14th February, 2012 - Kickstarter success! Now seeking programmer!
On March 16th, at 9pm, my phone buzzed. I thought for sure that my friends were telling me when to meet them on Modern Warfare later, so I was surprised when I discovered it was an email from Kickstarter. I had lost faith in it succeeding, since it had been hovering at the 20% mark for almost a month, so I had also forgotten than it was only two hours from ending.
Subject line: "New backer alert!"
I thought, "Well, that's nice. We still had $400 to go before this backer, so let's see how much they contributed." It was $400. I froze. There was a fleeting moment of pride, but that was replaced by a humbling realization that people I have never met before have so much faith in EHSC that they are willing to contribute to it financially in times such as these.
There are other reasons to contribute to projects on Kickstarter, of course--the incentives are what make Kickstarter unique. But even if people are enticed by the cool stuff you get (and hopefully our stuff is cool stuff), every backer says to themselves, "Yeah, I can see this happening, and I can see it being good." That humbles me.
It also gives me resolve. Now I owe it to perfect strangers to help make the best game I possibly can. The first step is making a prototype, and that means hiring a programmer.
So, with that, we are currently seeking a Unity programmer! The contract offers $600 over the course of development, paid in pieces after certain milestones are met, plus a percentage on the back end should our game find a release portal which earns us money. Our programmer would work in close contact with the rest of the team and be expected to bring their expertise and creativity to the project. Please send a resume to jobs@boredomsproducts.com, and over the next couple of weeks, we'll evaluate the submissions and make our decision.
I can't wait to make this game happen!
14th February, 2012 - EHSC needs your help!
"Where the heck have you guys been?"
Let me bring you up to speed!
We finished all of our art assets in December 2010. The next step was to find an animator and begins simultaneously working on the engine and animation, and make sure the two are compatible, but before we could begin looking for an animator, our programmer, Jeff, had to leave the project. He got a job at 2K Games, and we wish him all the best.
This left us in a bit of a rut, however, because like Matthew and Brandon, Jeff was working for free, expecting to make up the lack of compensation after the game's release (or to just be content with a solid resume piece should the game not succeed commercially), so while we had enough in the coffers to afford an animator, we could not afford both.
Without a programmer, progress couldn't be made on the game, so things stalled.
"So what was that part about GDC and needing money?"
Sending myself to GDC on behalf of boredom's products was funded entirely by my own money, and I plan to scout for talent while I am there. We need to find an animator, which we can afford, and to find a programmer, which we cannot. That is where Kickstarter comes to the rescue (hopefully)!
We are asking for small donations with a goal of $500 so that we can end GDC with a team ready to finish our game and get it released. The talent pool at GDC is ridiculously huge, and filled with undiscovered talent right in our price range, so with the help of the Internet at large we are sure we will find exactly who we are looking for.
Even if you can't donate (or don't want the awesome stuff we are giving away in exchange for donations), it would be a huge help if you could simply share the link to our Kickstarter on Twitter or Facebook. But, we hope you do donate, and we'll see you at GDC!
9th December, 2010 - Animation update, still seeking coder
Extreme Hugtime Simulation Challenge is a fairly simple spectacle, relying more on a unique (but anime-influenced) art style rather than intensely realistic graphics. This allows the team behind EHSC to flourish creatively, which makes the game easier to work on and allows each contributor to take more credit for their work than perhaps they could if they were working with a development juggernaut.
It doesn't hurt that this philosophy lowers the cost of development, either.
Featured on the left and right are two facial expressions for the male contestant. Thomas has been doing lots of work that can't really be displayed, such as rigging, so it's nice to finally be able to show something off! He's finished all of the contestant's expressions, so copying and pasting them to the rest of the cast of characters should be done soon.
Unfortunately, we're about to reach a huge hiccup in development. We still haven't been able to find a coder to replace Jeff as primary code monkey now that most of his time is taken by his full-time job. We just need someone who can code in C# and "throw it all together"; after animation, all of our art assets will be complete (exept for a few 2D assets).
So, if anyone reading this wants to contribute to EHSC, or knows someone who might, email Brandon. We can pay a meager sum, but it's better than nothing, right? Right!
This week, America celebrates the magical day when we all gather to put differences aside and indulge far beyond our means in the spirit of American optimism: Black Friday. So, to humbly give thanks to our small but fanatical following, I'm writing this news update with absolutely no ulterior motive.
We've found an animator to make EHSC's cute characters hug (that's important to our game). His name is Thomas Lee, and his reel had just enough Pixar-ish flare to it to make him the ideal person for the job. As you can see from the emoting characters (left) his style will mesh perfectly with the comical vision of our game. His only work for EHSC worthy of display so far is a short test animation; he's been spending most of his time rigging our huge, 24-character cast!
Speaking of huge tasks, Brandon will soon begin working on head textures with different facial expressions for every character. Check out the thumbnail of some concept art (right) to see what he's in for!
Our last bit of news concerns a less artistic, but no less important, facet of game design: programming. boredom's products is currently seeking a code monkey to take care of the code-grinding for Jeff, who is busy with something he calls a "real job". Jeff will remain on the roster, contributing just as much to the design of the game as before, but having someone to handle the hardcore coding would greatly expedite development. Maybe we can even give them a fancy title like "Assistant Software Developer" as incentive. That would look impressive on a resume, wouldn't it?
15th October, 2010 - Storyboards completed, game features added
We totally skipped an entire season. Seriously, not a single update since April. Our bad.
As you can see, though, development didn't stop. Brandon has been working on storyboards while Jeff has been engine-shopping. The utter broke-ness of boredom's products forced Brandon to learn how to draw Sarah's characters in very Japanese game show-esque and video game-centric (and dare we say, over-exaggerated cultural stereotype-o-rific) situations.
Brandon has gained a level! Artistry +2
Some of the aforementioned "situations" now include special moves which the player may execute to earn points, reduce the stress level of the hugee (sp? even a word?), or increase their point multiplier. Neat, huh? Click here to get a sneak-peek at a special move in EHSC!
Before anyone can see these cute characters doing over-the-top things, though, we need to find an engine. Jeff's been doing some research and slowly deciding whether to create an engine himself or license a (preferrably free) pre-existing engine compatible with XNA. The Tomahawk Engine is currently a top contender, but nothing has been decided yet. If you have an engine recommendation, or represent an XNA-compatible engine and want to work with us toward implementing your engine into EHSC, feel free to email Brandon.
20th April, 2010 - Environmental modeling completed!
The ball has been rolling steadily for the past two months! After Christopher completed the character models, Heriberto Valle began designing the game show stage for Extreme Hugtime Simulation Challenge, where all of the action will take place. It is pretty important, then, that the stage be very visually interesting, right? Luckily for us, Heriberto was excited to work on a game project, and put his color palette to use (no need to kidnap the family, this time--I know, I know, I was bummed, too)! He also added some interesting elements, such as suspended clouds that bob up and down, and pillars with marquee-style lighting.
Ryan Berkani added a third dimension to Heriberto's stage concept--along with some absolute spatial relativity (damned cartoony style)--and did so with polygonal efficiency. He also animated all of the environmental effects, including the lights, the door, and the clouds. You can see all of the movement in action here. His re-creation of the stage was incredibly accurate, as you can see from the images included, but in case you want to see a side-by-side you can click here.
It's been two months since you've heard from us, but EHSC is slowly moving toward completion. After Jeff, Brandon, and Matthew revise the gameplay (nobody wants to play a stupid, pretty-looking game, right?), they'll script and storyboard the final cut-scenes and have them animated. After that, 2D GUI art will need to be made and the programming completed, so it looks like EHSC is about halfway done. Cool, huh?
26th February, 2010 - Character modeling completed, and time is running out on Kickstarter
Christopher finished modeling the twenty-six character cast earlier this week, which is good news for both of us; it means that we're one step closer to finishing Extreme Hugtime Simulation Challenge, and that he gets to choose one of his parents and we'll set them free (it looks like he'd better get started animating if he wants a full reunion).
The characters turned out very well--if you've had a chance to see any of Sarah's concept art, they're cute and each of them are unique, and that spirit was not lost in the translation from 2D to 3D. The cast (pictured right, spoiler-free thanks to video game magic) features ex-convicts and ex-girlfriends, creepy uncles and irate co-workers, and even a robot who wishes to feel human emotion (no, that cliche is not tired).
Our next step is to model the environment and complete the game engine. Once that's complete, Christopher can begin animating and Jeff can begin compiling the code which will comprise the final game. This may take some time, and will certainly take some money, but hopefully you can help us by donating to our Kickstarter campaign. Imagine Kickstarter as a collection plate that gives you free stuff in return--donate as much or as little as you want, and get rewarded according to the amount donated. All you need in order to donate is an Amazon.com account and some spare cash.
And, due to our relatively small initial success with the campaign, we've added an additional incentive to the reward system: the Win a Hug contest! Anybody who donates $5 or more is automatically entered into a drawing for the highest reward, which includes being featured as a challenger in EHSC (see our Kickstarter page for more details).
A huge thanks to everyone who's already donated, but if we don't reach the $500 mark by March 14th at 11:59PM, none of the donations are collected and nothing is contributed to the budget of the game. That's why we need people to donate (even just a few dollars), and bug the %&*$ out of their friends and family until they donate, too.
Let the spamming begin!
27th January, 2010 - Does this even count?
As promised, our link to the graphics demo video: here!
19th January, 2010 - Support the indie scene, support hugs, and donate to the development of EHSC!
Christopher is hard at work modeling the twenty-four character cast of EHSC (it's not like he has much of a choice, though, wink-wink). For the past week he's been working on the "teen male" body type characters, which includes the contestant's cousin and an ex-convict (pictured left). If you've been following production, you may have seen some screen shots of models without the lighting effects seen in the latest images, so I recommend you check them out.
These screen shots were taken using the Unity Free engine. The Unity toon shader is similar to the visual effect our engine will have, but the final version will have the semi-dynamic lighting effects of Windwaker and Sly Cooper. Basically, think Diablo 3, but without all of the public outrage.
Check out the graphical demo in the videos section (link coming soon) to see our engine in action.
Speaking of our engine, some progress has been made there, as well. Because all of our software is proprietary (because we're broke, see below), Jeff has to make all of the little things function within our game, in addition to the creating all of the grander features. Our screen manager, input manager, and input binding manager are all complete and functioning. If you don't speak programmer, let me translate: this game will show up on your tv and when you push buttons things will happen. Yay!
In a nutshell, the good news is that we've been making a lot of progress recently. Unfortunately, the game won't come to life without money. A sad truth, yes, and we do have some, but luckily, EHSC doesn't need much more.
We've decided to set up a Kickstarter account for our game, so that anyone on the Internet who thinks we're capable of creating a good game, or who just wants to play a game about hugging, can donate to our development budget. And, when you donate, you get rewards, and can even appear as a Hugtime Challenger in our game! Everybody loves rewards! Ours include:
Your name in the credits of the game
A free copy of the game for Windows PC
A digital copy of the game design document, concept art, and more
The opportunity to be in our game as a Hugtime Challenger
As you can see, we've already gotten past the conceptual phase and moved toward creating in-game assets, and our engine is coming along, too, but we just need a little financial push to get the animation, 2D art, and environmental modeling done. Just click the image to right to begin backing EHSC!
Support the independent scene--support hugs!
3rd January, 2010 - New year, new team member!
Happy new year!
Moving on...
Since completing the concept art for every character in EHSC, we've made a little progress with the engine, added some gameplay components to the concept, and consumed more ham, champagne, eggnog, and pie than a vegetarian, recovering alcoholic, lactose-intolerant, diabetic can shake a stick at (go back and think about that one, you'll get it eventually).
But, one of our bigger updates should be coming in the near future--we've found a character modeler, Christopher Wood, who will be working with us to make three-dimensional abstract representations of people from two-dimensional abstract representations of people.
Check out his portfolio, scope out the blurb about him on our About Us page, and check back regularly to see how his work comes along!
20th November, 2009 - Character concept art completed
Sarah has completed the concept art for EHSC's twenty-four character cast. Each sketch is cute, anime-influenced, and maybe most importantly, easy for a 3D modeler to work from. The next step will be to ship the sketches off to someone who specializes in creating characters for games in a three-dimensional environment.
Continuing with the art topic, Jeff has created a cel-shader for the game's engine. This will give the characters a black outline and an overall cartoony look. He's continuing with the rest of the groundwork required for the game, and is excited to get the engine finished so that I will finally unchain him from the computer desk and release him from bondage, as per our agreement.
Feel free to browse the images we've uploaded to the game's ModDB site, and keep checking back here or on Facebook to stay updated!
1st October, 2009 - EHSC gets a little funded up in here
boredom's products recently spoke with a potential investor, and helped him blossom into an investor investor. Er, wait, maybe just an investor.
Anyway, we've managed to convince one person that our project is worth lending money to, and have apparently instilled confidence in this investor that this game will not only be released, but will perform well on the Xbox Live Arcade and PC.
The amount lent will cover half of our 3D artwork, so we're still not entirely greenlit, yet. We are speaking to a few others who, now that one person has committed a specific amount, may be more likely to invest than they were before, but we can't let the project rest in the hands of a few uncertain potential investors. In order to spread the word about us seeking funding, and provide a little preliminary information before we have a chance to speak, we've set up a web page for potential investors. If you or anyone you know would be interested in investing $1,000 or less in a promising indie game, please contact Brandon! He's the one in charge of coordinating the project (among other things), and is probably the only member of the team who ever goes outside.
Japan is always on the cutting edge. They brought us video game consoles, Hello Kitty, giant monsters, and subtitles, so it only makes sense that Extreme Hugtime Simulation Challenge would be on Facebook, the younger, more attractive, better educated MySpace.
Use the widget on the right to become a fan of EHSC, and don't be afraid to spam all of your friends with recommendations of the game. The more people we can get to do our marketing for us, the more time we can spend making a bitchin' game!
Contracts are slowly collecting on Brandon's bookshelf. Non-disclosure agreements, work made for hire contracts, and other official agreements made between him and other EHSC contributors are required to make this game happen. But now, boredom's products has officially been recorded as a fictitious name for a sole proprietorship, which basically means that for all legal agreements, "Brandon Higley" and "boredom's products" are synonymous.
It was a close call, though--it was almost made synonymous with "Brandon Highley"; the same typo appeared on Brandon's middle school transcript until the ninth grade. Wait, does that mean that Brandon never graduated from the eighth grade...?
...
We're officially a registered business! This is a huge milestone--it sets us apart from the "bedroom codemonkey" model of creating a game. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that model, but there's a certain professionalism that comes with making your indie group official.
"Official." "Official," tee hee. "Oh-fish-all...."
8th September, 2009 - Extreme website makeover
Welcome to me, the boredom's products website. If you're reading this, it's likely that you've noticed my new look. What do you think? I changed my banner, made my navigation more user-friendly, and took on a less factory-made look overall. Isn't it slimming? Does it make my footer look big?
You might also notice my new Invest page. Frankly, my owners are poor but want to make a great game. Unfortunately, it takes money. Game development isn't all artistic; it isn't all unbridled creativity, and button mashing--it takes a lot of business sense, too, which is why Brandon and Matthew have done lots of research and reading lately on the subject. Hopefully, we'll get lucky and win the Lottery, but it's more likely that someone reading this knows somebody who's uncle just left them a huge inheritance that they don't know what to do with, and might be interested in investing in a small video game start-up. So, do us a favor and spread the word! Direct them here, where they can learn all about boredom's products and Extreme Hugtime Simulation Challenge.
Oh, and if you don't know someone with deep pockets, buying a hat or t-shirt helps, too! Just visit our store!
28th August, 2009 - Time to lay the foundation and beg for money
If you take a glance at our About Us page, you can see the latest addition to our team: Jeff Brizzolara. He has begun working on the engine that EHSC will use, and he is doing so with enthusiasm, I must add. Never have I seen a code monkey so excited to be let out of his cage!
Really, though, I kid. He's not a monkey. He prefers "code gorilla."
Brandon and Matthew will also have their first meeting with a potential investor this weekend. They've put a lot of work into a portfolio which will hopefully convince people that giving boredom's products money to create a game won't be like giving Washington Mutual money to stay a bank. Oh, too soon? Anyway, wish them luck on their quest for loot and experience--they feel like they need it!
18th August, 2009 - Second milestone (still not) completed, but we have good news, too
Bas de Vreugd, a modeler from the now-defunct Koru Entertainment, has been lending us the occasional helping hand (between holidays in Spain--lucky bastard), but we're still having trouble meeting the requirements for our second milestone. We've placed ads around the Interwebs asking for help rigging, doing texture touch-ups, and character modeling, so if you see anything saying "boredom's products wuz here" then you'll know what it's for.
Unless, of course, it's on a t-shirt! The problem so far with finding reliable, quality talent is, understandably, our empty wallet. So, to fill our wallets with a little bit of game-funding-money, we've opened up a store where you can buy bp and Extreme Hugtime Simulation Challenge apparel. Does it count as selling out if the money goes to something indie?
What's that? You don't know what Extreme Hugtime Simulation Challenge is? Well, then that brings us to the good news! Check out our games page to read the description of our debut project!
15th July, 2009 - Second milestone (almost) completed
Our modeler has had a hardware meltdown, leaving him unable to produce any of the models required to meet our second milestone, but Sarah has been hard at work on the 2D assets for the game. It now officially has a title screen! Maybe that's more exciting than it should be...
The art really is lovely, though, and perfect for the feel of the game. It's cute--nay, adorable--and full of chibi goodness. Nothing is more necessary for the success of an independent game than devotion, and our artist is full of it. Motivation, I mean. She even went to the effort of translating the name into Japanese, so she could write an accurate Kanji translation (although she had a little help); "Houryou no Testsujin." We'll be adding some artwork to the site soon, so check back!
13th June, 2009 - First milestone completed
Friday, June 12th was our goal for having the first milestone completed, and while we fell a day short, that's still impressive for an internationally scattered team of amateurs. Our first batch of concept art was turned in, which included every character that's going to appear in our prototype, which you can view here. Also completed was all level design materials, the script, initial storyboards, and the Unity license was purchased. Check back for more updates on our first project!
31 May, 2009 - Preproduction begins
Production on our debut project officially began on May 25, 2009. Sarah is working hard on character concept art, Matthew is completing the last few level design elements, and Brandon is familiarizing himself with the engine which will power the game. And, soon, Ben Wilkinson, our new 3D artist, will begin creating character models! This game is going to be very unique, and has been described as a parody of Japanese game shows, and the intricacies of human interaction; so stay tuned for updates!
20 May, 2009 - New additions to team, revamped About Us page
We officially have a 2D artist! Sarah Ellen Cheney, or "Star" as some may know her on deviantart.com, has decided to join us on our first project by contributing concept art and 2D game assets. You can see some examples of her work here. She specializes in exactly the art style we seek, and is enthusiastic about working for an independent game developer.
Also, we've re-written our About Us page. Hopefully, it sounds more friendly, and emphasizes our independent developer-ness.
13 May, 2009 - Video response to critics
Recently, our indie-minded compensation model has received some fairly passionate criticism. In order to avoid offending potential employees and customers alike, we have decided to respond with a gently-worded video from Mega64:
11 May, 2009 - boredom's products seeks 2D artists, modelers, and programmers for upcoming simulation title
Are you a 2D artist with a passion and talent for manga, a dedicated modeler, or a programmer with experience in programming for the iPhone? Then boredom's products wants to hear from you!
Our team has openings for each of these positions for an upcoming simulation title for the iPhone. If you're interested working with us, visit our Careers page and give us your information. No prior game industry experience is required for 2D artists or modelers, but we would like to see some portfolio pieces from our applicants.
Also, be sure to visit our forum and introduce yourself. Applicants, team members, and fans are all welcome.
That's all for now. Keep checking our news feed for additional job postings and project information. Until then, let boredom be your inspiration, and please don't feed Sunglass Bunny. We don't need him begging.
Happy new year!
Sarah has completed the concept art for EHSC's twenty-four character cast. Each sketch is cute, anime-influenced, and maybe most importantly, easy for a 3D modeler to work from. The next step will be to ship the sketches off to someone who specializes in creating characters for games in a three-dimensional environment. 