We spoke with the Derry man who made his own terrifying horror game featuring several city locations
Derry man Shane Ferry from Night Dial Studios has created his own horror video game, featuring local favourite spots, such as Guapo and Peader O’Donnell's.
Titled ‘Crowded. Followed.’, the game places you in the shoes of a character who is chased by an unknown entity that changes forms into regular people.
“There is a freaky atmosphere,” said Shane. “The whole vibe of the game is that you are chased by this entity that nobody else can see. I was inspired by one of my favourite films, It Follows.”
Shane continued: “I've worked on other games, it's different when it's a game you are passionate about, I've wanted to make a horror game for ages. I would do it in my spare time, it never really felt like work, it was a hobby.
“I've worked on strategy games before. They are very systems-heavy and require a lot of maths and programming. With horror games, it's a lot about ambience and atmosphere. Audio is half of what makes a horror game.
“Deep diving into that side of development, which I have never done before, it was a challenge, but I feel like we did a good job with it.”
The game was in development for 14 months. Shane shared his pride in his work and said: “I am proud of it. At the moment, we have 51 reviews on Steam, all positive.
“It's not about the sales, I wanted to make something good that would scare people. I love seeing people having fun with something I have created. That's what it's all about.”
When Shane was a child, he had asthma. He told a story from primary school of running in a marathon, and in third place, he had an asthma attack.
His history with asthma made its way into the game, as the character you play has to use an inhaler. “In this game, the entity always follows you. I wanted a restrictive mechanic so the player can't run around it,” said Shane.
Showing his love for his hometown, Shane featured some Derry locations all locals will recognise, he said: “The game is short, like an hour long, with three different levels. On the last level, you are in this city, riots are happening, and it's chaotic.
“I needed the player to have shops to run through. I thought I might as well use the city I am from. I contacted Guapo, Storefront, Ferry Clever, and Peadar O’Donnell’s. I asked if would they mind just the storefront being in the game, I thought Bus Stop Stores were a funny one to get in.
“It was cool, I feel like everyone in Derry appreciates it. To have Guapo in a game is kind of funny.”
Shane shared that it is important to him to represent Derry and Ireland. “I do think any game I make, I want the language or the culture to be in the game. It would be weird to Americanise the game made from here, so why not lean into your culture?
“Even in the trailer, we have a character with a Northern Irish accent, I think it's cool, I want to do more stuff like that as well. Highlight Ireland a bit more,” said Shane
‘Crowded. Followed.’ is out now, available on Steam for PC.