BUCKSHOT ROULETTE — Q&A Session with Mike Klubnika

Greetings, High Rollers!

We were truly astounded by the amount of questions we received for you, so it took us a 🤏 longer than expected to go through them all to get our final list, but here we are today — at the first ever BUCKSHOT ROULETTE: A Q&A Session by Mike Klubnika. We kindly asked Mike to answer your questions and we’ll be presenting the answers with their wording and punctuation intact!

And we're kicking things off with the most frequent questions we received these past couple of weeks. Take it away, Mike:

• Will there be a mobile or console release of Buckshot Roulette? VR?
  Currently there aren't any plans for mobile or VR, but Buckshot will be dropping on current-gen consoles later this year.
• Will multiplayer have any new items exclusive to it? Maybe some insights about it?
  A lot is subject to change at the moment, but there are plans to have exclusive items as well as other additional mechanics for multiplayer. The new items aim to make the game more strategic for PVP, and other mechanics may or may not include the ability to place bets from your total winnings. Go big or go home.
• Who is “God”? What was his reason for playing the Dealer? Is he dead?
  God is just your average 'creator of the universe' type of guy. Made a bet with the Dealer and all hell broke loose. Literally. Yea he's super dead.
• Can you tell us some insights about the game’s development? Did you encounter any bizarre or funny bugs?
  I had one bug where the dealer proclaimed "0 LIVE ROUNDS. 0 BLANKS.", picked up the shotgun, did nothing, and placed it on the table. I knew it was all going to break but it still got a chuckle out of me when the game crashed as soon as I shot myself. There was also this one time when I added the deformed dealer mesh that he swaps to when he gets shot for the first time. I tested it once and totally forgot about it, so later that night when I was expecting a :) dealer and got a >:( dealer instead, it actually spooked me quite a bit.
  Mike shared his logs of that happening just for giggles, enjoy!
• Will new items/mechanics/weapon types be added to the base game?
  Currently the main priority is multiplayer, but it is possible that the base game will receive some updates. The synthesizer would be pretty neat, and a daily run that is the same for all players, but which you can only try once, is also something I have considered.
• Does the game take place in the same universe as previous games?
  Yes.
• Is the player still alive in the game? Or already in a form of purgatory or hell?
  The player is alive. Hell comes later.
• Who is Doctor? Is he an entity or a human being?
  Doc is a 'normal human'. Just one of the people responsible for keeping the game going. He spends most of his time outside though, just to protect his hearing.
• Would you ever consider adding "modifiers" to the game? I.e. switching around the odds of the preset shell loads, double damage always active, no items, etc.
  It would be neat. I imagine multiplayer would especially benefit from modifiers and similar mechanics, and if it'll be a feature either on launch or later down the line, then it'll most likely be on both the base game as well as multiplayer.

Of course, we couldn't help but notice a certain fascination with the Dealer in our community, so the next batch of answers is dedicated to our beloved affable sharp-toothed meatball.

• Does the Dealer have a body? Or is he just a floating head with hands?
  Nah. Dealer just floats around like that.
• What kind of music does Dealer like? Maybe some genre?
  Sorting algorithm 'audibilizations' is by far the Dealer's most liked genre. Radix sort is his favorite.
• Is there gonna be a vid about the Dealer backstory? Or maybe a little bit of a lore of why we are in this situation with the Dealer?
  There will be some updates down the line that will flesh out the story more.
• How many times has the dealer gone to a dentist? How many teeth does he even have, both showing and hidden in the void of his mouth?
  Sure he went to the dentist. Was told to quit smoking. Total annihilation after that. 38 teeth.
• What does the dealer think about all the people simping for him?
  Can't think of anything funny for this one lol
• Does the dealer prefer non-alcoholic beer or a normal one? Which brand?
  Normal. Digita all the way.

And the last category for today are the questions addressed personally at Mike, the best opportunity to get some of the insights behind his inspirations and design!

• What is your favorite game/book?
  My favorite game of all time is probably Outer Wilds. The DLC is one of the best horror games I've played so far, and I actually liked it more than the base game.
• What inspired you to make Buckshot Roulette? What was the inspiration for the art style/sound design?
  Overall, the mechanics and their presentation are mainly inspired by Inscryption. Like for example the way the camera pans around to show certain parts of the table. Apart from that the overall atmosphere, sound design and vibe of the game is inspired by all types of media with gritty and industrial aesthetics. Pi (1998) was a big influence in just throwing various pieces of random electronics everywhere, and enough cables so that they're a fair tripping hazard. PilotRedSun's animations have that lo-fi look and sound to them that I really liked, and it made me appreciate how cool stretched textures can look. Part of the soundtrack is inspired by the work of Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada, while the nightclub tracks are inspired by various boiler room sets and the Hotline Miami soundtrack.
• How do you set deadlines for yourself, keep scope creep in check, and know when a game is ready?
  I usually just pick a date and plan stuff out before I start doing anything. I personally don't really vibe with long game design documents that go over every single aspect of the game before development starts, so I just stick to the core mechanics, gameplay loop, story, and just go from there. I spend a lot of development time just polishing, so after a certain point I just look at the thing and go "yeah". I usually don't have issues with scope creep, but Buckshot Roulette is one instance where I decided to just fully embrace it. It's one of the reasons the game was actually released a month after the original deadline. I vibed with ideas like the signature machine, smoking dude, and the car sequence with the final score so much that I just decided to add them.

And that's a wrap!

Thank you to our Discord community for submitting all your lovely questions, even the thirsty ones (oh god so many, many thirsty ones)! We'll be sure to host more of these every so often, so if we didn’t answer yours this time don’t worry, there will be other opportunities to submit your burning questions down the line!. In the meantime, please, consider a cold shower or caressing some greenery. 🌱

Now, back to work. See you next time in the Community Highlight devlog... and maybe something else as well?

Remember, it's not a gambling addiction if you keep winning.
Best of luck to you, High Rollers.

Mike Klubnika, CR Channel & V̴̳̭̗̜̳̟̩̙̍̒̐̈́̇̓͂̌́͘͝͝L̸̢̡̡̡̹̦̭̣͍̩͉̥̣͇̱͕̲͉̬͔͎̩̪͆̑̅̓̒͆̋̆̅̕Ļ̷̨͎̱̙̗̯̙̞͉͕̭̟͙̗̳̈́͌̒͋͑̑̾̋Ţ̴̢̛̹̰̦̳͊̂̍͌̈́͑͊̀̉̇̈́͐̓̈̓͑͌̅̃́̉̎͐͘͠͠ͅĄ̵̡̡̛̝̗̪̫̠̝̼̖͓̳͕̞̜͉͕͕͕̺̹̣̓̉̂͊̌̓̌͜ͅ ̸̡̢̡͕̱̱̝̱̦̫̼͍̫͚̠̜͍̙̙̈́͂̎̽͆̒̋̋̄̃̓S̴̬̟̓S̷̢̯̝̬͚̭͕̖̝̟̤͍̪̤͙͓͎̞͖̖̣̪͉̅̈́̈́̈͑̄̀͊̈́̋̋͆͑̕͜͠Ş̵̧̛̙̳̠̦̠̹͔̞̗̞̗̀͛̿͛S̴̬͍͉̮̱̗̣͍̙͆͐̔͌͆͛́͋̎̔̿̓̽͋̑̓͂̍͂̈́͘͠S̶͕̩̫̱̟͇̝̺̋͐̑͂́̽͆̒̆̓͊T̸͚̼̭͖̥͎̪͈͚̈́͑̈́̉́̌̽͛̿͠ͅR̴̡̨̡͖̘̞̞̦̹̩̼̤̘̭̪͓̪̫̓̎Ḍ̷̡̮̫̙̝̮̣̞̰͉̞̫̘͖͖̤͉̫̈́́͋́͌̇ ̷̧͍̩̬̟̪͆Ḛ̶̢̧̨̭͖̻̥̙̰̜͓̞̱͔̗̱̙͖̣̖͔͚̑͊͐̈́́͗͗͑̓̆͒̕͠͠͝ͅL̵̖̼̖͗͑̓̀̊͊͛̍̀́͂̽̄̆̆̃̋̍̍̚͠C̸̡͔̠̖̈́̊ͅT̶̢͇͇̜͇͎͈̜̭̹̻͇͉̜̣̥̃͊̀̓̍̏̒̑̓̍̈́̽̓̀̐͝ͅR̷̡̰̦͕̠͇̫͕̘̀͒R̷̯͇̼̤͕̗͎̘̗̼̱̱̙͍̮̗̞̙̫͔̤͎̹͉͒̈̓͊͗̈́̈́̾͆̂́̈́͝͝ͅR̴̨̨̡̢̻̲͚͔̟̩̤͔͎̠̼̙̟̗̻̘͓̮̣̿͛̓̑͜͜͝Č̵͕̟͙̻̼̩̬̙̦͖͍̥̮̹̣͚̦͍̜̲̬̳̟̭̟̳̑̑̎̉͊̈̿̕ͅS̸̛͉͊̓̏̏͒͐̊͒̍̓̀͋̅͆͐̇̆̒͠͝