Meet the team behind SUBOPTIMAL

From keeping players moving freely inside a moving submarine to tackling multiplayer physics, the project came with plenty of technical challenges. For the team, the nomination also marks a goal they set themselves right from the start.

Could you briefly introduce the team?

Our core team is four of us from the Futuregames Game Design program:

• Victor Chéronet: Level Design, Ocean Environment
• Riley Elwell: Tech Design/Programming, Replication, Submarine
• Max Hjort: Tech/Sound Design, Submarine, Interactions
• Yanlin Liu: Level Design/Marketing, Submarine Layout, Graphics

We also have several amazing classmates who contributed to the project along the way whom we’d like to recognise: Yasmin Adas (GP), Linus Jernström (GP), Marcus Persson (GP), Milia O. Zetterberg (AVFX), Antonia Mertes (AVFX), Madeleine Olausson (AVFX), Viktor Drakenberg (GD), and David Johansson (GD).

How would you describe SUBOPTIMAL, and what inspired the idea?

At its core, SUBOPTIMAL is a chaotic and silly co-op game intended for friends and family. You’re trying to pilot a submarine to find treasure, but there are a lot of obstacles along the way. Leaks to repair, creatures to avoid, rocks to blow up.

We were inspired by games like PEAK and RV There Yet?, where it’s about being goofy and having fun with friends. We also wanted to challenge ourselves by designing and implementing an online co-op game.

SUBOPTIMAL has been nominated for Best Technology. Which technical features are you most proud of, and what were the biggest challenges?

We’re most proud of our submarine! We managed to avoid using fake windows or teleport tricks, meaning you can see your friends inside and outside the submarine.

The biggest challenge was allowing players to move freely and interact with other players and objects while inside the moving submarine. We spent a lot of time on this to minimise physics desync and jitter during collisions and at high speeds.

What does the nomination mean to you, and what are your plans going forward?

When we started this project, one of our goals as a team was to create something worthy of a nomination for SGA. So, we are all incredibly excited and honoured to be able to attend this year alongside so many other amazing games!

With our small team all working full-time and in different cities, it has been difficult to continue work on SUBOPTIMAL. However, we do have an active Steam demo and hope to release the game soon!

Useful links

• SUBOPTIMAL on Steam