Moons of Darsalon is a unique run and gun platformer. Developed by Dr. Kucho, the game is set to land on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox One, and Series S/X on February 6th, following its successful launch on Steam.
Thanks to our friends in JF Games, we were able to connect with Dr. Kucho and chat about his true labor of love. Dr. Kucho spent eight years meticulously crafting the game’s mechanics and visuals. His passion for the project shines through in the game’s detailed environments, charming characters, and engaging gameplay.
How happy are you with the reception of Moons Of Darsalon on Steam, as well as the demo that’s currently available?
I’m not happy, no. After 8 years of development, I’d only be happy if I had achieved sales that compensated for those 8 years of exhaustive and obsessive work and dedication. But, well, after 4 years of development, I already knew it was going to be very hard to break even.
What were the key inspirations behind Moons of Darsalon’s unique blend of run-and-gun action and strategic NPC management? Could you talk a bit about what inspired the story, as well as the soundtrack?
I kept adding elements from games I liked that could fit in. The retro-futuristic theme was clear from the beginning—I’m a big fan of 50s and 60s sci-fi like Forbidden Planet, Barbarella, and Flash Gordon. But the mechanics and gameplay emerged through trial and error, without a set direction. I’d test things out, adjust, delete, and refine missions, etc. Of course, Lemmings was an inspiration, but so were Oddworld and Worms, along with so many classic shooting games, from Jetpac to Metal Slug.
For the music, I knew I wanted it to sound like the Commodore 64, but avoiding some of the polyphony limitations. I worked with three different plugins that emulate the Commodore’s sound chip, as well as with real Commodores, which I connected to my Mac via a MIDI interface to sequence and record their sound for some tracks in the game. I only did this on special occasions when I couldn’t get certain sounds from the emulators because it’s a very tedious process.I usually approach music the same way—I start without knowing what I’m going to do and just make music. Then I discard tracks that don’t fit. The more rhythmic ones are kept for action levels, and the slower ones for puzzle or exploration levels. One track that was a direct inspiration is “Flower’s Love” by Joël Fajerman, from the album L’aventure des plantes. It served as the basis for creating “Virtual Angels,” though it also has a bassline similar to “To The Unknown Man” by Vangelis.
How did the game’s development evolve over the 8-year period? Were there any major changes in direction or gameplay mechanics?
Like I mentioned, I was just trying things out with no clear direction. There was a water gun mechanic that I left out, but it had potential—you could collect water from puddles and shoot it later to create puddles in other places. I removed it because I couldn’t manage to shape everything properly. There were also grenades; in fact, the grenade button is still in the control configuration screen, but no one has noticed that it’s not used in the game, haha. Grenades worked, but aiming was very tricky. It required some kind of on-screen trajectory preview, and… well, at some point, I decided it might be better to leave them out of the game or I’d never finish it.
The custom terrain system and pixel perfect solution you developed for the game are quite innovative. Could you elaborate on the challenges you faced? Was there a certain mechanic that you wanted to introduce but later decided against it?
Destructible terrain is a nightmare to make work well. I mean, not just the destruction itself, but ensuring characters can navigate through it. It requires highly sophisticated AI, which would have been 10,000 times easier in a tile-based game. And that’s not all—it also complicates things to make sure the main character doesn’t get stuck in weird spots. You need bombproof physics to avoid frustrating terrain-related issues, as well as a semi-elegant system to detect when the character is irreparably stuck and pull them out. Think about how dynamic terrain can create cracks and spikes of all shapes and sizes, making it impossible to ensure perfectly smooth gameplay. When I was testing it, I thought it was normal—after all, it’s a destructible world, and odd terrain shapes are just part of it. It’s up to the player to consider that and avoid getting stuck. But players don’t think that way; they never see the full picture. They just see that they’re stuck, and it’s never their fault—the game is always to blame. This didn’t use to be the case, but nowadays, everyone expects a seamless, difficulty-free experience. Everyone wants to beat the game, even those who don’t put in any effort… I find it disturbing. It’s supposed to be a challenge, not a walk in the park.
What do you hope players will take away from their experience with Moons of Darsalon?
Fun and freshness—above all, freshness. Moons of Darsalon don’t resemble anything else out there. I know this sounds pretentious, but at this point, I don’t care if I come across as an arrogant jerk—it’s the truth. There’s nothing like Moons of Darsalon. In fact, this actually works against the game because, these days, if you want to sell, you need to make a game that fits neatly into a genre. Then you can add a touch of originality—but only a touch. If you stand out too much, it becomes hard to find an audience, which seems obvious now, but sadly, I realized it 8 years too late, haha.
Just like your studio, we have a lot of ambitious developers in North Macedonia. What advice would you give to anyone that’s just starting out?
Make small games, stick to a niche, sell them cheap, test concepts, and learn from them for the next one. Oh, and don’t make a platformer! They’re the worst-selling games on Steam, haha. Thankfully, they’re better received on consoles (fingers crossed).
Any final words that you would like to say about your game, team or anyone who has supported you along the way? What’s next for you and your development studio? Are there any plans for future content or projects?
I want to thank the few people who supported me during development—unfortunately, there weren’t many colleagues. In Spain, we’re more into fighting and competing for government grants, haha. But there are some good colleagues who helped me despite everything; they know who they are, and I’m very grateful to them. What’s next? We’ll see… Suns of Darsalon (joke)?
