Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro

On Conveying An Atmosphere Of Despair

2010-03-19T00:34:00.000-07:00

For Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro's first set of offices, we're trying to convey the feeling of working a soul-destroyingly low-level office job. These offices (and related areas) are actually subterranean, and we're trying to make them as depressing as possible. Compare these screenshots to those in older posts. Is it more depressing? Is it depressing enough? We need your input!

Also - and this isn't really up for discussion - these are some damned attractive cardboard boxes.

Preliminary Conversation System Video

2010-03-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

Hey, guy who commented lamenting the lack of a video in the last post. Here's a video! Don't say I never give you anything.

Here's a video that illustrates the fact that our raptor is able to have conversations, which are easily creatable in Kismet. We regret that, in this video:

Our raptor is naked
Our interviewer does not animate
Facial animation has not yet been implemented
Choosing a dialogue option causes a loud, unpleasant noise

It is important to note that this is not to be the actual voice of the velociraptor, nor of the interviewer. These guys aren't voice actors! Still, I must credit them. The velociraptor in this video is voiced by a man named Henry Nourse. The other is myself.

Adaptation: Source mapping -> UE3 mapping

2010-02-25T02:12:00.000-08:00

Hey folks!

I've been out of contact with the rest of the team (and with this blog) for a while as I've been without internet access, but in the meantime I have been doing stuff.

Unlike on Source, most mapping in Unreal Engine 3 is done with placement of static meshes, even for stuff like walls. That gets you a lot more detail but to someone who's used to an engine like Source it can be a bit off-putting - suddenly you have to be familiar with a modelling application like Maya or Max or XSI just to make stuff that's pretty, whereas Source's BSP stuff is robust enough to make some very pretty stuff without resorting to meshes. Just different ways of doing things, basically - both systems turn out to be pretty great, but the emphasis is on different skills. Anyway, I've been doing some adapting. Matt Pierson, epic modeller, has been making some sweet Maya tutorial videos and I've been working that out. So now, the walls are more detailed.

I always thought it would be a pain in the arse to work this way, but once you have some models it turns out to be much faster to lay maps out this way. So we go from what you see in previous posts (flat walls) to slightly more detailed stuff like this (I'm no crazy-amazing modeller, mind you).

It's all very fascinating and I hope to improve at it significantly in the near future. I hope this post has been in some way informative!

-Joe

This Image Of Our Velociraptor Pleases Me

2010-01-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

If you let it, it may please you too.

Ooh, My Soul

2010-01-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping we don't eventually find ourselves being sued for using other people's music in our Youtube videos. Probably the worst that'll happen is Youtube removes the audio. This latest video, showcasing a raptor running around in third-person, uses The Beatles - Ooh, My Soul. I think that's a cover.

Although this camera setup is entirely temporary, you can see that our raptor is able not only to walk, but to run. He also gets impatient sometimes and shakes himself around a bit. Do not be fooled by his adorable appearance - he is a fearsome beast, and should be treated with the utmost respect.

In other news, here's a wall-hanging submission by Mitch (see previous post to submit your own).

Make a Poster for VJISP!

2009-12-21T16:16:00.000-08:00

Denizens of the internet are invited to create a poster to be hung on a wall in Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro.

Make your own picture-hanging-on-a-wall!

Download the .PSD, or, if you don't have Photoshop, the .PDN (Paint .NET format).
Edit it to your liking (only original content, please). Here is an example.
Submit it to us as a 24-bit .TGA file (email it to impromptugames@gmail.com)
???
Success!

The UV has been kept simple, so that even a monkey could do it!

Disclaimer: In submitting your work you agree that we can use it without ever giving you any money for it.

Go nuts!

Animations and Conversations

2009-12-16T16:11:00.000-08:00

I'm adopting an Update This Page Whenever Anything Tangible Occurs policy. To this end, a post.

Whenever Benson gets some new animations churned out I am rendered physically incapable of refraining from making a video of them and posting it on Youtube. To this end, here is the Velociraptor breaking down a door in order to funk. Actual funk may or may not be present in the eventual videogame.

We've also been workin' on implementing job interviews, here's an example of four questions with three answers each.

On VJISP

2009-12-14T23:38:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, I'm Joe. Matt Pierson and I run this show in association with a guy called Brian. You may know me as guy who flew Gabe Newell to Australia or guy who invented Shotgun Sunrise or guy who made a pretty good Left 4 Dead campaign.

So not long ago, the UDK came out. That's exciting. I'm excited about it.

For a while now myself and Matt Pierson (also of Shotgun Sunrise fame) have been planning a game called Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro, and so when UDK came out, we basically decided to go ahead and make the game on that, instead of Source as had previously been our intention. This has the advantage of us being able to sell it when it's done - though it will not be expensive.

We've teamed up with a few guys from the Penny-Arcade forums (again) including Brian Gefrich of Blue Planet Games and we've made a pretty good chunk of progress for how long we've been going. We have our velociraptor fully modelled and being animated, our third-person camera, our Suspiciometer and our conversation system are up and running, and we're cranking out a lot of assets for the design that's been more or less complete for quite a while now. Basically, this game is going to rock your socks the hell off, so probably keep a backup pair on your person in case you can't find the ones you were wearing after the initial shockwave.

We'll be keeping the development process fairly open, and will make posts on this site pretty regularly showing our progress and keeping you guys in the loop.

Although we're planning on selling the game when it's completed, we're starting from nothing and working for free. None of us is in an ideal financial situation. If you want, you can donate to us. It would help a lot.

"Now wait a bit, if this is a commercial endeavor, what are the donations for? I mean, I'm not against commerce, and I'm not against the Internet supporting awesome people and helping them do awesome things. (See: PA nearly ten years ago.) But if you're making a profit then you're kinda asking for tiny quantities of venture capital from The Internet. Right?"

Since this is a commercial endeavour, there are inevitably going to be expenses involved. The donations will go into an Impromptu Games PayPal account where they'll stay until they're needed - for licensing UDK, for licensing whatever other apps we use that require licensing to be used commercially (Things like XSI or Max or Crazybump, for instance), setting up a website, maybe moving our SVN hosting to a better service than Brian's garage, Unforeseen Expenses, actually registering a company down the line, that kind of thing. If someone's power is about to be cut off we can talk about using money from the account to help them pay their bill. We're not looking to spend your money on hookers and blow. We're also planning on recognising donors in-game in some capacity we're not sure of yet.

The donation button, anyway, is at the top of the page.

IT'S ALIVE

2009-12-10T07:40:00.000-08:00

We're going to be trying to keep this updated with information about the game and the group making it as we go along.

The people posting here will be
- Joe, aka LaCabra, the Team Lead on the project
- Brian (me) the Lead Programmer and founder of Blue Planet Games.

Just to get started, we have a short video showing off the walk and run animations for the raptor character.

Enjoy.

We'll have more up in the near future.

Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro announced!

2009-12-08T22:07:00.000-08:00

BluePlanet Games is proud to announce a collaboration with Impromptu Games, the team behind the critically-lauded mod "Shotgun Sunrise", to create an all-new stand-alone game built with Epic's Unreal Development Kit.

Velociraptor Job Interview Simulator Pro is the story of a lone velociraptor who wishes to become a successful businessraptor in spite of the insurmountable racial prejudice which would normally prevent a raptor, or, indeed, any dinosaur at all, from securing a position in a respected corporation. The only recourse for our hero is to attend his job interviews in a cunning disguise, masquerading under a pseudonym.

Desperate to achieve success in his harsh corporate surroundings, he is forced to employ not only his razor-sharp wits but his teeth and claws, which are probably even sharper.

Watch this space for more updates about the game.

-Brian, BluePlanet Games