RUiN: Interview with Tarhead Studio .

At Comic Con Gamex where Swedish developers were the primary focus, we encountered a small studio called Tarhead Studio, who are working on an online brawler called RUiN. Down below you can read our interview with their lead director Emil Helge and designer Martin Eriksson.

 

Can you give us a short description of the game?

RUiN is a multiplayer online game, where two teams are pitted against each other in an arena that is gradually shrinking. So the longer the match, the smaller the arena and the more intense it gets. The players are able to choose different abilities before entering the arena, and the players can freely choose his\her own set off abilities. And the abilities are used more to push the opponent then they do damage, since the goal of the game is to push the other teams players outside the area, where they will receive massive damage.

 

Martin Eriksson and Emil Helge from Tarhead Studio.

You have the “king of the hill” game mode now, any plans for more?

The focus of the game is to push one another, but we are looking into different layouts of the maps, where you can imagine different parts of the map disappearing, or that the shrinking starts from the middle. But the main goal is still going to be to push the enemies outside the arena. A reason for this focus is because we don’t want to split our community between different game modes, especially this early in development.

 

How many players in each team?

We are mainly focusing on 3vs3, but we are looking into 2vs2 and a causal mode where there is free for all. But in the competitive scene it will be 3vs3.

How does teamwork work in the game?

When we create new abilities, we talk about different purposes. We are mainly trying to get different mechanics in the abilities that are fun in this early development stage. One way of doing it more fun is to make it do something more than just attacking another player, so teamwork arises when creating abilities and having fun. Where an example ability can stop projectiles heading towards a teammate, and while developing new ones, they are tested for team play purpose.

 

How many abilities do you have and when can you switch them?

You have five abilities, and they are chosen before every match. So if you are not happy with your choice, you can always switch that ability in the lobby before a new match start. But in competitive games, there will be more of a drafting on getting the abilities.

 

Are abilities locked to one player and one match or can everyone have the same?

Not in the main mode, but it is very fun when everyone have the same abilities, so maybe something for the casual mode. But one in each team can have the same.

Can you explain further on what makes the pushback system advanced?

What makes it advance is to understand how it actually works. Every ability pushes the opponent a certain lengths, and that value is multiplied with the value of that player, and that value or stack as we called it is also raised somewhat. Then there are abilities which raises the stack on the player but don’t do that much of a push. So if we look at the Super Smash series, which we have as a inspiration, it works a little like the percentage in that game. So while the game is great as a party game, there is also great depth in it for the competitive scene.

 

If you had to choose between casual and competitive, what is your focus?

Our primary group is casual to mid-core players.

 

How does one win?

By eliminating the other teams players, which is done by pushing them out of the ring where they take great damage. So even if you are pushed outside the ring, you still have a chance of getting back into the game.

Any plans on expanding beyond PC to other platforms?

Yes, we have played around with controllers and found great systems for them, even when pitting keyboard + mouse players against players with controllers; it is a fair and even match. While the focus is getting it on PC now, we have plans on expanding it to the new consoles. We are also looking into companion apps for mobile platforms, where you can see stats and read about abilities and so forth.

 

What payment model are you planning for RUiN?

It will be F2P. Where we will have micro transactions with the slogan that buying stuff will not help you win, only expand the game. Where you can by new skins for your character, how abilities look when being used. But you can also buy new abilities, which will be on a rotating schedule for everyone to try. And all things in the shop can be bought with both real money and ingame currency.

How many characters are there to choose from?

We have three different characters all acting the same, but there is a multitude of armor to choose from to customize your character with. We will also have an augmentation system on the abilities, similar to the runes in Diablo 3, where you can tweak the abilities in a way that suites you. So the characters are just there to build your own ultimate character on.

 

When is the beta planned for?

Our goal is Q4 2015 at its earliest.

 

RUiN sounds like an exciting game that we can’t wait to jump into, sadly it sounds like the beta is a year away at least so we will just have to be patient. We’ll be keeping an eye on this exciting title. Thanks ever so much to Emil and Martin for taking time out of their busy convention to tell us more about RUiN.