To the Moon Creator Announces A Bird Story

[Andy Chalk]

To the Moon Creator Announces A Bird Story

​

The man behind the tear-jerker To the Moon is working on a new adventure for people who like getting socked in the feels.

Admission: I've never played To the Moon [freebirdgames.com/games/to-the-moon]. The truth is that I'm a sucker for a tear-jerker - more than once, Mass Effect 3 turned me into a puddle of squishy goo - and I don't like that. Just reading a synopsis of the thing filled me with an urge to chug a Coors and start a hockey fight; I like to keep my emotional range simple, focused on things like anger and hunger, and that's a spectrum on which material like To the Moon simply has no place.

But for those who enjoy that sort of cheap emotional manipulation, creator Kan Gao has a new project he's working on called A Bird Story. Gao describes the game as "a simple, surreal short about a boy and a bird with a broken wing" that takes place in a mix of his memories, dreams and imagination. The game will be story-driven but feature little or no dialog, and while it's set in the same world as To the Moon and there are connections between the two, characters from that game will not appear in this one.

Gao also warned that the shape and direction of A Bird Story won't be dictated by his previous releases. "I know that for some who have played To the Moon, there might be certain expectations as to how the 'next game' should be. And to be honest, I don't really know how it'll be in that regard - meeting certain quota or matching aspects of another game aren't really things that I want to make them around," he wrote. "However, what I can promise is that I'll always be making what truly means something to me - and hopefully, to you too. I hope everyone could take them as they come, and enjoy them for their own merits."

A Bird Story is currently expected to come out in mid-2013. My lip is quivering already.

Source: Freebird Games [http://freebirdgames.com/a_bird_story/]



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[Zhukov]

I'm going to play this and I'm probably going to enjoy it, but not before I get in a few remarks about how cliche that premise is.

I mean, a kid and an injured bird? Really?

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

The music in the trailer is excellent as I would expect from the guy behind To The Moon. And if the story is anywhere near the emotional rollercoaster that was in To The Moon I am going to need a very unmanly amount of tissues to get through it.

 

[Weaver]

It's just a shame this isn't ACTUALLY Episode 2 in the series, it's just a short. From the website:

Narrative-driven with little-to-no dialogue

A Bird Story is a simple, surreal short about a boy and a bird with a broken wing. Despite being story-based like most of my games, there are essentially no dialogues throughout.

Taking place in To the Moon?s universe

While Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalene aren?t in this game (chronologically, it takes place before their time), the boy in it eventually grows up to become their patient in ?episode 2″ of the series.

 

[tce11]

Haha, man the one time I'm hoping for a sequel, and I get a new game.

I'm sure it'll still be brilliant, To the Moon is probably in my top 10 favourite games, and I've enjoyed everything else he has done.

Seriously anyone who hasn't checked out To the Moon yet really should, it's one of the most charming and touching games (or anything else for that matter) I've ever played. Genuinely funny at parts, and unbelievably sombre at others, I can't remember the last time something was so affecting to me.

 

[Deshin]

Really silly question but does anyone know if he's using RPG Maker VX Ace for these games? I had an old version from a while back and used to make a few little titles for my friends and I but if the industry has shifted these days that people can actually make money off these I might be tempted to dive back into it.

 

[Weaver]

Really silly question but does anyone know if he's using RPG Maker VX Ace for these games? I had an old version from a while back and used to make a few little titles for my friends and I but if the industry has shifted these days that people can actually make money off these I might be tempted to dive back into it.

To The Moon was made using the RPG Maker XP engine. I'm not sure the difference between that and VX Ace or any of the other versions (I imagine they're all the same, some are just newer?).

 

[charge52]

Really silly question but does anyone know if he's using RPG Maker VX Ace for these games? I had an old version from a while back and used to make a few little titles for my friends and I but if the industry has shifted these days that people can actually make money off these I might be tempted to dive back into it.

To The Moon was made using the RPG Maker XP engine. I'm not sure the difference between that and VX Ace or any of the other versions (I imagine they're all the same, some are just newer?).

Pretty much yeah, the main difference is usually in the feature/system requirements. For example, at the moment VX Ace has more features, a character generator, upgraded the RGSS script and graphics, but as such requires a bit more powerful PC than XP.

So which is being used usually depends on the pc the gamemaker was using.

EDIT: The price is a part of it as well I just remembered, VX ace is at least double the cost of XP.

 

[Deshin]

Really silly question but does anyone know if he's using RPG Maker VX Ace for these games? I had an old version from a while back and used to make a few little titles for my friends and I but if the industry has shifted these days that people can actually make money off these I might be tempted to dive back into it.

To The Moon was made using the RPG Maker XP engine. I'm not sure the difference between that and VX Ace or any of the other versions (I imagine they're all the same, some are just newer?).

Pretty much yeah, the main difference is usually in the feature/system requirements. For example, at the moment VX Ace has more features, a character generator, upgraded the RGSS script and graphics, but as such requires a bit more powerful PC than XP.

So which is being used usually depends on the pc the gamemaker was using.

EDIT: The price is a part of it as well I just remembered, VX ace is at least double the cost of XP.

Interesting, I've actually been eyeing up RPG Maker VX Ace on the Steam sale. The first RPG Maker I used was on the PS1 (old school ho) and then graduated onto RM2k when I first got a PC and then later on XP but by then I was already waning interest as I thought "these games aren't really going anywhere" as at the time the industry was very anti-indie (PS2 era?). Perhaps with the current indie scene picking up I should go back into it and finish off some old projects I had started and actually try to push them out there? Hmm...

 

[BrotherRool]

I'm so glad you're covering stuff like this. With this article and the Torment articles it's lovely to see such quick coverage of more niche games like these and the writing itself is always fun to read and delightfully positive

 

[charge52]

Interesting, I've actually been eyeing up RPG Maker VX Ace on the Steam sale. The first RPG Maker I used was on the PS1 (old school ho) and then graduated onto RM2k when I first got a PC and then later on XP but by then I was already waning interest as I thought "these games aren't really going anywhere" as at the time the industry was very anti-indie (PS2 era?). Perhaps with the current indie scene picking up I should go back into it and finish off some old projects I had started and actually try to push them out there? Hmm...

I'd recomend it, especially when it's on sale. I don't know if it will allow you to directly import old projects(though if yours were ps2 era you probably don't even have them anymore) but it's pretty easy to use. Though you may still want to look into a tutorial so you know how to do things in advance and don't make mistakes early on.

 

[Deshin]

I'd recomend it, especially when it's on sale. I don't know if it will allow you to directly import old projects(though if yours were ps2 era you probably don't even have them anymore) but it's pretty easy to use. Though you may still want to look into a tutorial so you know how to do things in advance and don't make mistakes early on.

I'm pretty sure they're all stashed away on some now-defunct hard drive in the store-room somewhere but even if I did have them I'd still start from scratch. I *was* 12 at the time after all and the writing reflected such.

 

[CharrHearted]

The truth is that I'm a sucker for a tear-jerker - more than once, Mass Effect 3

MASS EFFECT 3

Tear jerker?

Whut? Really? Mass effect 3... a tear jerker?

In any case, hooray for new work from these people! I enjoyed to the moon a lot! PONY RIDES IN SPACE!

 

[Piorn]

Loved "to the Moon", I'll definitely be watching that one.

 

[kailus13]

That title screen is a thing of beauty, telling you both the setting and the tone better than a lot of triple A games can.