When the Levee Breaks: Surviving Liquidation with Forrest Dowling

SLUG: What has the crowdfunding route been like, considering the members of The Molasses Flood worked primarily with publishers? Do you have a preference?

Dowling: The crowdfunding route is very different from working with a publisher, probably in a lot of ways I wouldn’t even be aware of. Prior to starting The Molasses Flood, everyone on the team worked for big publishers, but we were game developers, not business people, so the ins and outs of those relationships were not often things that would be exposed to us. Typically, on a big project, only the top leadership deals with the money people. With crowdfunding we’re all dealing with the money people, and those people are people who want the game, not to see a profit, so the relationship is inherently quite different. We’re looking at the possibility of a next project, and right now most every option is on the table. I think there are pros and cons to both, that are probably too boring and business oriented to take a deep dive into. I definitely don’t have a strong preference in that it’s not a totally black and white comparison.

SLUG: What are some of the game’s themes you want to communicate to the players?

Dowling: One of our goals has been to create the feeling of desperation that can come from being lost in the wilderness and overwhelmed by the difficulty of surviving. Thematically, I suppose that we want to communicate loneliness and hopelessness contrasted by the sense of power that occurs when you manage to pull back from impossible odds.

SLUG: Are there any plans to add downloadable content down the line?

Dowling: Future plans are still very much up in the air, and dependent on how the game does. Right now our main focus is on patching and fixing up some bugs that are cropping up now that the game is being played by so many people. It’s too early to say.

SLUG: The game’s original score soaks the player in its rich atmosphere of Americana. How was working with Chuck Ragan? Where can I get this soundtrack?

Dowling: Chuck is amazing, an incredible songwriter who was on board the moment he learned about the game, and it’s focus on survival, the river, and the wilderness. He’s just an incredibly gracious and genuine person who’s been an absolute pleasure to work with. The soundtrack is available at chuckraganmusic.com, iTunes, and Amazon. There’s a physical CD and digital versions.

SLUG: Are you satisfied with the reception? People seem to love it, though the biggest criticism seems to focus on the challenge packed in.

Dowling: I’m very happy with the reception. We knew going into this that it was not going to be a game for everyone, and I was hoping to see just a single review that was a 9. We definitely got that, we’ve got very positive user scores on steam, and it seems to really click with a lot of people. That being said, I’m definitely taking the criticisms very seriously, and once we get the initial patch work out of the way we’ll be seeing what else we can do to address the complaints folks are sharing.

SLUG: What’s next on the horizon for The Molasses Flood? Anything you’re at liberty to discuss?

Dowling: Right now the future is pretty unclear for us. The immediate future is focused on supporting this game, but after that there are a lot of directions we could go. It may mean continuing to develop new features and content post-launch, it may mean building a new game entirely. Time will tell.

SLUG: Now for the most important question: How far have you gone down the river?

Dowling: Personally, my record is probably somewhere in the 70–80 mile range. We’ve had players go much farther. I think the record so far is over 690 miles over the course of over a year of in game time.