The long journey of the apocalyptic game “Usoni” in Africa

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In recent years, Kenya has become a rapidly developing technology center. In 2010, WIRED called it Silicon Prairie.Charles Ogeto, CEO of Pan-African game publisher based in Nairobi, said Ludick Works, The country has up to 20 professional video game studios. He said: “We are still lagging behind South Africa, but as Kenya benefits from affordable mobile data, new teaching institutions focused on game development skills, and a growing market for young people who can use the Internet, the gaming industry is developing rapidly. .smart phone.”

It is the first time for Rigaudis and Musau to make a video game.Kick off facial They founded Jiwe in June 2020 and recruited a dozen young professionals. These include 25-year-old Telvin Njoroge and 22-year-old Arnold Mwaura, two self-taught developers engaged in game development from last summer to February.

The first part of the face It is a 2.5D puzzle platform game. The player leads Ophelia and Ulysses to escape from Paris, towards the ship that transports them to the Port of Africa on Lampedusa. They must travel through industrial ruins, refugee camps and hostile areas controlled by the all-around border police. Between the two, their smuggler Felix asked Ulysses to find a drug in an abandoned laboratory to cure his wife.

“We worked together at first,” Mwara said. “Once we know what he can do and what I can do, we will separate. Telvin works on the AI ​​side of the game, and I work on the game side.

After the alpha version was released in December last year, they spent a lot of time fixing the errors in the final release. “Our list is long,” Njoroge recalled, looking for files on his computer while smiling. “One of the main problems we encountered was related to our artificial intelligence; it couldn’t keep up with the players. At some point, this character should climb a certain ledge, and it keeps rising without stopping.”

So far, most of the bugs have been fixed, except for the last sequence (the last sequence). Ulysses and Ophelia sometimes fall into the battle and sometimes get stuck in strange positions for several seconds, inevitably being The border hit shot, the final sequence has been repaired. Policemen.

After several failed attempts, I skipped all the trenches and finally boarded the ship. In the last scene, it moved away from the shore and disappeared into the mist. Then, the message “to be continued” on a black background appeared on my screen.After playing for half an hour, it made a frustrating note because I just started to be immersed in facial universe.

In other words, this short first part aims to be an appetizer for a richer, longer sequel, which will dig deeper into the visual and narrative potential of the story.

Jiwe’s team is working on Facial Care: Part Two, They hope to release before July or August 2021 the third part It is planned to be developed in 2022. Both will be developed in full 3D mode. “in the second part, We will enrich the character, and the player will learn the backstory of Ophelia and other people around her (for example, Ulysses),” said Kennady Kyalo. At the age of 31, this A 3D artist led the creation of the work​​ facial universe.

The game’s apocalyptic visual world and tailoring scenes are eye-catching, but it is clear where they came from. “We were inspired by Blade Runner 2049 And video games such as Far Cry New Dawn with Our last part, the second part,” Kyalo said. “We want to convey a sense of mystery, which is why we use a lot of fog to cover up the environment. We also want to play in the atmosphere of winter because the sun has stopped coming out. It’s dark and cold, you really can’t say what time is it now.”

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