Like us on Facebook! Keep in touch via our forums for exclusive updates!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Prologue - Trailer, Hardships, Release Dates, etc


Well, we finished the trailer. Submitted to DieHard GameFAN and ready for the masses.

But, as Farnsworth has taught us, good news doesn't always mean that - because of media/production complications, the trailer will be delayed until November 2nd, 2009. The reason is because they need time to promote and distribute the trailer through their site - and we submitted the thing a little late due to last minute software trouble, which hindered the original release date.

We had a lot of complications going into the trailer. The filming ran everyone's budget into the ground for weeks, making us unable to physically see each other for days. I did a massive 3-day 80+ gameplay/visual bug crunching that left me totally exhausted, and the last night of production I had to compile the thing, the trailer software crashed 4 or 5 times, the game suddenly switched out a vital programming language at the last minute (requiring heavy last minute rewrites), and a few team members quit a week after we finished filming, and less than a week after the video was due [already constrained for time]. It was quite hectic with everyone's crazy schedule and last minute dropouts, and rest assured we are very tired - but we got the initial trailer completed, and are quite happy with the results. A lot of things were done specifically for the trailer, and we tried our best to iron out the rendering/gameplay bugs and make the trailer video run at a smoother framerate. While we had to lower the resolution this time around the video plays really smooth, and you are still able to see all of the neat graphical effects that the regular game has to offer. In my opinion it's framerate>quality. Still, we didn't suffer massive loss as previously thought.

What you will see come the 2nd is the very best of what we have to offer - a year and then some of grueling, suffering, love and tears. It's the ultimate package - all the shit we had to endure over the year+ this project has received, from our ModDB page getting shut down due to fake legal reasons, and to the abuse we've had to take from a deranged software developer - and all of the community drama inbetween. It's been quite a frustrating schedule - but the frustration pushed us harder to make this trailer even better than what we originally thought. And it was fun. =)

What you will experience isn't just Hypertension - it's an extension of who we are as developers and people, all the hard work to make this trailer truly unique and memorable. We feel, as developers, it's not just software - it's life, and it should affect you in the most positive way it can.

We got a lot of feedback from the initial live-action teasers that we released - some of it bad, most of it good. They were there to simply show that this is more than just Blood on steroids - it's a totally new remake inspired by the classic game. We poured more than our wallets into this - we poured an entire generation of 80's and 90's influenced material - when things were original and fun. We know you will love both the original and extended cuts of the trailer*.

We know you will all enjoy it very much come the 2nd. We hope it inspires and pumps you all up for a feat of a lifetime. We loved making it - we know you'll love watching it.

I want to thank Diehard GameFAN for taking on the role of PR and media distribution - hopefully this trailer reaches a wider audience than our underground teaser did and lets them know that "retro is the new black". I want to thank the entire cast and crew for the live-action shots, and of course my TDGMods developers and OST Strike Team crew for being so dedicated and loving. I could not have made this dream a reality without them. Kudos to my brother Kyle, who helped me direct the live-action shots.

We're still a long way off of a release - a year and so to be exact, but these trailers should keep you all entertained for months to come.

Keep your eyes peeled.

We Live Again.


*ATBT Productions will produce/release the extended cut of the trailer, without TDGMods'/DieHard's involvement. It will include all of the live action footage shot [as opposed to what's in the main release] and some gameplay footage not seen in the initial trailer [with some earlier revisions shot inbetween May and October of the game's development], which won't coincide with the main release. They will also be cutting together a "Behind the Making Of" featurette that will include outtakes and alternate footage.*

No comments: