Rebuild 2

I've been keeping this schtum for a while but the latest game I've been working on is actually 'Rebuild 2'.

If you haven't heard of Rebuild, it's a brilliant Zombie strategic survival game by Northway games. It's been played by squillions of people and is still in the top 40 on Newgrounds.

They started working on the second one recently and were looking for an artist. Frankly I loved the first game a lot, and after playing it (for a long, long time) I actually had already envisualised what it would look like with my art stamped all over it, so this was a dream job for me.

Despite the gameplay being top notch, the first game's graphics were a little too simple and it seemed like they wanted to take the game to a darker place visually this time. That's where I've stepped in.

Have to say Sarah Northway has been great to work with. She's definitely a smart cookie and knows exactly how to manage this thing well as well as being constantly supportive and generous with the compliments. Made this first collaboration for me relaxing and stress-free.

Many fans of the first game showed concern that the second game would be a little too heavy if it featured the same variety of gore as I've used in the Insanity games. With that in mind we decided to go with a more cartoon-esque look.

We've both been getting various influences, her from The Walking Dead books, I myself have been heavily influenced by the work of Beksinski recently, so expect to see a bit of his stuff in the work I do.

Only the final end of game images will feature anything as nasty as what you can see in The Insanity games.

One bonus is the new customized character screen that features photorealistic art for each 'survivor'. We've scanned in all our faces for the game so you'll actually be able to see our ugly mugs as a 'leader' or 'scavenger' etc . I think I look pretty cool with a shotgun in one hand, cowboy hat and an old grey moustache.

Anyway, I'm excited and working my buttcheeks off to get the visuals to a level where they truly add another dimension to this already fantastic game.

CHRONICLE:- a chronic failure hahahaaaaa!

Well, seems like the latest news is that the latest game of mine- 'CHRONICLE' is a flop *sigh*

A giant turd of a flop. Couldn't get the bastard sponsored even after weeks of trying.

If nothing else I've learned that arcade games- specifically shooters, are not my bag. Both Bounty Hunter and this one went nowhere fast. This one cuts me up a little though, because although it wasn't reinventing the wheel I personally felt it was a pretty good game. That's 6 months of hobby time largely wasted.

Still, the dude here always remains positive, and here's what I've learned;

a) Don't make games just because you think they'll score you a cashcow.

b) Be original

c) Don't waste time working on games you don't like.

d) With Flash, less is more.

e) Mochiad rates still suck compared to CPMStar.

The game didn't sell even despite quite a few sponsors taking a peek at it. Most of the feedback came saying great music but not original enough. Also had a few comments about the graphics being inconsistent and the game difficulty being a little high.

I didn't send out any e-mails to sponsors and perhaps that was the biggest error on my part- not enough self-promotion.

I think I'm guilty on relying too much on Flash Game License to get my game sponsored. But at the end of the day I was just dying to move away from this turkey and couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of tracking down all the big-wigs in the industry, I didn't believe in the game enough to really play the salesman role. I kind of think of the whole scene like FrightNight where Jerry Dandridge (Sponsor) is coming down the stairs in full vampire mode and Roddy McDowell (me) holds out his crucifix(the game), then Jerry starts chuckling sardistically 'You've got to have FAITH for that to work on me, Mr.Vincent'

Yeah. Lack of faith. And I was dinner.

The dangers of spending long amounts of time with a game are:

a) Oftentimes you can't tell if your games sucks or not as you're too washed out on it or just bored of playing it. Even StreetFighter gets dull after playing it all day. Try 80 days.

b) You've a hundred other, better concepts built in your imagination that you're dying to start work on, but you can't because you've got this lame duck you have to wrap up.

I'm thinking of trying some new. Perhaps making very small games, almost like demos that are fun, a quick fix and not too challenging. For example I might split 'The Damned' into 3 highly polished mini games. Sure people will nag about the game length but you don't have the right to complain when you're getting something for free. Certainly would equal less stress for me. Either way, Insanity 3 will probably be my last, and hopefully greatest full game until the day when microtransactions are fully accepted and we can actually get rewarded properly for our work instead of relying on scraps from the sponsors and pay per click routes.

OK, so finally it seems I have 5 minutes to start blogging again. I only like to post when I actually have some news worth reading these days. Not like anyone actually reads this shit anyway.

Latest game CHRONICLE is done and dusted and up for bidding over at Flash Game License as we speak. I've yet to see any amazing offers come in so who knows when you guys will get to play it. If you're into my horror games then it won't likely be down your alley anyway as it's a retro arcade style game like Asteroids (with fab explosions and lasers).

Sneaky peek:

So far the game has had some so-so reviews. Some people said it was kind of tough from the start, but I planned it to be like that. In it's defence it's a *gamers* game- not necessarily intended for the bored suburban housewives and old grandpa's of the USA. All in all I think it's a damn fine game- one I can actually be proud of for a change. I've (once again) used some of Mihai Sorohan's tunes and also David Orr contributed a song this time around. If you could bottle the talent these guys have you'd be a millionaire.

What else? The Flying Chicken, of all games, has been chosen by a team to be converted onto the smartphone scene. Apparently they've already got it running with Box2d on the Iphone right now, yeehee. Should be fun to see how that turns out.

Last but not least, I'm currently working on the sequel to an immensely popular Flash zombie

game. They needed an artist, and as I was already a fan of the first game I jumped at the opportunity. So far I've been working on mostly costume design for character customizations. We're all going to have our faces in the game as characters so you'll have fun dressing me up all sexy boy before sending me out to my certain death. Next I'll be will be working on the nasty intestine-munching zombie image stuff that those of you who are fans of The Insanity will go nuts for. Honestly, this game is gonna rock, I'm getting pumped to see the fans reaction when it's released so I'm working hard on it.

Anyway, I'd love to post some of the stuff I've completed already, and I'll see if I can get permission to disclose some more details next blog time.

JAPAN: Arcades++

Darius Burst-

Sort of space fish themed shooter. Uses two screens. Hmm, not much to say about this one, to be honest I didn't play it more than once.

Lords of Vermillion 2.

An arcade style collectible card game. Looks kind of like a Japanese WOW from the outset. Great graphics and sound. Even though I can speak and read Japanese ok these games are kind of beyond me. They're quite popular machines though. Again, goes with the Japanese trend of keeping people down playing for hours and hours down the game center.

Electronic Darts.

Now we're talking. Me and a buddy must've spent every evening in 2008 playing these little suckers in the darts bar over here. If I was ever asked to choose a Japanese product abroad I felt would make me a million quid exported it would probably be Japanese electronic darts. Why?

These are so much fun, the boards are made of pins that pick up with extreme accuracy where your darts land. Everything is done via the computer- no more writing on a chalkboard and arguing with your mates about your bad sums, these babies take care of all of it for you. You can choose from about a zillion different darts games and their variations, Count Up, Cricket, even some unique ones like MyLand (or was it MyCountry), where the winner is the one who gets the most Japanese prefectures (represented by numbers) converted to his colour.

Personalise your darts in the shop. Customise your flights, use thin shafts or heavy shafts (not a sexual pun), etc. Plus you can always buy a beer and play doubles with a couple of nice chicks you meet there too.

Another cool thing is, like most arcade machines in Japan these days, you can link up to a national network and play against people anywhere else in Japan. So even when you're alone in the bar, you can still play with real people.

JAPAN: Arcades

Taito Station- One of the bigger game centers where I live. 5 floors. Got every type of game under the sun here; UFO Catcher's (claw crane machines), photo-booth Purikura (obviously more popular with the ladies), Retro Classics coin-ops(Final Fight, Super Mario,

etc), Guitar Hero-type games, RPG card-based games, Gun games, coin challenge games, man, just anything and everything, some of which I'll go more into detail below.

(Free candyfloss on the door at weekends)

This place obviously also has a TON of the latest games and their linked units, some of which you'll never see abroad. Competitions are held here and you can be quite the local hero if you win a Super Street Fighter 4 tournament. Some players are fiercely good though, as you'd expect this being the gaming hub of the world- so don't bank on ever winning unless you spend most of your life practicing online.

The place is totally packed out all the time, nothing like mild UK arcades.

Metal Gear Arcade-

New on the scene Metal Gear Arcade utilises some of the cool 3d technology we've been seeing everywhere these days- you wear the specs while you play, just like at the movies. This really adds to the gameplay. The game is kind of just an amalgamation of MGO elements and even features the same maps. You buy credits with real money, play missions or do vs online or neighbour link-up. The more money you throw in the better and longer levels you can play. You can customise your character just like MGO but you need to register to do it. Not sure if you've actually buy a card (like some games) or you just choose a unique number on the machine, but anyway once you've got your character saved you can level up and get on the national rankings system.

First impression- nothing like other gun games. The gun controller is very sophisticated and has about a dozen different buttons and switches, along with a PS3 thumb-stick that governs movement. Although I do love MGO the arcade version is hard to get to grips with at first, and the amount of controls are simply overwhelming. That being said I've been trying to persevere with this one and I'm starting to see it's brilliance. The coolest thing about the game is clearly the 3D, which in combination with putting it on first-person mode amps the intensity up big time. The screen moves with your head too, a sweet little control method, this game brings you closer to being in a real war than any other FPS I've played.

Negatives-I think Konami are really throwing the challenge out there for casual arcade gamers to invest a lot of time and money in this game and frankly I'm not sure it's going to hit off with anyone except for hardcore MGO guys like myself. The staggering amount of info you have to get through just to get into the game first time takes some perseverance indeed.

That being said sometimes these things take time to warm up, and besides the trend over here for Japanese gamers these days is moving towards arcade games that you're never done with after 5 minutes. I wonder if Konami aren't killing off their audience with the excessively complex cabinet, but either way I'm not quite done with this one yet, I sense that it's going to pick up in popularity once people start giving it a chance.

JAPAN: Game-related books

Just some features of the local bookshelf at Junkudo- the Barnes and Noble of Japan. Game-related books.

The usual you'd find anywhere, coding any type of game in Objective C. All of the Game Programming Gem series. have been translated. Lots of modelling books, mostly devoted to MAYA. Only to be seen are about 3 books coding in Flash AS3 *wa wa wa waaaaaah* and the content none too impressive- how to make a Super Mario Clone etc. There was one 3D coding title that came with some Japanese 3D libraries on a CD.

As you can see the trend in Japan is more towards mobile gaming, there's a TON of books related to the IphoneSDK, for example, as well as coding with Android.

Another thing to note is that you can see some biographies of famous game designers over here, as they are given more acclaim in Japan, comparable with famous engineers in Germany.

Some links regarding the Iphone and Android in Japan.

Android Development Jobs in Japan

Is Japan’s Social Gaming Boom an Explosion or an Implosion?

Japan’s iPhone craze attracting worldwide developers

New

Hey,

First of all, if you're interested in my game updates, skip to the bottom of this post.

New Blog Additions

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So while it might seems pretty obvious from the blogs title, I do in fact live in Japan, although I'm a true blue Brit from Hastings. Living here and being a hardcore gamer is heaven, I sometimes feel as if every other Japanese person is some kind of gaming freak and in reflection of that Japan has some of the coolest gaming paraphernalia you can find on the planet. Gaming centers over here are big business, usually have about 6 floors full of games with expensive high-tech units you could only dream of having in the West. And many shops are devoted to selling quirky gamer stuff that I feel definitely someone living outside Japan might get excited over and have to break the bank to buy on e-bay.

Henceforth, with this in mind I've decided to mix in with this blog some regular concurrent info about the game scene in Japan. My first post is coming real soon, so watch this space.

Game stuff

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It's been awhile since my post, but the good news is that the reason behind this is because I've been extremely productive with work on my latest project, officially titled 'Chronicle' as of last week.

Some of you may have seen the demo of the Asteroids clone in my last post. The game has been revamped and now aspires to being a kind of retro tribute game that features 8 levels, some of which are resemblance to old arcade games, namely -Galaxians, Space Invaders, Gorf, Asteroids and Sinistar- but are fashioned to fit in the game's architecture.

Game features some nice particle effects (I think I've seriously gotten the hang of bitmap blitting these days) and I've even fiddled around with the CS5 3d transformation tools to bump up the sexiness of some of the graphics. You can collect power-ups that morph your ship into other type of ships with differing specialities- none of which I can mention at this point.

Might be just foolishness on my part but I'm a tad protective about some of the unique concepts in this one, hence the lack of an updated demo. Sorry. I will probably post it on FGL soon though, so members with a market level of 1 or over should be able to view it.