New firefighting Wii title (new info!)

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roland13x

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Hey guys,

Been a longtime CAG member, and I'd love to toss on an announcement here. I've been in the game industry for over 6 years now, first at Activision then onto a smaller studio, and me and a few guys decided 'why not try it ourselves?'

So we've started up a new studio called Epicenter Studios, and we've just gone public with our first title, which is a Wii exclusive game based on real-life firefighters. I'm personally very excited to be creating a non-violent action game, as I've done the blood and gore (300) and shot more Nazis than my grandfather did (Call of Duty series).

Anyway, our press release was just launched today, and we've made it to the front page of Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14419), which is really quite exciting.

Anyway, wanted to pass this info along to my fellow CAGs. Not sure why, cause you all will just wait for a few months and buy it once it hits $15. I know how this works :)

Thanks!
Bryan
 
You know the trick by now. Release it at $40, sales will double if CAG is any indication.

Certainly seems worth keeping tabs on.
 
Tell you guys what, once we're released, for sure I'll be holding a contest or two. Great idea!

Sadly, price point is, as always, up to the publisher. But I'm one of you guys, so I totally understand. However, we're going to make the gameplay worth your $50. Or $45 with the GGC. :)
 
Congratulations on the press release.

Nice to see a developer on here, especially with an exclusive Wii title. How much can you tell us about Nintendo SDK and Nintendo licensing / publishing policies? I'm more than certain that most of it is "hush hush," but I can't help but ask.

In any case, looking forward to the game. Congratulations.
 
Thanks for the congrats, we're pretty excited to finally be able to go public with our company and title. Still a long road ahead, that's for sure.

As far as Nintendo goes, I have to say they are great to work with. This is my first time working with them on the Wii, but in the past, they were so easy to work with on the GameCube. You are correct though, all the Nintendo SDK and policies are confidential.
 
I've always thought that there was great potential with firefighting games, and the Wii is a great opportunity to make it work.

Here's a question. In the past when you were working at big companies like Activision, how many hours a week did you usually work? What about now, with your own startup company?

Good luck! Can't wait for some vids.
 
Thanks evilmax!

Good question as far as how many hours you end up working. It completely depends on the status of the project. For example, at the start of the game, it's usually a pretty standard 40 hour week, with a few fluctuations. But once you get near a milestone, it pretty much turns into "get it done" mode. And once you near release time, the days can become pretty long. You really have to love this to do it, for sure. Because in the end after all the office sleepovers and 7 day weeks, I'm always look forward to starting the next project.

With Epicenter, since we've been starting this from scratch, I've put a good amount of time into it. There are no "business hours" as phone calls or emails could come in at any time of the day. But again, it's been a fantastic experience, and getting this game out the door is going to be a ton of hard, but fun work.
 
I have to support a developer that tells me to use a GGC on a game. I got a good laugh out of that.

I wish you the best of luck with the game. Can't wait to see how it develops.
 
Good luck guys!
I'll give you my support and be sure to watch out for this game.

One word of advice?
Try to get the feeling of 'weight' right.
It should feel like a heavy hose and move accordingly.
No zip zap, water gun action.

Congrats!
 
Hahaha....I've used more than my share of GGCs psunami.

Dallow, first of all, thanks for the good luck wishes. Much appreciated. And you know, one of the very first tasks we're working on is getting the tools to "feel" right. It's one of our top priorities (alongside the fire AI and effects). I fully, 100% agree, if the tools don't feel right, and a lot of that has to do with their weight, then we've failed. Red Steel is a good example of that I think, not that it's a terrible game, but it just didn't feel right.

One of the things we're working on is to allow the player to "level-up" as their career moves along, so that firehose might be a pain in the ass to handle at the start, but it'll feel different once you're more of a veteran. Work in progress of course, but that's the plan.
 
Good luck on the title

Just one request. Please have a hidden wii the fire out mode :p

Sorry I couldn't resist. I'll keep an eye out for this title as it sounds very original (the first thing that came to mind was sim copter and putting fires out in that).
 
[quote name='help1']You helped create 300 and CoD or just watched 300 and played CoD?[/QUOTE]
I was wondering that as well. The site says the company is made up of people who did CoD.
 
You know, the sad thing is that I actually never thought about using your "wii" to put out the fires, but that's the 2nd or 3rd comment I've seen about Wiimote placement during gameplay. I think you're onto something.

To answer your questions, I was on the production team of nearly every console CoD game over at Activision. I then left Activision to go to Collision as the producer there to work on 300. I wanted to get out of the publisher side and see what the dev side was like, and obviously, I liked what I saw. Once 300 wrapped, me and my partner (who has actually worked on every single CoD game ever released, including mobile and some upcoming titles) started Epicenter.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. It's really appreciated. Of course, this is the easy part of the project, but it's this kind of support that'll make the grind a lot easier.

Wow, we just made it onto Kotaku. We even have our own "Epicenter Studios" tag. Now that is cool.
 
Good luck to you and the rest of your crew roland. That is an extremely cool idea you guys have there.

Sucks that 9 firefighters just died here in SC (Charleston.) Just to throw a bone out there, how about some way of honoring firefighters who have lost their lives? Just an idea that would be well respected I think.
 
Awesome. My dad's a firefighter, and I can't wait to see what a FF game on the Wii would play like.

One question I have, is how will the game progress. I assume there will be some sort of storyline, and is it going to be move up in ranks and achieve a certain position or will it be more along the lines of just completing X different fires/calls? The thing with firefighting is it doesn't really "end". In war games, you can win the war. In sports games, you win the game/championship, but there's always another call/shift in firefighting unless you retire. I think a sort of sim type game where you don't just fight fires/rescue people, but have to build/plan a fire department around a community and its' needs as the community changes/grows, and also actually do the responding to fires/calls would be a cool idea.

Also, standard questions: Online play planned? Multiplayer?


I understand if you can talk about some/any of this stuff, or just don't have it worked out, I'm just real interested, so any info about the game that you can give would be awesome.

Thanks, and Good luck!
 
FD18 on the PS2 was a big letdown. But thinking about Elebits, it seems like a no-brainer that a firefighting game would be a perfect game for the Wii. Good luck. I'll certainly be looking out for the release.
 
You know, since starting work on this game, I've been doing a ton of research on firefighting and firefighters in general, so I've been actively searching out all the latest news. Seeing those reports of those SC firefighters as they were coming in was absolutely heartbreaking. I used to live in Pittsburgh during college, and I'll never forget how together that city got after 3 firefighters died while trying to save a kid. It was really special and very sad.

CouRageous, I think that was the funniest comment I've seen so far. That would be absolutely hilarious, and it's really not a bad idea at all.

drfunk85 - What city does your father serve in? And unfortunately, I can't really answer most of your questions, partially because we need to keep a lot of that info confidential, and partially because this is still a work in progress, and it's amazing how things can change on a day to day basis. Needless to say, I'm a huge gamer, when I'm not working I'm usually playing some game or other. We'll be making the right decisions when it comes down to it. I've seen too many people in this industry who aren't gamers, and it often shows in the final product.

bmulligan - yeah, I researched FD18 (bought it off ebay, was very much not a CAG price, that's for sure). I fully agree with you, it's a big letdown. The concept I think works, but the implementation lost my interest real fast. And it's funny that you brought up Elebits, as I'm a big fan of that title, and it's been a great reference for many reasons.

Thanks again guys!
 
If one of your tasks is this:

cat_tree1.jpg


Then sign me up for a copy! Oh, and I'll be a devoted fan if you make it a choice to either climb up there or shoot the cat down with the water from the hose.

Please think of the kitties.

Matt-Cat.jpg


-Jud

P.S. - This is a great idea, if done right, it'll be high on my list of games to get when they come out. Keep at it!
 
Best wishes to a new developer. It must be tough for you little guys..

I don't know how much you deal with publishers, but maybe you could give us some insight as to why so few Wii titles are coming out at budget prices? It seems logical to follow the hardware's theory of lower price/higher sales in software, but that hasn't been the case. Especially being a new IP, a lower MSRP could help you get a foothold in a market that seems to only want games with a number of 3 or higher behind them.
 
roland, have you ever played firefighter games before? I remmeber playing a firefighter arcade game, it was pretty fun stuff. There was a level where you had to save the mayor, if I recall.
 
Jud - you may be very pleasantly surprised.

Jer7583 - Thanks for the support, very much appreciated. You do bring up a very good question, but I think you have to look at the results. For example, I think Cooking Mama is the perfect example of a Wii title that in no way should be full priced at $50. I would like to buy it myself as I want to play the multiplayer with my girlfriend, but I can wait til the inevitable price drop. Now you take a look at the NPD sales numbers, in 6 weeks, it sold nearly 75,000 copies. Now that might not seem like a lot, but for a quirky title like that with a bare minimum production and marketing budget, that's a nice sum. And that's just in the US. I guarantee that this game is a huge money maker for Majesco. Would it have sold more at a lower cost? Probably, but enough to make up for the $10 or $20 difference? Apparently their marketing dept. doesn't think so.

What it comes down to is that the market will dictate the price of a game, or games in general, and right now, $50 is that price. Hell, with the increased price of 360/PS3 games, $50 feels like a somewhat bargain. That's pretty messed up, huh?

AmigoOne - Yeah, I've tried to get my hands on every firefighter game I could. I'd LOVE to find an arcade that still had a working copy of the Sega game (Burning Rangers)...anyone see one in the last 5 years?
 
[quote name='Judhudson']If one of your tasks is this:

...

Then sign me up for a copy! Oh, and I'll be a devoted fan if you make it a choice to either climb up there or shoot the cat down with the water from the hose.

...

Please think of the kitties.[/quote]
Two words: easter egg. :applause:

Excellent idea for a game roland, I look forward to supporting a small studio and a CAG to boot. Hope you guys find a decent publisher to work with. And regarding dallow's note about weight, I imagine it is pretty darn hard to simulate weight without making the controls feel sluggish and/or disconnected. Likewise any issues with forces acting on whatever you are controling by aiming (i.e. a hose pushing in another direction). Will definitely be looking forward to how this game works out. ;)
 
Soyverde - Thanks for the support Soyverde! I certainly hope we find a good publisher to deal with as well. The responses we've had from them so far has been very encouraging. And you bring up another great point about the controls and feel, we certainly agree that this is one of the most important elements, and it's something we're already well under way on trying to solve.

Dogpatch - Sorry man, I meant to get back to you sooner. You mentioned giving a little something back to the firefighting community. Working on the CoD franchise, I always wanted to do whatever I could, even if it was a gesture, to respect the men who we were depicting. My grandfather fought in that war too! And without putting down Activision, I never felt that we did enough. Now that I get to call the shots, we've got a lot of great ideas with how to show our support to the firefighting community, and I'm sure that'll be something you hear about in the coming months. These men and women certainly deserve it.
 
excellent news roland! thanks for letting us all know about this game, i like many others in this thread will looking forward to this very much. it sounds like a day one pickup to me so far!

definitely keep us updated, and learn as much what not to do in a firefighting game by the PS2 game.

-Link127
 
Thanks for the response, and I do look forward to your game, even at $50. I hope you didn't think I was implying your product wasn't worth that. Spread the word, all you CAGs. We always complain about not getting original games on Wii, well here's one, with one of our own creating it!
 
Link127 - Truer advice cannot be given. FD18 is such a good example of taking a good idea and making it as boring as possible. It's always nice to be able to look back at the problems with previous designs...it's an easy way of figuring out what not to do.

jer7583 - I didn't take it in that manner whatsoever, so no worries there. The fact of the matter is that we have a LOT of work to do in order to put a game out there that I'd feel comfortable charging $50 for. The whole team feels that way. We want to be proud of this thing, and we're working our asses off to make that happen.

Thanks for the support ChocheseUSA!
 
Congrats and good luck. The Wii is perfect for this type of game. Besides the obvious water hose you can use the Wiimote to hack/chop through doors, climb ladders, open hydrant valves, even communicate to AI fireman and so much more. I'm going to have to keep an eye out on this title.:D Also I think it would be sweet to see a CAG Community shout out in the credits.
 
Sounds great, can't wait to see your game come to fruition. I'll be picking this up on day one, there's nothing wrong with paying full price to support an independent developer especially if said developer is a fellow CAG.

You should PM Cheapy about getting on the CAGcast for an interview.
 
Hey guys,

I've been a member of this site for quite some time, and I can honestly say that I have never felt the sense of community any stronger than since I started this thread. You guys have been very supportive, and I, well, the entire team very much appreciates it.

I've actually shown this thread to a few other friends in the industry who were not familiar with CAG, and they were impressed. My one good friend at Bungie said "Wow, a polite, literate forum about games", and he's right, this is a rarity among most Internet forums. You guys have been great to me, and I really appreciate your thoughts and concerns. I really want to involve the community as much as possible in the studio, so I hope we can continue having these conversations.

Having said that, I think I'm going to head off and get a few hours sleep. Tomorrow should be quite busy as our "coming out" gets spread along to hopefully people who can help make things happen.

Have a good night, and sincerely, thanks for the support!
 
Awesome news. I've grown tired of all the ports the Wii has gotten lately. I second the idea of getting an interview with Cheapy and Wombat on the CAGcast. I think it'd be an interesting interview. Good luck.
 
Roland, it is very admirable of you to show such respect to the gaming community by politely introducing your game to us not as a salesman, but as a fellow gamer and even as a friend. Your company's concept for this game shows an experience in gaming that has refined your tastes and proves that, like many fellow gamers, originality and attention to detail are things you personally now look for in a game. You also show you are savvy to what an intelligent gamer as a consumer thinks about when it comes to value in a game.

It is not often that I get the impression that a developer has the gaming experience I have, and I haven't even played that many games. I'm very excited for your game, and I know that your experience as a gamer is really going to push this game in the right direction. Thanks for the contact with CAG, we all appreciate it!

And since everyone is throwing in comments on what is important to them, I'm going to have to contribute. Easter eggs that are worth looking for or performing and silly cheats or secret modes that change the game are my personal favorite things. GTA:SA is a great example of this, with cheats that let you fly cars around and super punch people, along with easter eggs that were fun to get to and rewarding to see. Goofy stuff kicks ass and is usually what I end up pulling a game out for once I've beaten it many times.

Thanks for listening! Update us whenever you can, we all appreciate it!
 
Can you tell us a little about the game? Is it just going to jump into third person segments? Are we going to get to drive the firetruck there? Maybe you can include a little mini-game of spades at the firehouse, the siren sounds and we have to flail the remote and nunchuck in order to get the hell outta there and race to the fire.. that would be cool. Little QTE events.. like as you're running to the truck, hit A to avoid a certain object (maybe a door opening in your path or something).

//edit: Then maybe as you're putting on the suit.. it says like "lift up on the remote to raise the suit", swing the remote to put the suit, lift the remote up to zip the suit up, make a circle with the remote to get the oxygen and stuff hooked up.. that would be awesome. I love intense/holycrap moments like that in games.
 
[quote name='roland13x']

drfunk85 - What city does your father serve in? And unfortunately, I can't really answer most of your questions, partially because we need to keep a lot of that info confidential, and partially because this is still a work in progress, and it's amazing how things can change on a day to day basis. Needless to say, I'm a huge gamer, when I'm not working I'm usually playing some game or other. We'll be making the right decisions when it comes down to it. I've seen too many people in this industry who aren't gamers, and it often shows in the final product.[/quote]

He's in a suburb of Chicago. I can be more specific if you would like to know via pm, but due to certain events I don't give away a ton of specific information in public forums. Anyway, he's been doing it for almost 30 years now. When he started we lived in a fairly small town that has grown a lot, and I've seen him go through a lot of different parts of the job. That's sort of why I think a sim type game would be kind of interesting.

Another thing I would suggest if you haven't already discovered it on your own - fire fighters actually probably don't fight fires that often, or at least the large fires you would typically see in video games. Theres a lot of paramedic type calls, as well as a lot of other duties in general. While fighting fires is definately the main part of the video game, it would be cool to keep in mind the other duties. Intertwining a sort of Trauma Center like part where you have to stabilize a person in the ambulance while getting to the hospital seems like it could be cool.

And definately, if you can, include multiplayer (online if possible) where you are all doing different things. One of the best things about being a firefighter, from what I have seen of my dad, is the bond and relationship you build with the other guys you risk your life/work with for years. Obviously a video game can't really simulate all that, but I guess my point is that working together with some buddies to fight a fire would be pretty neat.
 
[quote name='drfunk85']He's in a suburb of Chicago. I can be more specific if you would like to know via pm, but due to certain events I don't give away a ton of specific information in public forums. Anyway, he's been doing it for almost 30 years now. When he started we lived in a fairly small town that has grown a lot, and I've seen him go through a lot of different parts of the job. That's sort of why I think a sim type game would be kind of interesting.

Another thing I would suggest if you haven't already discovered it on your own - fire fighters actually probably don't fight fires that often, or at least the large fires you would typically see in video games. Theres a lot of paramedic type calls, as well as a lot of other duties in general. While fighting fires is definately the main part of the video game, it would be cool to keep in mind the other duties. Intertwining a sort of Trauma Center like part where you have to stabilize a person in the ambulance while getting to the hospital seems like it could be cool.

And definately, if you can, include multiplayer (online if possible) where you are all doing different things. One of the best things about being a firefighter, from what I have seen of my dad, is the bond and relationship you build with the other guys you risk your life/work with for years. Obviously a video game can't really simulate all that, but I guess my point is that working together with some buddies to fight a fire would be pretty neat.[/QUOTE]
From press release

"Firefighting requires a lot more than spraying down fires," notes Epicenter CEO, Nathaniel McClure, "so we've included several game-integral puzzles to mirror the challenges and on-the-fly choices firefighters actually face in the midst of a blaze."
Click to expand...

http://kotaku.com/gaming/backdraft|...-13-brings-firefighting-fun-to-wii-271156.php

BTW, congrats and keep up the good work, roland13x. I wouldnt mind reviewing the game for my site.
 
Wow this game does sound really awesome! The concept has so much potential, and hopefully everything is done right :)

Will this be more of a serious game.. or more of an arcade/pure fun feel to it? If you make this a serious game about firefighters..and get it advertise correctly this game will SELL. Ever since 911, America has gone completely gay for firefighters and that's all you ever see & hear about anymore. :applause: So hopefully you can make a great game, and cash in on this ;) LOL

Oh and BTW, I haven't read any of page 3 yet---so I don't know if it's been said yet. Please, multiplayer mode. Co-Op? 2 players is nice..but..a 2, 3, and 4 player co-op game...would be awesome ;)
 
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