You worry a lot.
Restless nights.
Going on very little sleep.
The question is, are we going to make it through?
We are Apocalyptic Games and we’re building
a Zombie Love Story Musical.
I came across this YouTube video it was called
The Zombie Song.
♪Yeah, I’d be slowly walking in a group
stalking you, you’d be the only man alive♪
Cute little characters and this really fun
premise that had a lot of potential and so
I felt like it would make this amazing video
game.
Then I found the album that it came from,
Wake Up Dreaming by Stephanie Mabey and
it was so good.
The inspiration for the Zombie Song was a
video game called Left for Dead.
Most creepy things I try to turn into love
songs.
It’s a musical with story and characters
who sing.
And it’s actually a musical that you play.
A musical that is a video game.
We have explored a little bit of the humanizing
of zombies, but throwing a musical element
on top of that and then hearing Stephanie
Mabey’s music is a match made in heaven
that never knew it needed to happen.
Stephanie was amazing.
She had a lot of interest after I shared sort
of the story and the vision of the game,
she loved it.
I never dreamed that my album that I released
5 years ago would become a video game,
at all.
That was never on the spectrum of possibilities.
It’s been pretty wild to see it take on
a life of it’s own and then to come in
sort of as it’s starting to take form and be
invited to like be a collaborator on the project
has been so exciting.
So we named our zombie Zo.
The things that I do know about Zo are that
she is lonely and feels out of place in her world
and that she is really has this romantic
heart and really is longing for connection.
Zo is in love with Tim.
We’ve actually called it an unhealthy obsession,
where she is going after him wholeheartedly,
despite the fact that he is running for his
life.
(instrumental)
♪ I take my notebook and tear the pages
out, to write down my thoughts in a message.
Well I encrypt, every line.
As the people pass on the street below (fades
out).♪
I decided to quit my job at Riot Games and
go on this full-time
I immediately latched onto Dallin, he was like the animator
I knew I wanted.
Most of my job has been, you know, traversing
uncharted waters, but I’m not against that.
I’ve learned a lot and it’s great.
We’ve got Dallin leading on the animation
and he’s amazing and he’s got a lot of
really good insights when it comes to level
design and game design that’s kind of brought
over from his education in animation and in
film.
I’m really glad we ended up bringing Johanna
in, cause she’s added a lot to the team,
a lot of dimensionality and has just been
really core to making the aesthetic vision
come to life.
I’d saw that Tyler had posted this big Zombie
Love Story Musical and I was like, oh my gosh
I’ve got to be apart of this, this looks
amazing.
On this project I work primarily with providing
the art, I design all the characters, I design
the sets, the props.
Stephanie’s music is beautiful and soulful
and there’s just something really rich and
authentic to her quality and she’s been
really enthusiastic and really involved in
the process.
To come in, sort of as it’s starting to
take form and be invited to like be a collaborator
on the project has been so exciting.
And she’s just the sweetest thing, I love
Stephanie….
And Tyler is there too.
(sigh)
So, self-funding this game has been quite
an experience.
Tyler is, he’s a dreamer, he likes to dream
big and he likes to think forward.
He’s got a lot of really big ideas, he comes
in he’s like, oh my gosh guys I’ve got
this idea for gameplay.
Hey I made this script where the characters
can now jump through portals and we can
change spaces.
It’s brought so many really talented people
together and so Stephanie is excited to be
part of this team and Dallin and Johanna’s
artwork are inspiring people.
What do I think fans reactions will be to
the game?
My hope is that they’re reactions will be
varying degrees of delight and wonder cause
that’s how I felt.
I think when we share a little bit about what
we’ve been doing, I think it’s going to
get some attention.
♪... Oh I send them off cause I know you’re out
there.♪
