Dying Light: The Beast - A Chat with Tymon Smektala
Techland’s latest zombie opus, Dying Light: The Beast, is now out in the wild, and it is safe to say I loved it. It is the clear evolution of the two games that came before it, creating a must-play title for those who like their open worlds crawling with the undead. Just after the game’s release, I was given the opportunity to sit down and chat with Tymo Smektala, the Franchise Director on Dying Light, a chance to discuss the franchise and the successful launch of The Beast. What followed was a wonderful conversation with a man who is very clearly passionate about the franchise and one who clearly cares about its players.
The first thing I put to Tymon was that he had to be happy with the reception that The Beast had received from both critics and players alike. Well, I suggest happy was an understatement. “The reception has been phenomenal” said Tymon. “We are about 90% satisfaction on Steam, but that is only a number, and I don’t know if that is as important as the amount of voices we have gotten from all over the world telling us Dying Light is back and we are having lots of fun with the game.” Tymon went on to further say,” For me personally, what I see most in those comments is the amount of enjoyment and pure gaming fun people are having with Dying Light: The Beast. It seems like we have managed to hit that kind of experience where people are enjoying every minute of it. People are having fun all over the world with The Beast, and we couldn’t be happier.”
The first real question I had to ask Tymon wasn’t actually about The Beast, but the older games in the franchise. I have long been fascinated by Techland’s continued support of their older Dying Light games, even after sequels have been released. Tymon said it was basically our way to thank fans. “It is our respect and love for the community and the players. I think it comes from when the original Dying Light was released. Right now, we don’t remember because Dying Light is now a classic of the genre, and everyone who likes this sort of game knows about it, but when the game launched, it didn’t take off instantly. It actually took our players and community to see the value of the game, and they started bringing friends in and building the player base. So, I think that taught us that our players are our friends, our players are the people that we can trust in good times and bad, and we just want to say we are there for them in return. As long as we have resources and as long as we have the time, we will be supporting these older games because we know it is important for our community.”
Now onto The Beast, I had heard that originally, The Beast had started life as DLC for Dying Light 2, so I asked Tymon if this was the case. His answer was fascinating. “Originally, we were working on a DLC for Dying Light 2, and unfortunately, we suffered a narrative leak; some elements of the story were contained in an update to the game, people datamined it, and it went live on the internet. So it was a really difficult situation for us, and we basically decided to cancel that DLC and start working on a new project. So, as a kickstart, we used some elements of the originally planned DLC, but when you look at The Beast right now, it’s even hard to see those elements in the game anymore. So I would say yes, it is connected to a DLC we cancelled, but we decided instead to make this a new game, this is the next Dying Light, and basically we approached it as a brand new title for most of the development.”
One of my key takeaways from playing Dying Light: The Beast was that it was almost the perfect marriage of the first two games. It balances the horror of the first with the power of the second beautifully. I asked Tymon if that was the overall goal, to bring those two styles together. Tymon explained that it wasn’t exactly the intent, but a result of prior experience. “The Beast is a combination of everything we have learned so far. We learned good things from both games, but we also made mistakes with both games. We have learned from all of this.” He went on to explain further. “I think the Beast is actually the best representation of the Dying Light formula, and that formula connects the survival horror aspect and action, more explosive aspect. This is what makes the franchise so unique. It isn’t all just dread and tension and being oppressed by the world. Sometimes you get those moments where you feel powerful, and I think that is the combination that really draws our players in.”
Further to that balance, I had to ask about the world presented in The Beast. Undoubtedly a dangerous and dark place to be, it is still an undeniably fun place to explore. I asked Tymon how that was achieved. “I think for us, first and foremost, the focus for us is to make these places feel real. When you look around you in reality, you see things that are scary, things that are funny, things that are light and things that are dark. So we are trying to make a believable representation of a location like this. Of course, there are some conscious decisions that help. We try to understand where players are emotionally in the game, where they are in the narrative and adjust the world accordingly. I think a lot of it comes from the craft of making open-world games, which we have been making for a long time now. So I think that experience shows.”
Kyle Crane, the original game’s protagonist, is back for The Beast, so I asked Tymon if it was always the plan to explore Kyle’s story further or whether it was a push from the game’s community to see him return. “I think it was a no-brainer. We always knew that Kyle Crane would return, and there is a huge fan club for Kyle in the studio. But that is nothing on how the community feels for the guy. I have been doing interviews for Dying Light for 10 years now, and every interaction I had with fans or press after the first game always came around to what happened to Kyle. So with this game, I hope we actually answer all those questions in a way that builds the character in a way that our players find satisfying. Basically, there are Dying Light players, for them, Kyle Crane is a saint, so when you approach that sort of figure and want to do something, there is always a risk, but I think we have managed to write a great chapter in his story that his fans will appreciate.”
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Dying Light: The Beast, for me at least, was just how fantastic the sidequests were and just how much emotion they could tap into. I asked Tymon if this was a real goal for the team, and his answer was hugely insightful. “We wanted our open world to feel real, and for that to happen, you need those human stories and those additional narratives. Things that you can discover and encounter naturally. Sidequests also have one big advantage over the main quest, and that is they can be treated like an independent TV episode; they allow you to do things that sometimes you can’t do in the main story. They are a way to tell something that doesn’t fit the main narrative but still is relevant to the world you are building. Then, when you do that, you really don’t want to put less attention on these quests. They need to be fully fleshed out; they need to be a part of the world. So, absolutely, this was a goal of ours, to make the more fun, to make it more intriguing and to have more fun because these quests are the perfect space for all of that. “
Finally, I finished up with a simple yet possibly loaded question. I asked Tymon what he was most excited for players to see in the Beast. His answer was as animated and passionate as I have ever seen from a developer. “I think it is just an immensely fun game to play. We are all gamers, and at the gut level, the instinct level, we are all looking to do something on our controller, and something cool and exciting is happening on the screen, and I think that is the most important thing about Dying Light: The Beast. It provides that satisfying spectacle. You get a lot of fun and a lot of excitement. It is a game where I myself play it on the edge of my seat, and when I make a huge jump in the game, my body follows along, almost as if I were helping my in-game jump. I think the fact that all of our elements have come together in a way that it is just a fun place to play in, and I am super happy that players all around the world feel the same.”
So, there you have it. A fantastic chat with Tymon, who is one of the most passionate, friendly and excited developers I have ever had the pleasure to chat with. It is easy to see with people like Tymon behind the scenes how the Dying Light franchise has become just a well-loved gaming IP and one that counts me as a huge fan.
For more on Dying Light: The Beast, make sure you read my review here:
