Wrack is a new title by Final Boss Entertainment, combining old-school gameplay and fresh visuals to create something which stands out of todays shooter market. Interested by the efforts the small company put into the game’s creation, I reached out to the studio’s Lead Developer, Brad Carney, who filled us in on the details.

K: Could you shed some light on what Final Boss Entertainment’s team looks like (Previous experience, current work etc)?

B: The main project I worked on before Wrack (and where the bulk of my experience comes from) is a Doom expansion called Skulltag, which adds all sorts of new things to [the game] like client/server multiplayer, tons of new items (including weapons, monsters, powerups, etc.), and a bunch of other features. Certainly there are a lot of influences of Doom and Skulltag on Wrack, but a lot of my working with Doom instead of more modern games at the time (when I started working hardcore on Skulltag, I could have made it for Quake 3) comes from my love of its basic mechanics and gameplay. The great player speed and battling lots of simple monsters at once are all things I love about that game, which have sadly been pretty rare in most other games.

Specifically about the team, we’ve got 4 main guys working on it (me, Bobby, Remco Ernst who does 2D graphics and texturing, and Hani J who does modelling), who are active most of the time, and others have contributed to the project over the course of its development.

K: What are other projects you have worked on before (as Final Boss), or is this your first?

B: This is Final Boss’ first project!

K: In the preview by OverTheGun, he mentioned that the original Doom soundtrack developer, is working with you, is that true?

B: Yes, Bobby Prince himself is doing both the music and sound for Wrack! [] a great example of some of the music he’s made so far. He’s done a wonderful job with both the sounds and the music so far.

K: How long have you been working on Wrack?

B: It’s been in development pretty hardcore for at least 4 years. I started working on it intensively, while I was in college, and I graduated at the end of 2008. There have been plenty of bumps along the way, but we’ve persevered and the result has been well worth it. I’m very proud of what our small team has been able to accomplish and we’ve had a lot of fun along the way.

K: What were the inspirations you had while producing Wrack?

B: I think the evidence of Doom’s inspiration in Wrack is fairly obvious, but Wrack was also inspired heavily by many platformers, like Mega Man, Castlevania, and Contra. Many elements in Wrack, like bosses and a checkpoint system for seamless respawning, are inspired by those sorts of games.

K: Was the Cel-Shaded look the obvious choice or did you experiment with different ideas?

B: The cel-shading has always been something that’s been in the back of my mind. I loved the way XIII looked when it came out and was always very intrigued by the technique. The game wasn’t originally planned as being cel-shaded (a lot of things in this game evolved pretty organically) but at a certain point it seemed like it’d work out great for this game. I was able to get the basic implementation working fairly quickly, but to really get it right took some time. I’m very pleased with the results.

K: Is there going to be a multiplayer mode for the final release?

B: Sadly, there won’t be any multiplayer in this. We just don’t have the resources to pull it off right now. After years of development, we barely have 3 fully completed levels done. My hope is that if this game does well enough, we can do a multiplayer-focused sequel.

K: Is the old-school shooter Genre something you wish to work on in the future? 

B: I definitely think the gameplay of games like Doom is vastly superior to more modern games. I don’t think hiding behind things waiting for your health or shields to recharge is a lot of fun. I think it’s a lot more fun being out in the open using your fast speed to dodge missiles as they whip by as you take on tons of monsters at the same time. I can’t imagine us getting away from that anytime soon.

K: Are there other classics you’d like to explore?

B: I don’t know. Right now I’m pretty happy making Wrack! It might be fun to do some other sorts of games eventually. We’ll see!

With Wrack receiving its Pre-Order release date of May 25, players can prepare themselves to battle the Arcturan empire.

 

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