Part 1 of the Int. with Matthew Doyle, CEO of Plutonium Games

Mystery: To begin, can you please tell us who you are, and what you do?

Matthew: I am the God Emperor of Plutonium Games. :) Most people just call me Matthew. I am the lead designer and creative director of the company. I handle all aspects of the creative process from concept to completion. My duties include writing the design doc, concept art of characters and locations, level modeling, character modeling & animation, texture maps, and many other things. The only thing I don't do on the team is code. I do have a base understanding of the code side of things though which helps me communicate better with the engineers.

Mystery: How did you get your start in game development?

Matthew: Technically, I've been developing games since I was 10. But I have only really started in earnest about 2 years ago when I decided to turn my hobby into a job. Professionally, I will start developing them once we get funded. :) I started on a Commodore 64, writing games in BASIC, using sprites. In those days, I tried writing games as much as I played them. And I played every game I could get my hands on, good or bad. I didn't care. I loved them all. I had no idea I'd be doing this now back then. People didn't take games seriously back then. No one encouraged me as a result and I took a different path. Somehow, I still ended up here. :)

Mystery: What have you been working on, specifically, for the last couple of months?

Matthew: We've been concentrating our efforts on putting together an amazing demo that would cause publishers to drop their jaw and sign us up no the spot. :) We've focused so far on the graphic aspect of the game. We're shooting for triple-A quality. Now we're starting to work to put the unique playability that is Cleric into the mix. The last few months has seen dramatic improvement on the visual side of things as we had meeting s with several major publishers to attend recently in Austin and we wanted to be prepared.

Mystery: What's your favorite accomplishment during this time?

Matthew: I'd say my favorite accomplishment has to be the actual level for the demo. I've poured my blood and sweat into it and it's really starting to look sweet. It gives you a good sense of the game's overall atmosphere. And it has been alot of fun putting it together. We've done some neat things with the level of interactivity in the level too. Trees actually rain snow down on you when you bump into them.

Mystery: About what are you most excited for your game? What sets your game apart from its direct competitors?

Matthew: The easy answer is the story and location. You just don't see Russian based games very often. And you've never seen one based entirely on Russian history, myth and folk tales. Then there is the game play. While we see Cleric playing much like Deus Ex, Thief, or System Shock 2, we've expanded a bit on those great games by giving the player more of a choice as to where he can go and how he can get there. Cleric is not level based, nor is it completely linear. How you play the game will affect the ending, not just some choice you make at the very end. You can play the game as a good guy, a bad guy, or someone in between. And you can switch back and forth as you play. In the end, if you played more often as a bad guy, the game will begin to reflect that in the things that happen.

Mystery: How did you come up with Old World Russia as the setting for Cleric?

Matthew: Entirely by accident. Originally, Cleric was to be set in a medieval fantasy world with Elves and Goblins and such. One of the gods spoke with a "Russian" accent. The more I wrote, the more I began to love the Russian character. I also began to decide that I was tired of the typical fantasy setting and felt that some gamers might feel the same. Before I knew it, I was changing all the characters' names to Russian names and changing the location to a Russian town. As I continued to make the change, I began reading up on Russian folk-lore, history, religion, and architecture. I soon began to realize the potential for a game set entirely in Russia. It's a beautiful place with a very colorful history. And it's something we haven't seen in many games before.

Mystery: What other games would you figure fit into the "Survival Horror" genre?

Matthew: Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dino Crisis, D2, Alone in the Dark, System
Shock. I could go on. I'm sure I'm missing some good ones too.

Mystery: Are you classifying yourself alongside these titles?

Matthew: I'd have to say yes. The gameplay isn't the same. For one, we're a first person title. Two, we have a magic system. But the idea of survival horror is very much there. You'll have limited resources and be required to deal with nasty things that don't die very easily. Sometimes, running will be your best option.

Stay tuned for Part 2! A fond thanks goes out to Matthew and Plutonium Games for giving us a chance to crack his skull and see what pours out.

You can catch up with Matthew and his Cleric cohorts at Plutonium Games on their official game website.