We had to drop the online multiplayer because it's expensive to make
We really really wanted to make it
But we simply didn't have the time to actually develop it to the level where it actually functioned
It is something we really would've liked to have in the game
but we just didn't have enough manpower to make the online multiplayer work
so we just cut it out and focused on the local co-op play
We decided to go on Xbox because it is one of the most powerful consoles
and PS4 had like Helldivers and Alienation coming out
so it was pretty simple to choose Xbox One
We really couldn't bring a game like Spareware to the PC either
especially with with no online multiplayer which we couldn't do
Well the biggest problem art-wise probably was the changes in personnel
VISIBILITY
We used mostly just social media and our blog
and tried to reach out to hundreds of people through press releases
But nobody cared
We really would've needed much much more to gain the attention and find the people
The biggest development side hurdle we had was with the AI
We constantly had problems with it, with enemy dudes hanging around and standing around
and not actually doing what they were supposed to do
We squashed that bug like 5 times and I'm pretty sure it's still lurking out there somewhere...
Top-down shooters are a genre of shooter games we really enjoyed since childhood
Top-down just... Really works the best when you try to bring in as many people as you can
We wanted to make a co-operative gameplay experience
which you could play with your friends on the couch on Fridays or otherwise...
This lead to a top-down shooter because we didn't want to have the hassle
of managing multiple cameras and all the drawing - and technical systems depending on that
so with top-down shooter we could focus on actually making the gameplay fun
A top-down shooter... Was an obvious choice
especially when we looked at the games we really liked to play together
For the art of Spareware we drew a lot from Isaac Asimov's novels
and also the worlds of Deus Ex, the old Syndicate Wars and Syndicate
and some other sci-fi videogames and movies...
From the movie side I could name for example Blade Runner
So the biggest gameplay inspiration for us was Dead Nation by Housemarque.
Also we drew a lot of inspiration from Left 4 Dead, Halo, Gears of War and all the shooter games
