Space Dust Racers has successfully been Greenlit on Steam and is currently in an alpha stage, being developed by aptly named Space Dust Studios, an indie studio consisting of “AAA developers gone rogue.” I sat down with Grigor Pedrioli, the Senior Artist, to chat about everything Space Dust Racers!

Ford James: Your website states you’ve all collaborated before on games such as Tomb Raider, Battlefield and Dead Space. What made you all decide you’d prefer to become an indie studio and work on games with smaller budgets?

FJ: Have there been many changes in the roles you have undertaken at Space Dust Studios compared to working at triple A studios?

FJ: Space Dust Racers has a lot of likenesses to older console games such as Micro Machines and Mashed. Were there any other titles or ideas that influenced your decision to create Space Dust Racers?

FJ: What aspect of the game are you most proud of so far? The ability to have 16 local players via smartphones, tablets and laptops is what stands out to me, or is there a different aspect to Space Dust Racers you’re fondest of?

FJ: Have there been any particularly memorable or funny bugs you’ve encountered during the development?

FJ: I remember reading somewhere, although I’m not exactly sure where (maybe the Kickstarter page) as I can’t find it anymore, that Space Dust Racers will have a narrative and a single player story. Is this true, and if so can you give us an idea of what it’ll be about?

We’ve also added some physics hacks for gameplay reasons, like throwing wrecked vehicles upwards once they’ve been hit by a player to get them out of the way, as they were a bit irritating in our playtesting. Of course our initial guesses at the correct physics forces were way too high, and sent wrecked vehicles into the stratosphere, dragging the other racer along with them. Whoops!

Our AI racers were initially too smart for their own good. If they got flipped around 180, instead of doing a u-turn and continuing they’d just casually start reversing their way around the track. Impressive, but not quite what we were after!

Glen, Grigor, Stephen, Nathan, and Michael make up Space Dust Studios

FJ: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far developing Space Dust Racers?

FJ: Do you guys have an estimated release date in mind yet? It’s been Greenlit on Steam by the community, are we far away from seeing a consumer version in Early Access?

FJ: On a similar note, any ideas for the potential price point?

FJ: Have there been any features or mechanics you really wanted to include but haven’t been able to due to restrictions with the engine or current technology?

FJ: Is there any chance of a huge LAN event with sixteen players in each round racing/battling it out for a cash prize?! Ever since my brothers, my dad and I would crowd around the TV with a multitap playing Micro Machines and Mashed I’ve wished for a more competitive environment. I guess what I’m asking is, is there any chance of Major League Gaming picking up Space Dust Racers and adding it to their events? (I am partially kidding, but a guy can dream!)

FJ: Finally, is there anything else you guys want to add that I/we haven’t touched on?

I made a video on Space Dust Racers back in April after I was granted access to the pre-alpha, which you can find here: What is Space Dust Racers? It’s definitely one to keep an eye on, the driving feels smooth and blowing up opponents is very satisfying. Crowding around a TV with friends and family is undoubtedly a recipe for fun with Space Dust Racers and I’m excited to see what content gets added when it releases.

If you want to chat with the Space Dust Studios team, or learn more about Space Dust Racers, you can sign up to their forums here. You can follow them on Twitter here and like them on Facebook here. The official website is here and here is their Greenlight page.

Huge thanks to Grigor for taking the time to do this interview and we here at GameSkinny wish him and the rest of the team the best of luck with Space Dust Racers!