Moons of Madness Interview - Cosmic Horror

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Ivan Moen, CEO of Rock Pocket Games, talks to Games over the horror title.

Lovecraft-inspired settings and stories are something that we often see in all media, but the narrative title of Rock Pocket Games in the first person monde of madness throws an interesting turn on this premise and combines cosmic horror with hard science fiction. After the game has been released in October for PS4, Xbox One and PC, it has been in the hands of the players for several months - but before it was released, we have forwarded some of our questions to the developers. Below you can read our conversation with Ivan Moen, CEO of Rock Pocket Games.

_ Note: This interview was guided before the start of the game. _

One of the things that Lovecraft's stories make so unforgettable is how detailed and descriptive they are. His letter is full of atmosphere that makes it very easy to move in the location of his characters and relate to their situations. We hoped to capture some of them in monde both through the story and by the surrounding details we created.

How satisfied were you immediately after the start with the receipt of your game?

As with every game, there are people who love the game, and others who do not love it. Luckily we are satisfied with the previous resonance and are very pleased about all the reviews and play-through, which can be found on YouTube.

What is it about cosmic horror and LOVECRAFT stories, which creates so convincing horror stories and experiences?

One of the things that Lovecraft stories make so unforgettable is as detailed and descriptive they are. His letter is full of atmosphere that makes it very easy to slip into the role of his characters and relate to their situations. We had hoped to capture a lot of it Monde both based on the story created by us as well as on the basis of the surrounding details.

With its mixture of the above-mentioned Lovecraftian horror and a premise, which is very interesting even from a pure science fiction perspective, MONDE of madness The setting was certainly mature for excellent storytelling. Was this something you have seen early as an opportunity and wanted to use them?

The marse environment of the game was something from the beginning, which we were very happy about. It's something that is very relevant today and people who visit the Mars are to a degree a romantized concept as it is a mystery.

It also felt like a natural supplement for a modern Lovecraft-like story that has a pronounced cosmic aspect, as well as the loneliness associated with being one of the first people on a new (dead) planet.

Have you viewed stories from any medium or horror games that served as an inspiration? Monde of madness ?

Apart from the fact that they are inspired by many Lovecraft stories, MONDE of madness also lends itself from The Marsmensch, The matter, the Resident evil and stiller hill series, auserirdischer, and frocking things.

It was an intensive learning experience for us to develop a historical ego game, even if our next game will be the opposite. We are definitely ready to rethink the genre when the right idea shows.

Have you planned any updates for the future, whether big or small - whether this is a correction of the game in response to feedback or even extensions?

We have ideas for additional content, but the time will show if you ever enter.

If _monde of madness does this turn out to be successful? Do you see this as something you work in the future, maybe in the form of a continuation?

It was an intensive learning experience for us to develop a historical ego game, although our next game will be exactly the opposite. We are definitely ready to rethink the genre when the right idea shows.

I imagine that atmosphere and psychological terror are much more important than the fear that goes in a game like the other's face monde of madness. How important to them was that they have found the right balance for the game in this area?

We strive to achieve a sense of restlessness and atmosphere than the fear. It is a sensitive balance and something that is difficult to perform a benchmarking or find the right recipe. Every person is different, and so it will be how he perceives these things. It is certainly a delicate matter, and there is no real way to see if you have found the right balance or not.

Do you have plans to start the switch?

Not at the moment, but it would indeed be fun to play the game on the switch.

There was a lot about SSDs talked, which is confirmed that they work both on the PS5 and on the Xbox Series X. What is the greatest impact on development?

Download many data and stream Inn-Levels as we monde is challenging. Faster hard drives will help a lot and I think we will see fewer games with charging screens when SSD becomes a new standard.

I think haptics contributes a lot to experience. But I also think that it is subjective for different players and depends on how the game uses them. But overall, I think the potential for an extra experience for very high.

Speaking of Next-Gen hardware. What else the PS5 and Xbox Series X will have yet is a Zen 2-CPU. How big is the jump over the current hardware and how will he help? Development?

This is probably a question for the developers of the Unreal Engine, but for us this means that we can do more before the game is bound CPU. Of course, porting to the console would also be a lot more smoother because the current hardware is quite slow and the approach to the PC hardware is very helpful. This is of course limited time, as the gap between PC and console gets bigger.

How do you see the HAPTIC CONTROLLER OF THE PS5? Think that it is something that can contribute much to experience, or will it only be a novelty?

I think the haptics contributes much to an experience. But I also think that it is subjective for different players, and it depends on how the game uses it. Overall, I consider the potential for an extra experience for very high.