#BLUD — A Deep Dive Behind the Scenes of the Anime-Inspired Action Game

I recently had the opportunity to review #BLUD, a solid action-adventure RPG with a distinct cartoon aesthetic that I praised for its unconventional approach to some classic gaming conventions that made it a fun debut title from Exit 73 Studios. CGMagazine recently had the chance to speak by email with the artistic and sound director of#BLUD, Bob Fox, alongside the game’s writer, Gregory Lane, gives readers an insight into the development of the recently released title as well as a teaser for the future of #BLUD.

What were the main inspirations behind the art style and narrative of #BLUD? How did 90s anime influence the development of the game, what specific influences aside from the many easter eggs and references throughout the game?

Bob Fox: Our initial inspiration was The Powerpuff Girls meets Zelda: A Link to the Past. The two artists, Chris Burns and Bob Fox, both attended art school at a time when Cartoon Network was really starting to take off. With shows like Dexter’s Laboratory And Samurai Jack really pushing a new take on the old UPA cartoon style. This had a huge influence on our art style since we started out as animators.

Another big influence would have to be John Carpenter. There are many visual influences of The thing as well as a great influence on the musical style.

Can you tell us more about Becky Brewster and her journey in #BLUD? How did you approach creating his character? It clearly stands out from the others with its pink color palette.

Gregory Lane: Becky’s color comes from two places: a simple, focused design (in the same way Mega Man is blue) and a juxtaposition of the girl’s “traditional” color against a backdrop of horror and violence.. Buffy the Vampire Slayer I did this with the namesake of the characters, except that Buffy has done so many kicks that the name has become harsher than its previously perceived preppy status.

Throughout the story, we get a lot of Becky’s perspective as she interacts with objects and other people. So we thought she should thrive by finding her place in a new town, a new school, and a new role as a vampire fighter.

#BLUD features a unique combination of dungeon crawling and social media elements that act like your typical RPG management systems. At what point did you decide that this was the approach you wanted to incorporate into the experience? Any ideas or discarded ideas relating to this aspect would be great.

Bob Fox: The idea actually started as an animated series pitch many years ago, which we also came up with the name for #BLUD. We thought Becky was at an age where she would be too obsessed with social media, like most kids.

It was later during the game’s development that we decided to add the social media aspect to match the original name and idea. We also came up with the idea of ​​using hashtags as a shorter way to give hints to players who didn’t feel like reading every mission message.

Gregory Lane: The dungeon setting also allowed us to develop archetypal secondary characters, like Morgan the Witch, Terrell the Healer, etc. At the same time, it allowed us to fill a modern world with mythical creatures while asking: “What if there really was a dungeon under the school?”

Exit 73 Studios is known for its 2D animation. Can you walk us through the process of bringing the vibrant, bustling world of #BLUD live? Perhaps how creating a game differs from, say, keyframing, for short.

Bob Fox: We treated the animation for the game the same as any other project. The only major difference was that we had to animate each move from 8 different angles to have the characters working in a top-down play style. This added a ton of extra work to the animation process, but once it was complete we were able to get a lot more benefit from something like a run cycle versus a normal project.

Once all of the game’s character animations were complete, we still had to complete about 17 minutes of cutscenes/cutscenes that were handled the same way we would animate on any other project.

Are there plans for post-launch content or updates for #BLUD? Crazy hopes and long-term aspirations for the property? Maybe a set of Becky Brewster brand pencils with a matching vampire pencil sharpener?!

Bob Fox: We definitely have DLC plans for #BLUD. I’m not sure what we can say, but things could get complicated for our heroine.

A long term hope for us was to finally see #BLUD as an animated series, given that it started as a pitch for television.

Looks like Becky Brewster has a lot more to offer than killing vampires. For those interested in checking out the game, #BLUD is now available on all major platforms.