Alebrije Estudios is gaining new Heights with iTorque2D!
by Donald "Yadot" Harris · 09/10/2010 (6:29 pm) · 5 comments
One thing I love about this company is the fact that we are a global organization. So with this interview I wanted to do two things. Number one get the developer interview section back up and running! And show off of some developers from the international community.
Please describe your game company and its history
Alebrije Estudios is a young, fresh and vibrant videogame development company who wants to hit the big road in the video game industry arena. Comprised of a small group of cool, creative people, with multi-disciplinary backgrounds (from Communication experts to Physics Engineers) and the common desire to converge our individual talents to explore creativity and produce entertaining experiences based on technology, and concepts that challenge our own understanding of what is gaming and playing, in what is arguably the most intoxicating and fun industry so far created: the video game industry.
Although we could say that Alebrije's story began a little more than 10 years ago (when most of the founding members met in high school), the actual story began in January, 2007, when a group of friends just getting out of college got together to write an epic novel with fantasy elements and that focused on the wonders of life and the complexities of the world. For a couple of months we worked together several times each week to develop this would-be novel. At some point in March of the same year one of our leaders, Jorge Monterrubio, realized that as a group we could switch our efforts towards the creation of videogames instead of written stories. This switch was the way to go: the idea of Alebrije Estudios was born.
What came next is somewhat a blur: we started to plan, to discuss, to analyze, to create concepts and other things, but we finally came across the business incubator program from the ITESM-Tecnológico de Monterrey, one of the biggest and most important universities in our country, and presented our ideas and team to a panel of experts. Thanks to the potential of the project (and the vitality of the team), we got a green light that came with a 6 month scholarship of business tutoring. After 3 months, the team managed to create a sound business plan and got started on November 11 2007. By the end of the year we had started to create our first technological demo using the XNA framework and started analyzing what technologies to use. By the end of the year we realized Torque was a great tool that could help us in our growth. For us, 2008 was the year of getting our ideas organized, and achieving success in the entrepreneurship arena, and so we did. On March 2008 we participated in the Talent and Innovation Competition (TIC) of the Americas, in Medellin, Colombia, and got the 1st Prize in the Creative Design Award. In August we were finalists in the Global TIC in Taipei, Taiwan and got great reviews on our projects and business plan. Together with those two accomplishments, the Mexican government supported our project with some funding that made the acquisition of software licenses and equipment possible. Finally at the end of 2008, we submitted the story we created 10 years ago, when we were still in high school, to a national contest and won first place, recognizing the studio as one of the most creative teams in Mexico in the video game industry (or at least, in the story telling industry).
Since 2009 we have been focused on the creation of several demos, complete games, and the creation of new IP. We have submitted several projects to numerous contests: Microbiotics into the IGF, IGC and the IndiePub; Heights Beta into the Gama IV competition, receiving great reviews in both. Meanwhile, we have been creating networks and clients for our services: Together with other 11 local companies, we cofounded one of the first clusters in Mexico dedicated to interactive media: the Monterrey Interactive Media and Entertainment Cluster (MIMEC). In March, 2010 we got our first contract for a client for whom we created a full-featured advergame. Finally on May 2010 Heights was released into the iTunes Store. Since then, the studio has been working on a couple of other cool projects for the iPhone and several developments of advergames for Mexican brands.
What is your role in the company?
My role in the company is that of the CEO/Scripter.
Please describe your game in your own words.
Heights is a cool, enchanting vertical platformer with a twist. Instead of directing your every jump tilting your iPhone, like so many other vertical platformers, you rely entirely on your environment which makes every section of your ascent a puzzle to be solved. Giving you a break from all the frantic vertical platformers, we gave "Heights" a relaxing feel: the beautiful music, along with the soothing graphics encircle the overall mood of the game to encourage players to take their time to plan their next move thoroughly.
What makes your game unique?
What makes Heights unique is the sum of all its parts. The game mechanics mixed with the navigation puzzles; the combination of an against-the-clock game without the overall feel of rushing your ascent; the beautiful art mixed with the soothing music: everything in the game says "take your time" which will utterly be more useful than rushing your way to the top.
What was your development process like?
We basically brainstormed while going out for dinner, and came up with the idea of Heights. Our brainstorming was limited to a one button gameplay because we were aiming to submit the game to the Gamma IV one button games competition back in January 2010. So we decided to give the player as much freedom as possible with the vertical jumps, but let them rely on the environment to move sideways. We started brainstorming about ideas around January 15, but didn´t came up with Heights until January 20 or so. Then, we practically created the whole game from scratch in 5 days working around 18 hours a day, from art to programming and music. It was a rough week, but we finished the game just hours before the January 31 deadline. After the submission we saw the potential of the game and decided to port the PC demo to the iPhone. This process took around 2 months, mainly because of optimization issues and a few new features that were added in the iPhone version.
What software/tools did you use to create the game?
In the first months of the startup we decided to use Torque because, it gave us access to a very wide range of platforms and the use of both 2D and 3D with the same scripting base is ideal experience for the team. Before Heights, we worked on a couple of demos. The experience we had with it assured us we would be able to create the game within a week. After the submission we saw the potential of the game and decided to port the PC demo to the iPhone. This process took around 2 months, mainly because of optimization issues and a few new features that were added in the iPhone version.
You can find out more about the game and the studio behind here:
www.alebrije-estudios.com
http://twitter.com/alebrijeest
Please describe your game company and its history
Alebrije Estudios is a young, fresh and vibrant videogame development company who wants to hit the big road in the video game industry arena. Comprised of a small group of cool, creative people, with multi-disciplinary backgrounds (from Communication experts to Physics Engineers) and the common desire to converge our individual talents to explore creativity and produce entertaining experiences based on technology, and concepts that challenge our own understanding of what is gaming and playing, in what is arguably the most intoxicating and fun industry so far created: the video game industry.
Although we could say that Alebrije's story began a little more than 10 years ago (when most of the founding members met in high school), the actual story began in January, 2007, when a group of friends just getting out of college got together to write an epic novel with fantasy elements and that focused on the wonders of life and the complexities of the world. For a couple of months we worked together several times each week to develop this would-be novel. At some point in March of the same year one of our leaders, Jorge Monterrubio, realized that as a group we could switch our efforts towards the creation of videogames instead of written stories. This switch was the way to go: the idea of Alebrije Estudios was born.
What came next is somewhat a blur: we started to plan, to discuss, to analyze, to create concepts and other things, but we finally came across the business incubator program from the ITESM-Tecnológico de Monterrey, one of the biggest and most important universities in our country, and presented our ideas and team to a panel of experts. Thanks to the potential of the project (and the vitality of the team), we got a green light that came with a 6 month scholarship of business tutoring. After 3 months, the team managed to create a sound business plan and got started on November 11 2007. By the end of the year we had started to create our first technological demo using the XNA framework and started analyzing what technologies to use. By the end of the year we realized Torque was a great tool that could help us in our growth. For us, 2008 was the year of getting our ideas organized, and achieving success in the entrepreneurship arena, and so we did. On March 2008 we participated in the Talent and Innovation Competition (TIC) of the Americas, in Medellin, Colombia, and got the 1st Prize in the Creative Design Award. In August we were finalists in the Global TIC in Taipei, Taiwan and got great reviews on our projects and business plan. Together with those two accomplishments, the Mexican government supported our project with some funding that made the acquisition of software licenses and equipment possible. Finally at the end of 2008, we submitted the story we created 10 years ago, when we were still in high school, to a national contest and won first place, recognizing the studio as one of the most creative teams in Mexico in the video game industry (or at least, in the story telling industry).
Since 2009 we have been focused on the creation of several demos, complete games, and the creation of new IP. We have submitted several projects to numerous contests: Microbiotics into the IGF, IGC and the IndiePub; Heights Beta into the Gama IV competition, receiving great reviews in both. Meanwhile, we have been creating networks and clients for our services: Together with other 11 local companies, we cofounded one of the first clusters in Mexico dedicated to interactive media: the Monterrey Interactive Media and Entertainment Cluster (MIMEC). In March, 2010 we got our first contract for a client for whom we created a full-featured advergame. Finally on May 2010 Heights was released into the iTunes Store. Since then, the studio has been working on a couple of other cool projects for the iPhone and several developments of advergames for Mexican brands.
What is your role in the company?
My role in the company is that of the CEO/Scripter.
Please describe your game in your own words.
Heights is a cool, enchanting vertical platformer with a twist. Instead of directing your every jump tilting your iPhone, like so many other vertical platformers, you rely entirely on your environment which makes every section of your ascent a puzzle to be solved. Giving you a break from all the frantic vertical platformers, we gave "Heights" a relaxing feel: the beautiful music, along with the soothing graphics encircle the overall mood of the game to encourage players to take their time to plan their next move thoroughly.
What makes your game unique?
What makes Heights unique is the sum of all its parts. The game mechanics mixed with the navigation puzzles; the combination of an against-the-clock game without the overall feel of rushing your ascent; the beautiful art mixed with the soothing music: everything in the game says "take your time" which will utterly be more useful than rushing your way to the top.
What was your development process like?
We basically brainstormed while going out for dinner, and came up with the idea of Heights. Our brainstorming was limited to a one button gameplay because we were aiming to submit the game to the Gamma IV one button games competition back in January 2010. So we decided to give the player as much freedom as possible with the vertical jumps, but let them rely on the environment to move sideways. We started brainstorming about ideas around January 15, but didn´t came up with Heights until January 20 or so. Then, we practically created the whole game from scratch in 5 days working around 18 hours a day, from art to programming and music. It was a rough week, but we finished the game just hours before the January 31 deadline. After the submission we saw the potential of the game and decided to port the PC demo to the iPhone. This process took around 2 months, mainly because of optimization issues and a few new features that were added in the iPhone version.
What software/tools did you use to create the game?
In the first months of the startup we decided to use Torque because, it gave us access to a very wide range of platforms and the use of both 2D and 3D with the same scripting base is ideal experience for the team. Before Heights, we worked on a couple of demos. The experience we had with it assured us we would be able to create the game within a week. After the submission we saw the potential of the game and decided to port the PC demo to the iPhone. This process took around 2 months, mainly because of optimization issues and a few new features that were added in the iPhone version.
You can find out more about the game and the studio behind here:
www.alebrije-estudios.com
http://twitter.com/alebrijeest
#2
09/10/2010 (11:54 pm)
I really like Heights, but what got me the most was the tranquil music and sfx. Could listen to it all day, heh. Nice job! 
#3
09/11/2010 (8:58 pm)
good....I am #3 
#4
09/13/2010 (11:05 pm)
Thank you so much for your comment, Konrad. I'm really happy to hear that the music and sfx help you relax while you play the game! :D 
#5
If you liked this game, you might like Abduction for Android.
abductiongame.wordpress.com/
09/16/2010 (1:12 am)
Good job.If you liked this game, you might like Abduction for Android.
abductiongame.wordpress.com/
Torque 3D Owner Alexandre Ribeiro de Sa
Reminds me of some older games for MSX :D