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The Daunting House, developed by VectorInteractive Studios, is a horror game set in the outskirts of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. In the first-person horror survival action game, the protagonist must survive in an abandoned village by sticking to his instincts of courage and bravery.
The Daunting House is the first game developed by the Indian game studio, VectorInteractive Studios. The developers of The Daunting House have presented an authentic representation of the Indian rural culture while giving the players a thrilling adventure.
In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda’s Suryadeeepto Sengupta, the co-founder of VectorInteractive Studios, Prateek Kumar, opened up about The Daunting House and the experiences developing it as an independent Indian Studio.
Prateek Kumar, Co-founder VectorInteractive Studios opens up about The Daunting House
Well, everyone likes an origin story. So, let’s start at the very beginning with how things took off for you and VectorInteractive Studios. How did the company come to be and what were the initial days like?
Prateek: During our college days, we used to play multiplayer PC games like CS: GO and Halo in the hostel at night. Soon, we came to know about the Esports gaming contests and E3 game launch event where AAA titles are released. We found that there were no games from India.
We carried out research on the same and found about the global gaming market potential and how it was not being utilized in India. Also, there were very few games that featured India but lacked the proper flavor.
So, we made up our minds to provide the world with our own AAA titles in the long run, which will feature Indian culture, lifestyle, heritage, and stories inspired from true events. We started VectorInteractive Studios back in March 2020, teamed up, and started our first project - "The Daunting House". We believe making a AAA title is a journey in itself and THE DAUNTING HOUSE is just our first mile.
The Daunting House is a thrilling journey that combines the real stories and incidents of a haunted place called Dagshai, located in the outskirts of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. You and your team have also designed the map set across the terrains of the Himalayas. How influential was the local culture and lifestyle in building the narrative of the game? How did you plan out the settings and the map for the game? Is there anything particularly special about the progression that they followed?
Prateek: During college, we heard a lot of stories from the mountains, especially the horror ones from our Himachali friends. Those stories held us more and we wanted to try them out in real and this served as our base. Later, we did research and figured out how we could blend them into our game.
We have a teammate from Himachal Pradesh who is a travel vlogger and familiar with the terrain. He also designed the same for the game. While designing the map, we tried to keep a lot of things similar to the real place, like the church, railway station, the village gate, and way more to keep those elements alive.
The Daunting House is not only a horror adventure where the protagonist has to rely upon his instincts of courage and bravery, but it elevates the horror experience with elements of puzzle-solving and mystery. What was the inspiration behind choosing horror as a genre to explore?
Prateek: The "Bhoot-wale" pranks in our hostel days were an indication that this genre is fun. And when we get to hear real horror stories from nearby places, it naturally made us hooked.
What was your experience, while developing The Daunting House, as an independent Indian Game Developer? How do you feel the game development culture in India has changed over the last few years?
Prateek: Game development is too much fun, according to us, whether it is 3D modeling, programming, animation, or graphics designing. We started working on our live project and kept learning the core concepts side-by-side.
In the last few years, the market has boomed, resulting in more and more studios coming up to make Indian-inspired videogames, be it just another hyper-casual or a simple card game.
In terms of PC games, there is a lot that can be offered though it holds huge risks too as the development takes years. I think it’s high time for gaming content creators to collaborate with developers to bring out the magic and turn more tables for PC gaming.
Do you see The Daunting House as a potential starting point of a universe which could be further explored in possible future expansions, be it a DLC or a sequel?
Prateek: As we have just started developing games, there are many things that are currently out of our reach. Be it lack of backend systems, high-end texture design, motion capture, lighting, and many others.
So, with the resources available, we tried to give our best. However, the journey of The Daunting House doesn’t end here. It will continue further in the future with a complete look and feel. So, yes The Daunting House is definitely a potential starting point of a universe.
The Daunting House is releasing on September 15 on Steam and itch.io for the Windows platform. Has there been any discussion on bringing the game to other platforms, be it console or cloud?
Prateek: Yes, we will bring this to consoles as well in the coming time.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, many studios across the globe had to adapt to a work-from-home situation. How did VectorInteractive Studios cope with the pandemic? While your team is laser-focused on delivering an amazing experience with The Daunting House, have there been any thoughts on the possible next project at VIS?
Prateek: VectorInteractive Studios came into existence just a few weeks before the pandemic. The team members were already working from remote locations. Then this pandemic happened which further delayed the team from physically working together. We worked full-time from home and completed nearly 70% of game development without meeting any team member in person.
After completing our first project, we have a rough plan to develop a multiplayer PC game.
Any words for aspiring game developers in India?
Prateek: We believe that the youth in our country are determinant and highly enthusiastic towards their inner-calling. Some keep moving towards it and a few might doubt its scope in the future.
In the course of time, many game developers in India who started as Indie developers are doing really great in their domain. Game Development and its supply from India have just started doing good and it will flourish further in near future. So, it's just a matter of time and effort when Indian game developers will make remarkable contributions in this industry.
