Archive for month: April, 2017
Audio Companion: A Crossfade to Terror
Whenever I get into a game, I mean REALLY into a game, all I can do is think about that particular game. It goes beyond that actually. Take for instance, Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. After having played Assassin’s Creed III, I was actually turned off to the series; I had the feeling that it was simply rehashing a tried and tested method, and after playing the first and second one, the third installment felt stale.
I probably wouldn’t have gotten AC: Black Flag if it hadn’t been on sale for a pittance on a steam sale, and boy am I glad. I mean, it’s about pirates! Who doesn’t like pirates?! With sword fights, sea shanties and shark huntin’, well, ya can’t go wrong.
So while I was playing it, I realized that they had a pretty slick companion app. Among the extra lore and treasure maps that you can find on the app, you can interact with the main game on a meta level. Once you capture ships in game, you can then use the companion app to send them on missions, secure routes and collect cargo and currency which you can then use in the main game. So, basically, if I wasn’t playing the main game, I’d pop on the app and run missions from the confines of my comfy bed!
Of course, the immersion didn’t stop there, oh no. All the while, I was watching the TV show Black Sails, which is set roughly two decades before the events of Treasure Island, during the Golden Age of Piracy.
You see where I’m going with this? Yeah, it’s all about immersion. Living, breathing, eating shitting pirates. That was my thing for a while. Don’t judge me.
Anyways, I digress.
When it comes to Cold Comfort, we were thinking of how we could enhance the experience for players. (Yes, we’re working on a companion app! Shhhhh! More on that in a later post). I’ve been doing professional voice over work for over 25 years, and for 5 of those years, I owned and operated a game localzation studio, so when it comes to audio, at least game audio and voices, I know a bit of what I’m talking about.
It seemed like a no-brainer to put together an audio play that takes place in the world of Cold Comfort.
In order to realize this endeavor, we got in touch with my good pal, Jared Gniewek who is a New York City based author and editor of short fiction, comic book and radio scripts.
His work includes “Bridge to Nowhere”, “Kid Tested, Mother Approved” from Tales from the Crypt, and Surrounded by Monsters (which for the sake of full disclosure, I produced). In addition to being an author, he’s also a graphic artist. As if that wasn’t enough…Jared is also an avid Karaoke fan check out his “Scary-Oke” website here, as well as his comic stip entitled “Gamer’s Guilt” (full disclosure: the site of which I’m a Senior Editor of). If you’re interested in learning more about Jared, and how he ticks, check out the interview that earstage.com had with him here.
Needless to say, we’re super stoked to be working with Jared on the Cold Comfort audio play!
Vyal Trailer: Knowledge
We are a global pharmaceutical company whose goal is to ensure that no patient shall be denied access to high quality & affordable medicine and support.
We have more than 40 years of innovation and leadership in preventative and therapeutic care. This heritage has given us experience and capabilities that also enable us to help people defeat other serious chronic conditions.
The vaccines, medicines and consumer healthcare products that we research and develop can improve people’s health and well-being, ultimately helping them to live life to its fullest and contribute to the prosperity of their communities.
For more information about Vyal, visit their site.
3D Model: Insane
The effects of the Gamma Strain Mutation can vary from case to case. Subjects are stimulus-response creatures that seek flesh, implying that the pathogen has acted to re-animate the existing neural pathways and motor functions in some way. The sensory systems that are re-activated are capable of distinguishing four key elements: flesh vs non-flesh; species, infected vs uninfected. The virus does not create any new systems, but merely hijacks existing ones.
All case studies have shown that contracting the Gamma Strain Mutation (GSM) is terminal. It is presumed, in theory, that the hijacking process can be slowed or even halted with proper medical treatment, although no case studies have been linked to verifiable proof. Vyal Pharmaceuticals is currently working on an antidote for the GSM in their research facility in Upstate New York.
It is assumed that the infection of the medulla oblogata, where most automatic processes are regulated, is what results in cario-pulmonary death, followed shortly by brain-death. Reports vary on re-animation time, from between 5 minutes up to an hour, after brain-death, the medulla is then fully hijacked by the pathogen.
This digital sculpture was done by the extremely talented Andres Rios. You can check out more of his work here, and make sure to follow him on twitter to see his latest work.
Mr. Andres Rios has granted Gamma Minus explicit permission to use his work for promotional purposes.
Concept Art: Angers
Angers Corrections Facility also know as “The Château”was established in 1852 and is the oldest prison in the state of Louisiana. The prison complex sits on Point Angers, which comprises 432 acres (1.75 km2) on the north side of Angers Bay.
Vyal Pharmaceuticals established a remote clinical testing facility under the auspices of the Louisiana Attorney General in January 2022. A number of inmates volunteered* for experimental clinical drug trials whose purpose was to combat the effects of the Gamma Strain epidemic; things however did not go as planned.
The very talented Helge C. Balzer did the concept art.
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