Not Another Pirate game!

So I was looking as some forums that were discussing Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, and one thing that popped up that I wanted to address went something like this ”Aw man! not another pirate game?!!” Well I agree there are a lot out there and we did pitch a lot of different game ideas and do have a lot of original ideas for games, - don’t we all really? But the game pitch that seemed to get the most traction was Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island. I love pirates and I haven’t worked on a pirate game since 1997 so for me it’s been 12 years and I have been itching to do another one.

But I also think people really liked the art I did on Curse of Monkey Island and wanted to see some more of it. Lucas hasn’t done a pirate game in a while so I think publishers like DTP/ Anaconda saw that fans were lamenting this fact. So they thought that Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island might be something fans would like. And we all have to admit Pirates are pretty popular right now, so this type of game would be less risky than some of the other unusual ideas we had proposed, and would be easier to market. The Ghost Pirate idea had a lot of positives going for it.

      And in this game you don’t play a clever but awkward want to be pirate nerd, instead you play ghosts. Now I love monsters and I have always wanted play one. Whenever I play a role playing game I’m always selecting to play races other than human, something that is more exotic, - something that will give me a new experience. That was the thought behind playing ghosts in this game- lets’ play from a different perspective. Yes, we should keep what worked in other games, but let’s improve on it where we can but also give the player a new perspective to help spice up a traditional genre. So if one were a ghost, would it be fun or would it be a terrible curse, or maybe both? Would it be a help or be a hindrance.

            Also maybe it’s due to my Cal Arts story training, but I tend to like to make comedy adventures similar to movies like the original Batman, Iron Giant and The Incredibles- stories that have a serious plot but have a lot of comedic situations. Tim Burton, Spielberg and Bard Bird all tend to make movies like this, so they must have been an influence. Monkey Island is great farce and I love other farces like Airplane, Blazing Saddles and anything Monty Python, but I like making stories that are a bit more serious, where the consequences of the characters actions have dramatic effects on their lives.

            So playing as ghost, playing more than one character, and the game having a more serious tone are what I hope will make Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island stand out from other pirate games. Plus I hope it looks good to everyone as well.

Best Adventure Game of 2008 Game Light Award!

I want to thank the voters over at Game Light www.gamelight.eu for voting A Vampyre Story as Best Adventure Game of the Year! That is pretty awesome! I know AVS wasn’t perfect, and we are a young company that is still learning, but to win the awards we have for our first game is very encouraging. So thank you so much for the vote of confidence. And we promise to make A Vampyre Story 2 and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island even better!

Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island

Ok looks like the cat is out of the bag, or the Ghost Pirate is out of the harbor, or something like that. So yes, Teal Harvest is Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island. Now hold your horses, the game is not Monkey Island, but Ghost Pirates is definitely inspired by it, but it is also very inspired by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at the Disneylnad / World theme Parks. Other influences are books like Treasure Island, and On Strange Tides, and a whole slew of movies like POTC, Road to El Dorado, the Little mermaid, the TV show Lost, Live and Let Die, Skelton Key, Serpent and the Rainbow, Hook, Peter Pan, etc.- just lots of influences. And some stuff we just pulled out of our...heads.

There is going to be a preview article in PC Games in Germany and I don’t want to reveal anything about the game until that article has hit the shelves. But I will say this, Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island is a bit more serious in plot and tone than the MI games. I think of MI as a farce like the movie Blazing Saddles , where as Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island is a more serious and has more drama in it like Full Throttle or the movie The Incredibles. Though Ghost Pirates will look a lot like the CMI (hopefully better), it’s tone and feel will be it’s own.

 

But that is all I have to say on it now. So be sure to pick up a copy of PC Games or head over to their web site.

 

PS The pirate on the cover is one of a few ghost pirates in the game, not the main character, nor even the villain.

 

PPS And the reason we made this game is because I always wanted to make my own pirate game. Over the past ten years I have been thinking about this game and DTP gave me the chance to make it. Thanks DTP!

 

PPPS I like making games from the monster's perspective, which seems pretty obvious now. I mean really? Who wants to play a regular human? Monsters are so much cooler!

 

PPPPS Please send all PR and press requests to DTP. They handle the marketing and PR for Ghost Pirates.

Wow! That was fast! My mail box is totally filled with over five million emails! Thanks everybody! Our fans are awesome! So as a reward I will put the Cabal sequence back in AVS2 as a flash back. I will have to admit, Pedro was a bit miffed he wasn’t going to get a chance to do that free form jazz number. Pity. Well maybe next time. And here are a few images from that scene and  storyboards.

1st Froderick Video

Oh! And by the way, we just posted a short video of everyone's favorite wise-acre bat, Froderick, in the Stuff section of the www.avampyrestory2.com web site. Enjoy!

Aslo Autumn Moon wants to congratulate our cousin company to south, Tell Tale Games on the premiere of their Wallace and Gromit game. It looks really fantastic! Go check it out! http://www.telltalegames.com/

Also pleas down load Insecticide, my buddy's and one of my furute writing partners Larry Ahern's game at http://www.insecticidethegame.com/. It's all good!

March Blog

Autumn Moon is proud to announce that we are working on A Vampyre Story 2: A Bat’s Tale, and that we are in the last four months of our unannounced adventure game, code named Teal Harvest: Terror Beyond the Act or Power of Forming a Mental Image of Something Not Present to the Senses or Never Before Wholly Perceived in Reality (Or TH: TBAPFMISNPSNBWPR for short).

Check out our A Vampyre Story 2 web site at www.avampyrestory2.com. We haven’t announced a release date yet for AVS2 because Teal Harvest, will come out first, and we don’t want AVS2 and Teal Harvest to compete in the same quarter. So whenever Teal Harvest is released, which our publisher hasn’t announced yet (I’m hoping for a mid September release, maybe on a Saturday), then AVS2 will be released 4-6 months after that.

So some meddling kids discover the sequence 3 voice lines from AVS1, so I guess I better fess up. We did have to cut some shots and a whole FMV sequence from the game. I was considering putting in back in AVS2, though a bit altered, but now, FORGET IT!  It’s totally ruined now! How dare you! I am so angry I could spit!!! So as punishment I have decided NOT to animated that scene in AVS2,….EVER! Instead, I am going to replace it with five minutes of free form jazz.

 

 

 

Unless….

 

 

 

I might change my mind if I receive 5 MILLION emails asking me to put it back in AVS2. In addition, these emails must contain a 12 page (single space) written apology, along with a solemn pledge to buy AVS2 and TH:TBAPFMISNPSNBWP when it comes out. Got that?! 5 Million! Or just six emails.

So just email those letters to billiamreallysorry@amegames.com. And I MIGHT….might consider putting it back in.or not

Fan Homage Video of Mona

I got and email form a very enthusiastic A Vampyre Story named Stefanie Uhr. She made a cool little YouTube video homage to Mona. It's pretty cool. Take a look.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8b2rLsHglw

Thanks Stefani!