Fishy Feathers marks Video Game graduates’ first release
One little bird named Larry, who flies through the air and dives under water, is a great source of pride for three recent Video Game graduates.
Adam Carbone, James Hooks and Michael Kanitsch graduated from of the Video Game Design and Development and Video Game Design and Animation diploma programs now offered through the Toronto Film School. Since graduating in March 2013 the three have gone on to launch Lucky Mask Games and in August they published their first video game titled Fishy Feathers.
“We met about half way through our time here,” explained Hooks said. “And we worked on all our projects together. We all got along, hung out, realized we liked working together and that is pretty important.”
Hooks, 24 years old and from Toronto, is the programmer and designer, Carbone, 30 years old and from Mississauga, is the 3D artist and animator as well as Game Designer and Developer and Kanitsch, 28 year old and from Markham, handles 2D art and textures for Lucky Mask Games.
Fishy Feathers is a side scrolling game where players guide Larry the Bird on a quest to move up the food chain after the Earth is flooded. Larry flies through the air and dives down in the water in order to eat fish and grow larger, while avoiding larger fish that wish to eat him.
The game is free-to-play and is supported by ads and in-app purchases, where users can pay real money for bonus chips. The game is now available to download for free on iOS.
The idea for the game grew out of brainstorming sessions where they bounce ideas off each other.
“The game started in a much different way where the idea was still the same concept of diving down to get fish, but it was from an overhead perspective,” Hooks said. “We thought about it and went with the more conventional side-scroll and from there we created a prototype and continued to design and develop the game.”
Since it’s release the game has been well received, the men said.
“We have in game features which will help people post to social media with hashtags, so it is really interesting to see posting high scores and really getting into the game and having a lot of fun,” Hooks said. “That is kind of why we do it.”
Carbone said they return to the Steeles campus of Toronto Film School near weekly to bounce ideas off their former teachers and get advice
“They have all been pushing us in the right direction when they found out we wanted to so this they really helped to steer us in the right direction,” Carbone said. “Their advice and guidance really helped a lot of the decisions we made and the processes we chose to create Fishy Feathers.”
The trio is currently working on a game geared at raising awareness for Movember, which sees millions of men growing moustaches during November to raise money to support improving the lives of men affected by prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues. The game will feature a mustached hero who the men said they will sign up for Movember and people can pledge to support him.
For more information on Lucky Mask Games visit their website.
For more on the Toronto Film School and it’s programs visit www.torontofilmschool.ca.
