“A successful Kickstarter campaign allowed us to find investors”: interview about the development of INSOMNIA: The Ark

Alexander Semenov, Senior Editor App2Top.ru : Judging by the videos and screenshots, it seems like it’s a mix of Dark Souls and Fallout.

Anatoly Nekrasov, CEO of Mono Studio

Anatoly Nekrasov, CEO of Mono Studio: We are not the “spiritual heirs” of this or that project. The task was to create its own unique universe and history.

When I went to your LinkedIn profile, I was just shocked. It states that the development started almost 9 years ago.

Nekrasov: All right. Mono Studio (at that time it consisted of two people) was organized 9 years ago. I am a designer by education, I have never been involved in game development before. It was the official registration of the studio that became the point of no return when the project became something more than a hobby.

That is, they took shape as a legal entity and decided that now it’s not a hobby?

Nekrasov: Yes. We began to devote more time to training, finding employees.

But that wasn’t nine years ago?

Later. Active development began after the first successful Kickstarter campaign [there were three campaigns in total, the first in 2013 was unsuccessful, but the next two — in 2014 and 2015 — ended successfully, — approx.ed] and additional investments from Samara.

How many times has the game been totally rebuilt? If you look at the first sketches, you get the feeling that it was isometric before.

Nekrasov: There was no isometric projection in the full sense. Previously, the camera was higher. We made the decision to bring her closer to the character primarily because of changes in the basic gameplay. We also changed the interface, and dramatically. We also had to redraw the plot [the project changed conceptually, for example, in 2013 the game was positioned as a cooperative online RPG].

You, like the second project manager, Vitaly Makarov, were not involved in games before the development of INSOMNIA: The Ark. How difficult was it to get into the specifics of the game?

Nekrasov: We can say for sure that if we were not developers at the beginning of the path, now we feel like we are 100%. The whole process of working on INSOMNIA turned out to be endless learning. At first it seemed to us that making games was “fun and fervent”, but in reality we had to face a huge number of very unpleasant problems. Due to lack of experience, I had to learn a lot. On the other hand, we would never have taken on such a complex project if we were already experienced developers. And so, on pure enthusiasm, we became one of the few indie teams that were able to successfully pass Kickstarter (and not one!) and bring the development to the end.

Given the lack of experience in development, was there no desire to start with something small, only then to move on to a big serious development?

Nekrasov: No, we immediately planned a large multi-hour project. Moreover, the game also had to be simplified. At critical moments, we thought that maybe we should have started with something simpler, but such thoughts quickly went away.

You have attracted very talented people to the development. Amazing visual part, amazing sound (really, your dark ambient is at the level of Mark Morgan’s works). How was the team assembled?

Nekrasov: For the most part, I assembled the team myself, and then the department leads began to pull people up as needed. About 90% of applicants came purely by fan and quickly left when faced with hard work. We were lucky to find real fans of our business, guys who are ready for real work and real difficulties. At first they were looking for people in Russia, through acquaintances and friends, and then they became emboldened and began to write to people all over the world. So INSOMNIA can be considered an international project.

INSOMNIA: The Ark is exceptional, among other things, because the studio has twice successfully conducted a crowdfunding campaign. How much help did the collected $170 thousand become?

Nekrasov: This money helped a lot. They have become a guarantee that the game is interesting to people. Thanks to this, we were able to find investors and receive grants.

Looking back, what kind of development mistakes would you have made?

Nekrasov: I’d rather give you three tips.

1. We need to spend more time on planning and pre-production. It is better not to implement anything for an extra two months in a calm atmosphere, but to write a plan, check with other developers. Our development went on in parallel with planning, which led to the alteration of one or another functional, plot. As a result: the work of many people may be unnecessary in the end.
2. You should start with a small project. It’s easier for beginners, again, not every team is ready to develop a project for nine years.
3. Do not start making a story-oriented game without a proofread, verified and coordinated plot in your pocket.

Initially, the release was planned for almost 2015. What prevented it?

Nekrasov: The development process was not as simple as it seemed. Formally, the game was ready in 2015, but the result did not suit us very much. Why give the product to the players when he himself is not very happy with it?

If I’m not confusing anything, the project’s near readiness for release was discussed at the project forum last summer. But it was postponed. And now in the midst of 2018. Now it is clear that the game has acquired a finished look. But what turned out to be the most serious problem? Polishing, QA, something else?

Nekrasov: In terms of plot and content, the game has been ready since 2017. We have been looking for a publisher for quite a long time. The final difficulties were translations and testing. And yes, in parallel we continue to improve the visual appearance of the final scenes.

Initially, did you want to publish independently or did you understand that you would need a publisher?

Nekrasov: We have been targeting the publisher from the very beginning.

By what criteria did you search for a publisher?

Nekrasov: It was important to find a publisher who would be easy to work with, and who would take over the translations, the site, communication with the community and everything else.

It is already known that you have chosen HeroCraft. And between whom and whom did they choose, who else was in the crosshairs?

Nekrasov: I will say this: we chose between nine foreign companies and three Russian ones.

I have a lot of respect for the HeroCraft team, but I can’t help but note that this is far from a top publisher. What conditions did the Kaliningrad company offer to entice you?

Nekrasov: The guys from HeroCraft showed the keenest interest, communicated personally several times, then they came to our studio even before we agreed to work with them. So it became clear to us that they are interested in our project, and this is very important.

How are companies working with each other today?

Nekrasov: We are located in different cities, so almost all communication takes place online. The work was built in such a way that the guys from HeroCraft do not get into Mono production processes, well, in turn, we fully trust HeroCraft in everything related to marketing, translations and QA.

And the last question: when?

Nekrasov: The release is scheduled for September. The finishing touches are left, there will be no more such delays with the exit.