Moving Out Monday #39 – Showcase: The Haunted Labyrinth
Hey Movers,
From Shredding Season to a topiarist’s dream, as we are now well into spooky season, this week we bring you: The Haunted Labyrinth!
You can find this vignette nestled amongst some other great moving memories in the Packmore VHS Store.
An homage to a classic – can you tell which? – this labyrinthine level has ghouls a-plenty for you to thwart and avoid!
There’s something particularly satisfying about seeing all those hedges in alignment, and being the professionals that you are, no moving job is too spooky for you to handle!
Until next time, Team SMG, Moving Out!
Moving Out Monday #38 – Showcase: Shredding Season
Hey Movers,
So we made this game, right? There’s equal parts chaos and mayhem and we realised pretty early on that actually, the destructive element of the game was super satisfying...so we made a whole level out of it!
There are lots of fun ways to destroy Packmore boxes. For example, you can fly through the air and tackle those perfectly aligned stacks in one kamikaze shot!
You could take a systematic approach and crush all the stacks in succession. Boom… boooooom…. BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
You can also elicit absolute mayhem by chucking a couch through an orderly but precariously stacked collection of cardboard and watch as the chaos of the universe crushes the tower of once-perfect perfection.
In what fun ways did you demolish all those boxes? Let us know in the comments below!
Until next time, TeamSMG, Moving Out!
Moving Out Monday #37 – Showcase: The Traffic Jam of ‘82
Dear Diary,
7:56am I thought I’d start early today. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I got in my car, cranked up those tunes and then BAM drove right into a traffic jam. It shouldn’t take too long to clear... I hope.
8:23am I think I’ve moved a total of 3 inches. In what? 20 minutes? Please.
8:37 At this rate, it’ll be 1984 before we get mooooooving.
9:02 My boss is gonna roast me. Like it’s my fault!
9:14 I really should have peed before I left.
9:31 Is that someone hauling a couch through traffic? I guess we’ve been here a while…
9:48 Next time I’m taking the bus.
Until next time,
TeamSMG, Moving Out!
Moving Out Monday #36 – Showcase: The Legend of Rake Island
Hello Moving Friends,
Today we bring to you a most thrilling post. An epic tale of mystery and enchantment that sweeps across the ages of both man and mover alike.
We bring you the TALE OF RAKE ISLAND ----the vibrato of the booming voice in your head both delights and astounds you. It also knocks you off your feet. Somehow. Impossibly. It must be a very loud voice indeed.
With every element placed meticulously by hand in the most mind-boggling formation: the very rakey death-trap of despair looms just ahead. Do you have the stamina to survive? The will to succeed? Do you have the patience for an old-school time-and-motion study, my adventure-gaming friend?
We, the creators of the ripping tale were forced to delve deep into the mind of a rake. A dark and lonely road that answered few, but asked many questions. What does a rake see? What does a rake feel? Questions, big questions, with nothing but rakes to answer. Rakes that have no mouths and have no teeth. Rakes with no eyes or ears or any sensory instruments to help us understand at all.
We may have come to the conclusion that rakes, in fact, feel nothing, and isn’t that a lucky thing indeed? Movers, on the other hand, may feel a considerable lot. Things like rakes (that don’t feel) hitting them again and again into oblivion and the sweet succour of unconsciousness. Perhaps the question we should have asked is… what is it that Movers feel?
In an effort to know, for certain, we asked some Movers. But they just used their emotes to kind of sort of a little bit communicate their apparent displeasure. It wasn’t very scientific and overall the results were lacklustre. They did tell us that Rake #17 was their favourite, and that #23 was a real piece of work.
When all is said and done, Rake Island exists in the surrealistic world of dreams and nightmares alike. Do you dare step foot on another rake again?
Until next time,
AdventureTeamSMG, Moving Out!
*No rakes were harmed in the making of this level. Except the ones that were stepped on. They were harmed, I guess.
Moving Out Monday #35 – Showcase: The Boulder Dash
Hey Movers,
Last week we handled the heat in the Flamethrower Factory, but this week we’re running for our lives in The Boulder Dash!
This is hands down our largest level! The scale of it meant there were quite a few technical considerations, but really, like all the Memory levels, the designers wanted to have fun making levels from all the different assets the art team had created for the core game!
It was pretty tough to get the boulder speed jusssssssst right. Our designers had to forge ‘special’ areas along the ravine, making sure there were no friction points, and crates were used to make micro adjustments to the boulder speed too. It was really important that the boulder would roll at a consistent speed whilst still keeping the players on their toes.
Now you can’t run away from a giant boulder rampage without some environmental casualties. To emphasise the danger, a screen shake was a no-brainer! Incoming heavy boulder, rocks crumbling, crates smashing – can you think of a more perfect reason to shake that screen?!
As for some out of the box thinking – unlike in other levels, if a mover gets squished, we prevented them from re-spawning. We wanted to make sure that the last player standing could keep the torch alive!
Last but not least, we’re not sure if you spotted them but there are a bunch of Easter Eggs along the path. Let us know in the comments below if you found any!
Until next time, TeamSMG, Moving Out!
Moving Out Monday #34 – Showcase: Flamethrower Factory
Hey Movers,
Last week we moseyed on down the Packmore River, but this week we’re setting our sights on the Flamethrower Factory!
In this level, our designers really focused on getting players to work together by timing all those lever changes. You have to ask yourself one question. Will you risk it for the biscuit, trying to add one more item, or will you run back to the lever and relative safety? Decisions, decisions!
As for timing… how many items will you cram into that chute? Can you handle the speed lever? That old chestnut – switching between fast and slow modes. If you can handle the heat, speed run it!
Now, we know that it’s pretty easy to get items stuck in this level, so we’ve got you covered. Even though there are lots of challenges loading up hard-edged objects, our designers went to great lengths to create smooth funnels for you. That being said, if you get caught out, there’s a BIG, red, flaming reset button… just in case.
Lastly, if the level is just a bit too hard, you’ve always got the assist mode option to remove the flamethrowers. That way you can just have fun loading up the conveyors with as much stuff as you manage.
As an aside, we’re not sure if you noticed before it drove off but that isn’t reeeallllly a truck! Psych! This is a key story element that leads you onto The Chase!
Until next time, TeamSMG, Moving Out!
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Last week we went into outer space with Contraband Cluster, but this week we’re taking a trip down Packmore River.
A bit of a throwback to a faithful classic, Packmore River has you dodge and jump your way across lanes of traffic AND crocs!
With dangerous cars making their mark in 21 Slick Street, we’ve ramped the danger level right up. There aren’t just a few cars here, there’s a steady stream of them getting right in your way! Be careful!
Our designers made the river just wide enough so that if you’re proper skilful, you can throw the boxes over in one shot! If you’re especially crafty, you can even get some of those heavy objects over without making a full crossing. Genius!
Now you might be wondering, with those perfectly situated bridges in view, why aren’t you using THEM instead? Life is for living, my friend, and it’s way more fun taking the path less travelled, don’t you agree?
Also to clarify – yes, our delivery team do have a park anywhere permit. Packmore permits are pretty easy to come by, but don’t tell anyone we said that.
Until next time, Team SMG, Moving Out
Moving Out Monday #32 – Showcase: Contraband Cluster
Hey Movers,
Last week we went all guava, but this week we’re going Contraband. Cluster, that is!
Known by the team as PLANET DONUT… why? Who knows, really? After scaling cliff-top mansions and hailed haunted houses, the next logical step was to move in SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCEEE!
Having teased you with some floating fun in Neighbourhood Watch HQ, we thought we’d up the ante by cranking up the size of the fans and then making them the focus of the level.
Our designers wanted the fans to be a fun navigation tool to move around the level, but they also wanted them to act as shortcut to move large items rather quickly, should you prove up to the challenge. Do you have the skills?
Now if you’re greedy, you can load up the pitch with as many items as you can muster and when you hit that button you can launch the goods into the truck… or send them spiralling into space.
We had plenty of fun peppering the scene with an assortment of objects to create a mish-mash hobble of a cluttered collection in space, with nods to previous levels. Queue train carriages from The Chase and fountains from Roundabout Mansion, please.
Our artists took the environment to new heights with an epic space setting of distant nebulas and glowing stars.
Lastly, and most importantly… did you see our hidden space explorer? Get your friends together and zoom that camera out just enough to spot our friend.
Until next time,
Team SMG, Moving Out
Moving Out Monday #31 – Showcase: The Floor Is Guava
Hey Movers!
Every week we dive into our process for making Moving Out and this week is no different. Last week we showcased a really unique level - The Chase - but this week we thought we'd jump into the super svelte world of yet another interesting level.
Level names can be a fun opportunity for us and in The Floor Is Guava - see what we did there? - our designers wanted to try something a little different. Unlike in previous levels, you don't really see the full environment right away. Then again, you also don't KNOW that, until you play it. Sneaky, sneaky.
Perhaps in a stroke of genius, we decided we’d hide the item count until the full level is revealed and then BAM! You, the unsuspecting player, see there are a whole lot more items to deliver. You're welcome...
Maybe our designers tricked you, but we didn’t stop there. We also wanted to throw in some other unique elements into the design of the environment. Floating items pepper the scene, and they are definitely interactable. When you land on them - uh-oh, they sink!
Even though the sinking element of the gameplay initially didn’t have a warning, we thought we’d help players out by communicating the sinking mechanism clearly. To do this, we added some visual indicators: warning lights let players know when a platform is going to sink. Now colour is all well and good, but because we didn’t want to rely on a single indicator alone, we dropped some shapes into the mix.
On reflection, this level can be a little tricky, so in the Reduced Danger Mode, we had the ability to slooooow down various elements: the barrel rotates slower and the sinking platforms have a delay so they stick around longer. This makes the level less intimidating and that makes play a whole lot less frantic. Win-win.
Understandably, you probably freaked out when the second half of the level revealed itself. Let us know in the comments below what you thought. Were you shocked? Confused? Excited? We’d love to know!
