The two Slovakian game developers Lukas Tomondy and Martin Krajc put their minds together a couple of years ago to establish the independent game studio SquareNite. Although both have histories of working at game studios and other game projects, the company's purpose was to deliver the duo's first commercial indie game of their own, called Darfall.
At the inception of SquareNite, Darfall was already a concept. However, it needed a lot of work, which would eventually transform it from a single-focus game to a much more complex project. Now a few years later as Darfall is in the later stages of development, the game encompasses a myriad of game genres and borrows from various games, including Diablo and Minecraft, as the two explained to Game ZXC.
The Origins of Darfall Were Simple
Tomondy, the programmer of the two, came up with a concept for Darfall a while back. His love of tower defense games veered him to create one himself too. The premise of defending against hordes of enemies was not only baked in early by Tomondy, but it has also stood the test of time during a long and arduous development process. While Darfall is no longer described as one, either by marketing materials or the developers in an elevator pitch, it is still a massive part of the game's DNA.
City builder is the first genre that Tomondy and Krajc now go to when describing the game, but quickly after there are other qualifiers to explain the complex nature of Darfall. In terms of city-building, the team wanted to make sure that it wasn't disconnected from the resource ecosystem, which involves both materials and workers. Just having gold to produce different items and units wasn't enough; instead, they wanted a system where different materials are necessary.
"It's a mixed bag of different genres, I would say. The game is basically a city-builder, where you defend yourself against invading undead during the night."
Building a city is important, but keeping the city running is as important, and that is where the true challenge of the game comes in. Inspired by Minecraft's nights, Darfall has a day and night cycle mechanic that is extremely important to the gameplay. While the day is mostly about building, harvesting resources, and doing all the nice things, the night brings along the rise of the undead. The undead attack the base every night, which requires both preparation and combat skills.
At Darfall's Core, There's One Hero
Tomondy is a big fan of Blizzard's games, and this affected some of the early decisions about Darfall. The group is led by a hero, who was sent from the capital to re-establish fallen cities around the lands of Darfall. The hero gameplay was influenced by the likes of Diablo, Dota 2, League of Legends, and MOBAs at large. Controlling the hero is similar to MOBAs or RTS games, and the character levels up, improving stats and gaining better spells and abilities.
Killing monsters and dens will gain loot in the form of both magical items and materials. The loot has different quality levels, similar to games like Diablo. The hero can also join in on harvesting resources by cutting trees and mining ore, and there are plans to introduce various heroes that focus on different aspects of the heroes' capabilities.
"In terms of gameplay, if you wouldn't have the hero, you wouldn't be able to survive even the first night."
While during the day the hero is essential for exploring the lands - after all, he is the only character that can leave the camp - he becomes increasingly important during the night. All that gained experience, new spells, and stat-buffing equipment are necessary to survive the undead hordes that attack.
Tomondy and Krajc wanted to create something new that didn't already exist. The unique combination of genres has them describing it sometimes as a Don't Starve but in a city builder format, or something akin to Warcraft 3. Just like the two developers at SquareNite, the game seems to wear a lot of hats, but the best way to find out what it is all about is certainly to play it.
Darfall is currently in development for PC with a demo available on Steam.