We are currently developing using Unity Pro. Unity has worked really hard to make an extremely solid platform for indie game developers, and it’s an unbelievably strong resource for a project on a budget. It also has plug-ins that make porting the game out to multiple platforms a lot easier.
Where is the link to the Kickstarter?
The Kickstarter is not posted yet. We’re still building our audience, refining our trailer, and improving our gameplay demo. Once all those things are where we want them to be, we will launch the Kickstarter (probably late April or early May). If you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll be notified the minute the Kickstarter goes live: www.sketchypandagames.com
Are there LGBT characters?
Yes. Several. Spoilers.Being LGBT in the 50’s was something many people kept secret, often out of fear for their lives. That secrecy carries into the game, and telling you too much about it will ruin some of the twists and turns we have planned.However, I will tell you about Norma Thompson
Can I help/contribute?
That would be amazing. If you’re really excited about this project, there are a few things can do:
- Signal boost – our lead developers want 20K followers across all social media platforms before we launch. Recruiting people is the best way to make that happen.
- Back us – When we launch our Kickstarter, there will be lots of tiers to contribute to. You don’t have to be Uncle Moneybags (but if you are, welcome aboard Sir). Mostly, you’ll be pre-purchasing the game at a discount, so it’s all upside for you.
- Fan art and cosplay – If you’re talented and are able to make something cool to promote the game, do it! We love seeing what people come up with and we love sharing it. And we love having fans for a game that we haven’t finished making yet.
- Creditable contributions/crowdsourcing - Once we fund, we’ll create a finalized development plan that reflects the money we raised. That will include opportunities for you to contribute voice talents and 3d art to this game if you’re interested and can produce the quality that we need. Follow us and watch for the postings. We’d love to involve as many people as we can.
What Platforms is it going on?
Our primary development goal is PC, with releases of the beta chapters on Steam. Once the game is finished, we’ll work on releases to Playstation, Xbox, Wii, Mac and Linux. If we overfund, we’ll work on releasing the beta chapters on more platforms as well.
What weapons will there be?
Aberford mostly focuses on melee weapons that would be within easy access of a 1950’s housewife, so frying pans, rolling pins, baseball bats, vacuum cleaners, etc. We will also have some ranged weapons (baseballs, jars of assorted screws, pistols) that serve utility purposes.We want you to have a fun experience balanced with some practicality. Look around you. If a zombie suddenly burst into your house, what would you use to defend yourself? (If the answer is “I’d just grab the chainsaw I happen to have sitting next to me,” you are Ron Swanson and I respect that). Odds are, it’s some household item.In this game, your zombies are aggressive and strong. Setting them on fire or bleeding them will do very little, but cracking them over the head with a golf club will knock them down. We’re still early in this zombie apocalypse, so the methods of killing them are not as refined as, say, the Walking Dead. It’s mostly about hitting them until they stop moving.
Isn’t killing zombie men the most horrible thing imaginable?
One, fighting only/mostly male enemies is actually one of the oldest and most common tropes in video games. Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, Far Cry, Wolfenstein, any COD/Medal of Honor/Battlefront game, Arkham City, Warcraft 1 and 2…the list goes on across four decades and every genre in which you fight/kill something. Heck, Mario’s original enemies are drawn to appear masculine, even if they’re gender neutral. Fighting male zombies is literally the single least groundbreaking aspect of this entire project. Two, the zombies in Aberford are a sci-fi creation, and you should NEVER do sci-fi without some kind of underlying philosophical question. In this case, we’ve all been hearing about issues of violence against women lately (and for time long past), so we wanted to dig into that. And the 50′s are a great backdrop for it.Three, it’s not as if the men in this game are like “F-yeah! Let’s become zombies and start eating people!” and the women have to put them in their place. They are men who (largely through no fault of their own) become infected and turn into mindless zombies. Any zombie story worth its salt deals with the issue that the zombies were once people, and they didn’t choose to become zombies.
Isn’t this just another crappy indie game with zombies?
One, I’m with you on the excess of crappy zombie games. We don’t need more. And this idea from Tumblr deserves to stand out. So we’re avoiding cliche mechanics like magical death chainsaws, waves of easily slaughtered zombies, and buckets of gore to hide crummy art. In Aberford, your character has no real combat training and you’re fighting enemies that are bigger and stronger. You’ll have to earn each kill with cunning and skill and agility.Two, part of standing out is the story. We’ve written a very involved, deeply human, socially relevant story for this game, and everything is getting built around that, rather than slapping a half-baked story into a cool concept. We’re exploring the tragedies and injustices in the lives of these 50′s housewives, and zombies are merely the catalyst. We want you to have a lot of fun, but we also want you to leave this game feeling haunted.Three, rather than trying to make an indie game that’s clearly an indie game, we’re trying to make one that has some of the look and polish of a big studio release, which is why we’ll be running are very aggressive Kickstarter. With proper upfront funding, we can give the game the refined, stylish look it deserves and get it finished before the tools we’re using start to look dated.
Something isn’t right about the clothes/character models…
Believe me, we know. Right now, we’re just showing concept art to help get our idea funded. And the art assets we’ve been able to use have some bugs in them. Once we fund, we’ll hire a talented 3D artist to go back and make assets specifically for this game, using what you see now as a template. We’ll make sure everything looks right and era appropriate in the final game.
Are there POC in the game?
There are several major characters, as well as a historically plausible level of background characters, who are POC.The most notable Betty Smith and her husband Phillip. They are a young, successful black couple, and their story explores how much harder they have to work to have the same life (and slightly less respect) than their white neighbors. Betty is a major character and will be playable both in the freeplay mode and in the main campaign.Doris Baker is officially of Lebanese heritage, but being able to pass for white, she does and only really identifies as an “American”. This was very common in the ‘50s, and we’ll use it to the explore the effects of a “melting pot” culture. Doris is a major character and will be playable both in the freeplay mode and in the main campaign.Mary Kuroki is a third generation Japanese-American, and works at Edwin Voorhees Industrial Laboratories as a researcher. Her story acts a foil to Doris’, as Mary is every bit as much of an American, but isn’t able to be accepted as such in post WWII America. Mary is an expansion character, meaning you will encounter her during the main campaign and be able to play as her in freeplay mode. If we overfund, we’ll be able to create a side campaign that tells more of Mary’s story.Lastly, we have Alejandra (whose last name I haven’t finalized because I’m still sifting through two different back stories that I like for different reasons), a Latina woman who picked a really bad day to travel through Aberford. Aberford is an unusual place, made worse by the outbreak of zombies, and Alejandra gives us “stranger in a strange land” story, where language and cultural barriers become deadly handicaps as she fights to stay alive. I don’t want to say more than that until Alejandra’s story is finished, but it is coming. Like Mary, you’ll encounter Alejandra as part of the main campaign and she’ll be available for play in the freeplay mode.
You’re dealing with so many things in the game. Why can’t you deal with this one too?
There are number of social issues we are just not planning to address in this game. It’s not because they’re not important, or that they don’t deserve representation. It’s simply that we’re making a comparatively small game and we can’t really take on much more without oversimplifying the issues. We’re better off tackling a few things well than trying to take on everything all at once.
You’re dealing with so many things in this game. Is it going to be some kind of weird “social justice” simulator?
No, no it is not. It’s a game about women fighting zombies in awesome 50’s clothing. If you really hate any sort of “issues” in games, you can always skip the cutscenes and just kill stuff.
You’re dealing with so many things. Isn’t the plot going to get bogged down?
Above all else, games should be fun. So keeping the game moving and engaging are our top priorities. And with all the things we’re addressing, it’s just that. We’re addressing them. We’re not trying to solve racism. We’re not trying to solve sexism. We’re just looking at them through the lens of a 1950s zombie apocalypse and hoping there’s something we can take away.Some things may not feature as prominently or as in-depth as people would like, but I promise we’ll do our best to be inclusive without bloating this project.
Will there be customization features?
Right now, we are only planning on basic customization for the player characters (dress styles, dress colors, etc). If we hit certain funding goals, we’ll work to implement a character creation engine.
What kind of zombies will we be fighting?
In Aberford, the zombies are infected humans with a murderous rage (rather than shambling corpses). They’re fast, they’re strong, and they can take a lot of punishment. Even small groups can overwhelm you if you’re not paying attention. Surviving in Aberford will be a matter of outthinking your opponents, clever use of your resources, and good situational awareness.
Why didn’t you answer my message on Tumblr?
Most likely, it’s because my inbox is 300% slammed and I literally cannot answer things as fast as they come in. I am trying to get to as many as I can. Please don’t get mad.Also, sometimes, I save your messages if you’ve offered to help and I want to be able to message you later. They disappear when I respond. I’m not good at Tumblr. Please don’t get mad.
Wasn’t there an original post/is the original poster getting credit?
We talked to the original poster. She isn’t planning to make this game and had no objection to us making it as long it isn’t mean-spirited. We’ve offered to let her review the production script once it’s ready, and if she likes it, we’ll credit her in the finished game.