In September of 2019 Krzysztof Kluczek (aka KK/Altair) reveals to the world his long-time project
code named 'Dread' and shocks the Amiga community to its core! An unimaginable, first person shooter
engine, capable of fullscreen resolution, textured walls, complex level geometry, sector lighting
and outdoors areas, running with smooth frame rate on a humble, vanilla a500!
Soon after he is joined by John Tsakiris (Pixelglass co-founder, artist and game designer)
and together they start working on a major visual upgrade with custom assets and new engine features,
with the goal being the release of a public tech-demo and kickstarting a new community around the
project. The work takes almost one year but pays off : at December of 2021, the team announces
the release of the first 'Dread demo', followed by a series of new public SDKs, enabling the
community to join the fun and create custom content.
While the demo was just a technical showcase (paying homage to Doom and Wolf3D), the possibility
of creating a complete, all-original, high quality final game, was also discussed.
Set in a foreboding Steampunk/Lovecraftian world and making full use of the new engine.
Enter project 'Grind':
After a few months of preparations, the plan is finally set in motion. In October 2022,
John Tsakiris (carrying the torch from KK), announces the beginning of the development of
'Grind': a new first person shooter for Amiga, powered by the mighty Dread Engine! The new
game would target a commercial release and a specific number of goals are set for its
completion: further development of the Dread engine (adding all the necessary missing features,
correcting existing bugs, incompatibilities etc.), the creation of a cohesive style and theme for
the game, the complete replacement and expansion of all necessary in-game assets, an overhaul and
expansion of the core gameplay and making sure the overall presentation is top notch!
As of today, the team undertaking Grind's development has grown strong in numbers (with several
new talented coders and artists joining), while the project has already managed to reach several of
its goals! The steps ahead include the completion of much of the needed content (maps and assets),
parts of the presentation, as well as rounding up and polishing the remaining features of the
engine itself.
And so the GRIND continues! :)
