ZootFly
Encyclopedia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
specializing in the development of action adventure games
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, PS3 and PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. ZootFly is a member studio of the International Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization....
(IGDA).
History
ZootFly was founded in December 2002 in LjubljanaLjubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, Slovenia by industry veterans Bostjan Troha, Denis Rozaj and David Pangerl.
In 2003 Horizonte, an independent Central European venture capital firm (founded in 1985) bought 40% of the company.
Research
ZootFly experimented extensively with the possibilities of reading and interpreting players' inputs and adapting the gameplay experience accordingly based on specific psychological profiles extrapolated via psychometricsPsychometrics
Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational measurement...
.
According to ZootFly, users' inputs reveal comprehensive information about them—reactions in tight situations, how they use resources, how they interact and communicate, how they deal with challenges, keypress sequences, mouse movement jerkiness, actions performed when entering a new space: i.e. whether they go in the middle of the room and look around or explore details first, the average speed of their movements, etc.
Zoofly researched building psychological profiles of players using their inputs and adapting the game accordingly. For example, a game could have three distinctively different conclusions and the psychometrics engine would pick the right one for the player. The goal was to avoid unwanted endings, as the game would hopefully have enough feedback to deliver what the player wanted.
The immediate reactions of the game would work on positive feedback. If the player were cerebral, they would receive more cerebral challenges; if violent, more violence. Immediate responses could improve the usability/learning curves as well. For example, if the player were to quick-save often, the game might be too difficult, and if they were to not discover many rooms in a time period, they might be lost and need additional stimuli to proceed. If they were too fast and the game was not fun any-more, they might require more interesting obstacles.
A psychometrics engine would change gameplay subtly to provide entertainment without frustration, automatically tailored to the specific player.
Additionally, ZootFly experimented with mood changes induced by infra-sound. They employed barely audible sound (low frequency) effects to invoke deep and subconscious feelings. For example, when the engine interpreted a player as passive, the aural stimuli would make them more aggressive.
Hollow
ZootFly’s first game, never published, was Hollow. In it, players would assume the role of an expelled US journalist named Tyler Kilmore, who, upon returning to the disco-totalitarian state of Centrope reunites with his fiancée and finds himself being arrested for her murder. The game would feature four distinct environments, ranging from a disco-totalitarian metropolis to a decaying underworld. Each mission in the game would end with a movie-style action sequence showing the player's best moments.Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory
Developed for PC and the Xbox for JoWood Productions, Panzer Elite Action follows the story of three tank commanders and their crew. The German commander, encouraged by easy successes in Poland and France, moves on to the Eastern Front and the brink of victory with the taking of Stalingrad. Players meet the Russian commander in desperate straits as he helps defend Stalingrad, and follow him as the tide turns against the Germans and he joins the massive battle of KurskBattle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,...
. The American commander enters the war at the Normandy Beachhead on D-Day. After the struggle for the Bocage, he defends against the German outbreak at the Battle of the Bulge, and then drives on to the victorious crossing of the Rhine.
First Battalion
First BattalionFirst Battalion
First Battalion is an arcade tank combat game developed by Zootfly.- Campaigns :There are three campaigns The German, The Russian and The American campaign. In all these campaigns a user is given command of a WW 2 tank . The user is given a task that involves tank fighting, taking out artillery...
is a North American version of Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory. The game was published by DreamCatcher Interactive.
Panzer Elite Action: Dunes of War
An extension of the original Panzer Elite Action, Panzer Elite Action: Dunes of War follows the story of two tank commanders and their crews through their harrowing North Africa battle campaigns. The German commander, called in to help the Italian army, moves from the European theatre to the dunes of Sahara, while the American commander enters the war on the African beaches of the Mediterranean.Toy Wars
Announced on 19 January 2007, Toy Wars is a small downloadable game in the early prototype stages , for Windows, XBLA, or EDI.Prison Break: The Conspiracy
Prison Break: The Conspiracy is an action-adventureAction-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game based on the first season of the Fox Network television series Prison Break
Prison Break
Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring, that was broadcast on the Fox Broadcasting Company for four seasons, from 2005 until 2009. The series revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an...
, released for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.
The release had been set for 19 March 2010 in Germany and 26 March 2010 in the United Kingdom and Europe, and 30 March 2010 in North America. The game had been in development for PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PC for release in February 2009, but was canceled when Brash Entertainment
Brash Entertainment
Brash Entertainment was an American video game publisher focused on licensed games.The company was co-founded in 2007 by Thomas Tull, Bert Ellis, President and COO Nicholas Longano, and CEO and Chairman Mitch Davis....
closed down. However, ZootFly continued the development and self-funded the project for 13 months. Once the game was polished and nearly finished, it was picked up by publisher Deep Silver.
Past development
In January 2007 ZootFly placed several trailers on YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
showing an early playable version of a game based on the Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
franchise for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. Soon after it became clear that ZootFly had not secured the licence to make such a game and that the development team had already been shifted to work on TimeO, a title with many similarities. Even the game footage trailers posted to YouTube were removed after Sony Pictures Entertainment requested their deletion because of their unlicensed nature. While ZootFly's title had died early in development, it helped spur interest in a game based on the Ghostbusters franchise and a licensed game
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a 2009 cross-platform action game based on the Ghostbusters film franchise. Terminal Reality developed the Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions, while Red Fly Studio developed the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii versions, and Zen Studios...
, already under development at Terminal Reality
Terminal Reality
Terminal Reality is a video game development and production company based in Lewisville, Texas. Founded in 1994 by ex-Microsoft employee Mark Randel and former Mallard Software general manager Brett Combs, Terminal Reality develops a variety of games including racing games , 3D action games , and...
, was bolstered by ZootFly's failed title. Mark Randel, co-founder and head of Terminal Reality, was interviewed by Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
and in that interview stated that "What Zootfly did for us, inadvertently, is help sell the concept. When their footage came out, we were close to our green-light meeting, and when the executives saw the reaction from the fans, they immediately knew, 'Hey, Ghostbusters is going to be a big hit – we need to put this game into production."
TimeO, another title developed by the same team as ZootFly's Ghostbusters game, has since dropped off the radar. First announced soon after the Ghostbusters prototype, it has seen little in the way of press coverage since the first flurries of activity related to its announcement. The official web site has not been undated since February 2007 and a few video game news originations released articles in May 2008 disclosing that Brash Entertainment was the publisher of the title, but Brash Entertainment has since shut down operations. An official announcement of the title's current status has not yet been released by ZootFly so it is assumed to be currently without a publisher and stuck in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
.