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In recent years, Kenya has become a rapidly growing technology hub and in 2010, it was renamed WIRED Silicon Savannah. According to Charles Ogeto, CEO of the Nairobi-based gaming publishing house Playful Works, there are up to 20 professional video game studios in the country. “We are still behind South Africa,” he says, “but the gaming industry is rapidly developing cheap mobile data in Kenya because it is gaining new educational institutions based on gaming development skills and growing access to a market for young people with access to smartphones.”
Making a video game is the first for Rigaudis and Musau. To start Facial the project was created by Jiwe in June 2020 and hired a dozen young professionals. Among them were Telvin Njoroge, 25, and Arnold Mwaura, 22, two self-taught developers who played the game from last summer to February.
Part I of the face 2.5D is a platform for puzzle platforms. The players direct Ophelia and Ulysses as they flee Paris to the ship that will take them to the African Gate, the island of Lampedusa. They have to cross industrial waste, refugee camps and enemy areas controlled by omnipotent border police. Meanwhile, their smuggler Felix asks Ulysses to find a drug in an abandoned laboratory to cure his wife.
“We initially worked together,” Mwaura says. “We shared things with him about what he could do and what I could do. Telvin worked on the AI side of the game, and I worked on the same level. ”
After the release of the alpha last December, they spent a lot of time fixing bugs in the final launch. “We had a long list,” Njorog recalls, laughing and searching the file on his computer. “One of the main problems we had was with our AI; it was not followed by the players. At some point, the character had to climb a certain ledge, and he went up and up without stopping. “
At this point, most of the bugs have been fixed and the gameplay experience is smooth, except for the final sequence, where Ulysses and Ophelia can be stuck for a few seconds when they fall into trenches in strange positions, inevitably shooting from the border. police.
After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I jumped over all the trenches and finally got into the boat. In the last cut scene, he moves away from the shore and disappears into the fog. Then a black “to follow” message appeared on my screen. After playing for half an hour, he went unnoticed Facial the universe.
That said, this first short part is meant to be an appetizer to a richer, longer sequel that will delve deeper into the visual and narrative potential of the story.
The Jiwe team is working on it Face: II, I expect to be released in July or August 2021, before a III. Part It is scheduled for 2022. Both will be developed in full 3D. “In a year II. Part, we will flesh out the characters, the players will learn the stories of Ophelia and other people around them, such as Ulysses, “says Kennady Kyalo. At the age of 31, this 3D artist creates work Facial the universe.
The post-apocalyptic visual world of the game and the cut-out scenes are appealing, but it’s unclear where they come from. “We were inspired Blade Runner 2049 and video games, for example Far Cry New Dawn and The Last of Us II. Part “ Kyalok says. “We wanted to express a sense of mystery, which is why we used a lot of fog to hide the environment. We also wanted to play with the winter atmosphere, as the sun has stopped rising. It’s dark, it’s cold, and you can’t really tell what time it is. “
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