Exclusive Interview: The Vision, Challenges, and Future of SERUM
Step into the harsh world of SERUM, where survival is more than a struggle—it’s a high-stakes race against time itself. In this atmospheric game, every moment counts as you rely on a mysterious elixir to push beyond your limits, fight back against the horrors lurking in the Blight, and outwit a ticking clock that never lets up. SERUM isn’t your typical survival experience—it’s a creative blend of tense resource management, fast-paced action, and a story that keeps you guessing.
After sharing my first hands-on impressions in an in-depth review, my curiosity only grew as the full release approached. To get a deeper look behind the scenes, I connected with the minds at Game Island, including Piotr Siemaszko, who leads the marketing for SERUM. They opened up about the game’s creative origins, the challenges of building a new survival formula, and what players can expect as they step into this unforgiving world.
The Making of SERUM – Game Island’s Vision
The making of “SERUM,” crafted by the inventive minds at Game Island and published by Toplitz Productions.
Background and Inspiration
What inspired the concept and story of “SERUM”?
Drawing from science-fiction and survival influences across various media, SERUM offers a fresh take. While the notion of a “doom clock” may ring familiar, our focus lies in the art of brewing. Players can concoct diverse strategies, blending life-sustaining substances to empower their character and tackle challenges head-on. There isn’t really one specific thing that inspired it, rather a collection of ideas and inspirations that have helped formulate the ideas to flourish.
How did your team come together to work on this project?
Our team came together driven by a shared passion for innovation and a desire to push the boundaries of the survival genre. Each member brought a unique set of skills and experiences to the table. We were united by a common goal: to create something truly special and redefine what players expect from survival games.
Game Development Process
Can you describe the development process of “SERUM”?
It’s a typical game dev story, just like any other. We began with extensive brainstorming sessions, during which we outlined the core concepts and mechanics we wanted to incorporate into the game. From there, we moved into pre-production, where we fleshed out the game’s world, characters, and storyline. Our main focus, though, remained on creating a fun and in-depth Serum brewing system that is unique in the genre, and we spent most of our development time bringing it to life.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during development?
One of the biggest challenges we faced during the development of SERUM was striking the right balance of difficulty, which is crucial for the survival genre. Balancing difficulty in a way that offers both a challenging experience and a sense of achievement without frustrating players was no small feat. We invested significant time and resources into playtesting and iterating on game mechanics to ensure that the difficulty curve felt natural and rewarding. This involved adjusting how much time the player has before the next Serum dose, resource scarcity, and refining combat mechanics to provide a fair but challenging experience for players of all skill levels.
Gameplay Mechanics
How did you balance the survival elements with the action in “SERUM”?
SERUM isn’t combat-focused by design; it builds everything around a kind of alchemy that encourages the player to gather resources in order to create various Serums to overcome the challenges he faces—some of which will help him in combat. Additionally, some areas on the map may be unreachable to them at first and will require a specific variant of Serum to become available for the players. Having a proper Serum-induced ability will become crucial during exploration. This gives us both the alchemy and the action as part of the game’s design.
What makes the Serum brewing mechanism unique in the game?
The constant time pressure the players will face is a unique aspect of the game. The player will be mindful that he needs to be able to return from an excursion in time to purify his blood from the deadly effects of The Blight or administer the next dose of Serum to prolong his life. This is indeed a fresh twist on the survival genre. Serum is both a curse and a lifeline, and we must be ready to bear the consequences of our loadout choices every time we leave our base.
Artistic and Design Choices
What influenced the artistic direction of “SERUM”?
Our talented design team uses all kinds of inspirations. For example, there’s a lot of inspiration taken from the natural world—we have one mutated creature in the game inspired by arachnids, complete with crushing pincers. The team will build out a mood board filled with lots of different things to inspire them: it could be animals, plants, movie stills, posters, or man-made physical items. They’ll have an idea for what they want to design and will then take inspiration from those and allow their own creative freedom to generate it.
How did you decide on the game’s visual and audio style?
Audio design was picked up by a few streamers, actually—they found that the music and sounds put them on edge in places during the Steam Next Fest demo and created a unique atmosphere, and that’s exactly what we wanted. Visually, we wanted SERUM to stand out. The biomes in the game have a distinct look as well, which helps define each area that the player explores. For example, the forest may be dark, overgrown, and gloomy, but there are points in the map where sunlight pierces through the trees and open areas where the sunlight hits the toxic mist, which makes it look extremely atmospheric. The swamp biome, by contrast, is a different color consisting of more earthy tones.
Technical Aspects
What was it like working with Unreal Engine 5 for this game?
Utilizing the power of Unreal Engine 5.0 has been really useful in communicating the destroyed and derelict world of SERUM. We want players to ask the question, “what happened here?” when they find an abandoned car or a damaged building. Unreal gives us the ability to establish a look and feel for an environment quite seamlessly. In general, it’s an incredibly creative tool that excels at world-building.
Did you encounter any significant technical hurdles?
When we began switching to the latest iteration of the engine, we already had a big chunk of the game ready, and it wasn’t all smooth sailing. We have encountered some hurdles, but nothing our team couldn’t handle. We made it one of our priorities to create an immersive and visually striking experience for the players, and we’re happy to say we have accomplished it.
Community Engagement
How has player feedback influenced the development of “SERUM”?
Player feedback is essential to us for SERUM during its early access phase. We got some great insights into how players used the brewing system in the demo, which was interesting because there were aspects that we are now looking to adjust based on how they interacted with it during Steam Next Fest, so in that respect, feedback is important. We see our community as an essential part of the development process, and we’re committed to actively involving them and listening to their thoughts, suggestions, and concerns to shape the game into the best possible experience.
Are there plans to involve the community in future development phases?
Absolutely, we see this as crucial to building the game they want to play. Our goal is to work hand in hand with our community to shape SERUM into a game that exceeds expectations and delivers a truly exceptional experience for all players.
Challenges and Achievements
What has been the most rewarding part of developing “SERUM”?
I think one of the great things was how players and content creators reacted to the demo, which came together relatively quickly. Even though the demo only gave players a very small taste of the game, the buzz and the feedback we got was even better than we could have hoped for.
Are there any accomplishments during development that you are particularly proud of?
We’re especially proud of our ability to innovate within the survival genre. We strived to offer players a fresh and unique experience, and it was immensely gratifying to see their positive reactions to the game’s mechanics, world-building, and storytelling after releasing the demo.
Future Plans and Updates
Can you share any upcoming features or updates players can look forward to?
We’ll be revealing more about the game as we edge closer to early access, which includes a new biome that contrasts against what will be available when the game launches in early access. This includes new creatures, plus we’re working on some interesting traps as well, which we’ll also reveal more about when the time is right.
What is the long-term vision for “SERUM”?
At the moment, our primary focus for SERUM is on achieving our short-term goal, which is to release the game in Early Access. We believe that by releasing SERUM in this stage, we can leverage the invaluable feedback from our community to refine and enhance the overall experience. Once we’ve gathered sufficient feedback and made the necessary adjustments, our long-term vision for SERUM will come into focus. We’re excited about the potential for growth and evolution that Early Access provides, and we’re committed to delivering the best possible experience for our players in the months to come.
Advice for Aspiring Developers
What advice would you give to someone starting out in game development?
Build a community for your game and keep them involved every step of the way. At the end of the day, you’re building the game for them, not yourself. Sometimes it might mean having to make difficult choices about your game design or to get validation on parts of the game you might be unsure about, but using demos, playtests, beta sessions, and feedback is worth its weight in gold to a game designer.
Are there any resources or tools you recommend for new developers?
While there are countless resources and tools available to game developers, perhaps the greatest tools of all are imagination and boldness. Game development is a creative endeavor that thrives on innovation and originality. Imagination fuels the creative process, allowing developers to envision worlds, characters, and gameplay mechanics that push the boundaries of what’s possible. It’s the spark that ignites ideas and drives developers to explore new concepts and experiment with unconventional approaches.
Closing Thoughts and Future Teasers
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience about “SERUM” or the development process that we haven’t covered?
Only that we’d love to hear what players think about the game. They can join our Discord, plus we’ve also got a “deadly diary” on social media told through the eyes of Adam, the game’s survivor protagonist, and it’s also where we reveal insights about the game and the world of SERUM.
Can you give us any teasers or hints about upcoming games or projects that your team is working on?
I would, but then I’d have to kill you. 😉
Let us see if we get some inside information, but if you read this, we failed… 😉
For more information, you can play SERUM on Steam. Visit X/Twitter and Facebook.
Wrapping up your exploration into “SERUM,” this article not only unveils the depth of creativity and innovation behind the game but also connects readers with the passionate team at Game Island. Through the detailed insights from the developers, we’ve seen how “SERUM” promises to redefine survival gaming with its unique mechanics, captivating story, and immersive world. The developers’ commitment to incorporating player feedback and pushing the boundaries of the genre signals an exciting future for both “SERUM” and its community. As we await its full release, the anticipation and enthusiasm among players and creators alike continue to grow, setting the stage for “SERUM” to become a landmark title in the survival genre.
I had to move on without any major secrets this time around. My mission is to keep you updated with more insight into the industry and development. This is not the first or last time you’ll hear about this game from me!
Read more articles about Serum: [SERUM Game Review]
Written by Ronny Fiksdahl, Founder & Editor of Fix Gaming Channel.
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