A week of tweaks

So we hit our deadline to get everything into the DLC by Wednesday night -- and now we're taking a little longer to test and polish.  Our Cert date is scheduled for October 4, and it feels like we're in pretty good shape.  If everything goes smoothly, the game should be ready for download about 3 weeks after that -- maybe even sooner!

This is actually my second-favorite phase in the development cycle:  You've got all your content in, everything works, you COULD ship with what you have -- and then you have just a little more time to play it, turn it back and forth, polish off rough edges here and there, and look for any and all ways to subtly improve it.  

When I tell people I work for a video game company, and they say, "Oh so you get to sit around playing games all day?" -- well of course not.  But this last polish phase is the closest we ever come to that shining ideal.

Of course, we still have to work with what we have and there are about a million things I wish we'd had time to do -- but I'm proud of what we've got and I think people are really going to like it. 

So sleepy....

Pulled an all nighter on Tuesday night getting ready for our pre-certification build for the Tempest Pack HTH DLC.  First one in a long time.  Came in around 7am Tuesday, worked until about 2am, slept on the couch at work for about 4 hours, and then just got up, made some coffee, sat down at the computer and started working again until about 10pm when we finished the build.

About halfway through the day I ran over to the local Ross dress for less and bought some Tshirts, socks and a new pair of shorts ($8.50!!) because I smelled terrible.  Like, gym socks terrible.

Not that I'm any kind of game developer Rambo or anything.  I have friends who have (recent) war stories about working 16 hour days, 7 days a week, for 4 months straight.  

I'm pointing it out more because it's relatively unusual for me.  But even when you're running your own company, crunch time is kind of unavoidable.   We scheduled HTH and the DLC well, but you always get to that point where the cutoff date is approaching and there's a long list of stuff you really want to try and squeeze in just to make it a little bit better.

At least when its your own company, you don't feel like your doing it because somebody told you to.  You're doing it for the love.  At least that's what you tell yourself when you sit down at the computer at 6am with couch-cushion marks on your face.

Hope you like the DLC!  There's a little bit of my very own stinky sock smell in it.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane “Tempest Pack” Splashes Down in October

Downloadable content pack adds more tracks, more boats, more water-soaked goodness 

Microsoft Game Studios and developer Vector Unit today announced the “Tempest Pack”, a downloadable expansion pack for the Xbox LIVE^® Summer of Arcade hit Hydro Thunder Hurricane, available for download on Xbox LIVE^® Marketplace for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in October 2010.

The Tempest Pack will include three brand new racing environments, two new Expert-class rocket-powered speedboats, a slew of new boat skins for existing boats, as well as new Championship, Ring Master and Gauntlet events.

New tracks include the volcanic ruins of Atlantis, the hurricane-whipped waters of the Bermuda Triangle, and a medieval obstacle course packed with exploding barrels and interactive cannons known as Castle Von Boom.

“The new environments are all about ratcheting up the level of insanity,” says Creative Director Matt Small. “The weather is stormier, the waves are bigger, and the levels are packed with more interactive obstacles and more potential for chaos and destruction. That’s what puts the tempest in Tempest Pack.”

The DLC also adds two new Expert level boats to the pantheon of Hydro Thunder favorites. Whiplash is a futuristic cross between a v-hulled speedboat and a Formula 1 race car, while Psyclone is a souped-up flat-bottomed fan-boat. “You can tell from looking at the Leaderboards that Rad Hazard was the boat to beat in Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Whiplash and Psyclone give Rad Hazard a run for its money.”

But the new vehicles don’t stop there. As an added bonus, developer Vector Unit is including supercharged versions of the six Novice and Pro boats available in the base game, bringing the total number of playable Expert class boats to 11.

“To be competitive on the Leaderboards and in online races you need to be driving an Expert boat,” explains Ralf Knoesel, Vector Unit’s Technical Director. “The ships you unlock early in Hurricane are designed to be accessible to new players, so they’re easier to handle and a little slower. But we know a lot of fans have favorites in the Novice and Pro classes like Damn the Torpedoes and Tidal Blade. With the Tempest Pack you can drive any boat you want at the highest levels of competition.”

All new and existing boats get new unlockable skins, including paint schemes for Banshee and Rad Hazard designed by the winners of the Design-A-Skin Video Contest hosted by Vector Unit in August.

The Tempest Pack also adds three Gamerscore-boosting Achievements, Ring Master and Gauntlet courses for all new levels, and three new Championships. Exact release date and pricing will be announced at a later date.

Vector Unit 4, Mice 0

Working late tonight getting ready for our DLC pre-certification build later this week.  Ralf and I both in the office, cranking away, testing...all of a sudden we hear a SNAP!

Sure 'nuff:  One more mouse, fresh caught.  

Sigh, that's life in the ghetto.  I bet the hallways of big shiny companies like Zynga aren't crawling with rats ... Oh, wait ....

SNAP!

Quote of the day

Great competitive late-night online HTH session with a couple of guys on LIVE last night.  The host had been online for a while -- his score in the lobby was up over 400 points when I joined, so he must've been playing for at least a hour already, and we played for another hour and a half or so.  He was a solid host, too -- changed up the map every race and kicked any new player who wasn't on task.

I love playing online with people who don't know I work for the developer -- it's great fun talking about the game and hearing people's unfiltered comments.  Plus it's just really gratifying to watch fans having fun with it.   Makes all those late nights feel worthwhile.

The host was playing consistently with Razorback.  My favorite quote of the evening:

 "Any douchebag can win with Rad Hazard."

Squeak. Snap.

Last week I was in the office early plugging away on the DLC, and out of the corner of my eye I saw this quick movement across the floor.  I looked over and saw a good-sized mouse booking it across the carpet; he ran behind a bookshelf and disappeared.

So last Friday afternoon we put out some traps around the baseboards of the office.  You know, the traditional wood and metal snap-traps.  I know people are always trying to reinvent the mouse trap but the word on the street (OK, the word on Google) is that the old skool kind still work best.  

When I came in after the weekend, guess what?  I found not one -- not two -- but THREE trapped mice.  I felt a little bad about it, but trust me, mice are cute in pictures but having them use your office for a romper room is...well, kind of nasty.

The thing is, we don't have little mouse holes in our baseboards or anything.  It looks like they're probably coming in under the front door -- there's a little gap about 1/2 inch high leading out into the hallway.  I guess this is the downside of having two restaurants downstairs (Chinese and Mexican).  The upside is sometimes the hallway smells like Taco Chow Mein.

We Have a Winner (or Two!)

Vector Unit is pleased to announce the winners of the Hydro Thunder Hurricane Design-A-Skin Video Contest:  Adam DeLoach and Brian Atkinson.

Adam's entry won with the most views on YouTube at the contest close.  He really went the extra mile by cannonballing into a swimming pool with his HTH shout-out.  His striped-eel skin design will appear as an option for Rad Hazard in the upcoming DLC pack.

For our hand-picked winner, the choice was difficult.  We received a lot of creative and enthusiastic entries, but we particularly liked the one-two punch of Brian's echo-chamber shout-out and his cool sounding skin idea.  We'll be adding his winged dragon design for Banshee in the DLC.

Bonus Prizes!

We are truly impressed with the time and energy Hydro Thunder fans put into this, and to show our appreciation we are extending the bonus prize and awarding a free copy of the upcoming DLC to every one of you who submitted an entry.

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who entered!  We'll see you on the water!

Win Your Custom Boat Skin in Hydro Thunder Hurricane

UPDATE:  The Design-A-Skin contest is now closed.  We will be announcing the winners shortly.  Thanks.

Vector Unit announces user-generated Design-A-Skin Contest  

San Rafael, CA – August 16, 2010.  Vector Unit, the developer of Hydro Thunder Hurricane announces the Hydro Thunder Hurricane Design-A-Skin Contest:  two winners will each art-direct their own custom boat skin for inclusion in the hit game’s upcoming downloadable expansion pack.

To enter, contestants simply upload a video of themselves to YouTube yelling out the name of the game in the classic Hydro Thunder announcer’s voice, “Hydroooo Thunnnnderrrr HURRICAAANE!”, and describe the skin they’d like to see for their favorite boat.

On August 23, two winners will be selected to make their mark on Hydro Thunder history by having their custom skin idea created for the boat of their choice.  Each winner will also receive a code for a free copy of the downloadable content pack when it becomes available early this fall.

“Every Hydro Thunder fan has his or her favorite boat,” says Vector Unit’s Creative Director Matt Small.  “We’ve received such enthusiastic feedback from players about the online game, including tons of ideas for new skins -- how they’d love to have an all-platinum Razorback, or an old timey wooden Damn the Torpedoes.  We figured, why not make it a contest and see what people come up with?”

“The best part is, you don’t have to be an artist to enter this contest.  Just describe what you want, and if you win we make it.  Then you get to play against friends and online in your very own boat skin.  All you need is some love for the game and a little imagination.”

A full description of the contest and rules about how to enter is available on Vector Unit's website atwww.vectorunit.com/hth-contest.  A video announcement of the contest is also available on Vector Unit's YouTube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/vectorunit.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane is the official sequel to the classic Midway hit Hydro Thunder, and is a Summer of Arcade selection available for download exclusively on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE Arcade.  In addition to single player game modes like Race, Ring Master, and Championship, the game supports a thriving multiplayer community with 8 player online matches, 4 player split screen, and support for local split-screen plus online in combination.

Pit Your Skills Against the Vector Unit Team, Sunday 8/15

Members of the Vector Unit team will be playing Hydro Thunder Hurricane on Xbox LIVE on Sunday, August 15, from 5-8pm ET (2-5pm PT).

Come join us for some boostalicious fun!  Try your hand against the makers of the game in Races and Rubber Ducky games.  Hook up your headset for good natured smack talk, or to ask questions about the making of the game and strategy hints!

Details below:

Game with Developers Details