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The kind people at Renegade Kid, specifically Gregg Hargrove, the Owner and Art Director, have answered all of the questions asked by you – the Gamervision Community. Below are their answers and early next week expect to see a full review of Dementium: The Ward!  Check out this page for another opportunity to ask questions to Activision for their upcoming game Soldier of Fortune: Payback!

As a developer, what were the challenges in creating an engaging survivial/horror game on such a small platform?

Atmosphere was probably the hardest thing to achieve with a purely 3D environment on the DS. Everything from poly counts, texture sizes, bone counts, sound fx and score had to be considered and maximized in our memory budgets. It was delicate balancing act for the entire project.

Will this game have any similarities to other survival horror games such as Resident Evil?

Absoutely, it’s hard to create a true survival horror game without having some elements of the greats in there. We really loved some of the Resident Evil and Silent Hill games and it’s hard not to be influenced by the things that we thought they did right with those titles. We just tried to take the best aspects we saw in those games and bring some of that flavor to Dementium.


Why zombies?

They’re not zombies as much as strange surgery experiments gone terribly wrong (or right, depending on how you look at it). We tried to stay away from stereotypical creatures you find in most survival horror games. I mean sure, sometimes there are some similarities in movement and attack style but they’re not zombies by any means.

Will there be any usage of the microphone?

No, we thought about it but decided to make the controls as simple and elegant as possible this time out.


Did you have any problems with the ESRB rating system?

Not really. We had an idea from the beginning that we’d have a Mature rating so we didn’t try to fight that. We also aren’t the types to go for gratuitous violence or over the top gore. We’re all big fans of a psychologically thrilling experience rather than gallons of blood and tons of guts. 

Will the flashlight in the game be used more to get around or to find hidden items?

A little of both really but mostly we wanted the flashlight for the fright factor which is why we stayed away from allowing you to always have the flashlight on. Sometimes it’s even bad to have the flashlight turned on but you’ll have to discover those instances are for yourself.

Is there anything hidden in the game any sort of power ups?

What survival horror game would be complete without that extra push to explore! There are definitely a few elements scattered around to encourage you to stray from the beaten path. Mainly I’d say keep an eye out for some weapons that aren’t totally necessary to finish the game but they’re fun to have.

What is the goal of the story? You're frozen in time? Is the point to escape from the hospital?

The whole point is to live long enough to discover the whole story; who you are and why you’re there. Those are really the major points of the story that’ll you’ll discover as you explore. I’m not here to give away the story, but trust me there’s a goal and once you get there, you’ll know.

Why do all the scary first person shooters take place in some sort of hospital?

Well, I don’t really know why others have done it but I personally find hospitals a bit frightening even when they’re not dark and full of monsters. If you think about it, there’s a lot of really gruesome things that happen in hospitals. Granted most of it is in the name of saving lives, there’s a lot of cutting, sewing, chopping…well you get the picture. Not only that but hospitals are just naturally maze-like and full of rooms and equipment that come across a bit intimidating and alien. I mean, you can go with a haunted house or a cemetery, but there’s so much more STUFF in a hospital that can potentially hurt you.

Why the Nintendo DS?

That’s the number one question we get asked really. Bottom line is - we love the DS and it fits our lifestyle. Not all gamers have time to sit in front of the TV for hours on end, but the DS fits that “on the go” mentality. Play it on the bus/train on the way home from work or when you have an extra 20 minutes here and there. There is also a definite lack of this type of content for the DS. It’s the kind of game we wanted to play on the system and we figured we wouldn’t be alone in that desire. Just because you’re playing on a handheld doesn’t mean you can’t play. 

If Dementium is successful are there any plans to bring the franchise to a home console?

We really enjoyed making it and love the genre so we’re always open to pursuing it further should it prove successful enough to warrant it. We are also now officially licensed Wii developers.

How are the controls? Did you run into any difficulties?

I think the controls are incredibly solid. The DS touch screen allows for the best FPS controls next to a PC in my opinion. Target acquisition and movement are a lot more accurate and smooth than with digi-pads or even analogue sticks, but again, that’s my opinion. Nothing seemed as difficult to get going on the DS as I originally thought but for that I have to salute our technical director Bob Ives for his amazing skills. He made it look easy for sure.

Are there different difficulties? And if not how would he rate the hardness of the game.

There is only one difficulty setting and a great deal of effort went into making that a gradual learning experience that would get harder and more dangerous as the game progresses. I would say there are some pretty challenging points in the game but nothing you shouldn’t be able to achieve by the time you get there.

What is the target audience for the game?

The main point of the game is a fun, run-and-gun shooter but with enough suspense, mystery, exploration, and puzzle solving to make it interesting. Where does that fall? I think it depends on the kind of person you are. If you’re down with survival horror and you love your DS, you’re definitely in our target audience.

What are you most proud of in Dementium?

I think the overall atmosphere we were able to achieve is really special and took the efforts of the entire team to pull off effectively. We wanted it to be really dark and creepy, two things not normally done on the DS and I think it makes Dementium really stand out.

Any multiplayer planned? If so what kind, if no why not?

When we started with Dementium we decided to concentrate on making the best single player experience we could. As far as what the future may hold, who knows. It’s one of the best aspects on all of the popular systems these days but we only want to add it where it makes sense to us.

Gamervision would like to thank Gregg and all of Renegade Kid for this opportunity to ask your questions. 

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