The Smashmouth Project

[TheWatcher]

As you may be aware, I've posted a few polls and surveys here and some other places about an up and coming project that I've been working on. I'm very excited about it and now that the tech prototype is at 85% (a milestone that most football game prototypes never reach at the indie level), I wanted to give you a quick screen capture of what I've been working on:























































Team practice concept field

When you look at the screenshot, obviously the first thought that comes to mind is "wow, that looks real!", and it should... because it IS real. This is not a hoax and not some sort of render. It's the real deal taken directly from my prototype. While some things are still being tuned, I think the shot above communicates very well where I'm going with this project.

With that in mind, I'd like to get into some key points about Smashmouth (working title) and what I'm setting out to accomplish with this project in terms of realism and how it will be communicated:

-Everything real, everything HD: that's the philosophy that Smashmouth is being built on. "Everything real" means that every player, and every field/stadium environment will be real. To be 100% clear, Smashmouth will contain no polygons. If it's not real, it's not in Smashmouth.

Why am I doing this? Why no polygons, you ask? I know this sounds insane. But I honestly feel like football will never look like what we see in real life until real life is put into the game without all the hindrances that polygonal football games place on it.

"Everything HD" means that every image will be in High Definition. In addition to that, the plan is to have things like overlays, stat banners, etc. be displayed in an innovative new graphical style using a technique that surpasses the current process. It will certainly keep you glued and fully attentive to every sort of visual communication taking place in the game.

-Broadcast standard: I just don't feel like a sports game today is complete without this, and so very serious attention is being paid to this area so that when this game reaches final, a complete broadcast experience will be achieved.

Smashmouth will be viewed with a broadcast camera. Innovative camera work and scene connection will bring you live to the action just like we see on TV.

-The future (gameplay, etc.): Every part matters, but gameplay is the most important. Either the game is fun to play or it's not. In order for gameplay in a football game to be even acceptable, the movements+controls have to be on point. The way Smashmouth moves is based on a process I'm developing called Adrenaline. With this process, there is no drawing and no animating in the traditional sense involved whatsoever. This is completely bypassed so that you get the raw movement capture in its original state, every time. I'm sure you can imagine the possibilities with such a process.

Now, it's time to talk about some very important considerations...

The bottom line is that developing any sort of game is incredibly difficult. Football games are arguably the most difficult of all. While the target is to have a playable demo available in 2011, there are no guarantees and there never are in the field of product development. The good news however, is that you'll have the opportunity to be involved in the development of this game in an unprecented way which I'll discuss in the near future. The way this game is being developed is in and of itself uncharted territory so I'm learning something new everyday, an since I'm taking a 4-step approach of Tech prototype-to-Game prototype-to-Game Demo-to-finished product, it's going to allow me to refine a lot of things along the way and also allow you to be involved in that process in a very impactful manner as well.

-What I'm working on right now: Offensive line/defensive line captures. It's not simple by any means, but before I declare my tech prototype 100%, these must be there.

-When new information will come out: There will be no schedule at this early stage. Information will be limited for a while. Please bear with me.

There may be a dev diary... I spoke to Steve about this and he was very kind and enthusiastic about it being at OS, so that's something I'm seriously considering for the future. I want to hold off on it in TP stage, but once I get somewhere between game prototype stage and game demo stage I'll be looking to do that, and the hope is that it's not far off.

I've invested my own money and countless hours into this project that I first conceived years ago when the technology wasn't even ready to handle it yet. The technology is here today... the future is now.

I remain a passionate football gamer just like you. And like you, I want to see this genre return to its glory days. In order for that to happen, we can't just sit by and wait. We have to take matters into our own hands and make it happen. Together, we will do just that.

[CreatineKasey]

Looks beautiful. Let me know if you want me to contribute to anything. I'll try to find time to help if possible and if needed.

Keep it up!

[sb24]

Cant see from work but I am in full support. I like the direction you are taking this. I will be willing to help anyway possible. Good luck!

[Joborule]

Very interesting approach your taking with this game. Defiantly a pretty sweet project I hope to hear more of soon.

[ChampN252]

I was wondering about the polls and all. I hope you the best of luck man. I know you know about the other guy with his CFL game in the makings. I believe if just one of you gets something working, that would shake football gaming up a little.

[TheWatcher]

Quote: Originally Posted by CreatineKasey

Looks beautiful. Let me know if you want me to contribute to anything. I'll try to find time to help if possible and if needed. Keep it up!

Quote: Originally Posted by sb24

Cant see from work but I am in full support. I like the direction you are taking this. I will be willing to help anyway possible. Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by Joborule

Very interesting approach your taking with this game. Defiantly a pretty sweet project I hope to hear more of soon.

Thanks, guys. You'll have the opportunity to do some really cool things at every stage of development. There is footage of captures, but I didn't want to reveal that this time. But I'll post that in the near future.

[TheWatcher]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChampN252

I was wondering about the polls and all. I hope you the best of luck man. I know you know about the other guy with his CFL game in the makings. I believe if just one of you gets something working, that would shake football gaming up a little.

I appreciate that, Champ.

To my knowledge, there was a budgetary issue with the CFL project. You won't have to worry about that with this. I'm really good at cost-cutting and finding ways to turn out quality for cheaper. It's something I had to learn being an Inventor.

I'd also like to mention that this game is not FMV. You will have full control of the players. This game is being built in a unique way that allows there to be synchronized development for both PC and XBOX 360 (and other platforms, if I choose). I've been tinkering around with the framework and for 360 and the translations between the PC version and this look pretty solid.

So stay tuned, I'm sure you'll enjoy everything that will come next.

[kjcheezhead]

This looks very exciting for football fans. I'll be rooting for you and keeping an eye out for your updates. I'm curious, is this looking to be a console game or a pc game or both?

Never mind the question, just caught the above response. Sounds great, I'm a console gamer for the most part.