Alien Hominid Interview
We perform a little Q&A of our own with the producer of Alien Hominid
Tags: Alien Hominid Categories: Features, Game Cube Features, PS2 Features
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 30th, 2004
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Recently we had the chance to pose a few questions to John Baez, Producer of Alien Hominid and co-founder of the Behemoth. Tom Fulp is founder of Newgrounds.com, where the original Flash game was hosted and is the lead programmer for Alien Hominid. Also working on the new version is Dan Paladin who did a lot of hand drawings to give the game its looks.
Naturally, talk centered on the game that the folks there are working on. A little title called Alien Hominid for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube.
DEN: So, what is Alien Hominid about?
John Baez: Alien Hominid is a new type of console video game which blends hand drawn graphics with evolved 2D gameplay on today’s gaming consoles. This mixture brings a sense of craftsmanship and personality back to video gaming. The story is purposefully simple…lose your space ship; embark on a hero’s journey to get it back. If you are a good shot and persistent, there will be a happy ending. 
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It started life as a web based game, and now it’s hitting consoles. What is different from what people have already played? How are you making it different?
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So much has changed since its early web prototype days that a better question would be what has stayed the same. The game still possesses all the phrenetic action of the prototype and the stylish hand drawn look. Other than that, it is all new and improved, both in game play and game graphics. Here are some examples of new things we’ve done: the backgrounds ooze with parallax. Shrapnel scatters all over the screen. The explosions are (in our opinions) the greatest hand-animated explosions to ever grace a television screen. Some of the bosses are so huge that we need to zoom out the camera to show them in their entirety (it’s a cool feature, kinda like the scaling in Samurai Showdown).
We’ve made 16 hot levels, complete with mini-bosses and main-bosses. We’ve brought back all the old favorites from the web game and thrown in tons more. This game is overflowing with enemies, and they come armed to the teeth.
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Oh yeah, it has a multi-player option and difficulty is set on a per controller basis.
We’ll get to the multiplayer in a minute, but first, can you tell me a little bit about those different levels – the different environments and game play challenges they might provide?
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When designs for the initial levels of the console version of Alien Hominid began to take shape we noticed that there was potential for a lot of variety. We didn’t want to create game which was the same type of game play rehashed for the entirety of the experience. Instead, we used the variety which was beginning to emerge to create a varied landscape of game play experiences. So in Alien Hominid you’ll find a lot of straight up run and gun action, but you’ll also find a few puzzle games and a few platform type levels which keep the action moving while allowing a good break. Also, when you get in your spaceship the game play changes a lot with full movement in all directions and a new HUD.
We’ve purposely taken the player to different areas on the globe to reinforce the action with interesting bosses. So for example, the crowd pleasing Hammer and Sickle boss is actually a large USSR flag that has come to life to pound the life out of you. In another area of the game, the destruction of a nuclear power plant brings to life the pudding boss who will eat you alive!
All in all our aim was to keep the player glued to their couch with great game play by Tom Fulp and great visuals by Dan Paladin.
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Aside from the full game of Alien Hominid, the game also ships with a number of mini games which are unlocked by doing certain things in the main game. One of these games is the PDA mini games, over 200 survival levels you can play with up to 3 other people. These are the games the Hominid plays on his long space flights across the galaxy.
As play progresses, will there be new abilities or weapons that are unlocked?
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Well, you’ll unlock a lot of cool things in Alien Hominid, but new abilities won’t be among them. Because the game has such high replayability, Tom decided you should be able to access all the cool powerups and abilities from the get go. But you will be able to use cool new vehicles as you progress through the game. Besides, you wouldn’t want to have to wait till level 3-2 to be able to backflip player 2 over your head to get out of a tight spot would you?
Speak to the multiplayer aspects of Alien Hominid if you could please.
Alien Hominid will be the most fun two players can have with a console this Fall.
Period.
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The game features jump in anytime multiplayer action complete with variable difficulty on a per controller basis. You can drive vehicles together, fly in your spaceship together and blast stuff to smithereens together. If that isn’t enough for you, you can always bring your buds over for four player mini-game action. With over 200 levels of mini-games you and your friends aren’t likely to get much work or studying done, but you will have supported a small independent developer by purchasing our game.
Tell me a bit about the style of Alien Hominid.
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Alien Hominid is a collectors piece of artwork principally drawn by one artist, Dan Paladin. What is revealed within our game graphics is a counter to the multitude of hyper real 3D games which are more about technology than connecting with the player in a meaningful way. To put it another way, you don’t go to an art gallery to see the latest picture frame technology do you? No, you go to see the message that single artist is expressing with his art. The style of Alien Hominid is invigorating, it is fresh, it makes everyone laugh and most people have lost up to 10 pounds after playing the game or had their male pattern baldness cured.
Baldness? That’s good enough for me! When does it come out?
It was at this time that the earth opened up and swallowed John up. Have no fear, for the game is well underway, so much so that that it is currently scheduled to arrive in stores October 19.
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Tags: Alien Hominid
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 30th, 2004 and is filed under Features, Game Cube Features, PS2 Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
