The Nightwatch

Dev Spotlight: Chapter IV - The Nightwatch

Happy Friday everyone. For todays topic we're sitting down Astrow, the creator of Astrow Games and solo dev of their new game– The Nightwatch.

Tell me a bit about The Nightwatch. How did development begin and what do you hope players take away from the game?

I started working on this game about 7 months ago, after I left my previous work in IT, as I've been a developer for quite some time. I always loved survivor-like games and I wanted to create my own. But as it is my first game, it takes quite some time and trial and error to do exactly what I envisioned. And I am mostly a solo developer, not an artist, so I am experimenting and learning how to work with freelances and contract work (ex: Fiverr) to have the art I need.

The main focus of the game is build optimization, as I offer lots of way to build your character and become stronger. From random trinkets in great number that enable new projectiles/features on your character, to talent trees, level upgrades, etc...

Every attacks has a damage type associated to it, and every damage type has its feature (ex: poison spreads to other enemies, fire can burn over time, lightning can create chain lightning, etc)

The map has procedurally generated events, that you can find and that change every time you start a game. Chests, shrines and other events will help the player find gold/items and ways to access multiple shops.

I've always been a huge fan of the bow and arrow in games but I don't feel it gets enough love. It's always the side weapon that characters use when they're hunting or doing stealth. What made you choose the bow and arrow as the main weapon and are there any other weapons players can use?

Bow and arrows are a big favorite of mine aswell ! And I like to keep things simple and clear for the player to understand what is going on. Even if things get complex with time and projectiles are added to the action, the bow and arrow will remain here as the main weapon. (until the next character at least). It is the "base attack" of the player, and can be upgraded with 2 or 3 more arrows, upgraded with pierce and bounce and infused with poison/lightning/bleeding damage etc.

Based on the thumbnail of the game on Steam I get very Legend of Zelda/Green Arrow vibes from the main character. What media influenced the main characters design and does it at all influence the game?

The style of the game is very Dark Fantasy, with a deep dark tower, enemies coming from the void, purple portals etc. There is not real influence of the game, expect of course the obvious one in terms of gameplay like Vampire Survivors.

The main character is very japanese inspired, with a traditional Jingasa hat worn by japanese samourai and infantry. But his origin is not relevant for the lore of the game, as he is here to do what he does best, and what is his job : protect the tower as a one man army.

How would you describe the combat of the game?

The combat of the game is action heavy, lot of projectiles coming from you and from the enemies that you have to dodge. Enemies run after you, send projectiles from their position and will never stop coming in bigger and bigger numbers.
I will do my best to keep things clean to avoid a big mess of explosions where nobody understands what is going on.

Your abilities and attacks are firing automatically, you can chose to aim or to let the auto-aim do the work by itself. But your movement is very important and you will need to navigate through hordes of enemies and avoid contact, while exploring and interacting with things you find.

Tell me a bit about the enemies in this game. Is there some lore behind the reasoning for their attacks and how will boss fights be handled?

Enemies in the game are attacking the Wizard Tower, and it is your job to push back the attack for the night. All the enemies are coming from the void, from an unknown origin. The reason for the attack is unknown, but the character has no interest in that, he will do what he is paid to do.

You will find enemies from void-imps to tentacles, warlock sending projectiles, to big heavy monster running after you. I'm planning to add way more by July.

During the attack, you will be able to access boss fights. One of them is what seems to be the leader of the attack, a huge void entity spawning portals. The boss fight is designed to be in a corridor, with portals spawning dark matter that damages you, and the boss running after you to hit you with his dark sword. You will need to run, avoid the portals while damaging the boss.

The planned release date for The Nightwatch is coming up. What should people look out for when the game releases and are there any plans for future content or sequels?

The released is planned for July, there is still a lot more work to do in polishing, items to add, enemies to add... But everything is still going well in schedule.
The main goal is to make the game available in many languages, and working on all OS (macos, linux, windows), and fully compatible with the Steam Deck.
As I am writing, the first playtest is happening, people are testing the game and giving me a lot of good points for improvements in UI visibility and other suggestions.

I am proud as well to be part of the "Steam Endless Replayability Fest" that will happen on Steam May 13, I hope a lot more people will notice the game and will want to play it !

Marketing is very hard a new solo-dev, but it is part of the work.

If you're interested in adding The Nightwatch to your library, check the game out on Steam and check out Astrow Games on YouTube.