Phantom Fury News

Hey everyone! This is Nate, I'm a game designer working at Phoenix Game Productions here in Osaka, Japan who has had the pleasure of working on Phantom Fury and I heard ya’ll like to shoot stuff. We see you; we hear you. Huddle up, let's talk for a sec.



In “Ion Fury”, Shelly had some awesome weapons. And as awesome as they were, the team heard the feedback from fans and that feedback was “Yeah good stuff but umm…more?”. We take requests like this very seriously so we did make more…In fact we may have gone mad with power. In addition to greatly increasing the base roster of weapons we have added tons of add-ons that can help make your favorite weapons more powerful. You can make these changes at various upgrade kiosks sprinkled throughout the world.

“Wait, that's NOT a bomb?”



Everyone has their preferred way of killing things and we would NEVER discriminate. That’s why we also made sure to include a broad variety of weapon types and add-ons so people can approach the game the way they want to. In fact there are more than double the amount of base weapons Ion Fury had and made sure that we had a nice spread of conventional, Shelly classic and “experimental” weapon types to keep the gameplay fresh. This is not even mentioning the dozens of add-ons that can totally change how a weapon is used. So, Are you a straight shooter who just loves a clean buckshot to the face? We got you fam. Want to make your enemies suffer as you laugh at their writhing bodies? Yeah, welcome aboard.

Hmm what could this be?



I’ll take some time to be a bit more serious to mention that it takes a tremendous amount of effort from a whole team of people across multiple disciplines to get even one weapon fully up and running. A brief overview of the process looks something like this 😊.

*inhales deeply*

Design: First off, careful planning ensures each weapon's purpose and role in the arsenal, maximizing the chances of captivating players and giving them solid utility. As mentioned above we wanted to have a lot more weapons but we also want to make sure we don't have a ton of role overlaps in our arsenal. Quality and quantity requires us to take a critical look at weapons utility in context of the entire arsenal and change or remove ideas that only favor novelty. This can sometimes be a trap though as “balance” isn't always what people want. Ultimately we want to feel powerful but not handed victory on a silver platter and weapon design is a piece of solving that puzzle. So yeah…a little more than “Gun go ‘boom boom’ then people are happy.”

Concept Art: Next some very talented artists bring ideas to life with captivating mockups. This helps inspire excitement but mainly gives everyone a better idea of what their part of the work will entail.

Motherflakker by Arturo Pahua

Modeling and Rigging: Concepts evolve into stunning 3D models and are expertly rigged for seamless animations.

Model by Mathias Gabriel

Programming: Even in the early stages programmers work with designers to start building all the functionality needed to make the weapons actually work. True heroes that always love game designers no matter how crazy their ideas are…sorry Davey I love you.

Animation: Our skilled animators breathe life into each weapon, delivering fluid movements and lifelike actions. This is where you really start to feel these weapons come to life!
Visual Effects: Eye-catching additions like muzzle flashes and explosive impacts are essential to making every hit feel satisfying and unique. These additions with animation take the weapon to near final quality.

Animation by Domenico Antonazzo

Sound Design: Then our audio wizards create immersive effects, ensuring each weapon packs a powerful auditory punch that just makes you just want to keep pulling the trigger.

Playtesting: Lastly, Iteration is key to perfection. Through rigorous playtesting, we uncover any overlooked issues and discover unforeseen opportunities for improvement. Our dedicated QA team and other members meticulously test and refine the weapon until it's simply hard to not smile while using the beautiful bastard.



*exhales deeply*

And then it's DONE. That was a pretty big simplification of the assembly line but as you can see it's a huge team effort to complete even one weapon. Game design is a large part of that but it's certainly only a fraction of what ends up making it fun. I feel privileged to have a small place among all the other talented people at Slipgate Ironworks that tirelessly and passionately work to make not only the weapons but the whole game fun from start to finish. Can’t wait for everyone to play the game and can’t wait for you to pull the trigger on these weapons we have been cooking up!

Nate


If you haven't wishlisted Phantom Fury yet, do so!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1733240/Phantom_Fury/

Greetings,

My name is Samuel ‘Samuel2213’ Bryan. My role on the Phantom Fury team is 3D Lead and overall 3D Generalist.

I handle environment art, scripting, lighting, characters, props and a bit of level design, which is about as ‘Generalist’ as you can get. I’ve worked on a number of projects: primarily ULTRAKILL, Graven, and Wrath. I’ve also worked in all kinds of various art styles, usually in AA, indie and mod projects, but Phantom Fury is by far the project I’m currently the most deeply involved in.

Phantom Fury is a project that everyone on the team is extremely passionate about, and not only on the raw gameplay front. Having a fun shooter is incredibly important, but you can not underestimate the importance of providing the player plenty to do and look at outside of combat.

In this regard, all the various teams within the project work closely together to focus on immersing the player in the game world through as many avenues as possible, including interactivity and visuals.



The visual design of Phantom Fury is not to be period-accurate, but rather what people remember old games looking like. The ‘Rose Tinted Glasses’ effect, if you will.

With this in mind, we try to stick to period accurate models and textures, but while taking advantage of more advanced modern lighting and shader to push the environment's visuals further than what was possible back in that era.



A vast majority of our characters, weapons and prop/environment assets are built using a modern PBR workflow, baked then crunched down using an excellent filter ‘Pixel8r’ created by Victoria Holland, along with additional custom-made smart materials to recreate the hand-painted shading look of some of our more painterly artists, unifying the style between the various artists and workflows.

An example of one of character assets, created with a PBR workflow then baked down to a diffuse.



From the very start of production, interactivity has been one of our strongest pillars.

Everyone on the team adores the interactivity found in older games. Sin, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, even Half-Life in places had so much to fiddle and interact with in the world. Every little interaction made it feel less like you were running through a predetermined film set, and more like you were running through an actual living breathing world.

With this in mind, we place a heavy emphasis on developing as many interactive or dynamic objects as possible. If there’s something you think you can interact with, more than likely, you can. It can be something as simple as a usable Tap or a Vending Machine, up to something as complex as a Fish Tank, Boiling Chemicals or a fully functional Arcade Machine. Every little bit counts to add immersion and fun to the player experience.



These interactables aren’t used just for gimmicks. With many breakables and interactables, we try to integrate it within the combat and gameplay loop itself. From providing additional pickups, to giving them an edge in certain battles, or just being fun, there’s a mountain of things to interact and play with!

With actual development of the interactives, we keep a very open development cycle. The beauty of working with a smaller team and studio is everyone has a voice. Everyone can pitch ideas and suggestions and generally brainstorm and try different things to see what works! Internally we regularly brainstorm and experiment with various ideas that we feel would be cool or fun to build and interact with.



Phantom Fury has an extremely varied world. Throughout the campaign, Shelly explores a large variety of unique areas and locations, with almost every level providing its own unique twist on gameplay loop, atmosphere and visuals.

We want each level to feel memorable, To be its own unique, fresh experience.



As many of us originally came from modding and fan game backgrounds, along with being a small international team, we adopted a very iterative approach to our level design and detailing.
Each level starts with a few large passes to get about 90% of the way to completion, then it constantly receives regular sweeping passes for lighting, set dressing, and level geometry. You name it, levels get repeated passes on it.

This isn’t only done for visuals, but also scripting refinements, balance and other aspects as the game further develops. Not only does this keep development loose, but it also allows the whole game to develop at an even pace so the quality is as unified as possible through every level and gives the team plenty of breathing room to experiment, as there’s always new challenges to overcome, something new to learn, or something fun to implement.
This combined with regular live work sessions and a very open communication policy allows us to provide live feedback to each other on the fly, regardless of timezone and constantly adapt every level to new features as they are developed.

No level is ever truly done, it can always be further refined as long as time allows.

Levels themselves are built using a hybrid workflow based on the requirements of the level. Certain large levels such as Chicago are built using a modern modular workflow for asset turnaround with a decent level of fidelity, while more enclosed levels such as the various underground labs and bunkers are built either in JACK or Trenchbroom for that authentic retro brushwork feeling akin to the workflow adopted in Graven. Some levels even use a combination of the two. Many of the outdoor environments usually have the large structures built in Trenchbroom as individual maps, then imported and placed in the environment as a unique piece.


An example of one of the Trenchbroom levels



In the end, the entire game has been a monumental endeavour by an incredibly dedicated team. The wonderful community support and feedback has really helped us push the game to increasing heights, and we are all excited to finally release it into your hands.

Wishlist now!

Sam

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hello everyone!

My name is Aleksander Kmiec, and I have had the tremendous privilege of composing the official soundtrack to Phantom Fury.

I was brought onto the project by my good friend and fellow composer Michael Markie back in early 2021, and it was he who envisioned the distinct identity of the OST. The goal was to aim for a unique blend of synth and symphonic - the bold and bombastic energy of an action film with a healthy dose of saturated electronic tones and pulses.



A lot of you will probably pick up on the influences of Alexander Brandon, Michael McCann, and Sascha Dikiciyan, as their work on the Deus Ex OSTs were a big part of my listening rotation for several months. However, it was Ludwig Göransson and his work on the film Tenet that inspired us most. There is a cold, dour, and bitter tone to his music that really spoke to me - I wanted to try and strike a balance between that bleakness and more triumphant elements.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I think much of what we wanted for Phantom Fury is perfectly encapsulated in the trailer track, “Motherflakker”. The song opens with a thunderous drop punctuating the tried-and-true saturated horn bellow we’ve all come to know from movie trailers. However, as the song progresses, familiar instruments and sounds start to reveal themselves in unexpected ways. Juxtaposing the natural cinematic percussion are distorted synth arpeggios over a blend of chamber strings and airy pads. Finally, to tie it all together, I used a solo viola for the lead, employing some tasteful portamentos and a ton of distortion - in the end, it sounded more like a wailing wounded animal than it did a conventional instrument.



All of these parts combined to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It was a violent collision of disparate and contradictory conventions and pieces that resulted in a surprisingly harmonious marriage of old and new. This description holds true for the majority of the soundtrack. I think a lot of people are going to hear it and think, “I know this… but I don’t at the same time.” Like the game itself, I’ve attempted to invoke the familiar while still delivering something fresh and unique.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

I’m really excited for you all to hear more of the soundtrack - it’s been a dream of mine to write music for a game, and I cannot overstated how grateful I am for this opportunity. Thank you all for your support, it has meant the world to me. Until we speak again, have fun, be safe, and take care of one another!

- Aleksander Kmiec 黄仲波

So what are you waiting for? Wishlist Phantom Fury Now!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

You wanted more? You got more.

Aleks Kmiec is back with another entry for our Phantom Fury visualizer series.

We're proud to present "High Velocity".

You're gonna love it.

Make sure you wishlist Phantom Fury.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Focus.

Breathe Deep.

And check out the latest OST drop for PHANTOM FURY.

"Breathe Deep" by composer Aleks Kmiec.

WISHLIST PHANTOM FURY HERE