Gamedev Interview: Homeseek

A new interview for you today! Things are pretty hectic on my end, but I should be able to give a major update soon. Homeseek is a gritty, post-apocalyptic survival game developed by Greek studio Traptics. I’m working on my impressions review for this brutal game, but in the meantime, I got to interview Mike, co-producer of Homeseek.

Here’s the Steam page for the game, and I hope everyone is doing well. I know things have been slow on here for the last few weeks, and I miss you all. In the meantime, enjoy the interview!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2093000/Homeseek/

Introduction

Let’s start off with an introduction! Please tell me who you are, and what do you do? What game/studio are you currently involved with? And what position?

My name is Mike Papagathangelou. I am Co-Founder of Traptics where my primary role is Game Designer/ Producer.

Gaming Questions

What advice would you give those who wish to enter the industry?

Game development is an enormous industry. The potential is unlimited, but so is the competition. No matter what field of game development you are interested in, take your time to learn, hone your craft, and be patient. Success will take some persistence and experience.

If you still have time to play video games, what are some of your favorite ones to play?

Final Fantasy games are always close to my heart. Other than that I’m a big sucker for card and tactical games. I am currently messing around in jagged alliance 3 and ff16.

How did you get into your chosen field in the industry?

Gradually over time, without even realizing it. I was designing my own board games and dnd systems before I knew what game design was. Starting with some game design competition, then someone was interested in hiring me and before I knew it I started making a living out of it.

What is the hardest part of your job?

Keeping up with the industry. Technology is evolving so fast, competitive studios are popping like mushrooms and the player’s demands are insatiable. 

What lessons have you learned during your time in the industry?

That you need to be willing to take risks, socializing with other devs is a must and you are never going to make the perfect game. By the time you finish something you wish you had done 100 things differently.

What are your future project(s)?

All of the focus right now is on the support of Homeseek, and possible expansions.

If you couldn’t be a game developer, what ideal job would you like to do?

That’s a tough one. Before I was one, I had briefly worked as a material designer for educational seminars. But I would probably try to stay in the creative industry. I think I would pursue something cinema or theater related.

What were your greatest challenges during the development of Homeseek?

Figuring out how we can compete against teams and games with 10 times our budget and size. We have put emphasis on different things than our competition did, and that took a lot of trial and error.

What are your plans for Homeseek during 2023 and beyond?

Currently, we want to interact as much as possible with the community, see what they like, and what they don’t, and try to develop accordingly. We plan on supporting Homeseek for as long as possible so as long as the community desires more, we will deliver!

What games were your greatest inspirations in designing Homeseek?

Frostpunk for sure in terms of gameplay, but in terms of theme we draw inspiration from movies like Mad Max and Book of Eli.

What is your ideal video game if money and time was no object?

Some RPG where we create our own grand unique world with airships, dragons and totally oversized monsters.

More about You

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Playing board and video games of course. I was also passionate about Warhammer miniatures but I’ve never had the chance to get any in the past year.

Coffee or Tea? Or (exult deep breath) what other drink do you prefer, if you like neither?

I prefer coffee, but lately caffeine has become an issue so I switched to camomile.

You can travel anywhere in the universe. Where would you go, and why?

Somewhere with very good food. So Italy, France, or Japan probably.

Pick any three fiction characters. These are now your roadtrip crew. Where do you go and what do you do?

I pick Sephiroth, Albert Wesker, and Hannibal and we are off to destroy the world.

Finally, what superpower would you most like?

Blinking!

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