Thanks to 10 Chambers Collective, answered by Simon (Music and game designer).
NoFrag: Hello to the whole studio. Thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview. Could you introduce the team? How many people currently work at 10 Chambers Collective?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: 10 Chambers Collective consists of nine people. That even includes marketing, biz dev and administration!
NoFrag: For our readers who are not familiar with GTFO, could you explain in a few lines what you are trying to achieve with the game?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: GTFO is a love letter to those who are into co-op FPS games and are looking to be put to the test. It has an action/horror theme with a lot of emphasis on exploration and strategy, but with intense firefights too of course!
NoFrag: I have read several times that you want to make GTFO a difficult and challenging experience. How?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: GTFO is designed to force players to communicate and coordinate – not just fight alongside one another; but truly cooperate. Ammo and health is scarce and combinations of enemies and hazardous environmental conditions complicate both the stealth and combat. All in all it’s very unforgiving, and it really requires the team to work hard to anticipate combat situations and use every tool at their disposal to prepare themselves – and the combat zone – to tip it all to their advantage as much as possible.
NoFrag: You also want to put teamwork at the centre of the game. Could you give some examples or game mechanics that will require synergy between the 4 players?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: Synchronized firepower is important but tools even more so. GTFO offers a variety of tools like glue gun, sentry gun, trip mines, motion tracker, etc. Some are defensive, some are offensive, some just help you find your way through the Complex. The hitch is that any player can only carry one tool, so a team really has to choose and use their tools so that they complement one another. Many doors between start and finish have puzzles that require communication and coordination, and all players have to be present to pass through – so you can’t leave someone behind and run ahead. Those are just examples of ways that GTFO encourages or enforces team play.
NoFrag: Many of your videos show a slow game with a step-by-step progression. Will this be the general tone of the game or will we have large hordes like Left 4 Dead or Killing Floor 2?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: GTFO is a mix of stealth/explorations and intense action. With limited ammo, you really have to do all that you can to predict a combat situation and set everything up before all hell breaks loose : Close and enforce doors with glue to create bottlenecks, place sentry guns and trip mines beforehand, and so on. To survive in GTFO, every little thing counts.
NoFrag: In the videos, most environments are similar. Will there be less dark outdoor environments to contrast with the underground?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: All of GTFO takes place indoors, inside what’s called “The Complex”, and there is a variety of environments inside: Mining tunnels, industrial facilities, hi-tech laboratories and more – the sci-fi theme allows us to add more . Part of the game’s mystery is finding out what The Complex is and whether you can escape it.
NoFrag: Is there a story, a lore in GTFO? Do the different missions tell and explain the game’s universe?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: GTFO doesn’t have a traditional story campaign, but there are still mysteries to unearth. Literally. We’ll be able to talk more about the structure of the expeditions when we’ve revealed more about the way in which new expeditions are introduced to the game’s community!
NoFrag: To talk a little bit about weapons and equipment, what are you going to propose?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: There are SMGs, DMRs, assault rifles, shotguns, revolvers, pistols, and melee weapons – and they can all be modified to a great extent. Then there are the tools; sticky mine deployers, glue gun, different types of scanners, etc. As mentioned before, some are practically weapons carried in your “tool” slot while others are tools with defensive or navigational purposes. On top of that you can pick up things in the environment that you only carry and use during that same expedition – glow sticks, fog repeller devices, refill packs for ammo, health and tools, etc. Combined, there is a wide selection of weapons and gadgets at the players’ disposal, and using them to their full potential way is crucial for survival.
NoFrag: We had the opportunity to see some monsters like those invisible to the naked eye. Can you tell us a little more about the bestiary, the special monsters?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: We don’t want to reveal too much about the monsters – we want the players to discover them first hand – but I can say that the monsters are dangerous, and they’re many. We have a lot of ideas for enemies with special abilities you haven’t seen in games before, and the bestiary is one of the many elements in GTFO that will grow over time.
NoFrag: GTFO is a PvE game, but do you plan a mode versus where we play the monsters?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: No, GTFO won’t have alternative game modes of any kind, including versus mode – it is a pure co-op game, and that is a conscious choice by us to allow us to really go deep into that aspect of the experience. As we see it, alternative game modes would water down the game’s fundamental concept.
NoFrag: Do you already have a date for the open alpha?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: No, we don’t, but we have a public roadmap where people can follow the development progress.
NoFrag: Do you plan a system of progression, skills?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: Yes – there will be modification for weapons and tools, and abilities for your character – but those are elements you will not see in the Alpha or Beta, they will probably be introduced in the Early Access state.
NoFrag: Does the game have a class system for characters? If so, how many classes? If not, how many characters can we play?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: GTFO does not have a class system – the idea is instead to let players create their own “class” with the combination of weapons and tools that they choose for their load-out. There are four characters to choose from, with their own unique looks, voice lines and personalities.
NoFrag: Will GTFO include some form of micro transaction?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: No, we have no plans to implement microtransactions in GTFO. There might be some sort of “support the developer” edition or purely cosmetic thing to help put food on our tables if the sales of the game isn’t enough, but that’s it.
NoFrag: Will GTFO support modding?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: We don’t rule out the possibility of that being a thing in the future, but it’s not part of the plan right now.
NoFrag: Could you share with us some exclusive images? We were a little shocked by the invasive HUD at the time, but it seems totally different now.
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: There’s a lot of info that the player needs to keep track of in 4 player co-op games, so the HUD is a challenge for sure – and like many aspects of the game, it’s an ongoing development and design process. (Unfortunately we have no exclusive screenshots to share)
NoFrag: As an independent developer, what is your position on the Epic Games Store and Steam?
Simon 10 Chambers Collective: We’re not pursuing EGS exclusivity. GTFO requires relay servers for its peer to peer networking, which is something that EGS currently doesn’t offer.
NoFrag: Is the game still scheduled to be released this year? Will there be an early access period? Do you already know the launch price?
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: The game will enter Alpha and Beta tests this year, hopefully it will even reach the Early Access stage (which is our plan) – but when we can enter Early Access depends on how many bugs the community finds during the Alpha and Beta tests! So as always it’s a moving target, but it’s safe to say that the full version of the game won’t be released this year. GTFO is a game that we want to develop in a tight relationship with the game’s community, and we want to take the time to do it right.
NoFrag: Thank you very much. I’ll give you the last word.
Simon of 10 Chambers Collective: Anyone enthusiastic about GTFO should sign up to become a 10 Chambers Ambassador on our website (www.10chambers.com) – good things happen to ambassadors, that’s all I can say! Members of the development team are active on the official GTFO Discord – so come there, discuss the game with other community members and give us your suggestions for GTFO directly! (https://discordapp.com/invite/GTFO)
