OK, time certainly does fly. I can’t believe it’s April already. Makes me tempted to take all the games in development and put Easter Eggs in all of ‘em. But I’m not going to. It’s too late. They are already overdue, but they are definitely imminent. I have two developers who are about 8cm dilated. Yep. I can see the head. Time for the final push!
OK, game developers with their waters breaking isn’t the nicest image. It’s a valid metaphor though- We all know that the last bit is the hardest part of game development. The gestation period on these projects has been pretty smooth though, so I reckon there’s gonna be no complications on delivery.
So, what are these new babies going to be called?
Well, they are both younger siblings, so I think we’ll call them Deathracers 2 and Moto X Madness 2.
I think they are both going to make me very proud!
I’ve been metaphorically impregnating several developers since Christmas, so there are a few Flash fetuses dotted around the world with my logo on them. But most of my time has been spent on Moto X Madness 2 and Deathracers 2. That’s why I haven’t blogged for a while- I’ve been having too much fun. Building tracks is the best job there is. Oh, apart from creating AI for 7 opponents and testing it. That was certainly a highlight.
So, they are both in heavy testing at the moment. All I can conclude at this stage is that they are definitely not too easy.
Now, Moto X Madness 2 will definitley be the first one to be delivered to the public. It was a commision so I don’t have to try and sell it. Sometimes that takes ages. It’s also for Spil, so I can’t foresee any complications. Should just pop right out in a couple of weeks time.
So, what’s new in the sequels? Well, lets start with Moto X Madness 2….
We’ve doubled the amount of tracks- there’s now 8 and they are all brand new.
The graphics are all new- we’ve set it in Vegas this time and the tracks all kinda look like big classic wooden roller-coasters.
To go with the Vegas theme, Eva ‘kin Evil has a sparkly new Gold bike. She also has 4 different outfits- one for each event.
Yeah, she’s very much the star of the show.
For me, the best bit of the game is the music.
So often overlooked in Flash games, it’s something I’ve always made a real effort with. Now, I usually commision all my music from a professional- “Arcade Noise”, but this game is different.
To celebrate Eva’s starring role, I decided to give her a proper theme tune. Something that just screams Moto X. Some real garage punk rock. Easy.
So after listening to a lot of Black Flag, Sonic Youth and Beastie Boys, I hit the studio with my best buddy Bruce- A total axe-man.
3 hours and 6 beers later, Eva had a theme tune. Punk drums, Metal guitar and someone (well, me) literally screaming “Moto X”. Job done.
I don’t know what the players will make of it, but there’s always a mute button!
I hope it’s well recieved though, because we want to do it again. There’s talk of a bigger project next- “Deathracers-The Album”
Yeah. Another project with 8 tracks.
So, Deathracers has 8 characters. But Eva is one of them, so there’s only 7 left.
Yeah, Eva is a guest star in Deathracers 2. Seemed like a good way of getting her to take her helmet off. In the first Moto X Madness most people didn’t even realise the rider was female!
So, I reckon that a game needs some strong characters in it to make it into a decent brand.
It makes development much more fun too…
The highlight in Deathracers 2′s development was definitely creating the characters. Instead of old school bitmaps, we’ve used real people to create 3D avatars. So I have a rogues gallery of nasty looking men and cool looking women.
Now, most of my mates are pretty nasty looking but I did have to use photoshop just to scar them up a bit!
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved. I didn’t pay them so I guess I have to…
So, I’m very grateful to Matt, Daz, Fred, Tim, Bruce, Alice, Leandra and my lovely wife Tara for starring as:
Joey Turbonelli, Major Damage, Gunther Von Rage, The Butcher, Bruce Cannon, Suzi 9mm, Eva ‘kin Evil and Deathanie.
Having 8 characters (and obviously 8 cars) has made the game so much better. It’s now very easy to get utterly destroyed before you can even finish a lap. It gives the game more strategy.
Technically, the game is way better than the first one. Just getting all the cars on the track at once (with 3 levels of damage) was a massive achievement. Balancing out the stats so they all have their own distinct personalities wasn’t easy either.
We’ve done it though, oh yes.
It’s the best game we’ve produced so far. I can’t wait to release it.
I’m hoping for a decent offer this week and a release before the end of the month. I want you to play it as soon as possible. I don’t like to make you wait, but sometimes it’s unavoidable……
Yep. Some games are inevitably overdue. I hope they are worth the wait.
Now, back in January I confidently announced that Destroy More Cars was due any day. There were complications but it was delivered at the end of February. It’s just over six weeks old now and it’s been played 8 million times so far. Pretty good. Should hit ten very soon.
I’ve put it on my site- www.makingfungames.com/portfolio/DMC
Go play it!
It should be hitting Newgrounds and Kongregate this week soon so I’ll be urging you to vote.
The last overdue delivery is Red Code 3.
It’s finished. It’s brilliant and it’s exclusively on Miniclip. They plan to release it on the 11th April.
I will put it on my site too so I’ll be blogging a shameless plug for it very soon.
Until then, have a look at the pretty pictures of Deathracers 2 and then play Destroy More Cars.
You weren’t actually gonna do any work today were you?
