The Chosen - Wrap Report @ RPGVault

RPGVault has their post-release interview up with Rebelmind's CEO and co-founder, Krzysztof Krawczyk, wrapping up their coverage of the action RPG set in 19th century Europe and released in N.A. last fall. Krawczyk gives an overview of the development of the game, it's strengths and weaknesses and also some of the lessons it has taught him:

The Chosen, also known as Frater is a typical example of an action RPG game. From the very beginning, we planned it to be developed based on the ideas we had included in Space Hack. We wanted to develop and add new elements such as helpers (Golem, Neferkar), and the feature of combining weapons... These two became key ones in the gameplay...

...The main goal was to create a game that was better than our previous one, Space Hack. We knew that the next game had to be more developed than our earlier productions...we decided to take another route and create a plot set in 19th century Europe. I think that our main goal - a game that's more developed and has an interesting mood / feel to it - has been achieved...

We used our own engine, which we systematically modified, in the production of all our games. It is not very demanding equipment-wise, and that's why Frater / The Chosen can be played on lower computer configurations... We did not made many changes during development. When you work with a small budget, you simply cannot afford to do so.

There are a few elements I would like to improve in the game itself and also the production process. The character models could be better, as well as the linear nature of the play. I think that there is also room for improvement in the soundtrack area. These are certainly the key elements that could be modified and changed for the better..

During the production of Frater, I learned a few very good, but also rather painful lessons. I am happy to have experienced what I did, because those lessons will help me with future projects. ;)...I must say that each game, every new project teaches me something new.

We put all our effort and heart into the production of The Chosen / Frater... many sleepless nights and many seven-day work weeks. A team of a few created a game played now by thousands. It was all worth it.