Working at a publisher & developer like TikGames has its advantages. First, there are a bunch of talented people around to help hone ideas into something that works. I enlisted the help of Adrian Ludley, our Creative Director, who gave the game its look. He drew this for us to get the art team started:
The first definitive "look" for Stick Man Rescue
Now, that’s more like it, isn’t it? No more, “Well, this game is fun but it sure looks nasty.”
Another advantage to being at TikGames is the “big picture” people. I showed the prototype to our executive staff. There were some giggles, but mostly there was stunned silence and concerned looks. Alex, one of the company’s founders finally said, “Wow, that’s pretty funny and you are definitely one sick —-.” In all seriousness, my bosses and peers had a lot of good thoughts and encouraged me to formalize the design and show it to Sony to see if it could get approved for PlayStation Network.
Some people think it’s diseased, but it’s actually fun for some of us to write 50-page technical documents that can be used as guiding bibles for a game development team. So then, the fun started in earnest. In the end, we were ready to send a pitch over to both Sony Europe and Sony America. Both groups liked the idea as a PSP Mini, so we were all set to get production rolling. More on that next week!
Howard Lehr, Director of Game Design
