November Update news

Good evening everyone, and welcome to the second official update for Cheeks of Steel. Over the past couple of weeks, the team has been working hard to reach a major milestone for the start of December, which is to have all documentation complete.

Thankfully, this milestone is already past 90%, with the following either complete, or due for completion within the next fortnight;

- Game Design Document
- Art Bible
- Production Document
- Technical Design Document
- Process of Design Documents
- Narrative Script version 1.0

To celebrate this progress, we have decided to add several pieces to the concept information, which can be found at the bottom of this update, or with all the other previously added documentation here.

In addition to theory nevertheless, there has also been considerable updates to the actual development of the game. For those who have visited the site since last week for example, may have seen the few pieces of concept art that were added. For those that haven't, here's a quick reminder;

Other major progression over the past fortnight has also come in the form of levels. Not only is the Narrative (first draft) complete, but so are the 2D level sketches, and some of the 3D levels themselves.

To help commemorate the occasion, we our proud to reveal to the public for the first time, screenshots of the opening level, AND a 2D level design of the first themed cage. So here they are.

Finally, to keep in line with our previous news feeds, we also have an additional test video to show. The aim of this was to test cutscenes using Unreal Kismet and show how we would portray speech. We hope you enjoy.

From all of us at Underdog Games, thank you for your continued interest and support. You can expect our next update within the next week or so, where we aim to deliver more maps, more screenshots, and much much more!

See you all in a few weeks!

Setting
Cheeks of Steel is set in an abstract world, based around a scientific laboratory. The primary focus of this laboratory resides in a small hamster civilisation, created by the evil scientist Doctor Seek. This civilisation has been built within a large cage structure and designed to represent a standard human town, with streets containing lamp posts, buildings and even the occasional landmark. Whilst there is nothing particularly complex about the town to the human eye, to hamsters the environment appears to be far more elaborate. They chose to call this place, ‘Capture'.

Their homes are structured with two floors that contain a bedroom, a lounge and bathroom. These are placed around several streets surrounding a town centre that is marked with a large water fountain. In addition to this point of interest, there is also a maze and park area. The park contains small obstacles designed for exercise such as tubes and monkey bars. Its main attraction nevertheless is a large wheel that resides in the North-West corner of the park. During the day, there are often long queues of hamsters waiting for a turn.

One thing that the town does lack is shops. Instead, the centre of each street is lined with food bowls, filled full of various foods and nutrients. Nevertheless, hamsters can often be seen on the streets selling and bartering anything from rare items to luxury food that they might have found or bought.

Connected to Capture are what are known as ‘Themed Cages'. There are three in total, and each one is designed differently to relate to a number of films or games that already exist. For example, one level is based around the film ‘Sin City', and has been given a narrative style that's taken from the game ‘Max Payne'. In each of these, a number of challenges and obstacles have been put in place, with rewards at the end for encouragement. The objective of these is to distinguish the more intelligent hamsters amongst the group and use them for further testing.

The hamsters that inhabit the town are all of a Syrian origin. There are a number of reasons for this including their availability compared to other species. Another reason is that the Syrian hamster happens to be one of the most intelligent hamsters over all other primary species, not to mention that they're much easier to tame. Although Syrian hamsters are naturally solitary creatures, it seems that providing they are relatively young and have their own territory, they can co-exist with one another with little or no hassle. At the time of the game, the town inhabits somewhere between seventy-five and one hundred hamsters.

Harry
Gender: Male
Age: 4 ½ Months
Height: 0' 7" Weight: 2 lbs 13 oz
Coat Colour: Orange and Light Brown
Coat Style: Piebald
Scars/Markings: None

As one of the few hamsters to be born and raised in Capture, Harry stars as the unlikely hero when strange disappearances begin to occur. Perceived as a stereotypical, foul mouthed teenager, many see Harry as nothing more than a nuisance, one which they might have tried to do something about, if it weren't for his slow mentality and amusing vulnerability to accidents. Instead, many of Capture's citizens mock Harry and laugh behind his back, setting him up for mishaps and getting him to do their dirty work when no one else will think twice.

However, even with people making fun of his mental limitations, Harry secretly has a big heart and all the determination to back it up. He merely despises the attitudes and morals of the society around him, feeling like they just don't understand the true meaning of life. Harry believes that there's more out there than just the cage around him, dreaming of one day finding it and proving it to everyone else.

It's because of this that Harry feels there are only two people he can trust. One is his sidekick and mentor Tick, as he relies on Harry's blood and wellbeing to survive. The other is Espher, his best friend and love of his life, which he has purposefully concealed through fear of rejection.

Tick
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Height: 0.3 cm
Weight: 0.01 oz
Eye Colour: Red
Scars/Markings: Tribal like Markings across Back

Tick is a sly, obnoxious flea that spends his life sucking on the blood of hamsters, and other rodents alike. But whilst many believe this is purely as a source of food, Tick also collects the strands of DNA found in the blood of his victims, gathering their knowledge and improving his own intellect. This ever expanding IQ then goes on to sharpen his wit, not to mention increasing Tick's awareness to his surroundings.

Yet whilst his intelligence steadily advances, so does his ego. In fact, Tick's most renowned feature is his distasteful level of arrogance. Looking down on everyone around him, Tick can often be found making sarcastic jokes and belittling others. He has no love for those around him, and expects none back. Or so he claims...

Since making Harry his host however, Tick has shown an unusual level of sympathy, looking out for him, and teaching him the essentials to surviving in life. Of course, there are times when Tick makes fun of Harry, purposefully leaving him to wander into trouble, although it is more than likely that this is merely to keep Tick entertained. He claims that his concern for Harry's wellbeing is because he relies on him for all his basic needs, but the truth could simply be that Tick has finally experienced friendship.