It Gets Darker than DUSK: An Interview with David Szymanski

All images are from Butcher’s Creek by David Szymanski

While I regularly check out modern games that attempt to imitate the aesthetics and “feel” from the past, I haven’t played very many that can match the rawness and intensity of the works of David Szymanski. 

Even if you don’t immediately recognize his name, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with his titles. He’s the madman responsible for the critically acclaimed DUSK and the “soon to be a major motion picture” Iron Lung. He also has a deeply disturbing new project launching this week titled Butcher’s Creek. I would like to thank him for taking time away from release preparations to answer my questions about its chaotic development, his inspirations, and how to make swinging a (virtual) lead pipe feel oh, so sweet.  

How would you describe Butcher’s Creek to someone discovering it for the first time?

A brutal first-person melee horror game about snuff films, violence, and the apocalypse!

What is it about the Condemned series that inspired you to take a crack at making your own version? And why now?

There's a lot of things that I love about Condemned, but I think the main two things were the creepy decayed atmosphere and the way its combat felt. Every hit felt like you were really hitting someone with a heavy object. It wasn't elegant or skillful or pretty, it was just straight up (for the time pretty realistic) violence.

How do you feel about the bear level in Condemned 2?

It's a great moment in a game where the highs are high and the lows are low.

What are your all-time favorite melee weapons from video games?

The crowbar from Half-Life deserves mention, just because it's so iconic and memorable. Same with the chainsaw from Doom. And of course Condemned’s lead pipe!

It seems like melee combat in general is difficult to pull off and doing it from a first-person perspective is nearly impossible. What do you feel the tricks are for creating good melee combat?

I think Butcher's Creek was a learning experience in that regard, not so much because it taught me how to make good melee combat but because it showed me a lot of pitfalls that melee combat can create. The finished game is as fun as I could make it, but if I did it over again I'd do a lot of things differently at the beginning of development, especially with regards to animation and AI.

Do you remember a specific game or moment that made you want to pursue game dev?

It was many years ago now when I was a young teenager (maybe 13 or so?). I was obsessed with Myst at the time and one day I realized that a program I was learning to use in school was the same one that Myst was created with, and that I could potentially make my own Myst-like. That realization that I could go from enjoying the game to making my own game is what led me into learning to program, which eventually led to everything else.

What’s something you learned while making Butcher’s Creek that you think you might use in future projects?

I definitely learned more about when it benefits to speed through parts of development and when it's a downside. Butcher's Creek only exists because of my willingness to push through and "just get it done" in some areas, but would have benefitted in other areas from more care and planning. I've experimented a lot with that balance since releasing Dusk and will be trying to apply those lessons whenever I tackle another larger-scale project.

How fully formed does an idea need to be before you pursue it? Or do you prefer to figure things out as you go?

Usually even if an idea seems fully-formed it will still change a lot during development. It matters more to me if an idea feels like the right direction and if it's something that excites me to make.

I was listening to one of your dev diaries recently and you mentioned this would be your last title in Unity. Is that still the plan?

Yup! I'll be experimenting with Godot next.

What is a book, movie, video game, or album you feel everyone should experience?

Well, everyone should play Doom at some point!

David is prolific, so to best keep up with his antics, make sure to follow him on X (@DUSKdev) and Bluesky (@duskdev.bsky.social). You’re going to want front row seats for when he reveals whatever he’s making in Godot. 

And remember to check out Butcher’s Creek on Steam when it launches on January 23rd (probably the day you’re reading this). 

Are you working on a strange or small project and want to talk about it? Reach out on our contact page! We’d love to learn about your stuff.