Writer’s note: The studio is actually called Gambreng Games, not Gambring! My mistake.
Gambring Games’ title Ascender just got Greenlit! We worked with them through the campaign and I had a few questions on my mind to ask Dodick, a designer for Ascender. Keep in mind that I asked these questions while they were still on Greenlight (just before they went through, actually!)
1) Tell us a little about yourself and your team!
My name is Dodick and I am the game designer of Ascender. I am 1 of 10 members of the GameChanger team. Out of the 10 members only 6 are working full time while 4 others already have a full time job and working part time. We are all Indonesian and working in a city called Tangerang.
2) What inspired you to create Ascender?
The idea comes from our Art Director, Moh. Rizaldi, conceptualized a world where the sea is above the earth. Every layer from earth to the sky has its own civilization. Most of the civilizations are aware of each other’s existence while some are not. You can check it out the long story behind Ascender on our blog.
3) What is the primary genre of Ascender? Does Ascender fit neatly into this genre or does it do something fairly new?
Open world puzzle-based “Metroidvania” is one way to describe the game. Some developers may say their game is Metroidvania-like, but some of the worlds they create are actually segmented (level based), while ours are not. Puzzle has been the main genre and theme of Ascender. We won’t have one type of puzzle from the beginning to the end. You will find new and fresh puzzles that will test your logical skill and platforming skills. We created a huge world for the player to explore with an open world concept. You can go to one area and then go back to the previous area. You may choose to finish or neglect a puzzle or quest (but of course there will be mandatory quests). The environment will not be dull as the game will have NPCs and weird creatures surrounding the game area. It does not stop there; there will be night and day mechanisms that affect the quests within the game.
4) How are you liking being on Greenlight so far? What’s the feedback been like?
Well, we don’t get as much feedback as we had hoped, but from the analytics given by Steam we at least know the response of players. We are now in the top 100 of Greenlight, and hoping to get Greenlit fast!
5) What’s one feature you wish Greenlight had for you while pushing your Greenlight campaign?
One thing is that we hope for is that voters will need to at least give information on why they choose YES or NO. It does not need to be a comprehensive essay. We even appreciate a simple drop down list containing a single word such as Gameplay, Art, Control, etc.
6) What are you most looking forward to once you hit Steam?
We can’t wait to interact with the community of Steam. Getting more input will be important, especially for future builds.
7) What challenges do you and your team face now, and how do you hope to overcome them?
Our biggest challenge is to get the game out there. To get more input and to get more comments especially on the current build of the game. We believe that the community will speak out and give input. We don’t mind negative or even insulting feedback, as we appreciate any interest in our game and hopefully we can improve it. Right now, we are engaging with a variety of communities.
8) What’s one piece of advice you’d give games currently on Greenlight?
My suggestion is simple, be prepared. I think that the only thing you need to avoid is simply submitting to Greenlight and hoping for the best. You need to find out where to share your game and what community that will support you.