So I was listening to the podcast of a website I have begun writing for http://www.hiddenaudiolog.com when there was the voice of someone whom said, “I hate half-life.”  This did not sit well, and I asked my friend whom had said that.  Well, tune in to hear the rest of the story, but be sure to listen past the sighs, explanations of timeframes, etc. and hear Senator Spacer and myself breakdown why some games are good and others just do things good.  It is one of our most intelligent conversations to date, I really hope you all enjoy this one.

Damnit Slam Show EP_023 ‘YOU HATE WHAT!’.mp3

Thanks for listening,

-nabokovfan87

I did an email interview with Amario, one of the creators of Abandoned from Black Lion Media. Below you can view the Q and A.  Please be sure to post your thoughts below and check out their kickstarter page for information, links, and ways to support and purchase the game.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1069586425/abandoned-first-person-shooter-game

As always, thank you for your time for this interview and hopefully we can have you on the podcast in the future.

Hi mom!
 
What kind of games, genres, etc. do you and the team enjoy?  Have any other games helped to shape the development of the game or inspired design aspects?

I mostly prefer first person shooters, but I do find myself from time to time playing other genres. I would say if it wasn’t for Doom or Fear, I wouldn’t have started Abandoned so yes (haha) other games are very heavily inspired. Not only games but movies as well really heavily inspired in this game.  I’m a big fan of the Halo series and Assassin’s Creed.
 
When did Black Lion Media get started and how did you and the team get involved with game design?

Black Lion Media started in May of 2010, it really was just a couple of friends making videos of games, montages, and trailers. Eventually one day the idea to stop making videos of someone else’s game and make my own kind of took over like a virus. I later started researching about game development and entered a competition sponsored by some pretty big people in the industry like Microsoft and Apple. Not winning the two times I entered did not stop me from entering one last time. I felt it was a huge learning experience for me, pushing myself to learn more about working hard under pressure. The third time me and a friend won first place in the competition and I then started on the Abandoned project based on what I’ve built at the competition, eventually finding my partner Jared Knoll who jumped on the project pretty quick. Making Abandoned what it is today.
 
Abandoned is currently up on kickstarter to allow gamers to help with publishing and development costs.  In one of the updates it was mentioned that the gameplay hasn’t been decided, what percent complete is the game?  What type of game is Abandoned?

Well the gameplay is pretty much playable, but in order to fit with the story some features have to be added in order to increase the quality of the game. The game is just now polishing up it’s first two chapters, which is great. Abandoned is a first person shooter whereas it’s original intent was just horror, but after a few rewrites and as things progressed that sort of changed to a more suspense drama shooter. The story in my opinion is pretty original and I hope it stands out in the huge FPS crowd.
 
What was the motivation to use kickstarter rather then say release the game on steam with lower publishing costs? Any plans for steam integration and/or steam cloud support?

It’s been considered early on in development to whether or not to release it on steam. However currently there is no plans for a steam release, probably considering the bug-iness of the old engine, we’re pushing it to it’s limits for this game. We’ve decided to use kickstarter as a push to our project initially to raise enough funding not to continue the project, but to speed it’s process. We’ve been working on the game for almost a year now with great progress, it’s only now that we exposed only a small amount of whats already made.
 
Abandoned appears to have a striking visual and audio style, similar to The Darkness, Max Payne, Riddick, and F.E.A.R., is the visual and audio design the most important aspect of the game, is it the story, or is there a perfect balance required?

I think there usually should be a balance, haha but however in Abandoned I’m pretty sure as two teenagers, we naturally do focus more on the visuals unintentionally of course.

What about Music compared to sound effects? For some reason I get the feeling from the trailer that weapon sounds and environmental sounds will create a certain mood and atmosphere.  Is this what the team is going for?

From the trailer we definitely tried to tease those aspects of the game just to show what we had completed. However most of the gameplay are from our scrapped alpha version so the feel of what people get from the actual game may feel somewhat different. The voice actors have just recently finished their lines and it does effect the mood of the game pretty deeply. We’re definitely going for an “all alone, whats that noise?” feel in the game.
 
What can players expect from the weapon design?

We were planning to use re-textured EAI models but as development goes along things are eventually shifting and changing. This is currently the last aspect of the gameplay we are working on. Players can possibly expect the guns to feel somewhat like the game Stalker. The guns on that game have a very balanced feel to them.
 
When listening to the podcast from the Mode 7 Development studio, they express the importance of staying current by playing other games throughout the development process.  This is a stark contrast to most big budget games, how important is it to the team to play games of similar type or genre throughout the design and development process?

It’s pretty important, some people ask why Abandoned took a year to start off. Well that’s mainly because even now there’s only myself (Amario) and Jared working on the game.

 Lets look at it like this. When you play a game, your inspired. Your inspiration consciously affects your decisions. And your decisions effect on how the game will ultimately play – possibly effecting the mood of the game. Obviously big budget games have something gamers like, the best Indie gamers can do is try to mimic that the best way they can. And sometimes it can even be better. I do believe it’s important to play other games, as sometimes it sparks new ideas which only benefit your game.
 
Are there any plans to do an Alpha/Beta and input user feedback to shape the game?  Do you see that process as an advantage or disadvantage?

It can be both actually you know? The bugs in the beta might put people off for the final build or it’ll get gamers wanting more for the full version. At this point in development we do just plan on releasing the game.
 
How can fans find out more about the game, when can they purchase it, and is there a release window yet?

People can constantly get more news about the game from our Facebook, KickStarter, or our upcoming website. Expect a possible release in May of 2012!
 
Thanks again for your time, I look forward to hearing more throughout the development of the game.

 Thanks for having me.

This time is catchup time. First, I am deeply sorry that I screwed my audio track for half the podcast. It fixes at 34 minutes into the file for those that cannot handle it.

Now, we discuss why Skyrim is shit, portal 2 has no place in a game of the year discussion, and what games we thought had some substance to actually manage to be on our list and why. Thanks for putting up with the long and extended pause in releases, we have both been extremely busy and plan to release some new pods ASAP! Just to prove a point, we recorded yesterday night and (BAM!) you have a podcast the following night.

Enjoy!
-nabokovfan87

Damnitslam Show EP_022 ‘Talk nabo Talk!’.mp3

Special guests return as an all new all canadian edition of the show. Beginning with bulldozer, amd codenames, civ V cs. IV, something else, and then the meat of the podcast hits. We discuss Costume Quest on PC, why the brains behind Battlefield 3 screwed up, and what does Deus EX: Human Revolution mean if anything. Tune in to find out what we think about such things and how to order pizza in Canada.

Enjoy,
-nabokovfan87

Damnit Slam Show EP_021 “So It’s A Kid’s Game”.mp3

I just wanted to let everyone know the current situation with the pod. Dizzy is still doing well, attempting to survive. Sqwishy and I are doing fine as well, just dealing with school, homework, traveling, etc. I understand there is a long bread between episodes, and I am very sorry for this, but there is just nothing that can be done.

Sqwishy and I will record a new episode next week, talk about things like the state of Civ V, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Serious Sam: The Random Encounter (video coming soon), Portal 2, SWAT 4, Batman: Arkham City, AC2:3, BF3, FIFA 12 PC, Dead Island, and whatever else it is we fancy.

Don’t forget we are still opening the contest. I am going to end it at the END of this year. If you want to win something, be it one of the many Humble Indie Bundles of your choice or any of the other games I have available, all you need to do is download an episode of your choosing and email us your thoughts. I will get back to you with what is available, and may even let you pick out the game of your choice on steam.

Thank you very much for listening and putting up with the delays,
-nabokovfan87

More stuff soon, enjoy!

-nabokovfan87

Damnit Slam Show EP_020 – Pissed!.mp3

Don’t forget about the contest! Thanks for listening every0ne.

-nabokovfan87

Damnit Slam Show EP_019 – Alpha, The Bleep has Returned!

Either way, here is an hour of intelligble audio, a pair of outakes, some badass intro/outro music, and some attempt at discussing the news and games of the week.

Apologies that it was late, hope you understand. Say it with me, F…

Damnit Slam Show EP_018 – Fuck You Sqwishy!.mp3

-nabokovfan87

Sqwishy and I catch up on the things we missed, delve into why TF2 is stupid, why the witcher 2 and duke nukem 2 are bad, and lots of other random things.  Tune in for a trip down memory lane, review of beat hazard: ultra, thoughts on dino d-day, a little bit of laughing at terreria griefing, download numbers blowing nabo’s mind, and the contest explained properly.

Enjoy!

Damnit Slam Show EP_017.mp3

In the world of busy schedules, I finally sat down with Sqwishy and his brand new microphone to catch up on what exactly happened, what went on in the world of hardware, gaming, and the likes, and be sure to listen to the entire episode for the brand new contest that you can win!

In all seriousness, thank you to everyone who stuck around and put up with the delay and the contest is meant as a peace offering.

Enjoy!

Damnit Slam Show EP_016.mp3

-nabokovfan87