We're Iron Lung, an indie game studio working on a Soulslike Roguelite Looter Shooter called Alterborn. Check us out on STEAM and ask us anything!

Soulslike roguelite lootershooter is another form of cursed runes. Instantly made me groan.

How are you distinguishing yourself in an oversaturated market?

How is a game going to be a procedualy generated lootershooter AND a soulslike at the same time? Sounds like completely contradictory terms.

We took a long, hard look at our favourite games of these genres and broke them down into prime factors, trying to determine what the fun factor of such games is. Is it the action pool of the player? Progression? Game Structure? Narrative systems? All of those combined?

After we decided what works best in each specific genre, we started prototyping the game, bringing to the table specific solutions from each of those genres.

Answer this one ☝️

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I figured you guys might find the devblog insightful but I removed the link for now. I'll try to answer this as best I can. We took a long, hard look at our favourite games of these genres and broke them down into prime factors, trying to determine what the fun factor of such games is. Is it the action pool of the player? Progression? Game Structure? Narrative systems? All of those combined?

After we decided what works best in each specific genre, we started prototyping the game, bringing to the table specific solutions from each of those genres. Our unique features are as follows:

- Altered State: Your surroundings change in real time before your very eyes; explore handcrafted levels mixed in with procedurally generated content and ever changing gameplay mechanics.

- Dynamic difficulty: Overcome adversity with a flexible level of difficulty that utilizes game mechanics rather than an artificial slider. Subsequently, each type of player will appreciate the challenge tailored specifically to them. Special content awaits those most dedicated.

- Dynamic and Replayable: Your actions do matter and impact the world around you. Whenever you delve into the Shattered Lands, your experience will differ, offering you brand new quests and events while pitting you against unique enemies and bosses. At the same time spotting patterns, learning them and adjusting your toolset accordingly will be rewarded.

Do you think it would be too difficult to shoehorn in "Sandbox" or "Open-world" to the description of your game? I mean, you've got all the other buzzwords

Alterborn is not an open world per se not is it a sand box, we don't want to use tags in the description that don't really fit the game. Game is more linear BUT we utilize procedural content to diversify the gameplay. We also have some procedural geometry that we think mixes well with hand crafted one.

Can you tell us about your past projects?

This is our first game BUT we’re a team of experienced developers from Poland who previously worked on triple A projects for companies such as Ubisoft, Techland, CI Games and Bloober Team.

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions. What would you say are the main ways your game separates itself from other soulslike games?

1. Different action pool, we give THE player a lot more tools to deal with the challenges throw at them; abilities, guns and more.
2. Procedural content; we want each playthrough to feel unique. Even within a single playthrough, your sessions might vary.
3. Meaningful progression, you will have to make many difficult choices when it comes to customizing your character. Also, there is a lot of loot. Like a lot.

In my experience procedurally generated content tend to be bland and generic as opposed to hand crafted levels like in Dark Souls. Is this something that was considered when deciding on going with the procedurally generated content?

We mix hand crafted level design with procedural content. Can't elaborate more at this moment in time but we are well aware of it and want to avoid bland/generic content.

Can you tell us a bit more in-depth about what exactly you mean by "Soulslike roguelite looter shooter"?

I read that the game involves procedurally generated runs and I'm going to assume since it's described as 'roguelite' there will be certain parts that carry over to the next runs; so that explains that part.

But what exactly makes it a 'Soulslike' or a 'looter shooter' and how does that blend with the roguelite aspects?

We take what we think works best within the soulslike formula (level design, pacing, enemy action pool etc.) and mix it with looter shooter progression systems. You will have to make many difficult choices when it comes to customizing your character. There is also a lot of loot in the game.

As for how it blends into the roguelite aspects, I can't reveal too much at this time but we want to have procedural content mixed in with hand crafted levels.

You should check out our first devblog entry: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1679000/view/3090038532622013893

would you say that your game has taken any inspiration from Remnant: from the ashes?

We draw inspiration from many titles of multiple genres. Yes, Remnant is one of those games. At the same time our game is very different; we want to innovate on specific solutions to bring into the hands of the players a fresh, unique experience.

“Innovate on specific solutions to bring a unique experience.” Sounds a bit too markety PowerPoint slide. Do you have more details?

We took a long, hard look at our favourite games of these genres and broke them down into prime factors, trying to determine what the fun factor of such games is, what things they do well and so forth.

For example, Remnant utilizes a lot of procedural geometry while we want to make use of hand crafted levels mixed in with small chunks of procedural geo.

I encourage you to read our first devblog entry: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1679000/view/3090038532622013893

You posted this last night, only to delete it after it didn’t get traction. Now it’s mysteriously launched right as the US is getting up with 50 upvotes right out of the box. Isn’t that a tad suspicious?

We didn't provide sufficient proof to the mods initially and deleted the post shortly after sharing it. Had nothing to do with lower traction at the time.

Is the gunplay aiming to be more arcade-y ala Borderlands or more realistic? I ask because I've wanted a Soulslike shooter for years now since guns are more my forte/interest than melee weapons.

More arcade for sure, at the same time we want it to simply feel good; we analyzed countless shooter games frame by frame.

The game's depth lies in its RPG-like progression systems AND the enemy action pool that the soulslike genre is known for.

What are the steps to make the project ? Like, how much stuff do you put on paper before actually starting to code a game ?

Depends. Rather than put stuff on paper (I mean, we obviously do, to an extent) we talk about multiple games, break them down into prime factors and then prototype specific solutions.

I like the aesthetics, but I'm worried that trying to make looter-shooter and roguelite mechanics reconcile with one another will result in some not so good results. I'm going to assume that this means some loot will carry over, but others won't. Will we be able to pick what we keep what we don't? For example if I find 4 great guns I can only keep 2 and the others will be lost upon death.

Is there any further info you can provide about how these will work?

The game will not be a roguelite per se, we don't have permadeath so the loot carries over. We will have some gameplay systems in place that will make players familiar with the roguelite genre feel right at home. I am sorry but I can't delve more into this for the time being.

Do you have any links to dev blogs available?

I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic but I laughed either way. Thank you. Here you go: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1679000/view/3090038532622013893

Will you have any gameplay footage coming soon?

Keep an eye out on our socials and/or steam page.