players not get past the mirror because they went in not wanting to like it. Generally, the folks that were interested 


YOU WENT OLD SCHOOL IN TERMS OF DISPLAYING PLAYER WEAPONS DEAD CENTRE, AND YOU’VE INCORPORATED GAUGES LIKE HEALTH AS PART OF THE MIRROR ITSELF. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH HOW IT’S TURNED OUT? I think there is always work to be done with UI but I am mostly happy with it. For a long time, it looked more like classic Doom with the big bar at the bottom but one night I had the epiphany of doubling down on the mirror and throwing the UI info on there. I cursed myself for not thinking about that earlier!


OBVIOUSLY YOU WANT HELLSCREEN TO BE SEEN AS MORE THAN JUST A GIMMICKY FPS. DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED? I get the impression that when people play Hellscreen, they realise that the mirror isn’t a gimmick at all but integral to how the game works and that it allows them  realisation happen in real-time as you watch someone play is validating too. That said, I have seen cynical


open-minded enjoyed it way more and connected far better with the mechanics.


HAVING RELEASED EPISODE 1, WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN THE GAME?  proud of most, but I will say that response to the level design is the thing that makes me happy. There are a few moments in the game too (puzzles, weapon pickups) that tend to get an audible reaction from players and that is fun for me.


WHAT HAS THE FEEDBACK BEEN LIKE SO FAR, TO THE VISUALS ESPECIALLY? I think it has mostly been positive and folks are looking forward to more of the game, which is great. I think the  not every game is made for everyone. Generally, people  to other titles in the genre.


WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR FUTURE HELLSCREEN EPISODES AND AT WHAT STAGE ARE THEY AT? Currently, I am in a stage of post-mortem with Episode 1 and once I have collated feedback from that, I want to do an update and then move on to Episode 2. That said, Episode 2 is in partial pre-


production, meaning I have got about half of  to experiment with it.


No dates to announce yet for anything but I will be talking about it soon on the 


April/May 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 51


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