Hello! I’m vice-vice-Captain Jace Van Kaathoven. I act as the community manager of Sky Pirate Studios, and I also wrote words for Help! I’m Haunted. Right now I have a very sore throat and it hurts to talk, so just read this blog post in the voice of an old, kindly sailor with a gravelly voice. As I speak to you, a smile plays on my thin, weary lips – a humble smile that belies my experiences adrift the seas that my glazed eyes bore witness and my body persevered. “These bones have stories”, I say, my corn-cob pipe bouncing upon my lips between utters. “These old bones have stories to tell”.
Right. Well then. Help! I’m Haunted is coming out soon and we’re all really excited!
From a mere glance at Help! I’m Haunted, its influences and tone are evident: Joey and Kevyn’s original vision has held true throughout the project as a retro homage to Halloween festivities and ‘80s horror movies that delight in their use of innumerable tropes – the flash of lightning that illuminates the windows of the mysterious mansion, punctuated by the discordant keys of a synthesizer and the screech of bats upheld by string. Then an animatronic skeleton pops out and goes “waaaugh!” and you get all scared.
Sorry about the last part, I couldn’t fit it into the analogy. I just wanted to include an animatronic skeleton. You get the picture.
Help! I’m Haunted doesn’t have animatronic skeletons, but it does have green-skeletons-that-are-fire! Who could ask for more.
Everyone at work on Help! I’m Haunted has done an excellent job with creating this tone; Kevyn’s art and animation is, needless to say, perfect for the project; Joey’s level and encounter design evokes the feeling and charm of horror set pieces in the stylings of Konami’s Castlevania, while Rob’s music ties it all together in spectacular, chip-synth fashion. Based on these factors, I wanted to write flavour-text based on this pre-established tone. Nothing too complicated – primarily light-hearted jokery that evokes the spooky, referential nature of the game. Think the taglines on the front of a Goosebumps book and you’ve got about the right idea.
Unfortunately, “Reader beware! You’re in for a Cool Fun Time!” is not nearly as catchy a tagline.
Despite the tone of Help! I’m Haunted being created through the implementation of cheesy horror clichés, locales and beasties, I think you can see a lot of our own personality as a studio in the game as well. Due to the compact nature of Sky Pirate Studios, game development is a very collaborative process. One day, Joey can suggest “Hey, it would be super cool if we had x in the game”, and we’ll make it happen, or I can suggest the inclusion of a certain character and that can happen as well. This is not to say that our games do not have direction, but rather the opposite – our hope is to work together to create shared visions of games we want to play. And we hope you’ll want to play them as well.
Until next time!