Harry Potter: Hogwarts Adventures demo videos!

Here's the first version we sent to WB with the 2D design:

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Adventures for Facebook v.1 from Alex Pelayre on Vimeo.

And here's the second version with the 3D rendered characters/environments:

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Adventures for Facebook v.2 from Alex Pelayre on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Flying Lab Software

Amazing Tales (Project Caspian)

Amazing Tales.. Project Caspian.. we had no official title for this game, but we knew it was going to be awesome. Running on the Cryptic Engine, the premise of Amazing Tales was based on a variety of genres ranging from pulp, to sci-fi, to adventure. Amazing Tales brought together great themes seen in movies such as Indiana Jones, Sky Captain, or The Mummy. What made this project so fun was the freedom we had with throwing in ideas. We had big plans for this game... and we couldn't wait to see it all unfold.

We weren't sure exactly if we were going to sell this game as an MMO, but we knew it was going to be multiplayer. We'd start out with the player choosing which class they'd like to be. The classes ranged from Adventurer, Vigilante, Scientist, Occultist, or Monk. Then we'd throw them in the middle of Egypt, where they had to band together with other players to take down the threats of the planet. What were the threats, you might ask? Our enemies ranged from Atlanteans, martians, Nazis, occultists, the undead, dinosaurs, and various other creatures, hellbent on wreaking havock on civilization!

Further progress in the game would lead the player to other locations, such as New York, Shanghai, or London. Missions would consist of team work and strategy of playing off yourself and your teammates' abilities. The end result of missions would lead the players into an ultimate boss fight. A major selling point we wanted to have in Amazing Tales were the boss battles. We wanted them to be memorable, so we wanted them to be huge. The fights themselves, AND the actual boss. Players would be up against giant alien robots, Tyrannosaurus Rex's, or battles aboard huge war zepplins.

We had high hopes for Amazing Tales, and with such a small team working hard at it, we felt we had accomplished a lot in the time we had. Unfortunately the game was never picked up by a publisher, and was again, another shelved title. Still, there was plenty of work and dedication put into that project that I'm sure everyone who worked on it can be proud of.

Soon to come:
Gameplay from Amazing Tales, and our pitch videos for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Adventures!

You're a wizard, Harry

So I've gotten the OK to share these online. These were for a Harry Potter Facebook game proposal that Flying Lab Software was doing for Warner Bros. They had requested we design the game kid-friendly, with some cartoony and anime-like aspects to it. I did a majority of the character designs for the first pass on our demo video. After working with WB for a few more weeks, they decided to go a different direction and make the character look a bit more mature, to sort of emulate the current emotional state the movies were in. So I began designing in that direction.. and then once again, a huge shift in direction, and we ended up redoing everything 3D rendered.

I admit, it was kind of heartbreaking to see my characters thrown out, but you can't always expect everything you create to make it in game, as I learned. Overall, it was a fun experience and I enjoyed working on this project.

Despite all the work and hours we put into making a great proposal, we were shot down right at the finish line, and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Adventures was no more. The game industry is a hell of a place.