Doom, Quake and Duke all had fairly genre-
defining multiplayer at one point another, so it was only right that a multiplayer versus mode was at least thought about for their Warhammer 40K shooter, despite it ultimately not making it into the final release. “We considered including player-vs-player
multiplayer, but quickly realised that development would definitely not have been the same as the one we experienced,” muses Draper, diplomatically. “We never had any plans for co-op.”
“Boltgun takes advantage of the fact it’s made
in Unreal Engine 4, with modern physics, exciting weapons and clever design. We made the combat responsive and dynamic, to try and create as much fun as possible for players. A lot of classic retro shooters might not have had such dynamic systems in place, or include such elaborate weapons.”
PIXEL MINIATURES The pixel art in Boltgun was made by artists using actual miniatures for reference material, providing the look and feel of both the creatures and enemy combatants the player encounters with an air of authenticity that reinforces that Boltgun took place in Games Workshop’s incomperable universe. “All of the enemies, weapons and environments in
40K Boltgun are all based on real 40K miniatures. You can buy most of the pieces in Games Workshop stores now, with the exception of Malum Caedo, our main character. If you want to get your hands on a physical version of him, you’ll have to kitbash!” says Draper, cheekily. “Essentially, Games Workshop sent us over a
bunch of physical models, and our art team sat at their desks with the models in front of them and created 3D, high-poly renders of the miniatures. We then applied a layer of ‘pixelization’ to them, which created the sprites that you see in game. “As we reached the end of our process, we then
had to export all the sprites for approvals with Games Workshop.” While Draper wouldn’t make many (if any)
changes to Boltgun as a game, the way Boltgun was developed itself changed as it was worked on, to adjust for the project’s scope and changes at the studio in a variety of different ways. “The production process on Boltgun was fluid,
evolving and adapting to the project’s needs,” he explains. “When we began, this was the biggest project the studio had taken on, and the production methodologies we used were probably more suitable for smaller projects. “As both the Auroch team and the Boltgun team
grew, we began to learn new ways of working and applied a few new production techniques to our existing systems. By the end of the project, it felt like we had a really solid production pipeline and the build and test loop was strong. Figuring out the pipeline, and how the build/test loop was going to work, took time.
52 | MCV/DEVELOP August 2023
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