Game Design Geek

Well, I got an interesting email from an Urban Terror player (yes people are still playing Urban Terror after 10 years) and he asked me for permission to revamp UT_SKEETSHOOT.  A long time ago we got really bored and I got this crazy idea for making a skeet shooting level for urban terror.  I gotta tell you I never thought it would ever catch on.  In fact it got a little outta hand, and they have annual Skeetshooting tourneys.  There was nothing more hilarious then shooting people instead of clay targets.  And its even better when other players instead of bots are actually the skeet. (skeet that shoot back)

Needless to say, I lost everything from Urban Terror a few years ago when I ditched PC’s and went Mac.  But it appears as though some ingenious designers have found a way to resurrect the level and give it a new spin.  I have to admit that Its weird having someone call me |NV|S again, and even weirder, but cool to see the Section 8 Studios logo in the level.

Here is the email,

Hi |nv|s,

Sorry for the late reply. I hope you don't mind, but we remade the map
so that it can be used for the tournament. The pre-4.x version had some
minor issues. 
In the pk3's readme we said that the original was yours etc, and
mentioned it as well in our newsposts.
You can find the newspost here :
http://www.urban-zone.org/index.php?name=Core&file=article&sid=45 . I
also included a small video.
I hope you don't take it the wrong way that we remade your map without
your permission. We tried to do it with the greatest respect for your
original work.

kind regards,
SevenofNine

Take a Look at the video in the article, its worth a laugh.

As I get close to the release date of FlickEm for iPhone, I have created a Facebook fan page.  Check it out as it will have all sorts of news and updates.  As well as fans feedback and other cool stuff.

FLICKEM

So, I have been trying to get the iPhone game working on iPad.  Its been an interesting process for sure, and I think I have learned some valuable lessons on how tough it is to something running on a mobile device that has multiple screen orientations.  Rudy has provided a lot of the art for the playable section of the game, and I have been trying all this week to get it all put into place.  I am also doing a pass on image memory and code optimization.   Here is a look as some preliminary screen shots, and again, this isn’t final, but closer.

Playable Screen

Ok, so I have been really hush hush with the iPhone game since I really didn’t want people to steal the idea of the game before I had a chance to release it.  But here is a look at some of the Art rudy has delivered so far and I have to say Im pretty excited as to how its coming together.   This is the playscreen, its really a lot cleaner and more functional looking then the first version that I showed to people in the original Mock-ups.

Here is the Apple App Store Logo.  There are 2 versions of the Logo.  One is the fullsize logo that has to be 512×512.  And the other is the icon that goes with your app and that has to be 57×57.  Below is the 512×512 size logo of the game.

I have been pretty mum about what I am currently working on here at Xaviant in Atlanta.  In fact, I haven’t said a peep.  Not because Im afraid of getting fired, but more because the game has been in the very early stages of design and there wasn’t really much to talk about.  We have been doing a lot of research and testing with game engines, processes, pipeline, story, gameplay.  As we start moving into the prototyping stage of development I can honestly say that things are starting to look encouraging.  Im starting to get really excited about the possibilities of the game.  And Michael McMain the company CEO and the games visionary is really starting to bring his vision to the designers in a way that I feel is going to help us build a great game.  Thats very important, considering that I have been in this position before with Marc Ecko and his game Getting-Up and I didn’t quite feel that way.  Getting-Up was a great game, but I felt that it could have been better.

I did let the Promotion from Sr Tech Designer to Lead Tech Designer happen pretty quietly because I wasnt really leading anyone, more so then leading the charge of how the game was going to come together from the technical perspective.  I have found that with a flat design structure as we have here that I am more empowered to concern myself more with making a great game then personnel issues.  That was one thing I didn’t like about being the lead LD at Incinerator.  I found that I was spending half my time with personnel issues.  Where here the way things are setup I can really focus on making a great product and not have to worry so much about people.  Mentoring is still a large part of my job, but the good thing is that its not babysitting and thats awesome.  I think the design team we have is starting to look really good.  It has a solid top structure with Chad, Rudy and myself, and we are bringing in an experienced writer/designer and another tech designer with great chops.  Chad being moved to design director better lets Rudy(Lead Gameplay Designer) and myself  (Lead Technical Designer) better focus as a tag team on getting things done.  For Rudy and I, this is company 4, and game 4 working together.  This affords us a lot of leeway to do what each other is best at,  And since we know and trust each other, this lets us work without looking over each others shoulders.  This is going to be key as we move forward for sure when things start getting kinda crazy.

Ok, so having said that.  The game is currently titled as a single player action game with RPG elements.  Its very story rich, and in my opinion its refreshingly unique and will totally set us apart in the fantasy Action/RPG space.  Currently we are talking about releasing on the 360, PS3 and PC.  That all could change considering we don’t currently have a publisher.  And on that note,  I’ve got to be honest in saying that I like not having a publisher right now.  This gives us some freedom that I have never had before other then working on Urban Terror, and I love it.