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Congrats to Me and Thank You to OCR


Strike911
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EDIT: (August 6, 2009)

I know this is a 3 month old thread, but I wanted to update everyone!

New Video of our new engine that we entered into Dream Build Play 2009.

We updated the engine to full 3D. It's not perfect, but we're pretty happy with it. It has come a looooooong way from the original build, that's for sure... and in a relatively short period of time.

Wish us luck at Dream build Play 2009! There are A LOT of really good games in the competition. You should check out all the other entries on Youtube if you're into the indie games scene.

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So I've been working with a team of mine on a game for a game development competition at my university called CGEC at the University of Texas at Dallas. For 7 months we've been developing a little adventure game hopefully to sell over XboxLive. Out of 14 starting teams, we placed 2nd which was $7500 bucks. Additionally, we also got the innovation award which is an extra $1000. It was really exciting, we were judged by a lot industry veterans. Eric Hellcats Parker was there, and a guy from the late Ensemble Studios. A Gearbox producer and (I think their former) lead concept artist helped us out in refining everything. It was a really good experience... and I got money. It was a short little 15 minute demo and everything was a real blast.

I made all of the music, wrote all of the dialogue, did all the audio engineering for all the sound effects/voiceovers, and I also voiced the main character.

Here's a link to a video. It's not entirely exciting because it is an adventure game after all... you have to experience it. The judges (again who were all industry vets) said the game was fun, Eric Hellcats Parker said particularly he liked the pacing and that he enjoyed the humor (from my dialogue baby!) which was a relief to me. The fact that he himself liked playing our game really makes me happy, and he told us he doesn't usually even like Adventure games. I think what sold it for the innovation award was our radial menu system and the humor. Honestly, I'm a little miffed on how we got the innovation cash, but the judges voted for us, so, yeah (?). Go figure. I would have honestly given it to the iPhone people.

Here's our vid:

We were up against a lot of other games, iPhone games were popular. 1st place went to a great iPhone strategy game! It had a really cool art style.

We're planning on releasing a finished releasable title hopefully in the fall over XboxLive. Haven't quite pinned it down yet, and we're ditching the 2D sprites for 3D modeled characters. Our team also talked to a guy about investment too. So we're moving right along.

So yeah, good times.So in a way I'm also thanking the OCRemix community, because I've learned a lot from the community over the years, and wouldn't have been capable of mixing much less making music without you guys, and I can honestly say that OCR quite literally has put some cash in my pockets for the first time.

So... thanks all. :) Maybe I should buy a t-shirt. :D

ALSO, I want to upload some of the music. I made about 7 tracks, and the video only shows like... maybe a tiny piece of one or two songs... and they're hard to hear over voice/sound/blah blah. So I'll do that one of these days in case any one cares.

EDIT:

MUSIC SAMPLER IS HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f18nRkXzyxI

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Very very nice! I'm looking forward to seeing more of the project, as I love adventure games. The main character reminds me a lot of Guybrush Threepwood from the Monkey Island games.

From watching the video, I can already tell it's going to be a blast! The dialogue (from what was there) was quite a hoot to listen to! And you're doing a great job voicing the main character so far. :)

While the music is very well-composed, I don't feel it fits very well with the rest of the game(at least from what I'm hearing so far), considering it's comedic value. This music seems better used in a heroic RPG or something.

Congrats though! I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on this project! You've got me interested! :) Is there a website where I can follow the status of the project?

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Oooh, pretty.

You sounded like Dominic Armato (Guybrush). Were you going for that?

Moh-duss Ah-per-AHN-die.

"The Pen is Blue." Liar Liar was pretty funny, I thought. Nice reference.

How does having arrow controls work out? Normally this is point and click. Never played an adventure game otherwise.

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We are working on the web site as I type. The music in the beginning, is admittedly a little darker than some of the other ones. There are a lot of lighter (and more fun) jazz tunes that aren't in the video that fit a little better. I'll upload them as soon as possible.

Controls. Yeah. That was one of the big hurdles, but it works pretty well. You basically move around with the joystick and have three buttons at the moment. A selection button, a cancel button, and an inventory button.

Our programmer went to great lengths to get the radial menu system working. He ended up creating a really cool system that is pretty intuitive. You just walk up to an item in the environment, select it, then pick your interaction from the radial menu that pops up. Easy as that. It's really simple and effective. The radial menu is used in the inventory as well, so everything is uniform. It flows really well. Again, props to our programmer because he really designed it very well.

We were really concerned about the controls from the get go. Point and click IS the standard, but we came into it knowing we wanted to develop on a console, and our input system feels very natural with a controller. It's easy. It's not cumbersome like some of those older adventure games that were straight up ports that used a D-Pad to control a mouse cursor. I shudder at thinking about those. haha.

The voice. Hmm. You know, I love Monkey Island, but I wasn't necessarily trying to emulate Guybrush. Now that you mention it though I see the similarities. The fact that you say it sounds like Dominic Armato is a mega huuuge compliment though. I honestly just tried to voice a wisecracking, hot-headed, smart ass the best I could. lol.

Thanks for kind words guys. :) Me and my team appreciate it.

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Trying to sound like David Hayter at the begining?

That would explain why your voice was jacked up not so long ago! :-D

This looks like a lot of work, nice personal touch on the dialogue part.

I guess the video isn't showcasing all the possibilities of the game yet.

Music sounds cool, fits the game allright. Art is fine too.

Sometimes it looks like you wanted to put the music forward a little too much.

But I can understand that. ;-)

Anyway, good job & congrats on your prize.

...but stay sharp: the real challenge begin now! 8)

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I can't really say anything definite right now. We were throwing around the idea of a PC release, but right now it's just for Xbox360. Certainly a possibility in the future.

If it's for XBLA it was likely developed in XNA. Which means all you need to do is change a few of the control methods.

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I can't really say anything definite right now. We were throwing around the idea of a PC release, but right now it's just for Xbox360. Certainly a possibility in the future.

This reminds me of one of many of the indie games that garners some really good success on Steam. It might be something to look into?

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  • 3 months later...

New Info: (August 6, 2009)

I know this is a 4 month old thread, but I wanted to update everyone!

New Video of our new engine that we entered into Dream Build Play 2009.

Our programmer completely overhauled the engine, and everything is in full 3D now.

I'm not saying it's perfect, but I'm pretty happy to see the progress. It has come a looooooong way from the original build, that's for sure... and in a relatively short period of time.

Wish us luck at Dream build Play 2009! There are A LOT of really good games in the competition. You should check out all the other entries on Youtube if you're into the indie games scene.

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Thanks guys. Yeah, PC release, as far as I'm aware, is possible. I can't say anything definite though.

wow strike im proud of you man youve came a long way. when this game hits XBL let me know i can buy it to support you/ its the least i can do we go waaaaaay back since our days on vgmix 2 and 2.5 lol

Man... vgmix. It has been a long time hasn't it. lol.

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