Pictures From PAX Prime!

As some of you may recall, we had our big Beta site launch during PAX Prime, this past August. For those of you weren’t able to go to PAX, you missed a few great Puzzle Clubhouse moments! 

Check out some of these pictures our very own Jesse Schell took while he was there:

People playing Laz0r Frogz!

What do you think of when you see this picture? Creepy? Stay away from this guy? NO! You should be thinking about our amazing puzzle piece fliers!One of our promotions during PAX were these sweet, sweet puzzle piece fliers that actually fit together! Jesse also wore his PCH fez. If you came up to him with one of our fliers while he was wearing this fez, you would get a special prize!

Puzzle Clubhouse’s favorite Seattle hotel!

Puzzle Ptuesday: It’s Just a Jump to the Left

Current Submissions:
No Time Like the Present
Sounds Like Time Travel

Current Votes:
Close Encounters of the Historical Kind

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Also ghosts.

Our team is growing! Mike V (that’s the third Mike, for those that are playing at home) has joined us as a web programmer. He’ll be tackling the website, making sure that it’s super radical.

We also have Matt K back on Puzzle Clubhouse! He was shuffled to a different project for the past few months, but he’s returned to us! And there was much rejoicing.

In other news, we’re almost done with Episode 3! Chez is finishing up the animations, and Mike T is beginning his search and destroy mission for bugs. Otherwise, the game is basically finished, and we should be good for launch on November 1st!

The rest of the team has moved on to Episode 4. Brittany is PCH-ifying Rollins, Patrick and I have finished up the first draft of the script, and now he’s moved on to drawing up the initial storyboards. Meanwhile, Matt K has begun prototyping the game for the episode so we can see what this weird time-travel meets twister style of game feels like.

Writing Episode 4’s script was an interesting challenge - we tried to see how simple an episode we could make while still keeping it funny / fun to watch. Episode 3 was a great test of our limits - it’s the most involved episode by far (especially for poor Chez), so we want to see how far we can rein it in while still keeping it awesome. Ideally, we’ll find that happy middle ground and make episodes that are juuuust right.

That’s all for now! See you next week. Or maybe LAST WEEK?

Time travel hurts my brain.

Episode 3 Spooooky Audio Update

Spooky Soundscapes

One of the biggest challenges was figuring out the ‘type’ of spooky we were going for in Episode 3.  This was definitely a situation where art helped direct the sound design.  There were a couple scenes in the early animatic, pre-art, where sound direction started towards the ScoobyDoo end of the spectrum, with a hint of Munsters, but then when some of the scenes were drawn we turned on our heels and went down a darker path.

In a world such as Puzzle Clubhouse, and in an episode such as this, we were given the opportunity to explore the vastness of the mansion, while accenting the truly bizarre rooms and how, to a 'normal’ person, such as Jasper, would react to such things.  The surreal ghost sequences in the episode continue to feel like a live action horror film, dragging us further into a serious landscape, so that when quirky comedy sfx and words pop in we are caught by surprise.  

Special “Ghast” Stars

One of the greatest pleasures of Episode 3 has been working with a cameo appearance by our 'ghast’ star, who for the sake of not spoiling the surprise we shall call “REDACTED”.  While working on Episode 1 we became aware of an opportunity to feature the one and only REDACTED in a future episode. The catch was REDACTED, being the very busy man that he is, had a very limited timetable to work with us, and it would be within the week. We had one afternoon to record whatever we could invent for REDACTED’s voice, so a quick mock-up of a possible script, with detailed lines for REDACTED had to be created immediately.  This would be a one-shot recording session, with little to no chance of callbacks so the writers had to work speedily before the big day.  Many valuable gems were captured, including some hilarious lines that made it into the video game, and helped shape the episode.  

We hope you really enjoy what is in store in Episode 3, the episode and game. To give you a bit of a taste, check out the “Episode 3 Teaser” audio file at the top of this post.

Puzzle Ptuesday: 1.21 Gigawatts

Current Submissions:
Time to Draw

Current Votes:
Bingo Was His Name-O… OR WAS IT?

When this blog hits 88 Miles per Hour, you’re gonna see some serious updates.

We’re at the tail end of Episode 3 - Art, Animation, Sound, and Programming are all coming together to make a beautiful bouncing baby episode.

Bonnie is cleaning up all the audio (and adding sweet sound effects) for both the animation and the game. She’s been adjusting levels, removing hissing, and making sure this Episode sounds as awesome as it can be. She’s also whipped up a background track for the game, which is spooky. Listen… IF YOU DARE.

Chez has his plate full with the animation - he’s completed one of the scenes, and is now fleshing out the character animation in the rest. He’s just about finished animating our SPECIAL GUEST (which we will totally tell you about soon, we promise), and Jasper and Cornelius are looking fly as always.

Meanwhile, Brittany is still doing her art thing - she’s finalizing the various art assets in the episode, as well as handing off the game art assets to Mike T. Take a peek at these:


The PCH Foyer!

Look at that rug!

… and that ghost!

… and that ghost trail!

As we’re about halfway through the month, that means Episode 4 is now officially in the pipe - Patrick and I are working with the winning game submission to draft up the game design document, followed by the script. As this episode is all about time travel, I’m pretty excited about where (and when) we can take this one! We’ll also be incorporating at least one of Cornelius’ prized possessions - I’m sure he’ll find a way to solve any problem with it! Lastly, this episode SHOULD have the first appearance of our faithful (if absent) butler, Mr. Rollins. Hopefully he doesn't run into anything that scares the daylights out of him in this episode.

That’s all I’ve got time for this week! I need to write some bad jokes now.

Great Scott!

World’s Largest Jigsaw Puzzle Winners!

Some of you might remember the sweepstakes we held last month for the World’s Largest Jigsaw Puzzle: Double Retrospect. This contest was for PAX attendees only, in celebration of the fact that we were launching the website AT PAX. 

Well the 5 winners were randomly chosen and the Puzzles have been sent! Some of the winners have sent us pictures of them with their prize. Take a look!

Amy with her gigantic puzzle!

Lars was sure to capture the hand cart that was included!

Charles somehow managed to snap a photo with the puzzle next to a rare 600-lb Siberian Tiger!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the sweepstakes! Stay tuned for more contests and giveaways. After all…ANYTHING can happen at Puzzle Clubhouse!

Puzzle Ptuesday: Keep On Keepin’ On

Current Submissions:
Flea in Terror

Current Votes:
Let’s Undo the Time Warp
Puzzle Club-Home Decorating

Current Brainstorms:
The Essentials

Ptuesday? ALREADY? Oh jeez, I hope someone wrote something…

Episode 3 is going swimmingly. Chez is blocking up a storm, Patrick and myself are creating levels for the game, and Mike T is moving from prototyping to full-on game development.

Now, you might be wondering: what’s difference between prototyping and proper game development? After all, they both involve writing code and, well, making the game.

In the prototyping phase, it’s assumed that any/all code will be scrapped at the beginning of development. If there happens to be usable code, that’s great! However, the main focus is to bring the game to life as fast as possible. By quickly incorporating all of the base features of the game, we (the team) can check if the game is actually fun much earlier on. If the game isn’t fun we can make quick changes, or scrap the prototype altogether. Because it was made quickly, we don’t have to worry about throwing away a meticulously crafted piece of code.

Real game development has the actual, careful planning, and this is where we make sure everything is efficient and running. During the transition from prototyping to development, any working code is saved, or incorporated into the Puzzle Clubhouse API for future use in other games. As an example, we took the grid-based level design/loading of Laz0r Frogz and actually used it for To Gnome Me is to Love Me’s game.

Elsewhere in the episode, Brittany is making everything look fancy. She’s almost finished all of the community content for the episode!

Check it:

The finished Fattening Cage:


The Kennel:


The Transplanar Bat of Whiffling (charged and uncharged)


The Woe Goggles (non-slimy AND slimy)


G-g-ghosts!


Outside of the episodes, we’ve had several serious discussions about the current state of the website. Laura is hard at work identifying problem areas of the site, as well as better ways to not overload new visitors.

We’re completely committed to making the website the best it can be - if you have any thoughts about how you want the website to look, don’t hesitate to let us know.

Alright, that’s enough for now. We’ll see all y’all next time!

Puzzle Ptuesday: Puzzle Clubhouse of Horrors!

Current Submissions:
Ghost Sounds
Puzzle Club-Home Decorating

Current Votes:
Spectral Bat of Whiffling
Room of Reckoning

Current Brainstorms:
Aquarium Room Fish

Let’s Undo the Time Warp
Make your own Laz0r Frog Levels!
Future Game Prompts

Boo!

October is here! Well, it arrived yesterday, actually. But that means Episode 2 has been released! We’re really excited about it - be sure to check it out and let us know what YOU think!

No time to pat ourselves on the backs though - we’re already waist deep in Episode 3, and things are lookin’ spooky.

Mike T. has got a pretty spiffy prototype going for the ghost game. Did I write spiffy? I meant HORRIFYING. (It also turns out that Mike T’s last name is TERROR)


We’ve got Jasper (the blue dot) running around with a flashlight, reavealing ghosts.


I think Jasper’s found one of the ghost’s trails. If we just head into that room…


OH NO THE GHOST FOUND JASPER RUN

Meanwhile, Patrick has just finished up the animatic, Chez is busy at work making the various characters for this episode, and Brittany is back from vacation and is now arting up the place.

It’s a good thing Brittany’s back, too, because Episode 3 is our most art-heavy episode yet. With the variety of props, spaces, and characters (including our SECRET GUEST), Brittany and Chez have their work cut out for them. Luckily, we have you guys to help us out!

All of your art submissions are super valuable - not only do they give us actual art assets, but they also give us specific ideas for what the assets need to be. So, as an example, here’s one of the winning room descriptions from Location, Location Location!:

“The door to the Fattening Cage is an unsavory discovery in the bowels of Puzzle Clubhouse. Undeniably secure yet airy, this portable cell swings in a snug kitchen built of gingerbread and candy! One cannot miss the kitchen’s homey fire beneath the cauldron or the cavernous oven. Those who enter the Fattening Cage (and live to tell the tale) recall motion sickness, regular and substantial feedings, warm buttermilk baths, considerable cackling and the heady scent of cinnamon.”

… and here’s a totally sweet (groan) rendering of the room by Brittany! (still in progress)

Delicious. Or is it?

As we get more comfortable incorporating community content, there will be more ways for you guys to contribute!

That’s enough horror for one day. Come back again soon!

If you dare.

Animation Update!

Hey PCH folks!

The animation for episode 2 is finished! Woohoo! Right under the wire again, too. We had tried out a new method for doing the animatics this cycle.

Instead of the traditional method of timing out the storyboard panels, I tried to make an editable animatic file in Flash with the actual character projects, to kind of condense the animatics/animation keyposing steps into 1.

It may have turned to be more trouble than it was worth, though, we had a ton of timing changes with this episode that would have gotten ironed out quicker the traditional way.

Oh well… we’re still getting the hang of this thing!

No time for a breather now, either… today I get to start on the character designs for episode 2’s special guest character! 

It was a lot of fun incorporating all of the community’s garden elements and gnome designs into the world for this episode, so I can’t wait to see what gets in for episode 2!