Old School Gamer Magazine Exclusive: Inside ‘Shadowy Contracts’

Old School Gamer chats with Mark Nasr (Founder & Lead Developer, ExiledThunder Productions) “Shadowy Contracts” developer to find out what makes his game a special one.

Old School Gamer Magazine: How was Shadowy Contracts born? 

Mark Nasr: I began working on Shadowy Contracts after I developed some smaller games – while attending the University of Ottawa and working on a degree in Software Engineering.

Old School Gamer Magazine: What was your role in the game? 

Nasr: I implemented almost everything in Shadowy Contracts (including programming and level design) – except for the models and music.

Old School Gamer Magazine: How did you get involved in the industry? 

Nasr: I’ve been interested in game development since I was very young. I initially developed smaller games for practice – and then I eventually moved on to bigger projects like Shadowy Contracts.

Old School Gamer Magazine: What was development like? 

Nasr: Developing the game was incredibly exciting with new challenges every day.

Old School Gamer Magazine: What makes Shadowy Contracts special? 

Nasr: Shadowy Contracts incorporates two different genres (RPG and Stealth) that are rarely seen together – magic and stealth mechanics in particular.

Old School Gamer Magazine: What games influenced this one the most? 

Nasr: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was my main source of inspiration because of its unique Stealth mechanics. I like how RPG and Stealth are combined in the game, which you rarely see in other titles!

Old School Gamer Magazine: Any fun stories or wild moments during development? 

Nasr: When I first started working on NPC navigation, I was expecting to encounter a lot of problems/bugs (which is the case every time new features are added). Surprisingly, the navigation worked flawlessly from the get-go – and NPCs were never stuck in corners.

Old School Gamer Magazine: What were the major lessons learned? 

Nasr: Developing a game on your own is a very complex task. There’s an enormous amount of work involved in making a game, which is why there are so many different roles – but it was fun anyway! Another thing I learned is that when developing a game, starting small and expanding from there is always the best option.

Old School Gamer Magazine: Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important? 

Nasr: It depends on the genre. For some genres (like first-person shooters), players have become accustomed to specific mechanics that have been closely associated with the FPS genre for many years – so it’s a good idea to keep them.

Old School Gamer Magazine: What’s your favorite memory as a gamer? 

Nasr: My favorite memory was playing Grand Theft Auto 2 as a kid and experiencing the game’s huge open world for the first time.

Old School Gamer Magazine: How do you want Shadowy Contracts to be remembered? 

Nasr: I want the game to be remembered for its distinct Stealth mechanics, which I worked very hard on 🙂

Old School Gamer Magazine: What’s next? 

Nasr: The plan is to continue improving the game during the Early Access period. I’ll also add new levels and fix any bugs encountered by players, of course.