Heaven 2 Ocean Birthed From Dare To Be Digital
Got a neat little note from Kieran McCabe a few days back that's worth passing on: "Just saw a mention of Dare Protoplay on the frontpage and decided I'd get in touch. I was on the Republic of Ireland team (zerO.One), we made a 2D platform puzzle game called Heaven 2 Ocean wherein you controlled a drop of water by tilting the world. Also, you can turn into ice and steam."
Aha, most interesting - the game, which was one of the 12 student titles entered into the UK-centric Dare To Be Digital competition is downloadable from the website [.ZIP link], and there's also a fun, now-concluded developer blog about the experience of making Heaven 2 Ocean into some kind of reality.
Looking further into the student competition, there are even video diaries on the Dare To Be Digital site itself - each viewable and rateable per week for each of the teams entering. Blimey! Here's the text diary link, and here's the full list of winners - though I think you need to register to access the full 2007 game showcase? That's a tad annoying.
Comments
A platform game where you tilt the world to control a drop of water that can turn to ice and steam? Dang! Did Ireland just rip off Dewy's Adventure, or what?
Posted by: Icupnimpn2 | August 31, 2007 8:32 AM
Actually, we only discovered Dewy's Adventure a couple of weeks before Protoplay, 8 weeks into development. So no, we didn't.
Posted by: Kieran | August 31, 2007 8:54 AM
Also in addition to Kieran's comments, it's worth mentioning that in Dewys adventure the water is an actual character, like what most platform games have. In our game the water is a freely deformable and shapeable body. So while Dewy's adventure does have ice and steam elements, the similarities end there; our implementation of this idea is very very different. The term 'rip off' therefore is quite unfair.
Posted by: Darragh Coy | August 31, 2007 10:44 AM
I can totally appreciate that. Thank you for answering my question. I was honestly curious. I'll just chalk it up to synchronicity, then! This nearly-anonymous internet skeptic stands assuaged.
Posted by: Icupnimpn2 | September 1, 2007 10:32 AM