Scars Above is finally out, and we are taking you backstage!

The last day of February was a time of celebration for Mad Head Games, as their first major game, Scars Above, emerged from the dark corners of their imagination into the light of day. Now that you can finally take a peek for yourself at the alien world where scientist Kate has found herself in, we’re also offering you an exclusive backstage pass. Welcome to the MHG narrative and game design workshop!

With the release of their third-person sci-fi action shooter adventure, Mad Head Games (MHG) has given us a peek into the very process of its creation. So far, a video about the art of the game has been published, and soon you can watch an episode about its sound, seasoned with some influencer content. In addition, MHG will add a blog on its site in the near future, where they will publish articles on the more technical aspects of the game’s development. We didn’t want you to be deprived of the narrative and game design bits, so we came to your aid even before you asked for it!

We’ve spoken with Ivan Zorkić, the Game Director who is fully in charge of the game’s narrative, and Emil Esov, the Associate Game Director and Game Designer. Not to tempt you any longer, voila!

SGA: Hello, Ivan and Emil! Before we get to the specifics, we have to ask about your health. Mad Head Games entered the video game industry through casual games, then switched to core games and explored the AA world with Pagan, but now you’re already riding the AAA wave. How did you take this change and what did it mean to you?

EMIL: It was aweful! I am joking, of course. In principle, as with any transition, there were great challenges – from the transformation of the studio, the training of staff at all levels, to the realization that the competition has increased. For us, that meant developing the type of games we like to play.

IVAN: AAA as a term is not precisely defined, so I wouldn’t say that we’re riding the AAA wave – rather that we are striving towards it. 😀 It’s more a question of budget than anything else. But, yes, we entered what we call core gaming, after many years of casual gaming. It is interesting how many similarities there are between those two worlds, but also how many differences there are. I have a deep respect for casual games and making them was a challenge. I am very grateful that we had the opportunity to enter the gaming industry through them, we gained enormous knowledge and experience there, but it should be said that we started this business out of the desire to one day make games like we make today. With that in mind, I would say that it means the most to us that we are now making the kind of games that we play in our spare time.

SGA: At a great lecture that Uroš Banješević, your Chief Creative Officer, gave at the WN Belgrade conference this year, he talked about what you learned on your way from HOPAs to RPGs, especially through the mistakes you inevitably made. What was the biggest narrative and game design takeaway from developing Scars Above, and what were the most instructive slap-on-the-wrist moments?

EMIL: For me, the biggest takeaway is how we approached designing, iterating and implementing our design. We were able to design enough systems and tools to test and change things really quickly. Here I am primarily referring to the combat system, weapons, and partly also the design of the enemy. The most instructive moment for me was the very way in which we organized the teams to work, i.e. how we divided the project into pillars and how we organized people to work on different features. I think we learned a lot there.

IVAN: We learned a lot. That’s what everyone always says, but it’s true – we are beings that learn by doing. It’s hard to draw any kind of comprehensive lesson when there are so many different things that you’re not even aware of until you start working on a project like this, but I would single out one thing. It’s something that is reaffirmed with every project: it’s easier to start things than to finish them, and persistence is key. Even the biggest monsters will fall before the power of persistence – but that persistence is tested every day when you do something like this. A lot of things were done by this team for the first time while making Scars, and as much knowledge and practice we had from previous projects, many specific experiences were missing at the beginning. Experience is a kind of strength – you have to build it if you don’t have it, and that takes a lot of effort. At the same time it is a process with great rewards if you persevere. I’m very proud of the team that made this game and of the experience they’ve gained – it’s an experience they’ll continue to build on in the future.

SGA: Ivan, you are responsible for the entire narrative of the game. From which nightmarish corners of your imagination did this storyworld emerge?

IVAN: Ah, it didn’t come out of a nightmare, but out of love. 😀 All of us here are big fans of science fiction and science in general. Science is something that will save humanity and take us all the way to the stars. Unfortunately, we witness how science is often relativized and questioned by people who deal with scientific topics very superficially – just look at the negative attitude of some groups towards vaccination during the pandemic. I imagine that some advanced extraterrestrials are watching what is happening here and many things are not clear to them. That’s where the idea for Scars was born – let’s make a story where science and knowledge fight against terror and fear. Of course, we were more than inspired by numerous science fiction works – from other games, to movies, books and comics. Everyone will probably draw parallels with Alien and Ripley, but there are other role models, like Asimov or Clark, and games like Mass Effect, Returnal, etc. And there were less obvious sources of inspiration – for example, the idea of ​​the main character suddenly appearing in a strange, foreign world with its own twisted rules came from Alice in Wonderland, a book that I’ve always found slightly creepy, and which fascinated me since a young age. Replace the rabbit hole with a mysterious alien object and you have the beginning of Scars. At the end of the day, Scars is a story about how both danger and a chance for salvation lie in our desire for knowledge, and how science can be dangerous if approached without ethical norms, but is ultimately our only way to survive as a species.

SGA: Emil, we see that you really tried to match the mechanics with the narrative. For example, Kate is good at crafting because she is an engineer. In what other contexts have you tried to put commonplace video game mechanics into a meaningful and justified context?

EMIL: Virtually every mechanic is informed by the narrative and context of the game. For example, I would single out the entire combat part. We know Kate is a scientist and engineer trained as an astronaut. We purposely made the combat slow and methodical, not action-packed, with a bunch of bullets. The goal is to make the players feel like a human being, a weaker being compared to everything that threatens them. And therefore, to have all the limitations that a person would have in a similar situation. They moves slower than the enemy, they are weaker than the various monsters that attack them. Essentially, they need to think about what to do in battle to defeat the enemy.

SGA: You published an episode about Kate, so we won’t talk too much about her, there’s really all kinds of interesting things to hear there. We will only ask about what was not mentioned – how did Kate come about, did any real or fictional people serve as inspiration for the character?

IVAN: The inspiration for Kate was somewhat Mae Jemison, the NASA astronaut, engineer and physicist. In addition to that, she also has a medical degree and worked as a doctor. Furthermore, she’s the first real astronaut to be a guest star on Star Trek (she’s a big fan). When you look at Kate and the crew of Hermes, it seems for a moment unrealistic that these people have so much knowledge in so many different fields – however, people who go into space often really do. As for fictional characters, I already mentioned the great Ellen Ripley. What Kate and Ripley share is that they are not trained fighters, they are not soldiers – but they find themselves in a situation where they have to fight monsters to save their lives, and the lives of others.

SGA: The shooting genre itself is an interesting choice. It’s been known since Bioshock as a platform for a great story, not just immersive gameplay. How did you reconcile such a connection of story and mechanics, which in the history of video games (first of all in Bioshock) is often characterized by ludonarrative dissonance?

EMIL: We tried very hard not to have conflicts between mechanics and narrative, although I think it is sometimes inevitable because of how we perceive gameplay and narrative as gamers. We often look at both things through a different prism and from a different aspect, and then in some games there is a conflict. In Scars Above, before making any decision regarding mechanics, we mostly asked ourselves: “How is the narrative promoted through this mechanic?” I think we succeeded, but, of course, it’s up to the audience to decide.

SGA: Now that your game has come of age and gone out into the world on its own, what do you, as caring parents, fear the most?

EMIL: I don’t think that I’m afraid of anything specific. We already have enough experience to know that whatever product appears, it is not for everyone. So, in that sense, I am not afraid of criticism, and we will definitely use every criticism as an opportunity to improve the next project.

IVAN: I would say that there is no particular fear – when you work in this industry you get used to both praise and criticism, fun and problems. It’s all part of the challenge. Potential failure (in any sense) is always a real possibility when you’re building something, but you shouldn’t fear it and let it block you or demotivate you. If there’s anything to be afraid of, it’s that monster under the bed. I hear it scratching and whispering at night. It promises all kinds of things. Calls me… Why are you looking at me like that?

SGA: And finally – in what ways do you think your new game can be a formative experience in a gaming resume of a serious gamer?

EMIL: I think Scars Above is a game for people who like compact experiences, in terms of gameplay length. People often don’t have time to play big open-world games with 100+ hours of gameplay. Anyone who prefers to get the full narrative experience out of several longer sessions while still having fun and encountering mechanical challenges in an interactive game won’t go wrong with choosing Scars Above.

IVAN: I think fans of classic science fiction, so to speak, will enjoy it. We have created a story that is a rounded whole. Some great stories are deliberately written to be mysterious until the very end and are left open to interpretation, but with Scars Above we wanted to answer most of the questions that arise at the beginning. That was a challenge – to tell a story like this without interrupting the players too much, without taking away their control – and yet explain everything we want to explain. I hope that we succeeded in this and that the game will keep drawing the players’ attention until the end. In addition, we tried to make the game challenging, without it being frustrating – and definitely fun to play.

SGA: Thank you so much for your great answers! I believe that the people interested in game and narrative design are a little more fulfilled after reading this interview. We certainly are. 🙂

BOTH: Thank you!