Exclusive Interview: Ismail Kemal Ciftcioglu Unveils Unawake's Dark Fantasy World on Fix Gaming Channel

In an industry as vast and varied as gaming, few titles manage to truly innovate and captivate an audience yearning for depth and originality. Unawake stands out as a beacon of creativity and technological prowess, weaving dark fantasy with action-packed adventures. At the helm of this groundbreaking project is Ismail Kemal Ciftcioglu, co-founder of RealityArts Studio, whose unique vision promises to redefine the boundaries of interactive storytelling and gameplay.

Today, we dive deep into the heart of Unawake's development process, exploring the inspirations that breathe life into its eerie, war-torn realms and the passionate team behind its creation. From its conceptual genesis as a narrative-driven experience to its evolution into a dynamic and immersive world powered by Unreal Engine 5, Unawake offers more than just gameplay—it invites players into a meticulously crafted universe where every corner holds a story waiting to be unveiled.

Join us as we uncover the intricate layers of Unawake, guided by Ismail's insights into the creative challenges, technical innovations, and the future aspirations of RealityArts Studio.

1. Concept and Vision

Inspiration and Development Approach:

What specific films, books, or games influenced the unique blend of science fiction and dark fantasy in Unawake? How have these inspirations shaped your development approach?

Can you also introduce the core members of your development team and describe their roles? How have their personal passions or previous experiences shaped their contributions to Unawake?

Response: 

Actually, the idea of Unawake started as a story-driven walking sim 10 years ago. In 2021, we received a Best Game award from Epic Games in the WN European Unreal Dev Contest with an action RPG game prototype, and we decided to combine these two into a dark fantasy action-adventure title. We didn't want to create another Skyrim clone nor a rogue-like dungeon crawler. We are huge fans of Doom and Diablo. We wanted to build a unique gameplay to combine the best parts of these games into an intense, first-person melee experience. I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan and as the writer and designer of the game, I wanted to build a world which has a history and rich backstory. I didn't want another high fantasy game or medieval simulation. I wanted to create a mystery surrounding the game world. So, like our main character, players will explore this new dark fantasy world as well. Huge statues, colossal underground cities, ruins of ancient kingdoms, mysterious forests, and dark valleys create the natural battlegrounds of Unawake.

And we are doing all these with a 3-person team. My co-founder partner Bahar Baziki is overseeing all of our business development while Erdem Acar is creating all the codebase and necessary smart systems to drive our development. And I'm doing all the design, directing, and writing work. We all share our thoughts and ideas and create the game design as well as everything regarding the game together.

We have 20 years of film production & visual effects background so it's a huge help for us to move forward in a complex project like this. We see game development like a film production. Sometimes it's very different but most of the time the same rules apply. Although we are 3 people, we approach everything completely professionally and follow very strict rules while sometimes we can relish the incredible flexibility of a small team.

2. Core Gameplay

First-Person Melee Combat: 

How do the mechanics of first-person melee combat in Unawake enhance player engagement and strategy? Can you give an example of a memorable combat scenario that highlights the variety of available weapons?

Response:

Imagine yourself in Diablo II while fighting like a slowed Doom-like combat. Unawake is not as fast as the new generation of Doom games but it's not slow as Chivalry also. Our unique approach gives players a very casual gameplay while maintaining the "easy to play / hard to master" approach of Diablo II.

There are a whole lot of combinations regarding the weapons & armor, skills, and stats of our main character. For example, we have an elite Demon Minion waiting in front of us. He has the ability to give lightning damage and shockwaves. He is using a two-handed heavy weapon. We can fight with him with our fast-speed dual weapons (swords, axes, or warhammers) and use "Throw" skill to throw our dual weapons to him from afar. If he uses an item or another skill to pull us to himself, we can use the "Shockwave" skill in our second skill slot to push him away. And when he's recovering, we can initiate fast dual cuts to his demonic skin.

There are hundreds of scenarios very different from this combat. With weapons, skills, and stats, you can create a character who relies more on defense, you can create a heavy warrior or something like a battlemage, and much more. We have 30 skills with 3 different sets and perks to enhance our strategies and gameplay.

3. Technical Challenges and Innovations

Aside from using Unreal Engine 5, what were some technical challenges you faced during the development of Unawake, and how did you address them?

Response: 

There were lots of challenges and most of them forced us to think out of the box to create the solutions but we did it. First of all, UE5 is an extraordinary game engine. We started developing the game in UE4 but switched to UE5 after several months of tests. In the end; although UE5 is a more hardware-demanding and next-generation engine, our performance is nearly triple what we had in UE4 while creating a bigger and extremely detailed game world.

But because Unawake has lots of complex systems, we have faced some complex challenges too. Our detailed terrain is much more different and complex than other games. We have no loading screens when you load up the map. All caves & underground areas, colossal ruined cities, forests, plains, and valleys, etc., everything is loaded at once and you never see a stuttering nor a loading bar. And in this environment, all of our AI enemies are constantly spawning, dying, and fighting with you with our smart intelligence systems. Our AI doesn't run to you blindly. They group, they circle you, they use their skills intelligently on you, and if they think they can't outsmart you; they run! So combining everything in a performance-friendly way is a huge challenge for a small team…

… But we did it:)

4. System Requirements and Performance Optimization: 

How have you optimized Unawake for both lower-end and high-end PCs? Can you provide examples of specific graphical features or enhancements, such as ray tracing or higher frame rates, that Unawake offers for players with high-end setups?

Response: 

Thanks to our previous development projects, we have a great experience in optimization. Even without using techs like Nvidia DLSS, our performance is great on most gaming machines. But with Nvidia DLSS, we are getting 120 fps+ on high-end setups. Unawake also features ray tracing, frame generation, Nvidia Reflex, and DLAA.

5. AI and NPC Behavior: 

How does AI and NPC behavior in Unawake contribute to the overall gameplay experience? Are there any unique AI behaviors or systems that players should look forward to?

Response: 

Well, I mentioned some things but I can give more details. AI is the most important thing for us in this game because we want players to always feel alert about their surroundings. It doesn't matter how pretty the environment is or how good the effects are; if a game has stupid AI, it will make the experience boring in a very short time. Therefore, we invested so much time into our AI core systems. Our enemies have different behaviors based on their class, race, and combat stances. They can change behaviors based on our attack moves and weapons. They move, they fight like real opponents. They guard their stance, they attack, they circle, they group, they use their special skills and perks. They are very intelligent.

We also have lots of enemy classes to set their behaviors. Light & heavy warriors, buffers, summoners, mages, horde, bombers, spearmen, etc. In addition to this, we have lots of Elites and mid-bosses to enhance our environments.

6. Artistic and Sound Direction

Visual Identity and Creative Challenges:

What creative challenges did you encounter in crafting Unawake's distinct visual identity? How did you overcome them, and how do these visual elements contribute to the overall atmosphere and storytelling?

Response:

As the designer, I didn't want another medieval simulation like I said before. I wanted something different. So I designed a game world using dark fantasy & surreal elements and combined them in an epic, ruined Lord of the Rings-like world. There are environments that I used more surreal and fractal designs and there are areas which I designed more natural, more ancient. There are some areas that remind us of the work of Giger; the legendary artist behind Alien films. And there are areas similar to much, much epic versions of earthly ruins with giant rocky arches circling the surreal sky; giving us the feeling that this world is very different. Overall, Unawake is set in a realm which is very old, ancient, and surreal.

Our soundtrack is being made by a young, new artist called Luna Rin. Music is a very important thing for us. As I'm in the %1 of the worldwide Spotify users based on my listening time, music is like a lifestyle for me. So together with our team, we were incredibly satisfied when we heard the first notes of what Luna Rin composed for Unawake. It's mysterious, sometimes epic, sometimes poetic… And it has great unforgettable tunes which you can hum by yourself even when you exit the game. We are 90s kids. We love great themes. When I say Darth Vader you can hum the Imperial March right away. That's what we wanted and that's what Luna Rin gave us. I can't wait to share it with everyone very soon.

Screenshots: Courtesy of Toplitz Productions

7. Community and Accessibility

Community Feedback and Development:

How has feedback from the player community influenced the development of Unawake? Could you highlight specific changes or features that were added or modified based on this feedback?

Response:

When we first launched the game on Steam NextFest in October 2023 we were of course very nervous as that was the first time we introduced our game to a wide audience. But the feedback was beyond awesome. We were so happy that so many people played the demo and gave their opinions. Most feedback was about the pacing of the game. People thought it was too fast and they gave great ideas for a better hit reaction from the enemies. We have incorporated their common feedback into our next builds and I can say Unawake is now even more powerful with the support of the fans.

8. Development Journey

Player Feedback and Iteration:

Can you describe a specific instance where player feedback led to a significant change or improvement in Unawake? What was the original feature or mechanic, and how was it adjusted based on feedback?

Response:

I have a great story about this which led us to create completely new systems! In our earlier versions, we had limited use of animations which we created and also limited behaviors for AI. We got some feedback that they are too monotonous and act very similar while also attacking very similar. Like some indie games, we have tested some locomotion systems to drive their animations more naturally but it didn't really satisfy us. Then we decided to move fully to motion-capture and we have recorded the animations of ALL of our AI, changed our main systems according to it and enhanced all of our AI behavior systems based on the moves we can incorporate into the game. When we did that, we also saw that the designs of the minion enemies were too repetitive and we have designed a system which generates minions with different sets of armors, different heights, and different skin colors. The Weta FX team did something similar to this during the post-production of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies and they called it the "Orc Builder". They made this system for a crowd control software called "Massive" but we built it for Unreal Engine 5.

So… All of these were made because we received some feedback:) But they were RIGHT. We knew at the moment they were so right when we received the feedback and we tried our best to adjust ourselves to meet our quality criteria.

9. Looking Ahead to 2030:

Where do you see Unawake and RealityArts Studio in 2030? What are your long-term goals and aspirations for the game and the studio?

Response:

When we officially started working for Unawake, we didn't start building just a game. We have designed a roadmap to create a brand which will flower lots of exciting developments along the road. We have so many stories to share and so many exciting plans to enhance the world of Unawake. With the support of players and our commitment to the quality of the game, we see Unawake is the first step of a larger journey.

As we wrap up our insightful discussion about Unawake, my excitement for this game continues to grow, and I'm confident it will offer a truly unique experience within the realm of dark fantasy adventures. The passion and creativity Ismail Kemal Ciftcioglu and his team at RealityArts Studio have poured into every aspect of the game's development promise a rich, engaging world filled with challenges and deep narrative.

Looking ahead, stay tuned to our channel for even more updates and exclusive content as we continue to explore the evolving journey of Unawake and anticipate more innovative projects from RealityArts Studio. This is just the beginning of what promises to be a thrilling adventure with them.

Trailer:

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