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On June 10, 2022, the new horror game "Quarry Horror" developed by 2K and Supermassive Games will land on the PS5/PS4/XSX/Xbox One/PC platform.
What makes Quarry Horror the latest addition to Supermassive Games, known for its development of Kill by Daylight?
The following will not only take you through the history of Supermassive Games and introduce the charm of the new Quarry Horror, but also publish our email interview with the development team.
Dedicated to the development of immersive horror games
Supermassive Games
Let's start with Supermassive Games, which is responsible for the development of Quarry Horror. In the past, the studio has brought many fascinating works such as "Until Dawn", "Hidden Schedule", "Patient", "Black Album" series and so on.
Of these titles, Until Dawn, released on August 27, 2015 on the PS4 platform, has been the most coveted work of many horror game fans. The main characters of the game are 8 men and women gathered in a mountain village deep in the snowy mountains, and players will experience the night of tragedy they experienced first-hand.
The plot of this game is not a narrative method of a road, and players have to make choices according to the current situation from time to time, thus affecting the direction of the story, so the game also designs multiple endings accordingly.
The addition of a seemingly inconspicuous action and choice that has the potential to have a significant impact on subsequent developments allows players to immerse themselves in the game and create the illusion that they are the protagonist.
The range of options in the game ranges from minutiae to impactful events. For example, you may have the option of both your girlfriend and best friend being caught, but you can only save one of them, and the other will die. Although there is nothing wrong with how to choose, in the face of this ultimate choice, I believe that many players will be entangled in front of the screen.
At the time of the game's release, no horror game could create such a detailed story branch, and even the design of the multi-ending itself was not much attention. In this context, this work has triggered a huge topic in one fell swoop with its high adaptability to game live broadcasting. Thinking about how to make a choice with the live audience and guessing the future plot direction can be regarded as "the unique charm of the live broadcast era" to some extent.
In addition, the game also invited professional actors who have participated in many movies and TV series, using the latest technology for motion capture, so the realism and immersion of the game have been raised to a new level.
All of the above elements are intertwined, and players will be able to more intuitively feel the horror of sweating palms and the sense of presence as if they are personally engaged in the game, as if they are experiencing a "horror movie".
A wonderful experience that is "fun enough to die for"
On June 10, Supermassive Games, which has developed a large number of unique works, will launch its latest game, Quarry Horror.
Like Until Dawn, the choices you make, big or small, will have a major impact on the direction of the story and the fate of the characters on the scene. In the game, players take on the role of one of 9 camping instructors for a summer camping. On the final night of the camping event, camp instructors in the darkness of Hackett Quarry are preparing to throw a parting party. What they didn't expect, however, was that it was only the beginning of a night of terror.
In order to allow players to experience the horror of a high content density, this game invited many professional actors who are active in the front line of Hollywood to participate, and the acting skills are absolutely impeccable.
Among them, the owner of the campsite, Chris, is David Arquette, who starred in the hit horror movie "Scream" series. Ariel Winter, who starred in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, will play Abie, a camper who tries to have a romantic relationship with someone else on the last night of the event. In addition, Justis Smith, who plays the young Ryan who wears a mask but has a heroic heart, has also participated in works such as "Jurassic World".
With the blessing of such a luxurious cast, in addition to the plot, the details of the expressions and actions of each character are naturally more worthy of attention.
Developer interviews
Regarding Quarry Horror, we conducted an email interview with Will Byles, who directed the game's development at Supermassive Games, and asked interesting questions about the game's charm and whether it would add QTE elements like Until Dawn.
Will Byles (hereinafter referred to as Will)
Supermassive Games development director who has worked on Till Dawn.
| Q: What theme was this game based on?
Will: Quarry Horror is the latest narrative horror game produced by the multi-award winning until Dawn developer Supermassive Games. In Quarry Horror, several camping instructors who come to Hackett's Quarry are hosting a final party. However, this became an unparalleled night of terror, and their summer dreams and fantasies would be shattered in an instant, hunted down by bloody hunters and some kind of "being" even more terrifying than that.
| Q: Why did you choose a campsite as the game stage?
Will: When it comes to horror games, Summer Campground is certainly a stage that can't be ignored. For horror works, summer campsites can be a perfect setting. Inside the camp, young people are fighting fever to create summer memories together, while outside the camp is an off-the-beaten-track forest where most modern technology is cut off. So when these camping instructors are "hunted" in nature, they will quickly fall into a desperate situation, and we will relentlessly throw players one difficult choice after another beyond your imagination.
| Q: Judging from the trailer video, the realistic characters, backgrounds, and dialogue are almost like enjoying a movie. It seems that you have put a lot of effort into the restoration of facial movements, and you have also adopted motion capture technology. What was your most important focus when developing this game?
Will: As you said, for horror games, or horror-themed works, it's very important that the viewer/player can emotionally substitute for the characters that appear in the current frame, so every subtle change in the character's expression has to be shown truthfully. To that end, we worked closely with Digital Domain, whose motion capture and facial capture technology is definitely the best in the industry, and has been responsible for the animation of the important character "Thanos" in Marvel movies.
One of the things we put the most effort into creating in-game characters, because we had to present the subtle mental changes that the player imagined the character should have with expressions and movements.
| Q: There are definitely CG animations with elements of bloody violence in this game, can you tell us what efforts you have made in this regard?
Will: One of the difficulties in showing the elements of bloody violence is always remembering which character was injured and which character was bleeding. Because each character will take completely different actions depending on the player's choice, it is very difficult to match the character's previous experience 100%.
| Q: In this game, players will encounter unknown terrorist beings and hunters, which is the main threat? Is there any other way for the player to resist other than escape?
Will: That's a spoiler to answer (laughs)! Now all I can say is that these hunters are also very scary for the camping instructors in the game, and if they choose the wrong option, they may be killed instantly!
| Q: The process of this game should be based on exploration, and then advance the plot through different choices, will the game add action elements similar to QTE?
Will: In Quarry Horror, the choices players need to make are divided into a variety of modes, including "QTE", which requires the player to quickly press the corresponding button that appears on the screen to avoid danger. In addition, the player is able to perform certain actions while the story progresses, and this element is named the "insert" system. For example, when a gate appears in a scene that looks very dangerous, the player can decide whether to open the door by pressing the key. At this point, there are no options in the screen, and the player's own actions are used instead of the selection.
On this basis, there is also a "breath-taking" element in the game, and when the character is hunted by a hunter, the character must be controlled to hold the breath. If the breath is too short or too long, it will be directly discovered by the hunter.
| Q: The Quarry Horror game system seems to be quite close to Until Dawn. Here I would like to confirm to you that this game will still use a multi-ending system in which the player's choice will affect the direction of the story and the fate of the characters? If so, how many endings are there?
Will: A special option called "Path to Choice" exists in Quarry Horror, which appears with unique sound effects and visual cues. I think everyone should have guessed that these are the options that have an important impact on the development of the plot. The consequences of the choices made by the players will be reflected immediately, and some will have an impact on subsequent developments.
Naturally, the number of endings is also very large, including the endings of the camping instructors who are all alive or no one survives, and there is no shortage of other endings.
| Q: Does the relationship between the characters affect the development of the story?
Will: The relationship between the characters will have a significant impact on the development of the plot and the player's choices, and is an important part of the story of this game.
| Q: For a horror work, music often plays a very important role, and music seems to have a very important place in this game. In addition to the tune, how to arrange the timing of music insertion, the strength of the sound, and the anxiety of the rhythm will greatly change the player's impression of the work. Did you pay special attention to when composing the music for this work?
Will: Music is very important for the player's emotional guidance, and the use of music can not only create a dark atmosphere, a happy atmosphere, but also contribute to the performance effect of horror scenes. In the music of this game, we have included a lot of nostalgic style music, so that players can feel the emotions in the story when playing.
| Q: For you, what are the biggest features of this game and the elements that you most want players to pay attention to?
Will: Without spoilers, I can only say that I hope you pay more attention to the unknown side of the characters. After learning the secrets of the characters, the player's perception of the entire protagonist group will have a big change, making it more difficult for you to make a choice.
| Q: Finally, please say something to the players who are looking forward to this game.
Will: Thank you very much for your support, so stay tuned to the official release of Quarry Horror on June 10, 2022.
Compile: Bluestoon