We’ve had no shortage of zombie-filled post-apocalyptic settings across all entertainment media over the years, but SneakyBox and Atari’s upcoming turn-based tactics game is putting a unique twist on it. Days of Doom’s world is one on its last legs, and yes, it has plenty of undead shambling about- but you also have weird reptilian creatures, zombie raiders, and an all-around dose of chaos in a world that’s promising to be filled with personality. Combining that with the promise of deep turn-based tactics gameplay and roguelite design, Days of Doom is certainly making some very interesting promises. Hoping to learn more about the game, we recently reached out to its developers with a few of our questions about it. Below, you can read our interview with Vytautas Ruzgus, lead producer at SneakyBox.
"Characters were our main focus and any decision we made regarding them, bled to other parts of the game: environment, graphic design, sound."
Days of Doom features a striking visual aesthetic. How did you land on this look for the game, especially given its post-apocalyptic setting?
Days of Doom had many iterations, regarding gameplay and visuals. Characters in the initial version of the game drew inspiration from modern-age superhero comics: semi-realistic, edgy. Once the game design shifted, gameplay became top-down, and we needed visual clarity without sacrificing character. So our new approach used more “chibi” shapes but kept some of the stylistic choices from before hard-line art, and muted colors. Characters were our main focus and any decision we made regarding them, bled to other parts of the game: environment, graphic design, sound.
Speaking of the setting, what will Days of Doom’s post-apocalyptic setting bring to the table for the game’s worldbuilding and its characters?
At first glance, DoD may look like your traditional zombie apocalypse game, but there are undertones: one character may have mysterious magic powers, and another one may use a rocket lance pieced together from scrap. We hint at the origin of the apocalypse by showing some of the reptilian creatures that inhabit the world and are no longer in hiding. We wanted to create a setting of a zombie apocalypse with a twist and we hope our players will enjoy that.
How much will the game’s character classes differ from each other? What sort of variety should players expect from their abilities and attributes, and how they will work in combination with each other?
In total, we have 8 vastly different characters with unique traits and abilities. Players will be able to select from 4 of those when starting out for the first time. Some are focused on close combat encounters while others stay behind from range and buff your teammates or dish out big damage to enemies. When it comes to interactions with each other you can find many exciting combos which will turn the tides on the battlefield while some might actually hinder one another.
Days of Doom is also promising plenty of enemy variety- how much will they differ from each other in the kinds of threats they will post and the strategies that players will need to adopt to counter those threats?
Enemies range from your usual shambling zombies to guitar-wielding raider thrashers. Overall every new enemy is a new lesson to be learned by the player. Sometimes you might need to sacrifice someone from your team just so others can survive the encounter. Hard decisions will have to be made.
"We wanted to create a setting of a zombie apocalypse with a twist and we hope our players will enjoy that."
What can you tell us about Days of Doom’s progression mechanics, and what kind of a balance the game strike between players losing progress and retaining progression across runs?
When starting each run players progress through 6 maps each one with its interest points and challenging encounters. Players start their journey with 3 party members of their choosing and during the run, they can expand their group to up to 6 unique characters. Each character features its own level progression system – new levels unlock various upgrades to skills, damage, and utility options. All of this means that no run is the same and there are plenty of ways to progress.
The progress retention between runs is gated by Renown. Renown is collected by completing and failing attempts to reach Sanctuary. This currency is used to upgrade buildings in the settlement and unlock permanent upgrades within the starting zone. Upgrading buildings unlock various power boosts and new progression paths when starting fresh runs and allow players to build bigger and stronger squads.
What should players expect from Days of Doom when it comes to how much replayability it will offer?
After players manage to try out all the different setups their squad might have there will be plenty more interactions to try out with all the different passive and active items. Players also unlock extra characters by completing challenges which will allow them to set up different combinations during combat encounters and even allow secret choice selections during other events. Also, let’s not forget over 60 different events players will have a chance to experience
Roughly how long will an average playthrough of the game be?
I would say it really depends on the player. A more experienced one could be able to complete a single run in about an hour while a player less familiar with the genre might take up to 2 hours. For a full playthrough where a new player would reach Sanctuary for the first time it could take anywhere from 6 to 10 hours of gameplay. However, our game is highly replayable and these 6-10 hours can only be just the beginning of a very long adventure if you choose to experiment with builds, tactics, etc.
Do you have any plans to add additional content, like classes or enemy types, following the game’s launch?
There are no plans that we can share right now, however, we will have to wait and see what the future brings.
"Our game is highly replayable and these 6-10 hours can only be just the beginning of a very long adventure if you choose to experiment with builds, tactics, etc."
Given that you have now worked on all the current gen consoles, I hope you don’t mind answering some questions about their hardware. Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series’ specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS. How much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?
It never really boils down to a single part that performs better, it is always about the combination of them and let’s now forget that sometimes it’s not even about how good the hardware is but about how well developers optimized their game. In this case, the GPU in Xbox uses in their consoles just gives that little extra room for developers.
The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to the Xbox Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?
This helps with reducing loading times and I would say from a player’s perspective those seamless loading screens help you stay immersed in the game worlds. Faster SSD of course also helps with loading bigger assets which means assets can be of higher quality and that allows developers to aim for higher resolutions and much better-looking game worlds.
Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X boast Zen 2 CPUs, but there is a difference in the processors of both consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz, whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?
Higher processing power is obviously highly appreciated and allows for better performance, however, I believe the actual difference will only be felt when playing the most demanding AAA titles.
The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60 FPS console. Do you think it will be able to hold up for the more graphically intensive games as this generation progresses?
It will require a lot of dedication and work from developers who are working with AAA titles as those usually require a lot more hardware capability. However, when it comes to more simple games it definitely is a possibility for developers to achieve such settings.
"Every new enemy is a new lesson to be learned by the player. Sometimes you might need to sacrifice someone from your team just so others can survive the encounter. Hard decisions will have to be made."
Super Resolution is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. How do you think this will help game developers?
Overall all technologies as well as Super Resolution allow easier ways for developers to bring a better gaming experience to players. In this case, it can bring both better performance and better visuals. And it can even allow players to have more choices of whether they want better performance or higher resolution without requiring as much work from developers.
What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?
4K at 60FPS on PS5 and Series X. 1440p at 60FPS on Series S
What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the Switch in docked and undocked modes
Docked – 1920×1080, 30FPS. Undocked – 1280×720, 30 FPS.
What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck? Do you have plans for any specific optimizations for the device?
We’re definitely happy that games that are launched on Steam can be so easily experienced on the Steam deck and this title also already works on this device so there are no further optimizations planned.
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