The previously named ‘Dread’ engine has been featured many times on Indie Retro News, as with every new update the Amiga 500 looked better than ever with fabulous new textures and new zones to visit. Well if you’re looking for more gaming news on this upcoming engine, we have not only been informed we are getting a game called ‘Grind’, but John Tsakiris (“Tsak”) was happy enough to provide some in depth info about what’s going on with the project, and how ‘Grind’ came to be instead of Dread.
Although I was happy enough to put it all in my own words, I don’t think I could do this game justice, so thanks to John Tsakiris it’s over to you.
“As you already know Dread is a new first person shooter for a500. The project was started by coder Krzysztof Kluczek (aka KK/Altair) a couple years back. Soon after, we joined forces, with me taking care of the game’s gfx and sound. And after a while, artist Dennis Ramberg (aka Pixel Shade) also joined the team, to provide additional help”.
“Creating a Doom-like experience on the Amiga has been (sort of) the holy-grail of Amiga gaming, ever since Doom was released (that would be almost 29 years in a few days). And making a Doom-clone for a500 that looks and plays great has been considered an almost impossible task. So rightfully, the community was really surprised to see such a premise coming to life with Dread”.
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“The first public demo we prepared (along with its GFX) was intentionally paying homage to ID’s classic for this very reason. It was a proof of concept and a definitive statement vs years of effort, speculation and questions. Is a doom-like experience, that stays on-par visually and performance wise to the original (all things considered), even possible on the humble a500? In which case we hoped for a resounding: YES!”
“The creation of this demo wasn’t the sole purpose of this cooperation though. From the very start, we discussed in length the possibility of creating a complete, all original game eventually. And while we all love classic Doom, we really wanted the game to have it’s own character and visual identity. The consensus gravitated eventually towards a steampunk/Lovecraftian mix, so that became the focus of the art direction (and work to come) going forwards and for the next months.”
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“However plans rarely go smoothly. Real-life events caught up with KK, which meant we had to take drastic measures in regards to the future of the project. As such here’s KK’s original message as posted at our Discord server a couple months back, this should help clarify where we’re at at the moment:”
DREAD Patreon is ending… and long live GRIND!
“Due to certain obligations I have now, from now I must work on Dread alone (“solo”) and it must be a strictly non-commercial (not monetized) project. Hence, I’m putting this Patreon page on hold (you will not be charged again) and I’m forced to thank John Tsakiris (“Tsak”) for his help.
“But John is not going to give up quickly on this vision. Instead, welcome project Grind!”
“From now on, I’m passing all Dread code and stuff to John, who will be working further towards our initial vision, but under a different name – Grind. And since you will never be charged again for Dread Patreon, please really consider moving to the John’s Patreon of Grind – he really needs your support now!”
“And while you support Grind, I will work solo on Dread engine and game as much as my new obligations allow me. Wish us luck! 🙂”
And now John Tsakiris it’s back over to you………..
“So what is Grind exactly? It’s practically a direct continuation of the work and planning we had for a complete game for the Amiga 500 (and the Atari ST), based on the assets and art I’ve made so far (as well as what’s planned for the future) and powered by the ‘Dread engine’ and the current available Dread code (including whatever updates become available with future public SDKs). The project can be considered a solo effort for the moment, however more talent from the scene might be involved eventually”.
“The example pics showcased here represent the overall art style and direction of the game so far, which will take place in several themed locations (probably several levels each), all story and thematically linked to each other. The right set might need no introduction (as these screenshots are public for quite a while now). I intend to use this for an industrial like location within the game”.
“And the left set is part of the work I’m currently involved with (and managed to finish, ever since Grind became it’s own thing). It’s a night-time city or town, complete with inside and outside areas (a working, playable test map is already being made – screenshots to the left originate from that)”.
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“Worth noting is that more themed locations are planned as well (for some I already have experimental sets of textures prepared). And as for the rest of the space-marine assets (including current weapons and UIs, which originate from Free-Doom), these will methodically be replaced with brand new ones, that mix properly with the new theme (as was the plan in the first place).”
And that’s all we have on this upcoming game for the Amiga 500 and ST, so while we are really grateful to John Tsakiris for sharing the latest game news and the history of this project, we still can’t wait to play ‘Grind’ when it’s released at some point down the line!
