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

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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.

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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 =)

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