Hardcore Gamer recently got to sit down with Duonix Studios and discuss their upcoming game,10 Dead Doves.10 Dead Dovesis a narrative horror indie game set in Appalachia. With a fixed-perspective and nostalgic art style, this game has already cemented itself as a unique entry in the horror genre. Duonix Studios is comprised of Mark Byram II, Sean-Michael Millard, and Daniel Millard. Here’s what they had to say about bringing the essence of a bygone era to life:
Bringing Back the Classics
[Hardcore Gamer] How did you decide on the 2000s era-inspired art style?
[Mark] I think that the PS2/PS3 adjacent era is the sweet spot for indie game aesthetics. It’s stylish and not too limiting, while also having a reasonably low enough fidelity to create assets without breaking the team. It’s also a lot of fun. We use a ton of photo references, so it gives the world a real lived-in character.
[Sean] As a 2000s kid, it’s a very nostalgic era for me. I grew up on the GameCube playing whatever weird game I could find, so I’m hoping to spark that same joy I had as then in an audience that may not have experienced that kind of atmosphere yet.
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Talking Nostalgic Inspiration
Were there any games of that decade that inspired you while developing10 Dead Doves? It was a big time for games likeResident EvilandSilent Hill—did those play any part in the making of the game?
[Mark] I do enjoy the escape-game-esque flow to how the map is designed inResident Evil, but the biggest one is probablyGrim Fandango. you may see that a lot in the character’s expression sheets. Instead of using shape keys to animate face movement, we scroll between a series of textures. There’s 72 faces between both of the characters!
What were some struggles you faced in development? Conversely, what came easily in the making of the game?
[Sean] Creating character models. Unsurprisingly, there’s not much info online about automating the tedious parts of making character models like ours, mainly those facial expressions – and that’s something we’re still tweaking to this day!
[Mark] What came easy is from us playing to our strengths. We have particularly… strong personalities between the three of us, so leaning totally into that I think helped a lot in creating a very interesting and dynamic main duo!
Secrets from the Composer Himself
This one is for Daniel specifically: What was the most unique piece you composed during the creation of the game? If that’s too general, then what was your favorite piece?
[Daniel] There are two pieces that come to mind – one of which we’ve decided to keep a secret for a very specific part of the game (and not everyone will hear it on their first playthrough). The other is also a bit of a secret, but it’s a piece that every player will hear, titled “Woe Has Fallen.” It is such a noticeable shift in tone from every other piece of music in the game and I love it. I cannot say too much about it just yet, but I had so much fun writing this piece!
Bringing Appalachia to the Indie Horror Scene
As someone who was born and raised in the South, I’ve spent a lot of time in the woods—most of what I did as a kid was explore the woods by myself until dark. What do you think10 Dead Dovesdoes differently that could make someone from Appalachia be completely immersed in the setting?
[Mark] For us, it’s all about location, location, location. We want the player to be completely immersed in the world and setting. We’re pretty close as we live in the South, and I myself have done way too much actual woods squatting and backpacking to count. There’s also a lot of little details that I think only people from Appalachia might pick up on, between places we’ve visited personally and catching up on material to properly ground every detail (the Foxfire book series is a good one). Those mountains are freaky. In frost, out fire!
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