By Quintin Smith on February 10th, 2011 at 8:19 am.
Paris-based indie dev Brain Candy has announced Fray, and by the sounds of things Frozen Synapse will soon have some competition. Fray will be a “turn-based, multiplayer, real-time strategy game” where players issue orders to their squad of four simultaneously, then these actions play out in real time. No screenshots at present, but I have located a couple of positive signs. First, check out this art. You’ll notice it’s labelled “Light Armour”. Light?! Well, okay. And there’s also an entertaining video of the Brain Candy guys making use of the motion capture tech over at Quantic Dreams.
If Quantic Dreams is ringing bells for you, they made Heavy Rain, Fahrenheit and David Bowie special Omikron: The Nomad Soul. Anyway, I like this video a lot. Indie developers get access to Motion Capture tools, and what happens? They make fun of the team-member wearing the suit, of course. “Aren’t you a cutie!” “It itches.”
You actually learn a lot about motion capture from this that I can’t imagine you seeing in any AAA marketing, like that the mo-capture suit is actually quite hard to move in, or the way they fake weapon recoil and explosions. Take a look.
10/02/2011 at 08:42 Dr_Nick says:
My ears!!
10/02/2011 at 08:45 pupsikaso says:
Too many big studious have really poisonous and unhealthy atmosphere that there’s no wonder the games that end up being made are horrible. But these guys seem to know how to enjoy themselves doing the work so let’s hope that gets translated well into the actual game.
10/02/2011 at 09:07 zimbabwe says:
“Describe how motion capture works”
“… you put some white dots onto the guy … and you have like 1000 cameras … and the guy walks around … I don’t know how it works.”
Win.
At the risk of sounding uncultured the last minute and a half reminded me of winning a round at Peggle.
10/02/2011 at 09:16 Quintin Smith says:
Haha. I found the shot where they try to wrench him to the side and accidentally dismantle his outfit pretty perfect.
10/02/2011 at 09:22 DJ Phantoon says:
It’s light armor, because the heavy armor is just a mech.
10/02/2011 at 09:38 Shadowcat says:
I’m pretty sure it’s called light armour because of the light.
10/02/2011 at 09:23 Scott Kevill says:
The escalator at the end was my favourite part. :)
10/02/2011 at 09:41 NikRichards says:
I’m kinda interested in this, loved the idea of frozen synapse but I stopped playing it pretty quickly.
…Wonder if I’m still on the scoreboard :p
10/02/2011 at 09:54 SneakyB says:
They don’t take themselves seriously but the game has a serious potential. I hope they hold the distance and deliver the goods.
Are they a frog’s leap away from success or doomed to a cheesy end ? (sorry about that…)
10/02/2011 at 09:57 tomeoftom says:
That was so hilarious.
10/02/2011 at 10:24 Subject 706 says:
Looks like it has great potential. But I want singleplayer!
10/02/2011 at 10:48 Xercies says:
Aww i wish we could use the motion capture in our uni now
10/02/2011 at 11:13 BooleanBob says:
In what manner of accent is that headline supposed to work, Quinns? I’m thinking thick Norn Iron.
10/02/2011 at 11:19 Quintin Smith says:
It totally works! I’ll buy that fer a dollar.
10/02/2011 at 13:30 adonf says:
More metapuns please.
10/02/2011 at 22:46 Dances to Podcasts says:
Don’t worry, Quinns, I got it. :)
10/02/2011 at 11:31 Sunjumper says:
The video apparently contains music from Sony Music Entertainment (which in part is owned by the Bertelsmann AG) and is not avilable in my country. (Germany)
Many thanks Bertelsmann you have stopped me from unwittingly turning into an passive aural pirate.
10/02/2011 at 12:50 Norskov says:
This worked for me: http://www.indiedb.com/games/fray/videos/fray-motion-capture-making-of
10/02/2011 at 11:37 Corrupt_Tiki says:
Wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be, but I have to admit that I giggled like a little girl when I saw the advanced recoil simulator in action. :3
EDIT: I hope this team get some good luck with their game, not up my ally but the best to them anyways!
10/02/2011 at 12:03 karry says:
“multiplayer”
Not interested.
10/02/2011 at 12:36 Peter Milley says:
“turn-based” <- I know what this means.
"real-time" <- I know what this means.
"A turn-based…real-time strategy game" <- I do not know what this means.
10/02/2011 at 13:56 BrainCandy_Yshaana says:
At first we were going for a “real-time action turn based massively multiplayer cooperative strategy plateformer shooter with puzzle game elements”, but we thought people would have been confused…
So we stipped it down a bit. But I agree that the definition above is still a bit confusing so let’s call it a “Simultaneous Turn Based Strategy” game :)
10/02/2011 at 21:33 subedii says:
Oh cool, I take it you’re one of the devs?
Anyway, it basically means each person plans out their turn, then tell the game to execute them. When both moves are recorded, the turns play out simultaneously, in real time.
A good example of that is the aforementioned Frozen Synapse. You plan your turn out (which is actually a plan of action for five seconds). Your opponent does the same. You both submit your turns to the server. When both turns are received, you both see the resulting 5 second segment play out in real time. Then the next turn starts.
10/02/2011 at 13:11 utharda says:
It’s like the old US football games, from very early on when you’d select plays, and then watch things play out at the end of your turn.
Or its not.
10/02/2011 at 13:23 SneakyB says:
Well like Frozen synapse as mentionned: players plans their moves in turn, then watch what happens.
Hmmm didn’t realise I was that slow to type…
11/02/2011 at 00:17 Towercap says:
This sounds a bit too much like Frozen Synapse.
I’m biased, because I LOVE Frozen Synapse.