Meet the Pest Controllers -- Week Ending 26 Nov

The fourth and final prototype for this semester is under way! We have a fantastic and unique opportunity this time around: we are the first developers in the world to take a shot at creating games with skin-stretch haptic output technology! We are working with a new type of game controller under development by Dr. William Provancher from our own university. The controller has a grippy nub embedded in each thumbstick that slightly stretches the skin in different directions as a form of haptic feedback. Our task is to produce a game prototype that utilizes this feedback as a primary form of output to the player.

Luckily, we have an excellent team that is more than up to the challenge. Let's meet them!

The Team
- Team/Developer Name: The Pest Controllers
- Members
     - Christine Olinquevitch
          - Job: Artist
          - Status: Locked 'n' loaded
          - Skills: Adobe Illustrator wonderkid; also Portuguese

     - Jorge Elola
          - Job: Engineer
          - Status: 110% (for him, it actually IS possible)
          - Skills: Maya wiz, level design, and Super Smash Bros. dominator; also Spanish and some Mandarin
     - Derek Higgs
          - Job: Game Designer and Engineer
          - Status: Caught 'em all!
          - Skills: Incredible work ethic, problem solving, and Super Smash Bros. master; also incredible generosity (Would you let a fellow student borrow your brand new copy of Skyward Sword over Thanksgiving Break? This guy did.)
     - Troy Johnson
          - Job: Producer
          - Status: FIGHT!
          - Skills: Supplying candy and Super Smash Bros. contender; also Swedish

The Prototype (or, what we hope turns into the beginning of a legitimate game)
- Title: Critters (We found out our original working title, "Critter Crunch," is already a game title, so we've trimmed it to infringe on a movie series trademark for the time being, instead)
- Status: On the trail to glory
- Skills: Giving players a new kind of sensory experience than has never been felt before

So here's the skinny: Derek came up with the fantastic concept of pinning down creepy-crawlies and then actually feeling them squirm underneath your thumb as you "wrestle" them into submission. With that as the hook mechanic of our game, we decided to wrap it up in a Space Invaders scenario. Instead of blasting space creatures, players must pin the invading critters into submission one at a time, then finally take on their captains and generals to ensure freedom from bug domination.

Derek and Jorge are hard at work engineering input and output systems based on the new technology as well as laying out the framework of this real-time action game. Christine, under the direction of Derek, is creating fantastic concept art for the various enemies, all based on the charming style of LocoRoco (that way, players won't get too squeamish…we hope). Troy keeps himself busy as Scrum master, art and tech researcher, and process facilitator (trust me, he does actual work on occasion).

Check back often for development updates and new art! With our razor clearly defined (use the haptic device to simulate a bug squirming) and a unified end goal, we are all pumped to show what we can do in the next 3 weeks!

- Troy