Interview @ Core Gamers

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Here's our little alien.

Here's the design of the little alien scientist we finally settled upon. You can see him in action (briefly) in the trailer at 0:44 - 0:45.

We've built this little guy in 3D and are using Maya for the animation. However, our goal is to make the final animation look completely hand drawn. Our test footage so far is very promising.

Update

We've got a lot brewing right now. We had a big breakthrough in our technology this week which opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. My brain is buzzing with design ideas and I look forward to create visuals that will help implement this new technology.

Next week, I'll be visiting my family in Quebec while Fuelcell is relocating to a spiffy new facility. I can't wait to see the new studio when I get back.

If you are a member of the press who has contacted us and we haven't responded, you might want to send us a reminder in a couple of weeks. Joe has been answering a huge amount of emails but some of them are bound to slip under the radar.

In earlier posts, I've shown some of my failed attempts at designing our main alien character. Here are two more designs that didn't make the cut.

A Big Thank You

The reaction to the trailer was very positive. The release did exactly what we were hoping it would do: get the attention of publishers.

We'd like to thank everyone in the media who posted about our trailer and helped spread the word. You can read some of the coverage we received through the links below:

Kotaku, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Destructoid, el33tonline, Notcot, Giant Bomb, Awesome Radical Gaming, Killer Wolverine's News Blog, Solomother, onelargeprawn, Gamer Limit, Spons, Gamer Sushi, Geekstrike, Info Addict, Elotrolado, TIGSource, En Direct de mon Ecran, 1Up, Aroba 8 Ball, Indie Games, Mike DiLuigi, N4G, Fidgit, Offworld, Alexoid, CJP, MediaWhoreNetwork, VG247, Gaygamer, 4 Color rebellion, We Game, AATG, Vox Ex Machina, Neoteo, Joystiq, XBox Mag, Game Almighty, The Awesomer, Boing Boing, The Android Workshop, Team Liquid, 360 Only, Nations of Videogames, Ecrans, Button Masher, The Bayle, Epic Battle Axe, PC Dome, Current Gaming, Frederator, Info Addict, Headphonaught's Nanolog, VideoJuego, Aeromental, Gamegea, CG Hub, Niubie, Sarcastic Gamer, UnderPC, Universe Bot, The Weird Pixel, 4 Player Podcast, Video Games Blogger, Game Blog, Beef Jack, Crush! Frag! Destroy!, Oddlight, Valhalla, Reign in Blog, Gamers Throne, La Pause du Gamer, Unreality Magazine, What They Play and Cartoon Brew.

This past week, we've been asked a lot of questions concerning platforms, release date, software, wall paper, etc. We'll be tackling all these issues in future posts so make sure you stay tuned.

New HD Trailer on GameTrailers.com

Watch the new trailer for Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet on Gametrailers.com:
HD Version - Standard Version.

Here's a little history of our project so far:

In 2007, Joe Olson and I discussed the idea of collaborating on a video game project. We imagined a side-scroller that would combine old school arcade style game play with feature film quality design and animation. Thus was born Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.


Soon after, Joe, a team of industry veterans, and I formed a partnership to begin development. A few months later, on August 27, 2007, we released our first trailer on-line. Yes, it's been a while, but by no means have we been standing still. Since starting the project, we developed the story arc and interstitials; we created environments, creatures, and mind-bending effects animation; we’ve blocked out levels, came up with new, exciting and challenging game designs; we resolved technical issues and made several technological breakthroughs.

We are excited to share some of the progress in this new trailer, which consists entirely of in-game footage. It conveys the scope, style, and breadth of the experience we aim to bring to the player.

The trailer also features the track “Blood Hunger Doctrine” from the album Death Cult Armageddon by Dimmu Borgir, used here with gracious permission by the band and its record label, Nuclear Blast.

We are hoping that the release of this trailer will bring forth potential financial partners who share our passion for Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and who can help us bring this title to the marketplace.

We strongly believe that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is going to be a hit, and the few who have glimpsed the progress unanimously agree. Twenty minutes of footage from the game were shown recently to attendees at the Industry Giants symposium in Austin, Texas, and the audience responded with great enthusiasm. You can read some of their comments here.

The 8-Bit Legacy

When Joe originally approached me to partner up for a video game venture, my first response was to state my ignorance in the field. I told him that despite having been commissioned by both Disney and Sony to create designs for two video game projects that never saw the light of the day, my knowledge of the field was extremely limited. In fact, beside a short stint playing the original DOOM, my game playing days go back to the 8-bit era for which I have very fond memories.

I suggested to Joe that we could take the stylistic approach of an old-school 8-bit side-scroller, but instead of crude graphics, we could make it look like a feature quality classically animated film. Joe loved the idea and a few days later, we were at work building on the concept.

The two stylized art pieces (Space Invaders and Pacman) posted here are not from our game. They are two ink/pencil drawings I did for an 8-Bit tribute art show that took place in Los Angeles a few years ago. I thought they were relevant to the subject of this post and would be a fun addition to the blog.

Nailing the Concept

One of the challenges of developing Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is transferring Michel's unique style to the interactive environment. Our goal is to give the player an experience of being the central figure in an animated film drawn by Michel Gagne. While we generally use Michel's concepts to set the visual bar and to provide mood and composition, in this case the end result is extremely close to the initial vision.

Below I've posted 2 images. One is an in-game screenshot I captured recently, the other one is from Michel's original concepts. Enjoy!

Pixar and Skeleton Crew

I've been working on Pixar's "The Bear and the Bow" since we finished the Microsoft presentation. Work on ITSP is still forging ahead at Fuelcell with a small skeleton crew and I'm reviewing the progress on a weekly basis. This game is getting done.

Anyhow, here's another rejected design of our little alien I did about a year ago.

Our Newest Recruit: Chris Eng

I wanted to take a moment (and some of Michel's blog space) to introduce a new member of the Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet team here at FuelCell - Chris Eng. Chris applied to FuelCell for an internship under the University of Washington's Computing & Software Systems course and ever since has been instrumental in the development of ITSP. Most notably lending a much needed programming hand in the demo build we put together for the XBLA group at Microsoft. Contributing everything from AI state machines to bug fixes and polish, (even Michel can't break the build now!) Chris really knocked it out of the park.

Recently Chris graduated and gave a presentation on his internship at the UW's Bothel campus. A number of the FuelCell staff was on hand to witness this great moment in video game history, so I thought I'd share some photos with you. Also, it's good to mention Chris took first prize in the poster design section of the presentation - which not only comes with bragging rights, but also a large bag of victory blow pops. Congratulations Chris!

More Alien Madness

The presentation at the "Industry Giants" conference went extremely well. All the footage I showed was enthusiastically received with cheers and applause.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera out of my suitcase so I don't have any pictures to share. To make up for it, here's another rejected design I did for our main alien character.

Industry Giants

I'd like to invite those who live in or around the Dallas area, to come and check out the Industry Giants symposium on June 5th and 6th. Among other things, I am scheduled to give a presentation where I'll discuss the making of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. I promise to show lots of never-before-seen gameplay footage.

Interview @ The Escapist

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Nathan Meunier, from the popular gamer website, The Escapist. Nathan writes a bi-monthly column called Indie Queue that highlights indie games currently in-development. The interview came out today, so check it out!