Bounty Train Interview

Bounty Train is currently on Steam Early Access. Historical figures and explosive technology are just two of the things to be found on this wild 19th century train ride. To learn more, we talked with Yurij Ishchuk, Corbie Games' General Manager.

RPGWatch: How would you describe Bounty Train?

FTL meets Wild West plus rich story elements. A lot of people referred to Transarctica, which shares a bunch of similarities with Bounty Train.

RPGWatch: Bounty Train tries to combine many different game mechanics. How do you ensure all these mechanics are combined in such a way that the result is more than the individual parts?

Yurij Ishchuk: We are trying out a lot of possible features and sometimes go overboard with them. We are working very closely with our QA department to make sure all new additions are reasonable, understandable and have synergy with existing features. The balancing and readability are our main concern; we need to keep an eye on (readability) and (will) improve (on that) as development continues.

RPGWatch: Would you explain what the RPG elements in the game are and how they interact with the other mechanics?

Yurij Ishchuk: We started with a lot of basic RPG elements, like different dialogue options, reputation, and character customization. Our biggest strengths are the events and quests that directly rely on the historical background and add a lot to the feeling of the game. We try to improve the player's choices in the upcoming update, and will have more meaningful choices attached to events and quests.

RPGWatch: What will combat be like?

Yurij Ishchuk: Right now, combat is a lot like in RTS games. You get into a scenario, control your crew members, and give them orders, like move, shoot, man that terrifying mortar, heal someone, and so on. To make sure everyone can follow the action, you can pause the scenario at any given moment to give your orders while paused. When resumed, the crew will follow the given commands and proceed. All crew members have abilities, which can be active or passive, and give bonuses like the ability to heal, repair, use items, and get stat bonuses for a short duration. They also level up when doing their job, unlocking new perks to choose from. Important is that when Walter (you) dies, the game ends and crewmembers who got killed stay dead. On easy, you can just repeat the battle to avoid losing your favorite character, but on hard-mode they're gone. Same goes for carriages and goods. When being attacked, these might get damaged, set on fire or get completely destroyed - if you don't extinguish the fire in time or stop bandits from getting to goods. You have to be aware of the situation, choose the right targets, and the correct crew member for the given obstacle to succeed. We like the basics and will add additional new characters, scenarios, customization options for crew and train, and new enemies with (their) own behaviors to make combat more challenging.

RPGWatch: How many characters (and what kinds) will there be under your control? Can we improve them?

Yurij Ishchuk: Crews can vary in size, from only you up to about a dozen people - which can be mechanics, bandits, natives, tradesmen, doctors or soldiers with different abilities. We are adding more customization options, allowing you to personalize your crew even further with new weapons and other equipment.

RPGWatch: In what way do we get to control the train?

Yurij Ishchuk: You can send a crew member to take over control over the locomotive. When doing so, you get access to the controls of the train, like speed, brakes, the horn, and the option to switch tracks, if the scenario gives you the option to do so. These controls are very important: if you're going too fast your engine will take damage. When pressure gets too high, you need to slow down or release it through the horn which can also scare animals, including horses - that'll come in handy in a chase.

RPGWatch: In what way can we improve our train and what benefits would that give us? Are there also aesthetic improvements?

Yurij Ishchuk: Right now you can buy new carriages and locomotives, each with their own weight, size and interior. We are adding options to adjust carriages to fit your playstyle more in the near future so the players will have more freedom in constructing his/her train in the way he/she prefers to play, like adding armor, etc.

RPGWatch: Will everything take place on our train? Can we leave the train?

Yurij Ishchuk: We can leave the train in cities, to do our business and leave people in cities if we wish to. We're thinking about new scenarios where the crew would need to embark off the train for a short duration, to do something like clearing the road, etc. We came up with some optional quests that might pop up when traveling.

RPGWatch: Will our choices have consequences and does this become visible in the game? Will there be different endings?

Yurij Ishchuk: Yes, we think it will be very important (that) your choices matter. At the moment we have some choices that matter and will change the outcome of some quests, but we are already working on more choices and outcomes to be added to the game. We have three endings right now, and will add (an) additional two endings - at least - in the coming months.

RPGWatch: Is the game historically correct? Which historical figures can we meet (besides Abraham Lincoln)?

Yurij Ishchuk: We try very hard to stay historically correct, but sometimes also need to step away from it. (The) new banks we will add in the next update and the railroad companies, for example, are made up, but based on historical antetypes. Everything regarding tech, like carriages, weapons, goods, (and) inventions are true to the historical timeline. Right now we can meet Abraham Lincoln, Joseph Gayetty, some fierce bandits of the time and Union hero James J. Andrews. We have plans to add more figures with the new events, like Rose O´Neal Greenhow, President Davis and a lot more to come.

RPGWatch: What do you feel are the best elements in the game?

Yurij Ishchuk: Right now we really like the managing aspect of the game and are preparing additional features to add more life and options to (the)characters and train. The economics part of Bounty Train give the game a pretty good feel at the moment, so we definitely want to keep working on that to make it more interesting and challenging.

The historical events are a great opportunity and will become much more important as development continues. The player itself will be able to help make certain events happen, or to prevent them, which I'm particularly excited about. We really like the idea to improve our system so every game and sandbox mode becomes a bit more unique and adds to replay value.

RPGWatch: Will there be other trains on the tracks? Need the tracks to be managed?

Yurij Ishchuk: We added some new missions in which you can choose your way from different possible tracks and face different dangers. We would love to add other railroad companies and see a lot of potential in that idea.

RPGWatch: Are you also considering a multi-player option or is this designed to be a single player game?

Yurij Ishchuk: We thought about options for multiplayer, but (we're) focus(ing) on the single player experience for the moment. Maybe in the future we might come back to multiplayer. There are no definitive plans for now.

Thanks for the interview, and best of luck!