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During the Skulls Festival we released the latest DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector franchise: "The Orks".
That's why we decided to ask some questions to the developer of the base game and of the DLC: Paul Turbett from Balck Lab Games. Are you curious to know more about the creative process behind "The Orks" DLC?
How long have you been working on Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector?
Paul Turbett: We started work on Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector in mid-2019, so about 4 years now.
How many DLCs have you created since the release of Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector?
Paul Turbett: We've launched 5 DLCs so far - 2 small "elites" unit packs for the main factions in the story campaign (the Blood Angels Space Marines and the Tyranids), and 3 full faction packs, the Necrons, Sisters of Battle, and most recently, the Orks.
Speaking about the last DLC, Orks, what is the process of creating a DLC like this one?
Paul Turbett: For a faction pack, it's quite an involved process. Most factions in Warhammer 40,000 have dozens and dozens of unit types, and we can't possibly hope to create digital versions of them all. So first we need to select which units to include. This is a difficult process because there are so many great units that we have to exclude. We select units based on the unique role they play within the army, and to support the gameplay style that the faction best represents. For example, with the Orks, we choose the Bad Moons klan, which is renowned for having the biggest and shootiest guns, so we favoured high-volume ranged units, with just enough melee support to avoid them being a one-trick pony.
Once we have a unit roster, quite a number of tasks are involved in bringing them into the game. Each unit needs to have models and animations created (we wrote a Dev Diary with details about the process last year - see here: https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108320 ), voiceover written and recorded, combat stats modelled, configured and balanced, special abilities implemented and AI developed.
What was the most challenging part of creating the Orks DLC?
We wanted to launch the Orks as part of the Warhammer Skulls showcase, which put some fixed timeframes in place. Maintaining the quality standards of the models and faction gameplay in a compressed time definitely presented some logistical challenges. On top of that, we didn't have the usual beta test period we've had in the past, due to the Orks being launched as a surprise during the Skulls event, so we had to conduct a very small invite-only beta. That said, I'm pleased to say that I think it all worked out pretty well in the end.
How many people have worked on the Orks DLC?
Our core team for Orks was 8 people, with some additional contractors contributing additional art and audio.
Did you use a different approach for the Orks DLC?
Not really, other than allowing for the 'stealth' launch. Having previously released 2 add-on factions prior to Orks, we've got pretty good internal tools and processes in place.
