When I first envisioned this game it seemed really simple – but there are actually a lot of complex interactions going on between the citizens, the buildings placed, and all the inventory that gets shuffled around. Hodorowicz: The largest issue has been the scope of the game. Have you faced any major challenges during development? GT: It’s never easy developing a game as an indie studio, but it must be especially difficult as a one man army. There are a lot of factors that go into decision making, but a few of them are warmth, hunger, health, happiness, food variety, what is stored in their home, and where they live relative to town services. They are motivated by a simple set of rules. They’ll work while they can, but they will stop to go to the market for food, to collect firewood to keep warm, or idle around if they aren’t feeling happy. Hodorowicz: My main focus when writing the AI was getting all the people to work efficiently and still attain their own personal needs. GT: What were your focuses when developing the AI in the game? What motivates the townspeople’s actions? The main interaction with them is providing them with homes and places to work, and they in turn produce food and resources so that you can then direct them to expand the town. You assign them jobs, you can check their stats, see what they are doing, and follow them around town, but you can’t force them to do anything immediately. Hodorowicz: You can interact with them, but it’s very indirect. Are we just observers as they go about their lives, or can players actively interact with them? GT: You’ve described the townspeople as the main resource of the game. Each one requires a slightly different city type. There are also a bunch of achievements that players can use to guide them if they choose to do so. Each situation requires slightly different handling. Sometimes there’s a lot of mountains in the way. Sometimes there are less trees and more rocks. Each time you play you also end up in a slightly different landscape. As I mentioned above, there are a lot of different ways to try to succeed. Hodorowicz: It’s really up to the player to decide on how each town should play out. What steps have you taken to ensure each new town is a different experience? GT: Banished is sandbox-based, with no campaign or multiplayer. It obviously seems a bit medieval looking, but in building it I’ve been adding features for design reasons and fun gameplay over any historical accuracy. Hodorowicz: It’s a universe all to its own. GT: How would you describe the setting of Banished? Does it take place at some point in history, or in a universe all its own? After a writing a prototype of Banished in three weeks, I was hooked on my own game. I started with a different game that I thought people would like, and I wasn’t able to make it fun for myself. I actually found that when working solo, if you don’t love the type of game you’re making there isn’t much hope of completing it. Hodorowicz: I like city building games, so I’m making one. What encouraged you to develop a city-building strategy game as Shining Rock’s first release? GT: Most gamers are more likely to associate puzzle or platformer games with indie studios than city-builders. You can use hunting and gathering over farming, you can try to build a town that is self sufficient or you can try to produce one thing and trade for everything else. The game also lets you build and experiment with multiple strategies. You need to guide them to generate enough resources to live. You can’t expand the settlement without the people, or even build a building. Hodorowicz: One distinguishing feature is that each citizen of the town is simulated. GT: What would you say distinguishes Banished from other city-building titles we’ve seen in recent years? It’s a resource management/strategy game with a few important twists, and I asked Luke a few questions about the game’s development. By managing trade, agriculture, and production, you will be able to sustain and grow the new settlement. Banished puts you in control of a small band of travelers who have decided to rebuild in a new location. Luke Hodorowicz is the sole developer at Shining Rock Software, and he’s been hard at work on an in-depth city-building title called Banished for the past two years. Successful indie studios are always the work of a small group of people with a lot of passion, but in this week’s Humble Mumble I talk to a special kind of indie studio: the one man team.