Monthly Update: November '11

It's that time again, almost halfway into the month before I update! All areas of the game are picking up speed now as we sprint toward Beta. This update I have to give props to Dev and Audio, who have really started to up the production now that we need them most. But I have to start out with Ryan's first interstitial animation for the game, because it kicks ass.

ANIM:
There's no audio yet, but thanks to some awesome art by Trav and some equally awesome animation by Ryan, we get to see what happens when you take a teleporter that's been infected.



DEV
Jeremy and Eugene have really pulled their weight this moth by getting all the menus from last months update in the game and a bunch more.

Video 1: Showing off the first pass of panning through the billboards, the initial transition into a schematic, and then a faster transition into the schematic (we know you all have things to do other than wait for transitions!). Then we show off a new "barrier" for cooperative play that keeps TOMs segregated (yes that hot pink line is temp art), as well as an animated background and a quick view of some "role" awards that we give out at the end. Credit to Brian for those awesome medals!




Video 2: Turn off the lights, get your glow sticks, and turn on your favorite rave music because Eugene felt the "unmovable" tiles were too subtle in indicating their unmovable-ness!

AUDIO
Ian and lance have been cranking trying to find the sounds and music that will make the game. Here's one of each.

Audio 1: A cool track Ian put together that is now stuck in my head. Catchy and with a nice side of "you're in a circuit"



Facepalm by Misfits Attic

Audio 2: A great sound effect from Lance for when the drones are respawning and you have 5 seconds to deal with that fact before they're on top of you...
 
Drone respawnification D3 by Misfits Attic

ART
Why the hell did I make Trav draw a bull and a chicken? The people spoke, and so the "hydrator" is in the game. You'll have to scratch your head for now if you didn't vote. We also have a new design for the schematic screens with a mini-leaderboard in there thanks to Holly and Von.

PRESS
With our heads down, grinding toward alpha there's been less time for press, but there are some good interviews that we've done on the press page so check it out!


REST
As always, Mikes been trying to heard us like the ferrets that we are, and I've been working with various publishers to figure out what the ideal launch platforms/marketplaces/dates are for us.

We're inching closer to Beta, so hopefully this time next month we'll be there (minus networking and a bunch of polish). Thanks so much for all the hard work everyone, it's really showing as this game starts to look like a finished product!

Monthly Update: October '11

Hey guys, time for another crew update! Lots of work being done, but I'd like to start off by quoting a message that was sent to me by a friend that runs a small gaming website:


"Someone came to my site via the search phrase "a virus named tom game pc full download".  People are already searching for it."

It's amazing how great that simple email made me feel. You should all be pretty damn proud that people are  already looking to snag our baby :)

ART
Another of Dr. X's inventions to reclaim by infection: the Teleporter! Here's an initial anim key frame from Trav, followed by a mock-up Von did of what the schematic might look like. It was a little challenging breaking it up into sections that look fun to infect, but I think we're getting there.

Menus! Every game needs them, and it's a good sign when you're far enough along to start making them look pretty! Below We have Von's take on what the player should see when they fail in puzzle/story mode. Then we have Brian's take on how "Role Results" menu will look. This is basically a screen that will come up at the end of multiplayer games which rewards players for taking on various roles (killing drones, stealing energy for the team, etc.). We're hoping this is not only fun, but encourages different play styles. Finally we have Von's take on the Results screen for territory mode. Just realized it has our colorful temp phrasing in it...

ANIM:
Helping the player understand what the billboards mean and how they relate to the schematic is important. Ryan has been working on a transition that conveys the featured invention on the billboard is being targeted for infection, and gives the level map that "planning a heist" feel.





DEV
Development this month has been a bit slow, but Eugene made his first contribution by adding medal and total score counters to the schematic. Now we can start comparing scores! No one is allowed to beat my score. I didn't start this company to lose at my own game.

PRESS
We got our first hands on preview from  The Game Effect, take a look, I'd say they liked it :)

AUDIO
Ian and Lance are still searching to find the sound of the game. Hopefully next month we'll have a bunch of tracks to post.

REST
As always, Mikes been trying to heard us like the cats that we are, and I've been working with various publishers to figure out what the ideal launch platforms/marketplaces/dates are for us.

October looks to be an amazing month for us to push to Beta, and I already have some great updates for next month in the works. Thanks so much for all the hard work everyone, the game is really getting there thanks to it. Stay on target!

Monthly Update: Sept '11

OK, I'm gonna try exposing ourselves even more by putting our crew "monthly updates" on the blog. It's also probably an easier format for everyone than an email with a bunch of attachments. But really I wanna make sure our three blog followers feel they haven't wasted their "follow" on us.

PRESS:
I always lead off with art (pretty pictures) but I have to lead with press this month. Basically it's because we've never had any till now. But with the help of Jeremiah (who's helping out in PR), and other friends in the media, we've started spreading the word. We've gotten over 10,000 views on our two trailers (below: made the new "Teamwork Tips" video for PAX), and ranked 9.1 and 8.5, for the alpha trailer and teamwork video respectively, on Game Trailers. In addition we've and had several articles written about us (check out our new Press page), and both writers and commenters have been really really positive on the game. Validation, soooo motivating!

ART:
First off we have some new billboard art. Below (top) is Trav's first take on the "Sidewalk of Tomorrow" and then Von (bottom) integrated it into a concept billboard and background.





Von (top) and Brian (bottom) have been working on some ideas for backgrounds for puzzle/story mode since in our trailer every level looks eerily similar.





And finally, I told Holly that having a baby is no excuse so in addition to art directing she's worked with Brian on concept for the "Roles" results screen. The idea is that at the end of a level (if playing co-op) you're awarded the role you played. We're hoping this encourages people to play different roles, and adds some fun. The player colored medals are placeholders for iconic images we still need to create.




ANIM:
Ryan joined us this month and has been working on some in-game effects, but I'd like to show off his test anim for the transition from billboard to billboard (area to area). First Von (above) did a concept of how the city might be laid out as a backdrop, then Ryan took that file and did a quick vis dev anim (below).

DEV:
Thanks to Jeremy we can save the game now! We also have 6 placeholder billboards which I need to fill with levels. Sophy added a "NOOB" difficulty to Territory/Battle mode. It allows players like your mom to not have to connect to a source to infect their tiles. We'll have to play with that.  He's also been making sure that we keep track of high scores and medals to add replayability and good 'ol competition to the game.

AUDIO:
Ian and Lance have been working on the "Audio spreadsheet of destiny" (yes I actually named it that, much love to Steve Bell ) to make sure there's a sound for everything that needs a sound, and the music actually all follows a theme of some sort.

REST:
Of course we can't forget Mike, who's been making all the scheduling possible, and keeping us all in sync. Finally I (Tim) have spent the last month composing this update. Well worth it me thinks.

In summary, thanks for all the hard work. We're getting lots of love for all the amazing work we've done so far, and it's really awesome to see all the progress we're making!