Blogs - Skelefactor

We launched the Kickstarter for Bugspeed Collider yesterday morning. Have you checked it out yet? We're pretty happy with how the page turned out.

Of primary interest during this campaign is the free Kickstarter-centric demo we've put out at the same time. We're confident in the sheer amount of unrestrained joy to be had with blasting beetles of both CPU and local-player motivation. Currently in the demo you'll find 6 levels of Arena mode (single-player challenges of increasing difficulty) as well as 5 levels of multiplayer (suitable for 2-4 local combatants). After we work out a few kinks to get controls to work on Mac, we'll be pushing out a sample of the single-player Adventure mode as well. Adventure mode takes on much more of a platformed + brawler feel as you explore the vast reaches of impossible trees.

Our campaign will run until Friday, October 3rd. As I've mentioned previously, we're using this time to not only raise funds to further development of the game, but also to generally gauge interest. Obviously we're plenty interested in the prospect of tiny little beetles engaged in massive, explosive combat, but what about you?

We have a number of cool backer rewards for those interested in supporting this project. I could go over them all here and be super-redundant, or you could just go check them out over here!

As always, feel free to let us know what you think on twitter by shouting directly at @Skelefactor.

Good luck and Bugspeed.
-Tony

It's dark here in the Skelefactor crypt, and we're not always 100% sure on what holidays the Living are currently celebrating. We didn't realize that our projected Kickstarter launch date was one and the same with Labor Day in the USA. We have thus decided to delay launch by a couple days. So, lookout Wednesday, September 3rd!

Soon we rise.

We've decided to push back the launch of Bugspeed Collider's Kickstarter campaign launch so that the launch will contain a basic demo of the game. We've spent some time weighing the pros and cons of having a freely available demo, but in the end we decided to give it a shot.

Bugspeed's gameplay is easy to get a feel for and get into. In our closed testing we've happily witnessed players of all experience levels pick up our game and launch into the fray with minimal difficulty. We suspect that having potential backers experience this firsthand will be a useful factor in gaining support. It will also lend us some credibility as we do currently have an actual game to show for our efforts.

Projected Kickstarter launch is now September 1st, so get ready for some bugsized explosiondeath.

Bugspeed Collider's Kicstarter campaign will begin on the morning of August 15th, 2014. We're gearing up now. Putting a video together, thinking up enticing rewards, generally living the dream. We're very excited to begin sharing more information about this game. Expect some form of video to show up some time next week.

For the large part, we have been silent and invisible. The truth is, we're getting ready to attempt a Kickstarter campaign in order to expand Bugspeed Collider.

We want to try a Kickstarter for a number of reasons. Funding, of course, is the chief reason. Getting funded would allow us to focus all of our attention on the game. It's not the only reason though.

Basically, we're going to use Kickstarter to determine the scale of the remainder of our game. We have a lot of big, fun ideas for this game. The problem is that implementing them would obviously increase development time, a resource currently held in short supply. Proper Kickstarting would grant us the resources required for Bugspeed Collider to realize its potential. It will also help us gauge interest in the project itself. Without funding, we will still finish the game. It will just be a much smaller game.

That's the state of things currently. We're still a few weeks away from launch. We'll be posting more information as August nears.

Spend the entirety of the day trying to figure out just exactly what systems to employ to achieve beetle movement. It has been a successful day.

What we have now already is quite a dynamic little creature. It does not move quickly across the ground, but up close it is as a wrestler, or even a dancer: capable of complex, nuances series of movements which will no doubt lead to exciting confrontations and spectacular victory dances.

At this rate, it won't be too long before we'll actually have some sample video of what exactly is going on.

Stay posted.

What do I know about beetles?

I know a large amount of all living things on this world are beetles. I know that fireflies are beetles. I know that some beetles have really cool horns.

We're working on a game about beetles.

It's not just about beetles, of course. It's about strength, nuance, and the fickle whims of love.

What can we learn from a species who's mating rights are given to those who are best at casting aside all others?

Greetings from Athens (GA, USA). I am Tony of Skelefactor. We're a small group of like-minded individuals who are presently engaged in stitching ourselves into the shape of a game studio. I will be using this platform to document this and many other processes of and about the life of Skelefactor.

Our current roster consists of only one game, Horror Vacui (a game of tension, timing, and obsession). It's a very deceptive game. At first it seems easy to dismiss as overly simple (even casual), but players of a higher skill-level may soon find themselves falling down a particularly rocky rabbit hole.

Horror Vacui became the flagpole upon which I have raised the banner of Skelefactor. It started as (and generally remains) a solo project. I did all of the art, coding, music, etc. But then, of course, I needed some fresh eyes on it, so I turned to my close friends back home.

At the time, I was a student of sculpture working on my MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. I had always loved games, playing them, making things up, but never thought it was reasonable for me to actually make them professionally. As I delved deeper into the development of Horror Vacui, however, I began to find the creative fulfillment that had always eluded me as a sculptor.

So I decided to go for it. I left Baltimore and the artsy life I had been building. I returned to the hot, sticky bosom of my native Georgia for my trial-by-fire. I enlisted the help of some talented friends and family, and now here I stand.

We've just recently, silently slid Horror Vacui out into the public sphere to see what happens. Obviously, without any established credit or attempts at marketing, no one much has noticed. We're putting out feelers, experimenting as we begin our development processes in earnest.

We'll be around.