Killsquad Interview – Ready Up, Bounty Hunters

The co-op action RPG space has always been a competitive one, with a vast number of games and developers trying their hand at the genre and coming away with varying degrees of success. Novarama’s Killsquad is the latest to join the fray, a sci-fi title looking to make its own mark with its blend of fast-paced action and intricate mechanics. Currently in early access, the developers have big ambitions for the game, and we recently sent across a few of our questions to them about their plans for its future. Read our covnersatio below with Ricardo Seligmann, producer of Killsquad.

"KILLSQUAD can definitely be played solo, and we have some members of the community that prefer to play that way. That said, we firmly believe that our game shines when you play with others in coop mode."

With a game such as this one, squad-based co-op is often the best way of playing, but for those looking for a solo experience, is Killsquad equally satisfying to play?

KILLSQUAD can definitely be played solo, and we have some members of the community that prefer to play that way. That said, we firmly believe that our game shines when you play with others in coop mode. Some of the game’s mechanics are intended for playing as squad.

Do you plan on adding more bounty hunters to the game down the line?

Yes, we do! In our roadmap we revealed that one additional Bounty Hunter was planned. The engineer is well underway in the development state, and we’re just starting to flesh out the rogue fed bounty hunter which will be announced at the end of the year. It’s still very likely that we add more next year.

Can you talk about Killsquad’s real-time contracts and how they function in the game?

Contracts are our missions, our quests. When you are on the lobby you can see what contracts are active. Each contract has an objective and a specific reward in the form of materials from that planet.

Can you talk about why you went with procedurally generated planets for Killsquad?

We don’t have a story mode nor a campaign. Our game is purely about unleashing hell and getting some loot, and procedurally generated levels are perfect for that kind of games for they add variety and allow players to have a different experience every time they repeat a contract.

"Some of the game’s lore you can find through item, skin, contract and hunter descriptions, and others through environmental storytelling. We don’t have plans to add a story mode, but we do have plans to add more ways to learn about KILLSQUAD universe."

Killsquad’s world looks like one that’s hiding a lot of interesting lore and locations- is that something you want to double down on before the game’s full launch?

Some of the game’s lore you can find through item, skin, contract and hunter descriptions, and others through environmental storytelling. We don’t have plans to add a story mode, but we do have plans to add more ways to learn about KILLSQUAD universe.

How do the Vectors tie into the game’s progression mechanics? Are they an added layer on top of the usual levelling up and upgrades?

Vector level is our persistent progression system, since your Bounty Hunter level restarts after every contract. We see our in-contract-leveling-up system as a way to adapt on the fly, choosing skills that best suit the contract you’re on. Vector level on the other hand is the overall strength of your equipment, higher vector level allows you to play higher vector contracts and unlock rare equipment that change the way you play your character.

What are your hopes for the game’s early access period?

We’re hoping to build a strong community that will help us see what’s best for the game. In fact we decided to go Early Access to see what people like and don’t like about the game, to gain this useful feedback in the hopes of using it to improve the final product.

The PS4 and Xbox One versions have been confirmed for 2020. Do you think you may consider cross gen support for PS5 and Xbox Scarlett as well, given they both launch next year?

It’s still very early to talk about next generation consoles, but if there’s enough demand we’ll probably port it.

The PS5 is confirmed to have SSD. From a development perspective, how will this help you to improve game performance in the future?

SSD technology allows us to quickly load content, making load screens less annoying and allowing us to load more enemies, particle effects and environments on the fly without compromising the performance, making our worlds more diverse and interesting.

"Higher memory bandwidth is very important to us. With a higher download speed and together with SSD it allows us to quickly download and quickly load assets, making our worlds bigger and more diverse."

The PS5 will have a Zen 2 CPU processor which is a major leap over the CPUs found in the PS4 and Xbox One. From a development perspective, how will this help you in developing games of the future?

For us it means bigger hordes of enemies and smarter, more complex foes that will enrich the experience.

Xbox Scarlett features GDDR6 memory. How will this increase in memory bandwidth help you in the future?

Higher memory bandwidth is very important to us. With a higher download speed and together with SSD it allows us to quickly download and quickly load assets, making our worlds bigger and more diverse.

Backwards compatibility is a big feature PS5. How will it help your past library to evolve and grow?

Backwards compatibility is always welcome, although we would prefer an improved upgraded last generation version of the game. With KILLSQUAD we would like to improve what’s already there, but we always want to take advantage of the latest generation of gaming consoles.

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