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Location, location: The Farm

Way, way back in the dawns of this blog I did a quick run through on one of Zogma’s locations; the hospital. As we are point blank before release I thought now might be a good time to touch on another – The Farm. Here is the in original game description I whipped up:

Nothing much used to rise around here, other than the corn that is…
The spill at the local Plant change all that though. The dead are up and about and are more rowdy than a bunch of good ole boys after the rodeo. Pitty they also seem hungrier than a spring hog.
The Clayton brothers have headed out to Aunt Maud’s. They’ve boarded the place up and mean to do their best to stay out of the food chain.

Nothing much used to rise around here, other than the corn that is…

The spill at the local Plant change all that though. The dead are up and about and are more rowdy than a bunch of good ole boys after the rodeo. Pitty they also seem hungrier than a spring hog.

The Clayton brothers have headed out to Aunt Maud’s. They’ve boarded the place up and mean to do their best to stay out of the food chain.

For this level we pictured a typical, even clichéd part of small town USA overrun by the risen dead. You know the type of town. It’s the one where the quarterback’s father died at Khe Sanh and now he juggles his college ball aspirations (though he secretly wants to be a poet), his cheerleader girlfriend and his part time job that pays to keep Dad’s Mustang on the road.
The Farm

The level itself is set out on a farm (hence the name strangely), where a bunch of survivors have holed up awaiting help that just aint coming.  As they desperately wait for the welcome thump of a gunship’s rotors they begin to notice their recently dead friends and relatives shambling towards them across the mown cornfield…

So grab your shotgun, chuck Wichita Lineman on the record player and put those undead down like you would a mad dog!

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Countdown to the Apocalypse

Well the FINAL count down has finally begun (cue Europe). With submission aside it’s only a few more days until Zogma officially hits the “shelves” and total anarchy breaks out!

Zogma: The Tactical Zombie Survival Simulator represents the collective effort of  a number of individuals, the gaming community, friends, family and everyone else who’s contributed over the last 5 months. Has it been worth it? Hell yeah, but ultimately that’s for you guys to decide!

We set out to develop an addictive game, immediately accessible to both hardcore and casual gamer alike. The game had to have style, flair and a fair whack of attitude, all under 10mb (good things come in small packages). We feel we’ve achieved our goal quite nicely :) .

So get ready guys, those undead aren’t going to kill themselves now…

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Zogma has been submitted!

That’s right people, the apple of Jumbo’s eye is now officially in the hands of the iStore reviewers!

So tell your family, friends, workmates, nemesis, whatever - to get ready for some awesome zombie slaying action…

For us here at Jumbo, Zogma has been a brutal hard slog over six months of burning the midnight oil and working on Sundays; a day clearly meant for drinking…

So how do we feel to have reached this point? Well the coders and marketing types are obviously incapable of feeling – but I am pretty nervous. We have worked so hard, run surveys with our friends and family, undone entire parts of the game; all to get it working the way we want – and we are really, really proud of our baby!

So why the nervousness?? The thing is I just want everyone else to like it too!!

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Tools for the Job: Grenades

Unless you are the busty blonde that dies right at the start, pretty much all players of Zogma will pretty quickly realise that his or her guns just don’t put out enough damage to stop the undead.  This is where grenades are your best friend. Believe me, there is nothing like a well placed frag grenade to make a group of zombies wish they had stayed dead the first time.

In even better news, to increase your booom a frugal player is also able to upgrade their grenade type twice. Firstly to a tasty nail bomb and secondly a…. well I better leave something to be found in the game!

Grenades also open up a few extra strategies; for instance is it worth taking a few shotguns? Sure they don’t do a heap of damage… but they will let you keep the recently dead away with their knockback until your grenade cool down has popped.  I’d go on and on, but Zogma is getting close to release and soon you can all find out for yourselves!

Grenade

Sunday, January 10th, 2010