You know him as Nyhlus on the Wolcen Discord server, he’s one of the programmers for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem. Today, I invite you to know a little more about him and his work at Wolcen Studio.

Hello Nyhlus ! What can you tell us about yourself ?
I’m Hadrien, I am 25 years old and I come from Marseille on the French Riviera. I have a Master in digital imagery specialized in 2D/3D development, and I am a Gameplay Programmer for Wolcen.
I started my studies with an IT DUT (equivalent BTEC) in Aix-en-Provence then came back to Marseille for the bachelor degree. I’ve also worked on a Software for an ending-study project to semi-automatically detect and validate craters on Mars. Got really proud of that one !

How do you know Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem ?
I’ve known Wolcen for a long time actually. In its early Kickstarter days, a friend showed me this project. I really liked the game, called Umbra at the time, and I became a backer.

And how did you come to work for Wolcen Studio ?
At the end of my studies I had to find an internship and I decided to be bold and sent an email to Solarfall Games. I was highly motivated to join this project and placed high hopes that there would be needs in the studio for my skills. 6 hours and a Skype interview later, it was settled and I joined the team.
That was two years ago, we were 7 in the studio at that time.

What is a classic day for you at Wolcen Studio ?
First thing first. One to two coffees are mandatory. Then I go to my desk and start programming the features planned in my schedule. Regularly we make meetings with Alan, the Game Designer, to polish the additions we want to implement in the game, but mostly my day is all about programming and fix bugs.

What are the tasks you’re focused on for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem ?
First of all, the Passive Skill Tree. It’s my baby, I worked hard on all the skills and we meet together with Alan to improve it regularly. We still have 9 classes to make and it’s going to be mostly what I’ll do in the next months.
In the programming team I’m the closest to the Gameplay features. I make a lot of integrations for skills, enemies, and Gameplay formulas (such as Defense, Attributes, and Ressource Opposition System). I like being close to the game design and we work a lot with Alan to make the game enjoyable for players.

What was the most challenging or unforeseen difficulty you had to face during your time at Wolcen Studio?
Although I’m an adaptive person, it can be difficult for me to face changes. When I first arrived at Wolcen Studio we were all multitasking, everyone made what they could to make the game work. As the team grew I had to reorganize my daily work and let go of special tasks to let more qualified persons do them. For instance, I used to do the text for quests, but we have someone dedicated to that now. I’m glad of these changes though, now the game is being built by more specialized people and it can only make the game even better.

Do you have a special pride on something you’ve worked on for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem ?
The Passive Skill Tree of course. We didn’t know if it was going to work but players were receptive to that feature and the feedbacks were really positive. Also, when I arrived the game was not in Early Access yet, so I’ve seen the game, the team, and the success grow. The feeling of being part of that success is also greatly rewarding.

Can you give some advices to people who would want to follow your path ?
Don’t be afraid to put your guts in a project and always be ready to learn. What made Wolcen work is that everyone here is passionate and spends countless hours working on the game. It’s tough on a daily basis but it takes what it takes to make a project work. If you want your work to be valued and your project to work, you just can’t do a half job.

Back to more cool stuff for our last questions: what are your favorite games ?
The first I have in mind is The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It’s not taking you by the hand, you only have a diary of people you’ve been talking to as a quest log, and I really felt a different experience of gaming.
I’ve also enjoyed a lot Guild Wars 2 and the Monster Hunter series.

And what games are you currently playing ?
Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Dying light. I don’t have that much time to play so I generally play small sessions with portable consoles. When I have a little more time, I play co-op with my colleagues. I’ll soon start Divinity: Original Sin II in co-op for instance.

Useful links :

Wolcen’s Roadmap
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Wolcen’s Official Website
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Wolcen’s Instagram Page
Wolcen’s Official Discord server
Wolcen’s FAQ
Help us fix crashes here

Community websites:

German Fan Site : wolcen-game.de
French Fan Site : Wolcen France