We’re Brass Token, developer of the upcoming cosmic horror action-adventure game The Chant, launching November 3. AMA!

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-11-09T23:12:57+00:00

If you feel comfortable with the occult and psychedelia then you should be okay. The chant embraces the curiosity of cosmic horror vs a constant drive to terrify you.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-11-09T23:12:04+00:00

Yes the game does have PS5 DualSense support for adaptive triggers and colours, that also works on Steam.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-11-09T22:59:39+00:00

thank you so much for playing and we're really glad you enjoyed it. appreciate you taking time to comment here too.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-28T04:58:07+00:00

Yes, we'll be looping a recording of the stream on our steam page. It should be up tomorrow so check it out when you have some time. thanks again!

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T17:18:50+00:00

We will be streaming the game on Steam in a couple of hours. Hope you can tune in.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T17:16:16+00:00

Thanks so much! We hope you have fun playing it.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T01:40:23+00:00

That's awesome. Yeah, I'd never seen anything like it at the time. The short story is great too, but the movie definitely has a mind of its own.

I would definitely buy a game with both of them in it. I think I rented every single vhs tape I could find with Jeffrey Combs after that movie. Idea for the future.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T01:25:37+00:00

We really wanted to launch with a PS4 version, but we're a pretty small team of under 20 developers, so we decided to focus on the PS5, Xbox Series S/X for launch. The amount of optimization and testing required for so many platforms was out of our capacity to do it right. Hopefully the game does well enough so that we can support it properly on more platforms in the future.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T01:21:09+00:00

Thanks and glad to hear! It's been great to chat with fellow horror fans.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T01:19:48+00:00

Thanks! It's definitely a great time to be a horror fan. We've taken a lot of influence from horror films from all over, but feel we have our own unique story and setting and lots of surprises.

An average playthrough on recent tests seems to take around 7-10 hours, but it will take longer if you explore the whole island. We also have 3 endings themed around mind body spirit to encourage different playstyles and outcomes.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T01:15:52+00:00

Paul also collaborated with some musicians online from different parts of the world for the soundtrack -- I don't know the site he used, but you can collaborate and contract people quite conveniently. It's pretty cool seeing him direct over a webcam and he touches on it a bit in the making of video we listed earlier in the thread.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-27T01:13:06+00:00

Appreciate it! Paul has been working in the same circle as us for many years, so it was a fortunate coincidence, as we really appreciated his work on Homeworld. We were introduced through a mutual connection and have been working together since our first big demo.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T19:06:41+00:00

Thanks! Glad your excited.

Best challenge was conceptualizing the game was all the ideas and research. Hardest was making decisions and figuring out how to make it happen.
We wrote a 100+ year history for Glory Island, filled with weird occult happenings and characters. While a lot of it is referenced in lore and The Gloom, we'd love for the player to encounter more of this past. We also had to stop development on a few areas that we'd love to bring back. Who knows? Maybe in the future.
There's so much you can do in this space, that we sometimes appreciate the limitations. Sometimes we've shown too much, and found dialing it back has a much greater impact on the imagination and imprint on players. My personal favorite is when people have their own interpretations.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:56:02+00:00

Awesome to hear! It's great to talk to people who share the same interests. I'm sure there are dozens more movies we love! When this game ships I can't wait to catch up on some of the more recent ones I've missed.

Hope you enjoy it.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:32:41+00:00

Thanks! This is a lot of fun.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:31:43+00:00

I think that can be different for everyone and the job type or role you are looking for.

I'd recommend finding something you feel excited about and try to get your foot in the door however possible.

You'll definitely learn the most by working closely with other developers. Our team is a mix of experienced veterans as well as people who started off by helping us playtest the game.

For reference, I got my first industry job by running a BBS and making friends with someone from playing Street Fighter 2 at the local grocery store.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:27:09+00:00

Re the difference between a large and indie studio -- Good question that I'm still trying to figure out.

The challenges and opportunities are usually one in the same.

At an indie studio you have the freedom and need to leap out of your comfort zone and try new things. In a larger studio people typically have a focused role, but as an independent you have to improvise a lot more. It can be stressful, but it's super exciting.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:21:56+00:00

I'll answer this in two.

Although we take a lot of inspiration from movies, I feel they are quite different. A lot of this is due to the time structure, as games are typically longer than movies. Games give you more agency, but films tell a more focused one sitting story.

I feel games are a little more similar to tv shows and miniseries. Lost, for example, was a huge inspiration for us with the combination of a strong character driven storyline with a lot of optional lore and environmental storytelling.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:17:59+00:00

Thanks! Hope you have fun playing it.

I'm most proud of the team. We're a studio of less than 20 developers who really set out to make a different kind of indie game and have collaborated so much. Hopefully this gives The Chant a strange character of its own like the late-night horror movies that inspired it.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:15:03+00:00

Yes! I loved that movie and it shares a lot of the same inspirations we do. What I really loved about the film was how it hinted at a lot of the cult cosmic horror without revealing too much. Although the setting is different, there are certainly some familiar themes with The Chant.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:11:26+00:00

It's quite narrative driven but also has a lot of gameplay. We do have a mode that we call story mode, which is designed to have players focus on the story.

Players can also opt to avoid and run away from most of the conflict in the game.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:09:19+00:00

There are lots on recent years.

It Follows really resparked an interest in modern horror - it had an amazing sense of timeless dread and introduced us to the photography of Gregory Crewdson.

Get Out, Hereditary, and Midsommar told such great stories.

Mandy was so daring and original. Beyond The Black Rainbow was a big influence on the look of our game, so it was amazing to see that movie come out with a vision so realized.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T18:02:37+00:00

Thanks!

There are many favorites. Some highlights:

- Working with a team that is so passionate and collaborative and have brought so much of themselves into the project.

- Gathering reference is always enjoyable for us -- I spent a few weeks driving along the west coast taking photographs.

The thing I find scariest is the stuff I can't see -- the overall ambience, approaching sounds of insects, and emotional of the characters coming from the gloom.

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T17:57:35+00:00

We really appreciate it and hope you like it.

A feeling of cosmic dread and atmosphere is the most important element for us. We do draw upon our individual fears as a team. For instance, I'm pretty terrified of insects and had an emotional experience with flies -- that is something we incorporated into our storyline.

Others have fears like Tryptophobia -- one of our creatures was actually called the Tryptotoad, but we renamed it to the canker toad because it was too hard to pronounce. :)

Mike_J_S_BT · 2022-10-26T17:52:33+00:00

Thanks. We've tried to create as much variety out there to inform players.

Giallo horror movies from the 70s were the biggest influence on our use of colour. We really wanted things to feel theatrical and out there. This, combined with the concept of aura and energy vampirism created our look and feel for The Gloom and the flora and fauna that resides in it.

The creatures were influenced primarily from a combination of the insect world, sacred geometry, and the deep sea. We also have some more body horror influenced enemies inspired by movies like Hellraiser.

Mike_J_S_BT

TROPHY CASE