Interview: we spoke with the creators of the upcoming sci-fi shooter Scars Above

After playing the demo version of the game, we spoke with the creators of Scars Above (Mad Head Games), and you can read the full interview below.

Q1: Your game has gathered a lot of hype during its production. Did the hype add extra pressure to your team?

Well, every time you make something for an audience, there is a certain amount of pressure. We don't feel any extra pressure other than what we've put on ourselves. We are happy to have received a positive reaction and hype from people who saw the game, as well as from people who played the demo at Gamescom and Steam Next Fest.

Q2: How did you come up with the idea to make a TPS sci-fi adventure shooter?

The game is the result of a few prototypes we made before we started making the game itself. We wanted to make a game with a defined protagonist and a solid sci-fi story. The third-person genre is something that helped us set the whole thing up in a way that has engaging gameplay, shows the protagonist, and tells the story.

Do you have any plans for the future of Scars Above? A sequel or a larger DLC?

We can't comment on this other than to say that we first have to see how the game will be received by the audience after it comes out. We would love to tell more stories in the same universe, but we don't know what the future will bring.

Q3: Were there any major obstacles you had to overcome during the making of the game?

Every game developer has obstacles to overcome in every game, whether they are large or small. Our main challenge with making this game is that we want to become better developers during production. Therefore, team growth, studio organization, learning new technology, and its implementation are our main obstacles. Other than that, it has been very fun.

Q4: Will there be any mysteries or easter eggs that players will have to find for themselves while playing the game?

The story and the setting are a mystery in themselves. The story revolves around uncovering mystery and facing overwhelming odds with the help of science. As for easter eggs… well, discovering them wouldn’t be as interesting if we gave you the details now 🙂

Q5: Is this your most challenging project so far? If not, which project was the most challenging?

We could say that this is the most challenging project. However, it is also the project for which we were best prepared in terms of team skill set and accumulated experience in video game development.

Q6: Are there any games that served as inspiration for Scars Above?

At Mad Head Games, we are primarily gamers. As such, we play many games and gather inspiration from all corners. We mostly looked at games like Remnant: From the Ashes, the Resident Evil series, Alien: Isolation, Destiny, the Horizon series, and similar titles.

Q7: Did you encounter any funny incidents during production? Any interesting glitches or bugs?

When you are in the middle of development, there are a lot of things that can go wrong 🙂 We think one of the funniest things we saw was when we accidentally created a particle effect that, besides regular steam particles, actually spawns Goliaths, which are a type of enemy that will be in the game. So the whole situation looked like a fountain spewing monsters.

Q8: Can you reveal the release date for the game?

We can't give an exact release date for the game, but it should be out sometime in the first quarter of 2023.