First, how did Open Reset come to be formed?

Some of us on the team used to work for a local games company in the past, but after we left in 2004 we decided to work in the Commercial / VFX sector for a while. After working in the commercial industry for a few years, we decided that forming a company would be the next step, and in 2007, Open-Reset was born.

How did the idea for Bounty Arms come about?

Not many people know this, but before we had the idea of making a game, it all started out as a CG Animated Short Story when we were still in the VFX scene. We wanted to showcase what we could do as a company and so we started working towards the idea. We wanted to approach this project as professionally as we could, so we had concept art done and even considered to have a music score done in the United States.

After a few months into the project, out of the blue someone mentioned that wouldn't it be cool if there was a remake of the old school side-scrollers like Metal Slug, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but using modern Engine technology of today to push the limits. We all thought about it and it made perfect sense. We knew we could make the game because of our previous game development experience and we all knew exactly what type of game we wanted to make. I think because that genre was such a memorable part of our childhoods that we all had a very clear idea, as well as similar ideas of what direction to take the game. We looked at our characters that were created for the short story and we really liked them and thought they would be perfect to be the main game characters. It all started to unravel from then on and this is essentially how Bounty Arms came about.

For people who have not yet played the free demo what can you tell us about the game?

The demo is not complete with final features, but this is what you can expect from the fully featured final game:

Bounty Arms is an old-school 3d side-scrolling action game. Join the bounty hunter crew called the HOGS as you gather power-ups that hugely alter your character and weapon arsenal, travel across the galaxy to many different worlds, unlock hidden doors to secrets, join with new comrades, fight the multitude of varying enemies that each world will bring, and defeat the bosses that rule them.
You made the game with the Unreal Development Kit. How hard or easy was it to make the game with the UDK?

Yes, the UDK has been a pleasure and instrumental in the development of our game. We definitely had to get used to it, because we had worked with other Engines like the Doom, Doom3, Quake, Quake2, Quake3, Quake4, and Half-Life.

The editor included is definitely among the best we've worked with. Generally editors would be quite "technical" because it's only meant to be used by the creators and their immediate staff, which doesn't make them bad, just harder to work with. With the UDK it's actually quite user friendly in comparison and the documentation is generally quite helpful if you do get stuck on something. But if you already have the knowledge of game engines and editors in general, I think jumping over to the UDK is extremely easy.

The biggest thing the UDK has going for it are the world class tools they provide, and this really makes game development a lot easier and more efficient. The game itself was quite a challenge to make, but the UDK definitely made it easier.

So far what's the response been like to the release of the Bounty Arms UDK demo?

From the early support from Epic Games to the fans, the response has been awesome so far and we can't thank everyone enough. It has exceeded our expectations and has been quite a journey since we released it. To be a part of the UDK showcase page has been the icing on the cake so far. It's been very cool.

Are you working on a full commercial version of Bounty Arms and if so what can you tell us about it?

We are working towards a full commercial version, but we are trying to secure a publishing deal first because we do not have the income resources to work on this game full time as we would like to.
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What do you think of Epic Games releasing a product like the UDK to developers?

We think it's one of the coolest things a big game developer like Epic Games could have done for aspiring developers. It gives back to the community and it also accelerates and expands what people can now create instead of creating custom engines of their own which can take years.

Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Bounty Arms?

Bounty Arms will have weapon bashing, gun firing, insane special ability craziness that you can play with your friends in Co-op goodness and just have a good time. So look out for it in the future.