Cyberpunk XXX: Interview
1. WHAT WAS THE FIRST GAME THAT YOU'VE PLAYED THAT MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH GAMING?
Ok, that's a real tough one to start off! I would have to say out of the thousands of games that I've ever played over the many years it would probably be Half-Life 1. It was the first game for me that took gaming onto another level altogether by adding a real immersive narrative, compelling characters and fantastic all-around action. The opening train scene blew me away at the time due to its cool cinematic vibe and world-building presentation, a game opener that has been copied repeatedly by many influential games following it. In fact, we are still debating whether to have our own game start with a similar scene.
2. HOW DID YOU GET INTO GAMING DEVELOPMENT?
We started originally by making stupid flash games, then a few years back we moved over to Unity. Unity is absolutely awesome in so many ways especially if you're a beginner/hobbyist dev or run a small studio. The learning curve was ok but we muddled through and made a few cool demos that ultimately were never released. That being said...for CyberpunkXXX we have decided to use the Unreal Engine. Even though at times it feels like starting back at square due to the differences between the two engines, we feel that going forward using Unreal is essential to our vision plus with Unreal 5 now in full release with its awesome new features it just makes sense.
3. WHAT WERE THE GAMES THAT YOU'VE WORKED ON OUTSIDE OF THIS GAME?
In all honesty, as a small two-man team we don't have the most amount of game dev experience, especially with other studios or teams, everything we have done up to this point has been purely from a hobbyist perspective but with the level of expertise required to make CyberpunkXXX we knew we had to raise our skill level as well as hire experts in particular fields to implement certain mechanics or artists to fulfill the graphical needs of the game. We did previously however make a top-down RPG featuring a rapper in London trying to scale the heights of the music business in an open-world environment set in the UK. We almost finished the game but sadly funding from our Investor at the time dried up and we just couldn't get it over the line. We should revisit it at some point though.
After that, we worked for nearly two years on an FPS survival game set in the snowy Canadian wilderness. It did have a unique twist though. At the same time earth had been invaded but aliens and set up base in the same area. Your job was not only to survive the harsh climate but also to infiltrate and ultimately bring down the invasion force. We never released the game in the end, it was only 25% complete but we felt that with so many survival games out there being released and with the amount of effort needed to finish the game and the amount of marketing required to make it stand out among the crowded marketplace it just wasn't worth it. At some point, we might start it over again using Unreal and change it up slightly to make it more of a unique experience.
4. WHAT WAS THE CONCEPT BEHIND THE NAME CYBERPUNKXXX?
We choose CyberpunkXXX as the game is basically Cyberpunk2077, Blade Runner and Pornhub mixed together. The name perfectly describes that :)
5. BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD IS THE AN ADULT-ONLY GAME OR RATED M FOR MATURE?
This is another tough question right now. The game originally was just going to be an adult-only game, then as we started to incorporate other mechanics and gameplay elements it would have been a disservice just to call it a sex game. Sex will be just one element of the game, so will shooting, exploring, using vehicles, etc. We will probably release it as a XXX title though as it will contain sex elements that would be too graphic for an M for Mature release.
6. WHAT IS THE ENGINE THAT YOU ARE USING FOR THIS GAME AND WHY?
We are using Unreal Engine 4 at the moment. Unreal 5 had not been released when we started the development process and didn't want to make a game on an untested engine. Now that Unreal Engine 5 has been fully released we are very tempted to migrate what we have done so far to UE5. We are just testing things out at the moment and seeing where it takes us. As mentioned previously we used to use Unity which we really loved but Unreal just seems to work better for us right now. I know on unity HDRP is cool and all but it's so much easier in our opinion to get amazing graphics out of Unreal than Unity. We also love Blueprints, Quixel plus with the introduction of Lumen and Nanite, it's a no-brainer.
7. WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NAME CYBERPUNKXXX?
A Cyberpunk game with XXX-rated content. The name picked itself really!
8. WHO IS THE PROTAGONIST IN THE GAME?
You basically play as a hired gun. You are what's known as a Bounty Droid, hired by a revolutionist movement called the Rebel Element. Your job is to help the Rebel Element bring down the authoritarian government that go by the name of The Governance.
You can choose to play as either a male or female Bounty Droid, black white or Asian, etc. You will be equipped with a unique set of skills to achieve these missions including shooting, climbing, driving, and even your own sexuality!. The character's appearance doesn't really change the abilities of the Bounty Droid at this moment in time although as development progresses, I'm keen to separate the Droids into different classes with different skills and attributes.
9. WHERE DOES THIS GAME TAKES PLACE?
The game takes place in the near distant future, technology has advanced but there are still plenty of influences and throwbacks to our current time. In keeping with Cyberpunk tradition, the actual playing area has a strong American and Japanese/Chinese feel. Lots of high-tech buildings contrasted with historic ghettos and suburbs. It's a futuristic city connected to other futuristic cities via bridges, wasteland, and water. As the development cycle continues, we'll add more and more connected cities each with its own personality, cultural flavor and style.
10. THIS SEEMS LIKE A HACK AND SLASH; WHAT TYPES OF BATTLING MACHINES ARE BEING USED FOR THIS GAME?
It's essentially a third-person shooter with added RPG elements to keep it interesting. We have also added melee combat, stealth take-down moves, a cover system, etc plus we are really trying to shoehorn some huge drivable robot mechs in there as well for the larger-scale enemy encounters. I believe in gaming you need to keep the protagonist's journey fresh and interesting throughout the process otherwise it's just another grind no matter how good the graphics and sound are.
11. IS THIS AN OPENWORLD GAME OR GOING BY CHAPTERS?
It's basically an open world separated into chapters :). You start off in a city yet to be named. Once all the objectives given to you by the Rebel Element have been met further cities and areas can be unlocked giving you one huge open world area to explore. We are still at a very early development stage so we only have one partial city completed so far. When we release the playable demo you will be able to explore this initial city as you wish. Obviously, the full final release with has all the cities and content included. We can categorically state that there will be no further payable DLC or loot boxes or any of that nonsense.
12. WHAT TYPE OF WEAPONS ARE IN THE GAME?
There will be the usual pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, and throwables as you would expect in a typical shooter although they will have a futuristic influence such as laser sights, digital scopes, etc, as well as the previously mentioned drivable mechs. For the times when you're out of ammo, you will have the ability to punch and kick as well as silent takedowns. Hell, you could choose to avoid combat altogether and go down the stealth path. It's entirely up to the player.
13. IT SEEMS LIKE YOU CAN CHANGE CLOTHES IN THE GAME IS IT SO, OR NO?
This hasnt been something we've thought about at this stage to be honest. The game is very early in development and as we are constantly brainstorming ideas on how to move the game forward, nothing can be excluded at this point. Even with the most detailed game development road map, certain decisions lead you down certain paths which may require specific mechanics to be implemented. If there are missions that may require clothes change or there is a narrative that requires it, then we would definitely implement it.
14. THE NAME OF CYBERPUNK XXX SEEMS LIKE IT HAS LOTS OF SEX IN THE GAME WILL IT BE MOST OF THE GAME AND IF THIS GAME COMES TO OTHER PLATFORMS ARE THERE PLANS TO DUMB IT DOWN?
There will be a lot of sex in the game, there will also be lots of shooting, lots of exploring, lots of stealth, lots of vehicles, and lots of other things too. I think no matter what genre of game you are working on it essentially has to be playable and more importantly fun. This is 100% our main driving force. A game filled with nothing but sex would get boring very quickly. This was one of the reasons why we are developing our own adult game as we felt the adult genre does leave the player somewhat lacking in actual gameplay, narrative and longevity. We are working really hard on making the game as interesting as possible at the bare minimum. If sex isn't your thing, then you can avoid the sex areas of the city and play the game in your own way. We wanted this game to offer at least some quality gameplay for most users regardless of their expectations.
For obvious reasons the Steam, Epic store, etc versions will be censored. These distributors just don't like adult games for some reason. Graphic violence, murder, and death are fine, but sex is still taboo for some odd reason sadly. Once purchased though you will be entitled to the uncensored version, it will just not be downloadable via Steam, etc. Patreon and Kickstarter supporters will get the fully uncensored version right from the word go. We are still deciding whether to make the forthcoming playable demo censored or uncensored....we'll let you know!
15. WHY SHOULD PEOPLE BUY THIS GAME?
This is a really good question. I think it's probably the most important question any game dev should ask themselves at the beginning of any development cycle and continue to ask themselves this question every day. From our own perspective, i can ask, why shouldn't you buy this game. Well, if you don't like games with sex, drugs, profanity, and violence then avoid it. If you are under 18 then definitely avoid it. For everyone else, i can promise you that at worst you'll find an interesting shooter set in a beautiful sleazy futuristic society with a whole variety of missions, enemies, vehicles, and areas to explore and interact with. It will be a classic old-school single-player story-driven experience with no loot boxes, no pay-to-win mechanics, no online market places and any other modern-day monetization practices that seem to be plaguing the industry.
16. WHEN WILL CYBERPUNKXXX RELEASE AND WHAT PLATFORMS WILL IT BE ON?
It will be on Patreon and Kickstarter initially. These supporters will get the game as we continually develop it. We hope to release an updated version once every two weeks. We can then gauge whether certain features and mechanics work or not. When the game is fully finished, we will be releasing it on Steam, Epic store, Itch etc.
17. WHERE CAN THEY FIND YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
Twitter = https://twitter.com/
Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/
Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/
Tik Tok = https://www.tiktok.com/@
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