Developer Industrial Toys is working on a new IP for mobile devices. The game, Morning Star, is not just going to be your run of the mill mobile title. The developer is determined to make Morning Star a mobile game for hardcore gamers. Founder and president of Industrial Toys says that he does not just want to make a console game on the mobile platform.
“Despite what’s been written about us, our mission is not to make core games on mobile. There’s a very important nuance to our mission: we’re making mobile games for core gamers. The emphasis for us is on the core gamer, us, and making mobile games we are into. Mobile has both constraints and advantages as a platform, so we’re trying to operate creatively within the constraints and exploit the advantages to create new experiences that appeal to core gamers,”
Making a mobile game for the core audience
In addition to making a game for hardcore gamers, they are taking an interesting approach to mobile gaming as a medium and the advantages it has. Industrial Toys is planning to release a graphic novel app in conjunction with the game itself. The graphic novel app stands on its own, but performs added functions when used with the game itself. Decisions made in this app will have an effect on the story in the game. Likewise, events in the story would affect the graphic novel. It is an approach to mobile gaming that hasn’t been explored deeply before.
In order to make this ambitious game a reality, Industrial Toys is working with a budget that is bigger than some console games. They are putting the money to good use, partnering with companies like Ying Pei Games (creators of Infinity Blade and Gears of War assets) for 3D modeling, Sleepy Giant for backend services, and Zoic Studios (Battlestar Galactica and Firefly) for visual effects work for cutscenes. Science fiction author John Scalzi has been tapped to help create the world of Morning Star and Serj Tankian (System of a Down) is writing the musical score. With all this talent behind it, we can at least expect a well designed world.
Controls in mobile games can be a bit of a mess, but Industrial Toys is not letting that discourage them. They have spent a lot of time tweaking and working with the controls to make them comfortable and accurate. They understand that virtual joysticks do not make for a satisfying control scheme and are working to create a shooter that feels good to play on a mobile device.
Morning Star and the accompanying graphic novel app are expected to be available this fall on the Apple App Store.
