Dare Blogs – Crispy Nugget Studios

We came to Dundee in shock and awe! The team still getting over the fact that we had been selected for such a prestigious competition, with all that had happened previously. Our team leader had been bed ridden the morning of the interview due to an allergic reaction and having some pieces missing for the pitch (which had the team on edge). But we believed strongly in our idea, and if we could convey what we wanted to produce then we stood a chance. As luck would have it we got in (we still can’t believe it). It just goes to show with some serious enthusiasm and some well-choreographed action moves we were in.

The first day was not what we expected: the introduction was bizarre, getting to know the other teams was an experience as well as having to put on a cape and mask to show off our game in front of the cameras, and having the other teams dressed up and using their props which helped break the ice with everyone and have a good laugh!

The Dare 2011 experience thus far has been a complete mix of emotions.

The original plan was to go in and nail the control system, which was our greatest priority because without the correct movements around the track the game would be a failure. By the end of the first week we had a few issues getting the movements right: we had the forward motion and movement around the screen and work had begun on the characters and environments. However, at the last minute as a team we decided to change the art style and begin from scratch, which has worked out well, the characters have all been modelled by Steve and are looking pretty cool as well as working on new level concepts. Thomas has been plugging away at building the environment and with the new art style it’s really looking good, he works like a machine churning model out after model. I truly believe that it’s going to look excellent when the pieces are placed properly in our track environment. 

The programmers have had a harder time with things – the process of physics in our game is a lot more complicated than all of us anticipated. The code was on its third re-write but after some really good advice we decided to go back to our original code and fine tune the physics from there.

Anura, Ayan and I have been working tirelessly and it’s really starting to show. Ayan has got the menu sorted and everything functioning and is now onto some motions of the character, and I have got the two-player mode up and running in split-screen which is looking like it going to turn out to be really cool.

We are all starting to pull together now and get the motions right, which won’t be fine-tuned for a while because it a combination of track design and motions working in harmony which is going to take some work.

As far as an experience goes Dare 2011 is pretty intense but great fun. The late sleepless nights are a bit of a pain but seeing the results the next day makes up for it! Having the mentors come round and chat to you is just something else! The advice and knowledge they give to us is invaluable and thanks to them we have made a quite a few alterations to our game which will defiantly improve the experience.

Dare 2011 definitely taught me and my team how much work that needs to go into the process of developing a game, and the changes and sacrifices that have to made to make your idea. At the minute we have a wish list of what could go into our game which is about a mile long at the minute but I’m feeling pretty confident that most of them will make it in. Hopefully!

As far as ProtoPlay is concerned, I am looking forward to it but at the same time we are a little nervous hoping that people will like our game – and we’ll have some pretty cool extras to go in to the ProtoPlay experience which will definitely enhance the playing experience for everyone.

Team information and videos can be found on the Dare to be Digital team profile.