Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadville
Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor
We had the chance to sit down (digitally) with the game’s creator Sarah Northway to discuss the decisions behind Rebuild.
Adam: “Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadville” is the 3rd iteration of your Rebuild series. What brings you back to this franchise time and time again?
Sarah: I had to cut a lot of features I’d originally wanted for Rebuild 2 in order to get it done quickly on a minimal budget. But it was popular, which meant I had a much bigger budget for my next games. I wanted to go back to Rebuild to finally make the fully-featured game I’d imagined from the start.
A: The zombie game has played across every possible genre of the medium. Why did you decide on a 4x strategy style?
S: I play a lot of strategy games and I like the variability of 4x games, where every time you play you can take a different approach.
A: What do you think separates “Rebuild” from the rest of the zombie game horde?
S: Rebuild isn’t so much about the zombies as it is about the survivors, and about human society.
A: What are your influences in developing the story for “Rebuild?”
S: I was inspired by stories like Lord of the Flies and Day of the Triffids which talk about the fragility of civilization, and how our true natures are revealed during disasters (like a zombie attack).
A: What are some features you were unable to get into this game?
S: I toyed with the idea of multiplayer, but would have had to make fundamental changes to the game’s design. I also considered a tactical mini-game for zombie attacks but decided it would take too long to implement well.
A: How has the modding community influenced your development of the game? Have they surprised you in any way?
S: I’m shocked and delighted at the perseverance shown by the translation teams using the mod system to localize Rebuild 3 into Korean, Portuguese and other languages. It’s a LOT of work – 200k words is longer than a novel, and written dynamically to work with both genders and other variables.
A: Are you planning a Rebuild 4?
S: Not currently. I’ve taken a break from the zombies (honestly they CAN be a little depressing) to work on room-scale VR games for the HTC Vive.
Pick up Rebuild 3 now, and follow @Sarah_Northway to learn more about her incredible developments.
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