Ten Questions With… Ken & KJ (PD Design Studio)

Ten Questions With… Ken & KJ (PD Design Studio)

Facebook
Like PD Design Studio on Facebook

Twitter 
Follow PD Design Studio on Twitter

Website
Check out the official PD Design Studio Website

Discussion
Give the developers feedback on the Steam Discussion Page

Purchase
Buy your copy on the Steam Store page 

We recently checked out the 2D brawler, Dusty Revenge: Co-op Edition by the talented folks from PD Design Studio. We were impressed by the cartoon style visuals, and satisfying combat that the game delivered. We contacted the studio founders, Ken and KJ, to tell us more about the game, and the inspiration behind it.

Can you give our readers a quick introduction of yourself?

Hi, we are Ken and KJ, founders of the studio. Both of us were graphic and multimedia designers, which was how the studio started out.

What made you choose to create a side scrolling brawler?

The whole concept started with the inclusion of the sniper and artillery mechanics. At one point, we were considering more of a shoot’em up, much like old school Contra. But we decided to go with a brawler in the end as it’s what we like to play better.

What are the games that influenced you and how?

We are both fans of modern 3D games such as the God of War series and Devil May Cry series. We also grew up spending lots of our time in the arcade centers playing Street Fighters. So you can be sure influences from these games made their way into Dusty Revenge. Little things like the treasure chest in Dusty Revenge were borrowed from GoW. And both GoW and DMC inspired the combat system. Basically, what we set out to do was to make a modern 2D brawler game.

What features of Dusty Revenge are you the most proud of?

I would say both the support character mechanics and the combat/ combo system. The support character mechanics was the starting point of the game. We thought it’s something new, not done in other games. It adds quite a bit to the combat. For instance, you could be in mid-air executing your combos, and while waiting for the combo to finish, you could switch to artillery and bomb the other guys on the ground. The combat/ combo system is also really dynamic, while you can follow the pre-determined sets of combos, you can also mix different moves up and create different combos.

What was the biggest challenge while creating the game?

For one, we have a brand new team. Some are fresh grads without any game experience. It proved to be challenging, but everyone on the team was really passionate about the project, and that’s what made the production possible

What aspect of the game was the most fun to create?

I’m not so sure. Maybe both the playable character combos and boss fights? The boss fights were actually quite tough to plan. But it’s satisfying to see that each iteration gets better and better.

Is there anything about the game you would have done differently in retrospect?

We would probably have gone with a different game engine. Torque2D isn’t the most competent engine. We were all green at the time when we started out and to be frank, there weren’t a lot of choices. Unity3D wasn’t as big as it is now and there wasn’t any one engine that stood out in particular.

What are the future plans for Dusty Revenge/PD Design Studio?

We are going to continue to make more kickass games. But following the release of Dusty Revenge, we want to re-group and learn from our lessons before we plunge into the next production. In fact, we may be making some changes to the project we are currently working on.

What is the most unusual thing on your desk right now?

Ken has this really cool looking telephone on his desk right now. It looks like a field phone but really, it just functions like a normal one.

Anything else you would like to add?

Buy our game or at least check it out. It’s really awesome!

We would like to thank Ken and KJ for answering our questions, and wish them luck for future PD Design Studio projects. You can check out our review for Dusty Revenge: Co-op Edition HERE and buy a copy of the game on Steam or from the official website.

Related posts

Ten Questions With… Emil Esov (Mad Head Games)

Ten Questions With... Emil Esov (Mad Head Games)

We recently covered Adam Wolfe, an episodic hidden object puzzle adventure from Mad Head Games. Despite the overcrowded genre, it is a title that manages to set itself apart from the rest of the pack with a strong story and some great point & click adventure elements. To find out more about the creation of the game we reached out to Mad Head Games and got some great answers from senior producer Emil Esov.

Ten Questions With… Niklas Hansson (Defrost Games)

Ten Questions With... Niklas Hansson (Defrost Games)

We played through the mind and space bending puzzles of Project Temporality a while ago and it impressed us enough that we had to find out more. Fortunately, Niklas Hansson from Defrost Games was willing to give us some insights about this unique title, so check out what he had to say.

Ten Questions With… Friso (Critical Bit)

Ten Questions With… Friso (Critical Bit)

Critical Bit recently released their unique take on the shoot ‘em up genre, Reign of Bullets. The game features tons of epic loot as well as the ability to bolt heaps of guns to your ship. The result is an addictive, but also surprisingly accessible shooter. To find out more about Reign of Bullets we caught up with the co-founder of Critical Bit.

Ten Questions With… Maxim Ryadchik (Specialbit Studio)

Ten Questions With... Maxim Ryadchik (Specialbit Studio)

When we checked out The Last Dream: Developer’s Edition we were expecting a typical hidden object game. Instead, we discovered a game that features a nice blend of classic point & click adventuring along with mini-games and fragmented object scenes. Even the story was a pleasant surprise as it focused more on love than supernatural monsters. To find out more about the team behind the game we were lucky enough to catch up with one of the founders of Specialbit Studio.

Ten Questions With… Sim Yih Chun (Nerdook Productions)

Ten Questions With... Sim Yih Chun (Nerdook Productions)

A while back we took a look at Vertical Drop Heroes HD, a full blown remake of the original Flash title. The game not only retained all the addictive elements of the original release, but added tons of new features and plenty of polished. What makes it even more impressive is that it is the work of just one person, Sim Yih Chun. Fortunately for us Sim was able to spare some time to answer our questions.

Ten Questions With… Dominique Lemire-Nault (Juicy Beast)

Ten Questions With... Dominique Lemire-Nault (Juicy Beast)

To say that Knigthmare Tower is an addictive title would be an understatement and we still find ourselves having another go every now and then despite completing it multiple times. To find out more about the four man team responsible for our lack or productivity we caught up with Dominique Lemire-Nault.

2 Comments

  1. GAMERamble September 19, 2014
    Reply

    Comments (Reposted for preservation)

    Jiggavolt03/29/2014 11:15am
    How awesome is that field phone thing =)

    Morbidlyobtuse03/29/2014 11:35am
    I thought I owned this game and it turned out to be Dust: An Elysium tale! Will have to rectify the situation

    Darkphoenix03/29/2014 4:00pm
    Very cool, the photos are nice. Will all the interviews you guys run include these type of photos?

    GAMERamblelink04/02/2014 4:09pm
    Obviously we would love to do that but it depends on what the developers have for us or what we can get from their presskits.

  2. GAMERamble September 19, 2014
    Reply

    Coolahmaster03/30/2014 2:49am
    That telephone is so badass! Looks like something straight out of Uncharted!

    Yazz8803/30/2014 4:53am
    Liked the game myself, didnt experience any of the technical isues that other people complained about and loved the art style. Gj guys.

    PaRadoxia04/01/2014 1:54am
    Great game I only wish that the co op wasn’t restricted to local only.

    Missguidedspirit04/01/2014 8:24am
    The art style is really lavish and detailed. I found the game to be a little on the tricky side, especially using the partners effectively without getting pummeled by the bad guys but it was worth sticking it out for the graphics on the last levels. The artists working for this studio has a very distinctive style and I really want to see more of it in their future games.

    Bunjero04/02/2014 8:04am
    Hoping to eventually see a sequel to this game =)

Leave a Reply to GAMERamble Cancel reply

10 + 15 =