Just Work Hard: Believe Interview

Conducted By – Adam Ames

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your role with the development of Believe.

My name is Mitchell Sorenson. I am solely responsible for all the development on Believe with the exception of Music and Acting.

 

How did you get started in developing PC games?

I have always enjoyed PC gaming. Like most people, I have ideas that I thought were interesting (at least to myself). Knowing that nobody would create my games for me, I decided to quit my job and make games. Using books and the incredibly helpful Unity community I taught myself. That’s why my code looks so horrendous!

 

Where did the idea for Believe come from?

I’ve always believed that thoughts are the root of all action. You think about something before you do it. If that’s true than it is the power of thought and beliefs that start wars. Every holocaust started with an idea. All the holy wars were fought for a religious belief. Racism and slavery throughout history is developed by a way of thinking. Modern day terrorists act upon nothing more than ideas. Know all this, what would happen is someone had the power to make you believe anything she wished?

 

What are some of the successes and failures you learned from in developing Believe?

The biggest stumbling block while developing Believe has been balancing my life. One week I would work too many hours and not leave time for family or friends. Another week I might not feel like working at all and procrastinate as much as possible.

My successes came in the form of overcoming difficult challenges in coding and design. After being stuck on an issue for days it is extremely rewarding to finally find a solution.

 

In its current form, how close is Believe to your initial vision?

The layout and design of each level is almost exactly what I started out with. The story on the other hand has evolved to a point that is much more in depth and real than I was expecting. I started to focus on the consequences to your actions and how they affect people.

Some devs admitted their games were too hard upon release because they became experts as they developed the game.  Talk about setting the difficulty levels for Believe and if you faced a similar challenge.

I know every player has a different skill level and I would never be able to give each person and optimal experience. To counter this in the campaign I created a system that automatically scales the difficulty as you play. The game starts out very challenging but depending on where and how you died it will scale back to a point that more closely matches your skill.

Believe has another mode, separate from the campaign, called Discover. In Discover mode you face some of the same challenges and puzzles but it’s all about improving your high scores and beating your friends.

 

Were there any challenges you faced in ensuring Believe would run on the various PC system configurations?

Up to this point my testing pool has been fairly small. Thankfully the Unity engine is scalable and easy to work with so I haven’t faced many challenges in this regard.

 

Please talk about developing the art style, level design and music for Believe.

The way you feel while playing is the most important thing to me so the art is stylized based on realism. Meaning atmosphere is most important, followed by maintaining a degree of realism to keep everything grounded.

With the level design I tried to do as much as possible with what I have. The world feels interesting and unique with a different surprise around every corner while still being set up in a way that utilizes it’s potential. This made the design more complicated from a technical sense but I think it was worth it.

 

Outside of creating the game itself, what is the toughest aspect of being an indie developer?

Marketing. I love talking to people and getting feedback but I’m bad at portraying my game accurately. Unfortunately people are quick to judge and that makes it difficult to sell something unique. According to Google Analytics on my Steam Greenlight page, the average viewer spends 15 seconds before voting yes or no.

 

How did you go about funding Believe and did you receive financial or emotional support from friends and family?

I am lucky enough to have some great friends who volunteered to help with acting and marketing. My family helped a lot on the financial side of things and overall it hasn’t been an expensive process yet. In the future I hope to expand my team and create content more quickly.

Tell us about the process of submitting Believe to the various digital distribution platforms and if you encountered resistance in doing so.

Steam Greenlight is the only distribution service that Believe is on so far. At first it was a bit overwhelming to see the misconceptions some people had about Believe. Thankfully, before long, I started to receive several positive comments from people who ‘get it’. Again it all goes back to the marketing and the way that Believe is portrayed.

 

Did you research similar titles when trying to come up with the launch price?

To be honest I’m still not sure how much to ask for but I have been keeping an eye on similar titles.

 

Can you tell us why you chose to release a demo for Believe?

This all goes back to an attempt to portray my game accurately. Believe is a hard game to describe so I tried to show just a bit of it’s unique gameplay.

 

How important is it to get instant feedback about Believe from users through online message boards and other social networking sites?

It’s extremely important to see what works and what doesn’t. Everyone has different preferences and tastes but if a lot of people agree on something that’s when I know it’s important.

 

How much value do you place on the opinions of those who review Believe professionally?

I don’t take a professional review any differently than a random review by a commenter. All of it is based on opinion. With that being said, I place a high value on any feedback I get, regardless of the source. If it’s well thought-out I will listen.

 

 

How do you feel about the various indie bundle promotions and the “Pay What You Want” pricing methodology? Would you be interested in contributing to a project like that in the future?

I buy indie bundles all the time! I think it’s a great idea for games that have been out for sometime.

What are your thoughts on how the PC gaming industry as a whole are dealing with the problem of intrusive DRM and piracy?

I think some anti-piracy measures have been a lot more effective than others. Requiring a game to be always online seems a bit overkill and definitely a hassle for the consumer. Digital distribution services like Steam and Desura are definitely taking huge strides in making games more convenient and secure.  With the rise in popularity of cheap indie games and convenient distribution I think less people will turn to piracy. Sure there will still be some but I think the average person is fine with purchasing a game legally for the cost of a hamburger.

 

How do you feel about individuals posting videos and receiving monetization of Believe?

For my situation I don’t see many negatives to letting people post videos and receive monetization. Maybe 10 people will watch a ‘Let’s Play’ instead of buying the game but that video introduced the game to 20 people who did purchase it. I view it as effective advertising and I’m all for it.

 

How do you feel about DLC and its current implementation in the PC gaming industry?

I like the idea of DLC as long as the base game is worth the purchase price. If people are still enjoying a game I don’t see any reason not to expand that eperience. Charge a fair price for everything you release and support your releases properly, then it doesn’t matter how you release your content.

 

How do you feel about the online modding community in general and specifically if mods were created for Believe?

I love mods wholeheartedly! Modding is one of the biggest reasons to game on a PC. For a single player mod I say anything goes, for multiplayer it has to be a fair experience for everyone involved. Cheating is lame but a modded server where everyone plays under the same conditions is a great thing.

 

What advice would you give up-and-coming indie PC developers who are trying to break into the business?

Don’t worry about trying to know all the answers, just work hard and everything will fall into place.

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