![]() I wanted to recreate this phenomenon in DARQ. But somehow, we never realize how weird of an experience it is while it's happening. ![]() ![]() WM: "I've had the weirdest dream last night!" - that's usually how we begin to describe our dreams. What has the team done to translate this into interesting gameplay mechanics and features? TF: The game notably takes place within a lucid dream. "To me, the perfect use of a jumpscare is the diner scene from Mulholland Drive - it establishes that there are no rules." This creates a dream-like experience in which horror takes place primarily in the player's mind, not on the screen. The game brakes its own rules all the time which puts the player in the state of constant uncertainty and anticipation. Very early in the game we establish that anything can happen and that the player shouldn't assume anything about what the game can or cannot do. WM: Exactly - DARQ is set in a dream world, and by definition, such world is not bound by any rules. ![]() How much does DARQ embrace the abstract? And how does it use it to create horror? TF: What I personally like about psychological horror compared to more traditional horror, is that it doesn’t have to be grounded in reality as much, and really can plunge into more of the metaphysical. I must say, DARQ took me on an adventure of a lifetime! Since then, I've continued to learn about various aspects of game development and teamed up with a few talented people to help bring the project to life. With so much interest surrounding DARQ I felt it was my responsibility to focus on it full time. I didn't expect much, but to my biggest surprise, the game got to TOP 10 of the most up-voted titles and within days my mailbox was filled with hundreds of emails from players asking about the release date. DARQ was just a rough prototype at that point, but to me it was an experiment - I thought if Steam audience showed any interest at all, I would consider finishing the project. In the end, I did decide to send it to Steam Greenlight. I was very hesitant to show it to anybody. At the time, it was just a fun hobby-thing for me and I couldn't have imagined it would end up being an actual commercial project. I had other game ideas, and quite frankly, the choice to focus on DARQ was quite arbitrary. Within a month, I put together a prototype of a horror game, which later became known as DARQ. ![]() I used to code websites in PHP as a kid, so rediscovering that passion and learning a new programming language, as well as 3D modeling, texturing, animation, game design was pure joy. I downloaded Unity engine with the intention of learning a little bit of coding and going through a few tutorials I found online. It was supposed to be a vacation, and perhaps a start of a new hobby. Upon completion, I decided to take a month off and learn a little more about game development. I got to play A Cat's Manor in various stages of production, which got me very interested in the development process itself. I'm a music composer and around that time I was having a blast scoring a game called A Cat's Manor - a brilliant indie title by The Happiest Dark Corner. Apart from being a casual gamer, I knew nothing about making games at that point. Wlad Marhulets: It's a bit of a story! I first ventured into game development a little over a year and half ago. Tyler Fischer: How was the idea of DARQ conceived? And what made the team want to work within psychological horror? ![]()
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