Timelock Studio interview on Serious Sam Siberian Mayhem

Mar 5, 202210 min read

"Timelock Studio is one of the locomotives of the Russian gaming industry" (Russian Guy)

Why is Timelock Studio one of the locomotives? Because it so happened that the Russian gaming industry with a sharp development in the 90s eventually declined! For a long time, large gaming companies have not made single-player games of the AAA or even AA level. They are sitting in the MMO games and F2P sector. Periodically, they try to do something, but it turns out they have it worse. The latest example of King's Bounty II from 1C Game Studios.. The game came out and turned out to be worse than games released by smaller studios.

But recently, new independent studios have appeared that are making narrowly focused games so far. But these games turn out to be good and find their audience! Here is an example of studios and their games: Martyshka (I hope I will also interview them in the future) released the Black Book game in the RPG adventure genre, Atom Team studio released the classic RPG "Atom RPG" and probably the most famous example is Mundfish studio, which is preparing for release this year the game "Atomic Heart".

"Exclusive concept art"

And here we come to Timelock Studio. These guys have already released their game on PC and are preparing a release on consoles. They gained a lot of experience while working on this project. The most important thing is that they do not get confused and continue to make games. Of course, I will continue to monitor our guys. In the meantime, you can read the interview that I took from the guys from Timelock Studio. Thanks to them for the interviews and exclusive concept art.

"Exclusive concept art"

XECO: Your studio is very young, founded only in 2021. What emotions did you feel when you created it?

Timelock Studio: It was a really fascinating and exciting experience for all of us at Timelock Studio. We actually felt a huge range of emotions, but early since the beginning of this project we were quite enthusiastic and confident. Even though we didn't know what to expect from Croteam, we were still sure they would like our idea. And it turned out to be in vain.

XECO: It is known that you have done mods before. Were all the founders of the studio mod creators before?

Timelock Studio:

Pretty much everyone in our team had some experience in making mods. Some of us have been making numerous maps and mods for over a decade, others helped or were somehow related to Serious Sam modding scene. A lot of us have been Croteam's beta-testers on projects like The Talos Principle or Serious Sam 4. In the end, all of that experience helped us to gather all the right talent in one place and create a realistic concept for the game while considering our strongest sides.

XECO: What games did you make mods for? Name at least a few particularly popular ones.

Timelock Studio:

We've been making mods for pretty much all Serious Sam games, starting from timeless PC-classics such as First & Second Encounter, and all the way to modern installations like Serious Sam Fusion. Some of our notable mods are Operation Skyfall, Red Day, Operation Sunrise, Serious Sam 2 Renovation, DIO's Bizarre Encounter, Custom Weapon Management, etc. We used all of that modding experience and even some past ideas to create Siberian Mayhem. We also had some unreleased mods, and are more than eager to use these ideas in the future.

XECO: At what stage did you come up with the idea to create your own studio?

Timelock Studio:

The idea to become a full-fledged studio has come to us in the earliest stages of Siberian Mayhem's development. Especially considering the fact that we were not a part of Croteam. Once we figured that we have a strong project at our hands, as well as the full support and blessing of Croteam and Devolver Digital, everything fell into place. It felt like a reasonable & logical next step, and a necessity to become a game dev team with its own identity and image.

XECO: The debut project of your studio is a game in the already popular Serious Sam series from Croteam Studio. How did you get this project? Have you contacted the developers or have they contacted you themselves?

Timelock Studio:

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem was initially our own idea and a well-thought decision. A lot of Timelock Studio members had previously worked as beta-testers on Serious Sam 4 and discussed it internally for a long time even before the release. The game featured a short final episode set in Russia, and we always felt that this chapter wasn't quite enjoyable and complete in terms of playtime and visual authenticity. So we figured we could just do it justice on our own. Being long-time modders and having experience with Serious Engine and its tools, we felt that we can actually pull this project out, so we gathered around and spent around two months compiling an 80-pages long design document, conceptualizing all the key points and ideas. And then we just pitched it to Croteam. They've become really interested in this project, and so the game was green-lit.

XECO: What emotions did you experience working together with Croteam Studio? How do you assess the experience gained while working together?

Timelock Studio:

Croteam is a very unique, almost family-like studio, which hasn't really changed its key staff and still makes games for almost 30 years or so. They are quite old-fashioned people, but they also really like to experiment with their ideas and games. They are also known for being in touch with their community, always ready to listen to the fans. Working with Croteam was a blast, a pure and imminent pleasure. They were really supportive, kind, and provided a lot of help when it comes to different aspects of development. They helped us to organize our workspace, provided all the necessary resources, assets, tech support, and obviously motivated us a lot by giving valuable advice. We're really looking forward to working with Croteam in the future!

XECO: What questions did Devolver Digital publishing deal with? How do you rate the work with the publisher?

Timelock Studio:

Devolver does what (in our humble opinion) every developer wants a publisher to be: they handled all the PR/marketing and financial questions, ensured all the deadlines and QA control, leaving us with confidence and freedom in terms of what we wanted to do. The decision to release Siberian Mayhem as a standalone expansion was in fact Devolver's idea — they were quite impressed by the results we've made, so they raised the stakes. We're really happy with that collaboration, and we hope that our relationships with Devolver will continue.

XECO: Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem was originally planned as a DLC, but eventually came out as an independent addition that does not require the main game. For you as developers, does it give any advantages or does it not matter?

Timelock Studio:

Switching from DLC to a standalone game gave us more freedom in terms of ideas and technical implementation we could achieve. We were able to make some notable changes which would've been impossible if we still used the established Serious Sam 4 base. It also gives the game more weight, so to say, makes it more noticeable, and showcases Siberian Mayhem in a more significant light, which is a very welcoming thing for a small debut project. It is also really useful for regular gamers as well, 'cause it lets everyone experience the campaign without the need to have Serious Sam 4 installed.

XECO: The game has already been released on PC on Steam. On which consoles is the release planned and when?

Timelock Studio:

We're looking forward to releasing Siberian Mayhem on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 somewhere in the first half of 2022, just like the original Serious Sam 4 did.

XECO: Have you encountered difficulties in developing the game?

Timelock Studio:

To be quite honest, there weren't any major difficulties and troubles during the development of Siberian Mayhem. We sure had a couple of hick-ups in the beginning, when we had to conceptualize the project and organize our workspace, as well as get used to Serious Engine's new features. But it was just a temporary thing that we soon left behind, and we always had the incredible support of our mentors from Croteam, who really helped us in a lot of intricate aspects. So the rest of the development course went fine and well.

XECO: Are there any interesting facts about game development?

Timelock Studio:

The Octanian Sentry Tower enemy presented quite a challenge. We had to tweak it in terms of gameplay balance A LOT. It was either too hard or too easy. This was further aggravated when we entered the beta-testing stage, and we polished and tweaked it all the time until it was done! We feel really bad for our testers who had to go through all the earlier iterations of the Tower though. They're the real heroes and martyrs.

Another silly fun fact is that we've spent ¼ of our dev. time on implementing all the secrets and easter eggs. It's just too boring to put some armor and spawn a bunch of enemies behind the player when they pick it up. So we had to spend up to three working days per each secret in order to make them more unique.

XECO: The game takes place in Siberia! Will Western players' stereotypes about Siberia be justified, or will they learn a lot of new things?

Timelock Studio:

We tried to combine the traditional image of Siberia with its forests and wooden old houses, and this intricate vision of alien-infested 22nd century Russia. The players could see the soviet panel apartment buildings with some futuristic elements on top of them, with old archaic churches and huts standing next to the fully-automated monstrosity that is an oil refinery. By doing so, we basically wanted to achieve a balance between some stereotypical western image of Russia and a more reality-grounded vision that all the Russian gamers would have. So yeah, we really hope that the western audience will get to know Russia in a different, more deeply rooted light than just regular stereotypes!

XECO: Are you satisfied with the end result and the experience you received?

Timelock Studio:

Absolutely! We've managed to achieve all that was planned, and we got a lot of new experience & inspiration for further work. We still have something to cling to, and we're looking forward to any future projects.

"Exclusive concept art"

XECO: I want to ask a few questions unrelated to the game!

XECO: How do you feel about and evaluate the Xbox Game Pass service?

Timelock Studio:

It's definitely a great service that presents a useful and easy way to check out many games, even those that some gamers wouldn't even care or hear about. We believe that it's a nice next step for the market, and we're interested in how it's going to evolve in the future.

XECO: Do you think the Russian gaming industry is coming out of stagnation or is everything still bad?

Timelock Studio:

There was obviously a time of stagnation in the Russian game dev industry, but all the latest events and upcoming releases show that our compatriots have some ace up their sleeves. Right now it's a perfect chance to show what they're made of and prove that the Russian game dev scene can be capable of more. There are also quite a lot of talented people in the indie gaming scene, so it's especially worth checking out.

XECO: Which game developed in Russia do you like?

Timelock Studio:

Tetris! I mean, who on Earth doesn't like Tetris?!

XECO: How do you feel about the localization of games? Do games need full localization support or are subtitles enough?

Timelock Studio:

There should not be any restrictions when it comes to localization, really. If a developer has enough demand, time, and money for a full-fledged translation, including both subtitles and voice-over, why not do it? Unfortunately, when it comes to Siberian Mayhem, we didn't have much time for doing a full Russian-languaged localization and hiring voice actors, so you'll have to listen to beheaded kamikaze screaming only in English instead.

XECO: S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 or Atomic Heart?

Timelock Studio:

What a cheeky question! Both games are massive and draw intense interest in them. Atomic Heart is a brand new game, and it feels so unusual that you really want to dive into it. Whereas S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a time-honored series that has a lot of fans all over the world and an incredible atmosphere. It's really hard to choose one, but we wish both games a successful release and a warm reception!

"Exclusive concept art"

Russian Guy: That's the end of my questions, but there are a few questions from our team members!

XECO Team: Why Serious Sam, of all popular games out there, SS has its sharp-tongued humor and great gameplay, but what that series over any other?

Timelock Studio:

Serious Sam still stays true to its roots. When the first Serious Sam games were released twenty years ago, it had tons of crazy varied enemies, all sorts of cool big guns, and this unadulterated sense of a fun journey through mythical locations. And that's what it's still all about even up to this day. This is what the series has always been known for, so when you hear «Serious Sam», you can quickly imagine a perfect unique picture.

XECO Team: What's your favorite thing about being a developer?

TimelockStudio:

It's the sense of creating something with your own hands. You make games both for yourself and for a large audience. We all dream about leaving some notable mark on the world, and the best way to do it is to make something that also fills you with joy. That way it feels really grand and doesn't look like a waste of time.

XECO Team: Was there any pressure working on a new entry to a legacy series and if so how do you think that molded the game.

Timelock Studio:

There was no pressure at all, but we all knew about Serious Sam 4's issues, and we tried to fix them in Siberian Mayhem. All these things affected the way we handled level & gameplay design, optional content, and some other nice tricks in our game.

XECO Team: Your development studio is fairly new, how many of you are there on the team??

Timelock Studio:

There are currently 8 people in our team.

XECO Team: You're working on your first project, is there anything you can tell us about it?

Timelock Studio:

Our first game taught us about our strongest & weakest points. We also figured out which development stages are the hardest ones, and what approach is needed in some unique cases. This was our first step into a game dev industry, but it was a huge and confident one for sure.

XECO Team: What’s next after Serious Sam? Are you planning to continue developing for that series or do you have an original IP potentially in the works?

Timelock Studio:

Serious Sam has broad and unrestricted potential, and we're definitely looking for some new ideas to expand its universe. But as usual, only time will tell. Stay tuned!

Release trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-5STdEpwcc&feature=youtu.be