The Indie Game Magazine November 2014 | Issue 43 | Page 14

at Pulsetense going about fulfilling that promise? What are your
goals in terms of AI sophistication?
Pulsetense: Solarix’s proof of concept demo was available as early
as 2011. This was before any story or character concept was worked
on, as it’s very hard to pin down the aesthetic and feel for the game.
Our AI programming was the focus, because we knew it was the
most technically difficult task to accomplish, and we knew how
robust we wanted the AI to be. Technically speaking, the Solarix
AI has been in development since before the actual development
of the game started; we spent a year working on it.
We are very proud of the time and effort we‘ve put into our system,
and we hope this shows when the game releases.
In the coming months, we’ll be releasing videos to showcase the
AI systems in place. Our AI can really see and hear just like a real
human being, and by playing with those motor-sense(s), we’ll
adjust different difficulty types for replayability.
To increase “randomness,” some of our AI will see less, hear more,
be more persistent when chasing the player, more paranoid but
reluctant to search for the player, or simply be more paranoid and
more anxious to hunt down the player. We believe these are real
“human behavioral patterns,” and our AI archetypes have already
been implemented with these in mind.
IGM: You guys had a rough go of crowdfunding during the Solarix
campaign. Can you talk a little bit about your experience and
what went wrong?
Pulsetense: In a nutshell, what didn’t go wrong? Poor marketing
and planning, a disjointed message about what Solarix actually
is, and how close to completion it was were probably our major
downfalls. What we failed to get across is that the game was technically complete, and we required the Kickstarter funds to pay for
VO, improve our current animations, and sound design.
A lack of contacts within the press didn’t help, as we struggled to
spread the word across the internet about Solarix; if it wasn’t for
sites like IGM, then it could have ended a lot worse for us.
For those people who did back the game, we want to thank you;
and be sure to check your email for the latest update from the team.
IGM: What sort of advice would you offer to indie developers
who are preparing to try their hand at crowdfunding?

Pulsetense: Do your research on the market and how to present
your game, make contacts within the press, make sure your message is clear about what you want and why you need it, and don’t
take anything for granted. Preparation is everything.

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