Interview: Moons of Darsalon dev speaks inspiration and the unique approach to gameplay

On an initial glimpse, Moons of Darsalon may look like a PlayStation 1 title. Instead, developer Dr. Kucho! Games have recreated this aesthetic perfectly. It may look like classics like Earthworm Jim but the gameplay is more complex than the games of that time. I had the chance to chat with the developer of the game to get a better understanding of their approach and philosophy to this rather unique title

What inspired you to create “Moons of Darsalon”? Were there any specific games, books, or movies that influenced its development?

Basically, Oddworld, Lemmings, and Worms. Many people see similarities between Earthworm Jim because of the animations or Donkey Kong Country because of the pixelated 3D, but the truth is that these similarities are just that, similarities, but they were not inspirations. On movies I tried to replicate the look of the sci-fi boom of the 50’s-60’s Forbidden Planet, Barbarella, and even Star Trek

 
The game has been in development for eight years. What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced during that time, and how have you approached them and eventually overcome them?

The AI of the NPCs was a nightmare. There’s nothing quite similar because nothing runs on such organic terrain. The NPCs don’t have a nav mesh or traditional pathfinding, which would be a nightmare to implement on this kind of terrain. Instead, I chose another nightmare (lol) to provide them with ground sensors and heuristic logic. This allows them to navigate to their goal in a slightly chaotic way but, in the end, if the ground allows it, they can reach their objective.
Unfortunately, this aspect tends to be undervalued because people don’t understand the complexities involved, but I believe that more experienced gamers appreciate it. Implementing the liquids in Unity was also a challenge. I’m not sure, but probably a whole year was used to make the liquid engine run seamlessly synchronized in Unity.


How did you approach balancing the difficulty level of the game? What kind of feedback have you received from playtesters/peers and how have you incorporated that into the final product?


In the first four years, I went to many video game conventions and festivals here in Spain where I watched people play and noted all the unexpected player behaviours, everything they didn’t understand, etc. Unfortunately, very few people play for too long at these events, so the more advanced levels are not tested in this aspect. I also changed the order of the levels in the game to watch how new players interacted with them, but sadly it wasn’t enough.

I have had some players who have been able to test beta versions of the game, which allowed me to adjust the difficulty as I receive feedback. I plan to continue adjusting it with the feedback from the first players, as levels can be easily corrected by adding more energy points and such. However, the game has adaptive difficulty. Every time you die for a specific cause, the game makes it a bit easier for you by reducing the speed of enemies and their bullets, increasing your energy, etc.

How would you describe the gameplay mechanics of “Moons of Darsalon”? What kind of challenges will players face as they progress through the game?

The mechanics are different. Even the platforming part will be slightly different. You need to get accustomed to them, and you’ll find yourself doing better and better the more you play. You shouldn’t expect to fly correctly with the jetpack until you are at least 5 or 6 levels using it. Some players experience this and immediately start to think that the game is difficult because they crash with the jet pack the first time they use it. It’s quite absurd, although I believe it’s encouraged by the current trend of avoiding frustration at all costs, which is destroying video games. To do it perfectly well in a video game the first time you play goes against what a video game should be.

What are your hopes and expectations for how the game will be received by players, and how do you plan to support it after launch? Do you have another dream idea in the pipeline?

There are likely to be many players who find Moons of Darsalon difficult, as there is currently a trend of avoiding frustration in video games by turning them into interactive walks through the park. I think this type of video game is fine, mainly narrative games, visual novels, etc. They have their strength in the story, and I understand perfectly why many people love them. However, avoiding frustration in action games leads to a detriment of the game itself, and it puts you in a difficult position when designing and adjusting a video game.

On the other hand, someone who truly appreciates the style and originality of Moons of Darsalon will enjoy learning from their mistakes and improving on the game’s mechanics, even if they are not the most skilled player in the world. This way, they can feel satisfaction not only from visiting a new level and observing new graphics but also from feeling accomplished for having overcome difficulties, and having fun while doing so.


And now that the game has been finally released, after eight long years in development, I’m going to focus on bug fixing. Expecting the game to not have bugs is stupid, especially in a game which has such uncommon and varied mechanics. I’m also going to improve the Unity-based level editor so the community can create awesome levels.

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