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The Zombie Game Experiment Wants You!
Looking for a unique way to try your hand in elementary game design, all the while helping out a good cause? Then the Zombie Game Experiment wants you.
So what is this Zombie Game Experiment all about? It’s just that, an experiment in game design with zombies taking center stage. A community game development project, the folks behind ZGE are allowing the public to help design a game alongside industry professionals, concurrently raising funds and awareness for a good cause. A fourth of all donations and final game revenue will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, a leader in the fight against Parkinson’s disease.
Getting involved is simple. Currently, the game is in pre-production. Once the team has reached their fundraising goal of 15K, the development process will start in full. New members are required to donate a minimum of one dollar to the development pot, with ten dollars netting you the game when finished and your community username in the credits.
With the donation comes the power to weigh in on major design decisions and a chance to see behind the scenes during the development process. Through forum discussions, user generated poles and IRC chat, brainstorming sessions are constantly going on with the development team. The game info page is still being fleshed out, with the plot, theme and game type still being decided by the community. Right now the focus seems to be on deciding between an isometric or top-down perspective, with the designers providing the community with concept art of both approaches.
Several industry names are attached to the project already. Heading up sound design is Andrew Lackey, most recently known for his work on Spore and Dead Space. Aaron Rosenberg is also on board to help flesh out the story, using his experience as scribe for novels based on World of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons and Starcraft properties. Jonathan Coulton of Portal’s “Still Alive” fame rounds out the list, licensing the song “Your Brains” to the production.
Still in its infancy, the project is off to a decent start. As of this morning, $1,265.27 has been raised. As noted, the team’s goal is to top out at $15K. If the team fails to meet the goal in an allotted period of time, all donations will be refunded to community members.
Interested in getting your hands dirty in some basic game design? You can learn more about the Zombie Game Experiment here.
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