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!

Need 2 Cents

We're getting ready to create the rest of the in-game animated cut-scenes and we're looking for opinions on them before we finalize the script. If you're interested, please email info@misfitsattic.com and we'll email you our ideas, and you can add your own!

For inspiration here's one of the current animations that we've gone ahead and created:

New Team Member

Got a new QA tester last week. She sleeps a LOT on the job, but we can pay her in milk, so that's a net win I think.

Tom & Company get a facelift

So where have we been the last 2 months? Keeping the artists chained to their desks. Just kidding, we put those exploding collar things on them so they could walk around. While some complained of living in constant fear, clearly the results show that if anything, the artists need more fear. Here are some before and after screenshots of the game. Click on them to get a better look at all that was done. We'll post some of the brand new artwork next. Enjoy!

Main Menu (before, after)




Level 1 (before, after)





Territory Mode (before, after)




Player Select (before, after)

Check out the new site we put up for "A Virus Named TOM". We've got some new art and some old gameplay footage ;) www.avirusnamedtom.com

Free Stickers!

Stop by our table at the SV IGDA Game Technology and Career Night at Google (March 16 6:30PM) and get a free TOM sticker (from our game "A Virus Named TOM") while supplies last! You can also play the game, though if you loose on the first level I'm taking the sticker back.