Christchurch-based developer Digital Confectioners is part of a Kickstarter whose aim is to keep the influence of third parties away from its almost-complete game.

The title in question is Forge, "a blend of MMO-style abilities and FPS controls", according to the game’s official site.

Digital Confectioners were tapped to handle all the programming for the game after word of their Unreal Engine prowess reached Forge producers, California-based Dark Vale Games.

Another studio had been working on the game, but their efforts were discarded once DC was on board.

DC’s grand overlord Sam Evans and developer Neil Reynolds are working on the game full-time, with developer James Tan putting in part-time hours.

"We’re quite lucky in that James has a huge amount of experience working with Unreal Engine," said Evans.

"We’ve really specialised, but it has allowed us to get quite a bit of expertise."

All up, around 18 people were involved with the project, including a team at SuperGenius who were handling the art.

The game is currently in alpha, with animation for four of the game’s classes finished, and a fifth underway.

Additionally, one map was complete and another two were "not far off", according to Evans.

Forge will launch with five different classes— the Assassin, Pathfinder, Pyromancer, Shaman, and Warden, each with their own summonable companion—as well as four unique maps.

It would be finished regardless of the results of the Kickstarter, the developers insisted.

Beyond that, "I’d love to see it go competitive—become an eSport" said Reynolds, citing the game’s tight controls, PvP focus, and lack of grind as reasons why it would be a perfect fit for that scene.

Australian servers and careful attention to netcode would give New Zealand players something as close to a lag-free experience as possible.

Matches hosted on a Christchurch server featuring players in the States ran with no complaints, said Evans.

The game would be playable at PAX, then the aim was getting to beta stage, he said.

Forge has raised US$37,461 of its US$300,000 goal, and there are 26 days remaining in its pledge drive.

- Gameplanet