environmental elements to build atmosphere and immerse players in the trenches of WWI?
JM: I had to utilise environmental storytelling a lot throughout the development of CONSCRIPT. Being a one man team meant that I didn’t have the budget or time to do fancy cutscenes that detail every facet of the story. So, I had to often utilise a “show don’t tell approach” to things. This played to my advantage, because this style of storytelling works better for survival horror anyway - as it naturally builds more intrigue and mystery. When the player isn’t shown everything, their mind fills in the blanks. And what the mind creates is often more terrifying than what’s explicitly visible.
Survival horror often relies on creating a strong emotional impact. How does the environmental storytelling in CONSCRIPT evoke the psychological and emotional challenges faced by soldiers during WWI?
JM: My goal with creating the environments for CONSCRIPT, was to demonstrate the absolute bleakness of the time period. Walking through the different levels, you’ll see the corpses of both enemy and allied soldiers killed in action, deceased horses and other animals, mountains of old artillery shells, destroyed buildings that once housed civilians, trenches left abandoned, etc. Letters, photos, and items all were left behind by the destruction, and so I wanted to create that feeling of a lived in world, where certain events have happened without your input. Battles were fought without you there, and the remains of those battles stay left behind while the war rages on.
The remnants of war. This is what soldiers in the trenches had to live with.
“They really were a menace the flies were. I suppose it was due to the fact that, lying between the trenches, you’ve never seen such an array of corpses and bodies and all stages of death and so on and colour and blowing up. And the flies were having a harvest of a time among these.”- Joseph Napier
Balancing historical authenticity with engaging gameplay can be challenging. How did you navigate this balance in your environmental storytelling to create a game that is both true to its WWI roots and compelling as a survival horror experience?
JM: Once I had fully embraced the WW1 setting, balancing the historical authenticity became one of the most enjoyable parts of development. I studied a lot of WW1 era paintings and photography in order to get inspiration for environmental set pieces. The work of artists such as Hans Baluscheck, Otto Dix and John Singer Sargent stood out in particular for me
Many of these paintings in themselves were quite horrific. Artists who had gone to war pulled no punches in their interpretations of what they saw. Compare this to war paintings of previous eras that often visualised war as a romanticised affair. These paintings also gave a fascinating insight into the artists that created them, and how the brutality of the Great War had affected their perceptions.
Shock Troops Advance Under Gas, Otto Dix, 1924
So it turns out, the historical sources that I used as references didn’t really have to be filtered or changed to mesh well with the survival horror theme. Whether it be a painting, poem or letter - all these sources all reflected the horror of the Great War as it was. So, thankfully I didn’t have to take many creative liberties here.
“For days I have seen nothing but the most awful scenes that the human mind can imagine..” - Franz Marc, 1916
Although in cases where I had to put my own spin on history, I made sure it was done with care. For example, custom made propaganda posters littered throughout the opening help tutorialize certain gameplay mechanics in a non-intrusive way, while still remaining cohesive with the historical theme.
For example, the classic survival horror bottomless item box is a staple of the genre - but may feel a little more out of place in a historical setting. Having the mechanic expressed through a propaganda poster helps make it feel right at home and less “game-y”.
You can check out the entire set of custom posters below, or play the CONSCRIPT demo to find them yourself.
These were created by the amazing Athan Shields. It’s an honour to have his work in my game.
CONSCRIPT draws inspiration from classic survival horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. How did these inspirations influence your approach to environmental storytelling?
JM: Classic survival horror games all utilise similar mechanics in their approach to environmental storytelling. One of the most universally shared mechanics between survival horror games is the use of files and notes that you find around the environment and can stash for later use. This translated well into CONSCRIPT, because many soldiers did actually spend their time writing letters and diary entries. And when communication systems were down, using runners or messenger pigeons to deliver important hand-written info was common.
Classic survival horror games are also known for their intricate puzzles, which CONSCRIPT also has. It was quite difficult designing puzzles that remained grounded in the WW1 theme. I wasn’t really able to access that level of campy ridiculousness that many of the old horror games that serve as inspiration have. CONSCRIPT takes place in 1916, so I wasn’t able to fall back on the use of computer terminals or anything high tech - it all had to be kept rather archaic. That being said, I’m happy with some of the solutions I came up with to tackle this problem. I won’t spoil anything, and just let the game speak for itself when it launches.
Another mechanic borrowed from others in the genre is the ability to examine many environmental objects up close. Given the low resolution of the game, this helps immerse players into the WW1 theme and breathes some life into the environment.
Overall, many different classic survival horror games served as inspiration for both the environmental storytelling and the game as a whole.
In what ways do you hope the environmental storytelling in CONSCRIPT will engage players differently compared to other survival horror games?
JM: First and foremost, because this is a story that is grounded in real history - I hope that CONSCRIPT inspires curiosity in history and motivates others to learn about history, whether it be specifically the Battle of Verdun or something else. I think the overwhelming bleakness of the environments is one of the main contributors to the overall atmosphere of CONSCRIPT. Whereas a lot of survival horror games often default to hospitals or mansions, the WW1 themed environments help offer a fresh take on the old school survival horror gameplay formula.
I think the unique setting of CONSCRIPT that is bolstered by its environment design will help it stand out to other games in the genre.
CONSCRIPT comes to Steam on 23rd July! Wishlist it now and check out the demo!
Watch as we try to survive the trenches! I CONSCRIPT Next Fest demo livestream
Listen up soldiers! Join us as we stream gameplay from the new CONSCRIPT Next Fest demo! Join our pre-recorded stream at 5pm BST as we fight to survive the mud and blood of World War One!
⏰ 5PM BST - 11th June
Like the look of CONSCRIPT? Play the Next Fest demo for yourself and don't forget to wishlist:
Watch the new trailer now and book your own rendezvous with death:
Set in 1916, CONSCRIPT plunges players into World War 1 in a survival horror experience inspired by the classics of the genre. Navigate the treacherous trenches of Verdun as a lone French soldier searching for his missing brother.
Enjoy the new Steam Next Fest playable demo now, available until 17 June! This new demo includes the opening of the game, a new soundtrack, local language support and a variety of other improvements.
Features:
Play: Experience classic survival horror gameplay set during the Battle of Verdun with high replayability, various difficulty settings, multiple endings, unlockable costumes, and bonus weapons.
Survive: Survive against enemy soldiers using WW1 melee weapons and firearms in an intense, harrowing atmosphere enhanced by pixel art aesthetics and oppressive sound design.
Explore: Navigate intricate, interconnected WW1-themed areas while solving environmental puzzles and managing resources effectively.
CONSCRIPT developer, Jordan Mochi of Catchweight Studios has been inspired by classic survival horror games since day one. Whilst modern horror games have moved away from a lot of the mechanics made popular by genre titans like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Jordan was always keen to incorporate inventory management, complex puzzles and labyrinthian level design into CONSCRIPT. We sat down with him to chat about classic horror games and how he has adapted the feeling of these games for a modern gaming audience.
Was the retro survival horror inspiration something that was baked into CONSCRIPT’s DNA from day one of development, or was it something that naturally evolved as you worked on the game?
JM: CONSCRIPT was always going to be a retro survival horror game, long before it was even known as CONSCRIPT. It took me a little while to zone in on a particular setting, but I always knew it’d be a ‘history based classic survival horror game’. I just felt that most modern horror games default to settings such as haunted mansions, abandoned hospitals, sci-fi space stations, etc. This is not to say these settings can’t be interesting, I just wanted to do something a bit more unique.
What inspired you to create a game that takes a lot of its cues from 90s survival horror games, rather than creating a more traditional modern horror game?
JM: Honestly, I just prefer classic survival horror mechanics to modern horror. I’ve never really delved too deeply into modern horror games outside of the Resident Evil remakes, so I don’t have the most educated opinion on them. Although from what I’ve played, it seems that modern horror design stems from a sense of disempowerment and also more reliance on jump scares. This is just a style of design I’m not too much of a fan of, but that’s just my opinion of course. It’s cinematic, sure, but I just don’t find it as fun to play when compared to the original Resident Evil or Silent Hill trilogy.
To contrast, classic survival horror games have their own unique design where insurmountable odds are thrown at the player, but they are given enough tools to fight back and triumph, given they make smart decisions during gameplay. To me this is more satisfying than just constantly having to run away (again, just my preference). I like games that give me a sense of agency.
Due to my fondness of that old school design, CONSCRIPT takes way more cues from older games than modern horror.
Which of CONSCRIPT’s mechanics or features do you think best encapsulates the feeling of playing a classic survival horror?
JM: There’s a few different mechanics that make the game feel like survival horror. The level design really harkens back to exploring the mansion in RE1 or the police station in RE2 with doors that you slowly unlock and save rooms that you rest at. Similarly, the limited inventory space forces you to make calculated decisions about what weapons and equipment you need to carry through the trenches. Combat is also quite methodical, requiring you to understand your positioning relative to enemy soldiers. Guns also have a very manual old school feel where you must eject shells, pump the shotgun, etc before firing new rounds. This greatly adds to the tension of combat encounters. And for survival horror to work, tension is obviously very important.
The ‘classic survival horror’ description carries with it an expectation of quite a difficult gaming experience. How have you approached difficulty in CONSCRIPT?
JM: By default, CONSCRIPT shares a lot of the difficulty with those old survival horror titles. That being said, there are some ways to modulate it. At launch there will be four different difficulty modes: Training, Recruit, Soldier and Veteran. On easier difficulties you will start with more inventory slots and vice versa. The speed at which enemies will react and attack also differs between difficulties - as does the damage received from them.
Players of old school survival horror will also remember the ink ribbon mechanic, where saves were tied to a collectable item you’d find in the environment. This mechanic greatly increased the tension in a playthrough, as it gave great weight to merely saving the game - something you took for granted in most other games.
This limited saving mechanic is also in CONSCRIPT, however upon starting a new save file you can opt out of it so that saves are unlimited. Autosave checkpoints are another save related mechanic that you can choose to play with, although they’re off by default. So, with these extra save options, players can hopefully find the difficulty that best suits them.
When players think of the typical settings of those 90s horror games, they might think of old mansions, apocalyptic cities, abandoned towns, etc. What is it about the Battle of Verdun that you think serves as such a good setting for this style of game?
JM: Compared to other WW1 battles, Verdun gave me a lot of environmental variety to choose from - which was important in deciding a setting. Much like classic survival horror games like RE1, I wanted to make sure you weren’t just exploring the “mansion” but also other locations around the mansion. Of course, at Verdun you have the iconic trenches, but battles were also fought in old 19th century forts like Fort Vaux and Fort Souville, along with many different ruined towns and villages. So, you can expect to have some exciting detours when exploring the world of CONSCRIPT.
That being said, trenches are definitely where you’ll be spending the most amount of time in a playthrough. The very claustrophobic nature of trenches lends itself very well to a survival horror game. If you think about it, the reason that original mansion worked so well in RE1 was due to the cramped claustrophobic halls and that same feeling is very much naturally replicated in a WW1 trench system. I feel like Verdun makes for the perfect horror game setting.
What challenges have you faced when adapting the atmosphere and gameplay of classic survival horror games for a modern audience?
JM: Outside of the save settings mentioned earlier, I’ve not really tried to consciously change the core gameplay pillars of classic survival horror to fit a modern audience. In fact, I’ve gone out of my way to make sure those classic core pillars are all here in CONSCRIPT. I’ve also made sure that the atmosphere of the game also feels like what you’d experience in the late 90’s and early 00’s. Although I’ll leave that up to the community to experience when the game launches. I think players will find a lot to enjoy, especially in the atmosphere and sound design department.
However, there are some ways in which the rougher controls of those old titles have been smoothed out - for example CONSCRIPT does not have tank controls, but just normal top-down controls because it’s a 2D game. I’ve tried to make a lot of basic interactions smooth and snappy when compared to older games too. From a control perspective I want CONSCRIPT to feel like how classic survival horror is remembered, but not necessarily exactly how it was at the time.
CONSCRIPT comes to Steam in 2024. Wishlist it now and check out the demo!
CONSCRIPT Gameplay Trailer + Steam Next Fest Demo coming soon!
WW1 SURVIVAL HORROR CONSCRIPT COMES TO STEAM IN 2024!
CONSCRIPT takes you deep into the trenches of the First World War, offering a survival horror experience inspired by the classics of the genre. Set in the Battle of Verdun in 1916, you'll take on the role of a lone French soldier searching for his missing brother, scavenging for supplies and solving complex puzzles.
Play the new CONSCRIPT demo in Steam Next Fest on June 10th!
Watch the new CONSCRIPT Gameplay Trailer:
Features:
Play: Experience classic survival horror gameplay set during the Battle of Verdun with high replayability, various difficulty settings, multiple endings, unlockable costumes, and bonus weapons.
Survive: Survive against enemy soldiers using WW1 melee weapons and firearms in an intense, harrowing atmosphere enhanced by pixel art aesthetics and oppressive sound design.
Explore: Navigate intricate, interconnected WW1-themed areas while solving environmental puzzles and managing resources effectively.
In this interview, we caught up with CONSCRIPT developer Catchweight Studio, otherwise known as Jordan Mochi. CONSCRIPT is Jordan’s first game and as the solo developer on the project he has undoubtedly learned a lot. CONSCRIPT has been a labour of love for Jordan, and in a few short months, the game will be out in the wild. We spoke with him about his journey into games development, what inspired him to create a game like CONSCRIPT and the advice he’d share with other developers thinking about going it alone.
What got you into video game development?
JM: Becoming a game dev was always a childhood dream. While I wasn’t consciously thinking about finding a job in the industry as a young boy, I remember drawing maps and designing levels and characters for imaginary games I had conjured up.
Playing games was all I did growing up. I remember learning how to read while playing Super Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Other kids were reading books to learn how to read – not me. I was playing through these Nintendo games with my older cousin and reading the strategy guides to grasp the English language. I’d say it worked out well!
These are the titles that really inspired my love for games. Zelda is my favourite franchise, and I grew up on all the Nintendo staples - Mario, Pokémon, Smash Brothers, etc. Then along came high school and I kind of lost sight of my aspirations for a little while until I was around 20 years old. At this time, I was a year or two into my BA majoring in history, not really knowing what the future held or what my career was going to be.
Looking back at those Uni days, I felt as though my degree had no value. That it was just acting as an expensive buffer period while I figured out what I was going to do with my life. In hindsight now, all the puzzle pieces fit together as I’ve realized that it fostered a real curiosity for history which has now had a direct impact on my career with CONSCRIPT.
On a whim in March of 2017, I downloaded GameMaker with absolutely no coding, graphic design, or game design experience prior. The first three years were rough as hell. Trying to simultaneously self-teach myself multiple different new skill sets while balancing Uni full time was a lot!
What inspired you to build a game like CONSCRIPT?
JM:Resident Evil has always been a favourite franchise of mine going back to when I was around 11 or 12 and picking up Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube. Those initial few months of game dev in 2017 also coincided with a marathon of the franchise - which led me to decide on my first game being a survival horror title. I felt that the smaller scope of survival horror titles would make for an easier first game. These games usually take around 7-8 hours, have a more contained play space and the handcrafted nature of the environments appeal to that inner kid who was drawing game maps instead of doing math homework. Plot twist: it was not at all easy and still took me seven years!
For the first few years of the project, I struggled to decide on a setting. Originally, the first prototypes of the game would have you teleport to different historical conditions via a hub world which would have resembled a Resident Evil inspired mansion. The idea wasn’t quite there, but in 2019 I finally decided on a setting.
Military history was always something I had an interest in, and WW1 became quite fascinating to me during my degree. Around the time I was developing the first prototypes, I was tasked with some university assignments that had me investigate some of the conditions of the First World War. Simply put, the conditions that these men had to survive were horrific. I remember binge listening to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History series on WW1 which further solidified my fascination.
And so, I decided to settle on WW1 as a theme for my then unfocused survival horror prototype. The rest is history (excuse the pun). As I’ve gone through production, my interest has only gotten deeper - and this game has really taught me more about history than any degree ever could.
When it comes to the design of CONSCRIPT, did you have a clear visual style in mind that you wanted to achieve?
JM: Visually, I was always quite set on some sort of pixel-art / low resolution style. This would match up well with those older PS1 titles that CONSCIRPT was inspired by, and honestly that lower resolution style helps mask many of my imperfections. As mentioned, I didn't have an art background - so this came in handy.
Horror just works well in low resolution. Good horror doesn’t feel the need to show everything (many games get this wrong). Leaving some things vague just lets the player’s mind fill in the gaps which reinforces the atmosphere. It’s a win-win for me.
The earliest known screenshot of CONSCRIPT, circa April 2017
The only major evolution was a change from hand drawn pixel art character animations to a pre-rendered look specifically for the character models - like the old school Donkey Kong Country games. This looked great and was also just more efficient than hand drawing everything. The game would be released in 2030 if I had to do that!
What’s been the hardest part of developing CONSCRIPT?
JM: Every step of this journey has been challenging beyond belief. First time developers with no experience don’t generally go straight into making a full-fledged 8–10-hour title for their first ever game!
There are mistakes made every day, and consequently lessons learnt every day. I’ve never done this before, so every time I implement something new, it’s my very first time – so mistakes are expected.
Coding is not something that generally comes naturally to me - I was never inclined that way, nor was it something that I really “enjoyed” during the whole process. But if you want to create something truly great there are parts of the process that will suck. Getting through those unenjoyable parts and then seeing the product come out on the other end - that feeling of accomplishment - is more rewarding than anything; even though it was painful during the process.
And the truth is, development never felt like it was going well. I took every day at a time and tried not to look at the insurmountable obstacle ahead of me. It’s like if you’re trying to run a marathon: don’t think of the 42kms, just think of every individual step at a time. That’s the kind of mindset I forced myself to adopt.
On the flip side, which part did you find the easiest?
JM: I don’t generally believe in natural talent, but I will say that the actual design aspect of CONSCRIPT came quite easy to me. When I say design, I primarily mean level design and pacing. Those are two of the aspects of CONSCRIPT I am quite proud of above all else. The parts of development where I had to sketch out levels, player routes and set pieces probably gave me the most enjoyment out of everything. Along with that, studying the history and then implementing the history visually in those levels was very rewarding. It felt like I was bringing history to life.
CONSCRIPT screenshot taken from Jordan’s logs around 2019
What would you say keeps you motivated to keep going with development?
JM: Well, when you start getting three or so years in - there’s no going back. The time investment is too large. Once you have a successful Kickstarter campaign - there’s no going back. Your reputation is now on the line. Once you obtain a government grant to keep going full time - there’s no going back. When you finally sign a deal with one of the biggest indie publishers - there is no way in hell you’re going back. There’s too much on the line.
This is to say, keep building and building and stacking up those smaller accomplishments until they start snowballing. Now you have way too many things keeping you accountable to ever feel unmotivated.
There is a flipside to all of this. Making a game by yourself is insanely stressful. I’m not going to sugar-coat anything here. The more of these accomplishments you stack up - the higher the expectations become. The pressure keeps building. I have had countless sleepless nights. Was the sacrifice worth it? Will this all pay off? The marketplace is saturated, how will I stand out? But this is the road I chose - and I was the one who chose to do it by myself, so you accept that sacrificing seven years is inherently going to be stressful. It is what it is. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
Is there a particular part of CONSCRIPT or feature you developed that you’re especially proud of?
JM: It sounds corny, but I really am proud of the whole game. Nothing stands out above others. Given the resources I had, the level I was starting at, the timeline I had and the context of my life during development - I really gave this everything I had. Considering all these limitations, I’m happy with how cohesive the whole package feels. Even if the game doesn’t reach my expectations, I can rest easy knowing I gave it my all and there is absolutely no way I could have made anything better than this given all the factors at play. I feel like I really left no stone unturned here.
CONSCRIPT screenshot taken from Jordan’s logs around 2020
What advice would you give to any budding solo developers?
JM: If you want to be a solo developer, you’re going to be at a disadvantage compared to most other studios, this is just a fact. The mountain you’ll need to climb will be steeper and higher if you are trying to release something of comparable scope to those larger teams. You need to understand this if you are going to go that route. Like, really understand it - and accept it for what it is.
Because you’re going to have to work unbelievably hard to compete, and many sacrifices will have to be made to even be relevant in the conversation. I’d rather be honest with anyone reading this than offer empty platitudes.
Now, I can only speak from my experience of course. Other solo developers have had different journeys so please interpret what I’m saying with this context in mind. Do not under any circumstance neglect marketing, even if it adds complications and stress to the process.
Steam wishlists are your primary goal. Claw at any marketing opportunity you’re given, whether it be online showcases or Steam festivals. These are where you’ll garner most of your wishlists. Release a demo, but make sure it’s a good one. Good demos will help your marketing tremendously, a bad demo will hurt you though. So, spend time on it and make sure it’s a solid representation of your game. You can then use this demo to apply to Steam festivals, events, pitch to publishers, take to tradeshows etc. I released around three or four revisions of the CONSCRIPT demo from 2020-2022. I wouldn’t have half the audience I do now without them.
CONSCRIPT screenshot taken from the 2020 demo
Post on social media consistently. I found my audience mostly on X (Twitter), but this may be different depending on your project and genre. It took me years to reach the 1k follower mark. Then it took a lot of extra effort to breach the 3k mark, from there it becomes easier to snowball into 5k and then 10k followers. It’s a slow as hell process but having that community there really does help with discoverability. Most publishers that reached out to me before I signed with Team17 found my game through X (Twitter). Like I previously said, this is just one person’s experience so take it how you will.
It has been a few months since my last update, so I thought I’d put together a new dev blog for you all.
First, I’d like to step back a bit and give a bit of background about myself and the project! Those who have been around since the start would already be familiar, but I tend to forget that there are of course newcomers every step of the way. And it has been a long journey! So if you’ve only just recently discovered CONSCRIPT, welcome to the trenches!
I originally started this project in 2017 with no prior game development experience. I would have been around 20 years old at the time and studying history at university.
Over the coming years I taught myself coding, art, sound design, marketing and a bunch of other skills to get to where we are today. It has been a very long journey that has spanned the better part of my 20’s, but here we are - with a nearly complete game that I’m very proud of.
I knew from day one that I wanted to make a survival horror game. But early on, the game didn’t have much of a concrete identity - so I decided to hone in on the historical theming.
At the time, WW1 was becoming a bit of a fascination for me. And before Amnesia The Bunker, there weren't really any WW1 themed pure survival horror games on the market. So, I decided on this setting for the full game. And it was a perfect match.
Along the way, I’ve been lucky enough to showcase at Gamescom and Pax AUS, I’ve traveled to Verdun for research material, and been fortunate enough to sign a big publishing deal with Team17.
That’s a very abridged version of the story, but for those who have stuck around since the beginning, thanks for your continued support!
On the production side of things, the past few months have been what I would consider the final push of development. It has been equally grueling and rewarding - as is to be expected at this stage. Seeing 7 years of work come together into something ultimately cohesive has been a surreal experience.
The QA process has been intense, but very worthwhile. I feel like the game is at a level of quality that wouldn’t have been possible if I had decided to go the self-publishing route. Having dedicated bug finders has gone a very long way.
Many of you will be happy to know that the classic survival horror staples are all here. 10+ hour handcrafted and replayable story. Multiple endings. Limited resources. Puzzles. Bonus costumes. Extra weapons. A merchant. Happy to say that most of my original vision is here.
In other good news, localization is nearly complete and we have quite a few languages available (stay tuned for a full list in the future). When you have a multitude of different languages, the QA process basically becomes 10 times more intense, which has been difficult. It’s very easy to design a game purely for just say English, which then really complicates the matter when you try and just replace all English text with the localized equivalent. The silver lining however, is that the lessons learnt here have been invaluable for future projects.
I get asked every day about the release date, and while I can’t reveal the exact day at this very moment - just know that it will be relatively soon! I look forward to being able to announce a concrete time. Appreciate all your patience!
That’s all for now.
Stay safe, soldiers!
Jordan
CONSCRIPT 2023 Development Recap
CONSCRIPT 2023 RECAP
SOLDIERS! Merry Christmas! It has been a while since the last update so I thought I’d check in and write up an end of year recap like I usually do.
2023 was a difficult but overall very productive year for the project. Here are some of the biggest things that happened over the past 12 months!
SCREEN AUSTRALIA FUNDING
To kick off the year, I was lucky enough to be one of the few studios to recieve development funding from Screen Australia. This ensured I could keep developing the game throughout the year comfortably!
PUBLISHER SIGNING
Biggest news of this year was signing with Team17, renown publisher of indie greats such as Blasphemous, Dredge and Overcooked.
Having some of the weight of being a one man team taken off my back has been a tremendous relief so far, and it has allowed me to purely focus on finishing the game. In the long run, this was the right decision for the game.
Balancing social media, getting Steam wishlists, making trailers, with making a fairly large indie game was becoming unmanageable for me. It was taking too much time away from making the game, but it’s unfortunately all stuff that you must do if you want to be successful and have longevity in this industry.
Knowing that the marketing is in good hands allowed me to focus on the part of the process that is most enjoyable - actually making the game!
GAMESCOM 2023
Was lucky enough to showcase again this year at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany under the Australian pavilion.
Truth be told, the trip was a bit of a nightmare. My luggage was lost at Munich airport (thanks Lufthansa) and I received it 3 weeks after I was back home - so I had to spend quite a few days running around buying everything that was lost.
Regardless, I made it work and the actual convention went well. Did some media interviews, got to meet Team17 in person and once again got to represent the Australian games industry on the world stage.
No Verdun visit this year, as much as I love that place - I was low on time and had to get back home to work. I got most of what I needed back when I went in 2022 anyway, and it will be interesting to see if any eagle eyed fans will be able to pick up all the real life Verdun references that made it into the game.
PAX AUS 2023
Running the CONSCRIPT booth at PAX AUS this year was another highlight for me. Had an even bigger booth than last year. I remember in 2017 when my gamedev journey first started I went to PAX AUS as a consumer for the first time and told myself that one day I'd be there with my own booth, so to be able to turn that into reality over the past two years has been surreal!
Once again an amazing opportunity to meet with fans and showcase CONSCRIPT!
Overall, reception to the demo was overwhelmingly positive and everyone was incredibly supportive.
Check out this amazing poilu, who was one of the first to come past the booth:
Seeing people this passionate and dedicated to my project really lights a fire underneath me!
Thanks to everyone who came past and had a chat, always a pleasure meeting everyone at PAX! (Shoutout to Mick Gordon for coming past, too!)
DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
A lot of you will be wondering what the state of the project is going into 2024, and the truth is - things are going very well!
2023 was the hardest year of work I’ve ever done in my life, no doubt about it. Countless 12-14 hour work days especially in the past few months. Many personal sacrifices had to be made for these sort of work hours.
(And to clarify, working these hours was my own choice. Nobody except myself forced me to do anything).
But, the hard work was worth it. I’m happy to say that CONSCRIPT is pretty much content complete. This is a huge milestone.
Now the focus is QA, polishing, localizing, refining and making sure the game is as great as it can be. So it lives up to all of your expectations. I cannot give away any specific dates or windows yet, but the game will be releasing in 2024.
Just want to say, thanks for sticking around for this long! Feels like yesterday I launched the Kickstarter campaign, but that was already more than 3 years ago. Embarrassingly, I genuinely thought I would be able to release the game in 2021! Unfortunately though, this IS my first rodeo and so I was quite naive to the realities of game development. Things take a long time and they cost a lot of money to make, this is just the harsh reality of making a game with the scope of CONSCRIPT.
Personally I’m very happy with the game in its near final state and I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish for my first ever game. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. No game is. But there comes a time in every game's development cycle where you need to call it a day, and ship it. The majority of my original vision is here, and the game is actually quite a bit longer than I thought it would end up being. I can’t wait for you all to finally be able to play it.
Next year it will be the final stretch, so I won’t have time for any sort of regular devlogs anymore. But, I’ll update you all on the big announcements as they come.
That’s all from me. Have a great holiday break, soldiers. -Jordan
CONSCRIPT @ PAX AUS 2023
Hey everyone!
Once again I'll be showcasing CONSCRIPT at PAX AUSTRALIA 2023 in Melbourne! I'll have an even bigger booth this year - so if you're planning on attending, be sure to come past and say hello! I'll be bringing an updated CONSCRIPT demo build.
Date: October 6th - 8th.
It was great meeting so many of you last year, so I look forward to doing it again.
CONSCRIPT will be located at booth PR02, here's a floor plan for reference:
