Becoming a Team -- Week Ending 28 Jan

There wasn't really a question about the work part of our development this week (we planned on doing a lot of work; we did a lot of work), we weren't entirely sure what would set this week's work apart from any other week.

The answer came in waves, beginning with the definition of what we want to accomplish with Last March of the Dodos. With help from Roger, one of our executive producers, we came to realize exactly why we're making the game: to experience the joy of calculated mass destruction without any of the usual guilt that comes as baggage. Note the three facets of that definition: 1) the joy of mercilessly destroying cute things, 2) a fascination with deliberate mechanical intricacies, á la Rube Goldberg, and 3) the alleviation of any guilt that might otherwise accompany any sort of dodo-cide. Basically, we are making Lemmings the way that it should have been done in the first place (okay, Lemmings was a great game in its own right, but this is gonna be sweet).

Thus, we came up with a team motto as a razor for any work that we do:

And we're not one bit sorry.

In other news, the engineers have the Dodos stoically marching toward their desired freedom now, and you can check out some of Chris's concept art.

Wish us another great upcoming week!

- Troy

Last March of the Dodos -- Week Ending 21 Jan

The brainchild of Kamron Egan, Last March of the Dodos made it through the selection process to be one of seven prototypes the cohort is currently developing as a pitch for our official thesis. Congratulations, Kamron!

In one month, two of the seven will become group theses and enter full production and development. As a team, we're determined to make Last March of the Dodos a standout game, and we think we've got the right combination of concept and team to make it happen. Continue on, and you'll see what we mean!

The Team
- Team/Developer Name: Naturally Selected
- Members
     - Christine Olinquevitch
          - Job: Artist
          - Status: Max ammo
          - Skills: Adobe Illustrator and free-hand drawing; also Portuguese

     - Jorge Elola
          - Job: Engineer
          - Status: Super soldier serum
          - Skills: Maya wiz and system engineering; also Spanish and some Mandarin
     - Kamron Egan
          - Job: Engineer
          - Status: Ain't no dodo
          - Skills: Ridiculous ability to work more than humans should be able to (still); also engine manipulation
     - Troy Johnson
          - Job: Producer
          - Status: Not poisoned
          - Skills: Facilitation and communication; also Swedish

The Prototype (or, what we hope turns into the beginning of our thesis game!)
- Title: Last March of the Dodos
- Status: Ready for detonation
- Skills: Tasking players with dodo-cide. Classy.

Kamron came up with the concept years ago, and now we've got a shot to make this game a reality. Think "Lemmings meets God's Playing Field." The player must ensure that the last of the dodos are extinct at their cosmically appointed time. Unwilling to accept their fate, the dodos will do everything they can to escape. Over time and experience, the dodos will actually learn to avoid the traps that the player sets and adapt to dangerous environmental conditions. Can you bring balance to the universe by ensuring that their species goes the way of the dinosaur when they're meant to?

It may be grim and politically incorrect, but the concept should be a blast. Christine is working on some goofy art, and the whole style will be comical and tongue-in-cheek, so hopefully it will feel quite light, all things considered.

Kamron and Jorge are already hard at work engineering the AI of the dodos and getting level layout tools functioning. Besides task and process management, I've contacted a musician and sound engineer to hopefully get a sweet soundtrack. This game will thrive on the atmosphere and tone we create, so we're excited to show off what we've come up with soon!

- Troy

More than a Feeling -- Week Ending 17 Dec

As they say, there comes a point when the best documentation of a game is the game itself, so I'll keep this brief. This team was amazing. Derek nailed it on the design and engineering, and our clients were clearly impressed with our prototype. Jorge laid the foundation for visually piecing the game together, and he made the interface a piece of cake to navigate. Christine's art charmed the pants off everyone, and its cute, simple style brought the game to life. All their work combined for an experience that players can really feel--beyond what has been experienced before. It has been a pleasure collaborating and personally interacting with each of them.

See you next semester!

- Troy

Squirming to the Finish Line -- Week Ending 10 Dec

The team is hard at work, and another week of fantastic progress has been made. By the time you see this post, the game will be functional and playable, though not quite ready for presentation to our client. There are still measures of polish and a few features that we'd like to add by that point, so we're continuing at full speed until it's complete.

This week, Derek created and tuned the "fighting" mechanics and procedures that players will utilize as they pin down and struggle against the bugs' squirms. Further, he implemented a scoring system that not only tracks points but also gives players visual cues as to their successes or failures when battling bugs.

 Jorge engineered the necessary systems for collision detections and for behaviors of the different visual aspects of the game. Further, because of his efforts, we're ready to import and make functional the animations that Christine will finish up over the next few days.

Speaking of Christine, she knocked out the stage backgrounds this week. With a porch and a kitchen in place, players will get a sense of progression through the game--a sense that the critters truly are an invading menace, and that something must be done to stop them! (It might not be quite so dramatic  since it is all very cute, but stick with us here.)

Finally, Troy worked on the music and sound effects. Thanks to Edvard Grieg, Richard Wagner, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for letting him shamelessly steal their compositions and chiptune them so that they sound like they fit in a retro video game. Troy apologizes if that is blasphemous in any way--they just convey the perfect feeling for the game.

As usual, enjoy some of the latest art, and check back next week for the final update and the official release trailer!

- Troy

Staying on Course -- Week Ending 3 Dec

Things are running pretty much according to plan with The Pest Controllers. We've spent a great deal of time figuring out the ins and outs of our new controller technology, working with the placement and movement of the enemy critters, and crafting stylized art. Thanks to Derek, Jorge, and Christine, the prototype should be in fine shape by the time we present in a couple weeks.

For the time being, we're still testing the code we've cooked up to govern controller input and skin-stretch output, so we don't have anything playable. However, you can feast your eyes on more of Christine's art to tide you over till next week. By then, players will be able to feel the squirms of and retaliate against the invading bug armies!

- Troy

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

H2Outcome? Successful! -- Week Ending 19 Nov

H2Outcome is a success! We completed a running version of the game in time for our presentation to Becky Menlove, Director of Exhibits at the Utah Museum of Natural History. Despite a few technical hiccups in getting the game working on their system, the pitch was well received. We'll be honored to have our game cycle along with a few others in the Utah Futures installation!

Creating this game in under a month has been a wild ride, but our team pulled together to make it happen in fine fashion. The multiplayer vision we invested in payed off, and we ended up with a product perfect for the 5-touchscreens-1-collective-projection installation. Make selections, see their results, receive rewards based on your decisions, and learn something while you're at it--that's been the goal of our project, and the team pulled it off.

We're excited for the opportunity to optimize the program a bit, and then to finally see it in action once it's officially installed for public use.

Many thanks to Becky Menlove and her staff at the Museum; to Boston Productions, Inc. for the research and resources they readily provided us; to the administration and faculty of the Master Games Studio at the University of Utah; and to our awesome team who pulled together under incredibly stressful circumstances to make this game a reality.

Check out the trailer below, then be sure to go play it at the Museum within a few weeks!

- Troy