SpyParty receiving suave art update

Chris Hecker's SpyParty is finally getting a visual facelift, going from texture-less alpha visuals to a fleshed-out mansion atmosphere.

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SpyParty is loads of fun, but it's a little difficult to get past the ultra-simplistic art style. The game is far more polished now, with a visual facelift that makes it look as debonair as the partygoers themselves. SpyParty's previous incarnation used a single room, mostly devoid of textures and detail. The new environmental art adds significantly more detail, placing players in the middle of a Greek-inspired mansion overlooking a seaside cliff. "I feel like it's a similar sized quality jump from the current ugly prototype environments as the new character art we showed last year was from the ugly prototype characters," creator Chris Hecker said in an interview with himself (via RPS). "I feel like we've taken the 'illustrative' style we developed for the characters and applied it to the architecture pretty well. It feels like it's from the same timeless world, but it's understated and the lack of textures and bigger flatter shapes and bi-chromatic palette will make sure it stays in the background so the characters pop."

SpyParty's new playing field

In addition to the playable area, Hecker also showed off the exterior of the whole mansion, teasing the possibility of additional game modes, once the core 1v1 experience has been perfected. SpyParty remains in alpha and Hecker remains hesitant on committing to a release window, noting that the new art style may create a whole new batch of balance issues. However, he does note that he wants to bring his game to platforms beyond PC. "I want it on everything," he added. "PC obviously, consoles, probably even tablets, but more importantly, I want interplay between all those platforms, since unlike most player-skill games, there's no real advantage or disadvantage to a controller versus keyboard and mouse, so a console player will be able to play a PC player and they'll have a fair game with no need for crap like aim-assist or nerfed turning speed or anything else that detracts from skill-based competitive games."
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Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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  • reply
    August 9, 2013 3:30 PM

    Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, SpyParty receiving suave art update.

    Chris Hecker's SpyParty is finally getting a visual facelift, going from texture-less alpha visuals to a fleshed-out mansion atmosphere.

    • reply
      August 9, 2013 3:43 PM

      how many years has the screenshots section on this site been terrible? it's gotta be getting close to a decade.

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      August 9, 2013 3:49 PM

      [deleted]

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        August 9, 2013 4:35 PM

        Yeah, it was always just programmer placeholder art. From what I've overheard at the PAXes he's been at, Hecker wasn't trying to go for that particular style, he just, wanted to focus on getting the game to a good state before bringing in an artist... in case things needed to change dramatically.

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          August 9, 2013 4:41 PM

          [deleted]

          • reply
            August 9, 2013 6:36 PM

            Yeah, I guess it really can take a while to make a game when it's pretty much just one person and they're trying to make it just right.

    • reply
      August 9, 2013 4:45 PM

      Just checked, this game was first shown in 2009.

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