Continuing our column "Developer/Publisher Wanted," where indie teams share about themselves and their projects. Next up is the Eternal Troops Team, which is creating an original isometric shooter set during World War I.
If you are an indie developer ready to talk about your project and looking for investments, a publisher, or someone to join your team, be sure to write to us in our Telegram column — https://t.me/overwordly.
The project was presented by the team lead Kirill Fedorov.
Kirill Fedorov
About the Team
Hello! Our team was born from the desire of two school friends, passionate about games, to create something akin to their favorite Men of War and Running with Rifles. Game jams were the best option for prototyping, and that’s where Eternal Troops emerged. We noticed something interesting taking shape and decided to attend trial "pitching" sessions and showcases at events by Indie Varvar’s and "Indikator." At one of these, we met people who were too impressed not to continue, and things took off.
Currently, there are four of us. Each of us has reached our dream of working in game development — some freelancing, some engaged with EXBO or Lesta Games — but evenings (or weekends) see us gathering to bring our project to completion.
About the Project
Eternal Troops is envisioned as a top-down shooter where players don’t need to master dodging thousands of projectiles or commit to a 40-day warfare grind (hello, Foxhole).
The game is being created on Unreal Engine because
- a) we wanted to create a beautiful top-down military shooter, which seems rare;
- b) we opted to work with an engine we're already familiar with.
Initially, when the team was still student-based, we participated in the "VK Play Laboratory" project and released a demo that garnered positive feedback. This led to a win in the competition, fueling further development with invaluable consultations and initial metrics experience, etc.
However, there were downsides too — inconvenient interfaces, movement issues, lack of puzzle levels, weak synergy between different character classes, etc. It seems these problems are now resolved.
We're currently approaching the stage of a polished demo version consisting of about eight to nine short levels, expected to be released on Steam for metrics collection in the fall of 2025.
In the final version, we plan to increase the number of available levels and units, add new modes (endless roguelike levels, boss battles, and possibly co-op).
About Gameplay/Mechanics
Our main focus is on the cloning mechanic. Every time a player character dies, instead of a traditional checkpoint reset, another unit appears. And another. And so on — until victory is achieved or resources are exhausted.
Previous versions of the player character do not disappear; they remain on the battlefield and repeat the actions performed in previous iterations. By saving them, you can gather an entire army of your own making.
Target Audience
Our target audience includes:
- fans of military-tactical shooters who lack time for full-fledged PvP projects but want to engage in large-scale battles;
- those who play top-down shooters but prefer those that focus on strategic planning rather than reaction. These are not very common, but there is an audience awaiting such projects, exemplified by the recent public testing of PUBG: BLINDSPOT from KRAFTON.
We also aim to appeal to fans of World War I settings, a theme that doesn't see frequent game releases. However, we're not looking to present it too seriously — the plot leans more towards satire than tragedy.
Our references include the aforementioned Foxhole and Running with Rifles, as well as Clone Armies, Northend Tower Defense, and Shieldwall.
Business Model
We are adopting a premium distribution model with a price of approximately $8 per copy. We arrived at this pricing based on an analysis of the references above and recognizing that, as a small team, maintaining a live-service free-to-play model consistently isn’t feasible.
Metrics
We previously released a demo on VK Play, gathering over 500 players in total. However, the game has changed significantly since then, and we didn't invest in advertising or active social media engagement at the time.
During the "Demo Fest," which begins on August 27, we plan to test updates to old levels, after which we will finalize and release a full demo on other platforms this fall.
That’s when we’ll collect essential metrics, focusing on the number of wishlists we receive after launching the Steam page.
Predicting how many we’ll garner is challenging: we could either “shoot up” due to our unique mechanics and setting in a popular genre, or go unnoticed for the same reasons.
Who We Are Looking For
We are seeking a publisher to assist with marketing, overcoming challenges with releasing on Steam, and polishing the project (testing, sound design, localization).
At this stage, we do not require funds directly for development; we can see the project through to completion. However, we worry that we might not realize the full potential of Eternal Troops on our own.
How to Contact Us
- Email: eternaltroopsdev@gmail.com