Papa Needs a Headshot: A Look Back

Hey pals!

Papa Needs a Headshot is a thrilling, revenge-fueled FPS, and today, we’re proud to walk you through its development journey.

We’ve been a bit quiet since dropping our blood, sweat, and tear-filled trailer at the Future Games Show. While we aren't quite ready for a brand-new trailer just yet, we’re here to share just how far we’ve come since then.

When we first started developing Papa Needs a Headshot, the game was worlds apart from what it looks like today. Still figuring out our visual language, we initially created a much more cartoonish world.

But we soon realized that these cartoony graphics were way too cute for a universe defined by blood, revenge, and brutality. So, the team locked ourselves away to make our world much darker. When we finally emerged, this was the result.

This was the build we used when we released our first trailer and made our official debut to the players. You can check out that initial trailer right here.

At this stage, we also heavily integrated environmental hazards into the game (spiked walls, etc.).

With a solid foundation in place, we got to work polishing it. We began overhauling many mechanics and animations from the ground up to make the gameplay feel much smoother and more impactful.

Take our horse-riding animations, for example:

This was the exact stage we were at when we showcased the game at the Future Games Show. Now, we’re finally implementing all the upgrades we had to postpone just to get that trailer ready in time.

First off, we've made a massive graphical leap. The lighting and shadows look incredible now and perfectly capture the gritty aesthetic we were aiming for.

With the environments looking sharp, it was time to focus on other things. We’ve started refining our enemy models, environment details and 3D gun models one by one.

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And, of course, no FPS game is complete without them, we added weapon inspect animations!

We’ve fine-tuned the lighting, deepened the shadows, and cranked up the environmental details to ensure the game’s atmosphere hits as hard as possible. While graphical enhancements are just one piece of the game development puzzle, we can safely say this phase is now fully behind us.

Now, onto the rest of the game! Don’t forget to wishlist Papa Needs a Headshot and follow us on social media so you don't miss out on our updates.

See ya partner, the Wild West is a dangerous place, so watch your back!

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Bluesky

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