Dev blog #4

It is late August and the whole Backbeat team has returned from a skönt Swedish summer vacation. With our demo release less than a month away, every chair in the office bullpen is filled and we are creating content like never before.



We have a tradition of making beautiful, full-size posters of our titles to hang on the walls of the office, and our one for Backbeat is nearly done. At the centerpiece is a collage of the eight band members. We were inspired by 90s movie posters and character-centric game key art in creating this image. Weaving together all the personalities and graphic styles we've centered around in the title was a lot of fun, and we can't wait to put on the finishing touches and send it off to the printer.



Now four-artists strong, we have been working on visual effects for the payoff moments in Backbeat and our playback camera system, adding particles and wipes. The visual design language is a blend of 90s pastels, geometry, and 32-bit era games, so you'll find lots of circles, triangles, and squiggles filling both the ethereal and player control sections of the game. Most interactive portions are flat and lower contrast, but after solving a puzzle, the player is treated to a music video of her choices and we dim the lights and bump up the bloom.



The final level of our demo takes place in Callahan's, a dive bar on the edge of downtown Hornsburg. Our heroes play an open mic night in their first public appearance. After overcoming a bout of stage fright, they learn the unique time-balancing game mechanic of STAGGER before being taunted by their soon-to-be nemesis La Tormenta.



The dialog system is nearly finished, and this month our character artist Sandra has turned her attention to the many colorful NPCs and supporting characters that stand along the path to stardom for of our heroes. We drew references from cameos in some famous 90s band movies and an internet meme or two for good measure. Can you see anyone you know?



Last by not least, we have started localization! Backbeat will be full of professional Japanese translation from day one by some old friends in Tokyo. If you're looking to brush up on your kanji, you're in luck!

It's just a few weeks until the Steam Next Festival and Tokyo Game Show, where our demo will be live, so for now we'll sign off and head back to the product backlog.

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Stay cool and funky!
-- The Backbeat team at Ichigoichie

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