Gesundheit!

Started by Matt Hammill, Wed 15/11/2006 01:13:47

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Matt Hammill

UPDATE JULY 19, 2011: Gesundheit! coming to iOS

Now that this has started to pop up on a couple sites, I'm relieved that I can finally talk about it! Um, a rather large update/change--Gesundheit! is being published by Konami soon for iPhone/iPad!

I realize it's been a very very long time since I've updated, so here's the backstory: Late last year/early this year, things were going swell with the AGS build of Gesundheit!, and just for fun I passed a beta to this iOS dev studio called Revolutionary Concepts, who I'd worked with previously. We started bouncing ideas back and forth about what a hypothetical iOS version might look like... and pretty soon after that it just happened that there was some time in both our schedules to actually start making it.

At this point I was still planning to finish the iOS and PC versions maybe around the same time, but the iOS version quickly expanded into all my available time. We basically rebuilt the game from the ground up. It was great working with the devs--having actual programmers handling the programming on iOS freed me up to focus 100% on design and art stuff, which was awesome. I got to redo high-res animation from the original scans, make new maps, environments, cutscenes, and other stuff like that. And then Konami came on board as publisher... Anyway, now it's gotten to the point where the iOS version far outshines the PC one, and I'm not entirely sure what my plans are for the PC build. I've put it on hold for now, and it's going to take some figuring out.

At the moment I'm still crunching in prep for the iOS launch (it'll be out really soon!) but I wanted to post an update here, and also to say thanks to everyone in the forums who have kept me going over the years with their interest in this game!

---

In Gesundheit!, you're an allergic little pig who sneezes yummy green snot, which you use to lure evil booger-eating monsters into traps--all while trying to avoid being eaten yourself. The graphics are a combo of handmade illustrations and digital animation, and there's an original instrumental soundtrack with xylophones and recorders and kazoos and other fun stuff.






auriond

That looks really interesting, and even quite cute. :)

Though the idea of yummy snot makes me wince. xD

Vince Twelve

This looks excellent.  I hope it's as fun to play as it is to look at!  Good luck with this!

Candle

Looks good . can't wait to play it.

dsg_charly

Graphic style is cute, very nice. Great job dude. Continue.

Ali

I must say the title led me to expect crude MS Paint scribblings, but this looks amazing! I absolutely love the style, and I'm impressed that you're using anim8or. I couldn't get the hang of its bones.

I love the backdrops, especially the paint-splat trees.

Scummbuddy

I must say, this is one of the most gorgeous and stylistic games I have ever seen. Keep up the great work, have my babies and work with me in the future on games.  ;D
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m0ds

This looks really nice! Looking forward to your demo.

Domino

Welcome to the forums Matt. Yummy Snot looks like it will be one Yummy game. I look forward to test driving the demo when you release it.  Good Luck.

Shawn

gypsysnail

That looks like a fabulous game in the making and I have added it to my wish list and will be looking forward to its release :). I must admit I did feel the same Ali did and thought it might be like that, but when I entered the thread, I was like WOW this is one fabulous looking game and it looks like it will make me think heaps while playing the game :). Keep up the good work!
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Matt Hammill

Haha, thanks all! Maybe I'll downgrade the title to a "working title," though... hehe.
And Ali--yeah, when I was first starting to set up the bones in anim8or, I was getting all these random kneecaps and ears blasting off in crazy directions and stuff. I quickly gave up on the "painting" bone weights thing and just went with those ovals of influence. Good old ovals.
-matt

big brother

Stunning! It's refreshing to see such an original visual style. Keep up the good work! I can't wait to play this.
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TheMagician

Wow, this looks amazing!
I love the style of the graphics and the gameplay sounds refreshingly different  :)

Can't wait to play it.

Just one question: what do you use anim8or for? Is the monster-thing 3D with a toon shader?

Matt Hammill

TheMagician: Thanks! The monster is made out of a bunch of flat shapes... no toon shaders, just simple light from the front.  I drew the shapes in anim8or with the spline tool, and then assigned the scanned textures to each body part. I used bones to make the body curve and the knees bend and stuff. The bones all rotate around the z-axis, so the shapes stay flat (although you could get cool stuff happening if you used all the axes... like Parappa, or something).
-matt

Matt Hammill

#14
UPDATE (Jan 4, 2007):

So I've changed the name of the game from "Yummy Snot" to "Gesundheit," which I think I'll stick with (hmm... or maybe it would look good with an exclamation point, haha). Hopefully the new name is less, uh, stupid-sounding?  :)

Last month I finished the 10-level beta version that I had planned on releasing, but when I passed it around to some friends I learned that the tutorial and the early levels need a bit of tweaking, just to soften the learning curve. I still handed it in for my independent project at school, though, and it seemed to go over well.

Now for some new material. Here's a screenshot from one of the later levels:



And here's the player character:

And here's an mp3 of the title music I recorded with some second-hand instruments (it was good fun): http://www.matthammill.com/files/music1.mp3

Now my goal is to release a demo within the next month or so. Fingers crossed!

EagerMind

This looks like loads of fun, and the opening theme is just killer.

Perhaps you could call it "Phlegmatic"? I kind of liked "Yummy Snot," although I guess it was a bit ... distasteful? :)

Sean

I love the art style!

Keep up the good work, looks quite novel and fun.

The Ivy

This looks fantastic. You should be seriously proud of yourself for the visual style. :) The animations look superb too. That is one carefree little booger.

auriond

Haha! I love the new title. If I saw that on a game box on a shelf I would pick it up out of sheer curiosity - and then after reading the concept and seeing the adorable graphics I would probably head straight for the cashier.  ;D

I think the exclamation point idea is great!

Gesundheit!  :D

big brother

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