The team over at Clever Beans wanted to cast a bit more information out to help people understand ”When Vikings Attack” a little better so we asked them to write a top 10 of interesting facts about the game and where it came from.  The guys have loads of stories from the development of the game, probably more that you’d think…

So without further ado, we present:  10 mostly true facts you probably didn’t know about “When Vikings Attack”!

1.Real Vikings didn’t wear horns on their helmets.

But they do in our game. Apologies to any Viking fans, Scandinavians, historians, or anyone else who feels we have unfairly besmirched the reputation of Vikings or taken liberties with historical accuracy. The game is deliberately based only on vague, half-remembered half-truths from high school (longer ago than you might imagine). Real Vikings are indeed a fascinating subject, but this game is about the Vikings of common mythology, rather than real history.

Also, Vikings did not really invade 1970s Britain. We made that bit up too.

2.Many of the sound effects for the game were recorded by our sound designer Jamie Finlay during a foley session in an abandoned warehouse full of stolen biscuits (cookies) that was demolished the next day.

In fact,” Vikings” probably has the largest sound budget of any game that we have worked on. By “budget”, we programmers mean the amount of the console’s memory that is dedicated to storing sound effects and music as opposed to graphics or computer code or other stuff. Almost everything in the game has a customised smashing or throwing sound, or both, many of which will make you laugh out loud. There are also countless funny vocal exclamations, in various accents from all over the UK; at Clever Beans we call these “Ey-Ups”.

Jamie is a real perfectionist, and even took his laptop on holiday to Spain with his girlfriend so that he could do some last-minute voice-over editing for us. We can only apologise to her for this.

3.An early storyline for the game involved a talking horse with a colander on his head.

We will definitely include a talking horse in one of our games, in the future. There are clearly nowhere near enough games about talking horses.

4.In a (much) earlier version of the game, the player could punch, kick and jump, and also throw other characters around just like objects.

We’re big fans of “iterative prototyping”. The game started out as a massive beat-em-up, like a bar-brawl. To start with, we couldn’t figure out how to make this seem like a convincing fight; there were a lot of characters wandering around doing nothing, and it wasn’t clear how the player could control more than one character at once. So we decided to have friendly characters follow the player character around. We had the idea that they were your “lives”, who would be following you around, waiting to step in and take over when needed. From there, it was only a small step to make them all controllable at once, as a team.

5.In one prototype level that we built, player teams could walk on walls.

Another case of us stretching our ambition a little too far. It all got a bit too confusing, both to play and to code.

The game feels a little bit like an iceberg sometimes, a little pile of fun sitting on top of a much larger mountain of submerged, discarded gameplay ideas. It sometimes feels like we’ve written around three games in order to make this one, and thrown the other two away.

6.The characters that you see in the game are the 3rd or 4th iteration character models.

An early prototype “stick-man” character is unlockable in the game; see if you can find him! Producers at Sony liked this little guy so much that they asked for him to be put back, even though he was only a “coder” graphic made by one of the programmers. We got an artist to re-make him with a nice smiley face, though.

A later, but equally defunct, character model can be found near the town hall in the game, as a statue. 

7.No penguins were harmed during the making of the “Zoo” level.

The donkey, however, was completely bent out of shape, over the course of the project. Originally built for our first prototype world, he was re-used in the “sorting office” world, the “pier” world, then transformed into a zebra for the “zoo”. Finally, after a lot of stretching and another new paint job, he put in a stint as a giraffe, also in the zoo. Such is the nature of indie game development – we all have to wear a lot of hats. Even donkeys have to wear a lot of hats.

8.The most time-consuming special animation was the mime artist.

But he was the quickest to make sound effects for.

The robot “Auscenic” is another favourite animation. The track that he is break-dancing to is actually “I'm in the mood for dancing” by the Nolan Sisters. So he’s not quite as cool as you might think.

9.The inspiration for the “Public Information” films that punctuate the game came from a series of 1970s cold-war films called “Protect and Survive”.

These were made in case of a nuclear attack on Britain, but never broadcast – perhaps because they are so terrifying. We substituted the cold-war terror of a nuclear invasion for a load of daft Vikings. Another inspiration was a British comedy series called “Look Around You”. This is a spoof of 1970s educational programmes, which has excellent period sound and music effects. It’s also completely brilliant and hilarious.

10.“When Vikings Attack” has the longest credits list in the history of gaming.

The normal credits are pretty dull, I’m afraid. But when you reach the end of the game, you will unlock the “enhanced” credits. These really are worth watching, and listening to.

“When Vikings Attack” comes with Cross-Buy on PlayStation®Network and we just can’t wait for everyone to try it.

Hey folks, I’m very pleased to announce that “When Vikings Attack” comes out today for HK$80!

Remember it’s Cross-Buy - so buy one version and get the other for free!

What’s more, PlayStation®Plus members get a 30% discount until November 14th AND a FREE Dynamic Theme (one month only).

It’s been a long road for the team getting their first game out on both PlayStation®3 and PlayStation®Vita at the same time but they’ve done it without a hitch! We thought it would be a good idea to finally list out all the final features of the game so you know exactly what it is you’re getting.

Quest Mode

• 15 frantic arcade Quest levels following the exploits of a hapless band of British villagers as they fight back the Vikings Hoards across village fetes, rural countryside, inner cities, fish and chip shops and sea side attractions.  All can be played offline, online and cross play with 1 to 4 players.
• Collect 62 unlockable villagers as you progress by finding them and taking them safely to the end of a stage. This includes the famous 3 competition winners.
• Transfer your saves seamlessly between PSVita and PS3™ using Cross-Save
• Score, time and death challenges for each stage
• Leaderboards for all levels

Vs. Mode

• 3 challenging Vs. game modes for 2 to 4 players
  • Last Man Standing – A classic everyman for themselves battle mode
  • Vikings Vs. Vigilantes – 2v2 team battles
  • Goldrush – An everyman for themselves battle with a twist, there are special objectives, first to meet all objectives wins
• 20 unique Vs. Levels playable in all above game modes each including different weapons and environmental hazards ranging from conveyer belts, busy car filled roads, warp pipes and cliff edges.
• All game modes and levels are playable, online, offline and on Cross-Play with PSVita and PS3™.

Cross Features

And how do the Cross features work you ask?

Well first we have Cross-Buy… This one is simple!  Just buy the game on either the PS3™ or PSVita store and you will instantly be given both versions for no extra cost.  Just check your download list on either platform to get access to it.

Cross-Play is also simple; it’s a totally seamless experience.  When you go online with either the PS3™ or PSVita and enter multiplayer matchmaking you will simply be dropped into a game no matter what system you or the other players are on.  It just works… no special menus, no special set-up, just turn on and play.

Finally we have Cross-Save, basically when you are playing and your system is connected to the internet it will upload your save files as soon as a save game is made or updated. Once online the save files merge and as soon as you turn on the game on another platform with the same Sony Entertainment Network account it will automatically download and merge the save again meaning that you have to do nothing other than be online.

Our goal from the start was always to make a simple pick-up and play game so we have done our best to make all these new features as seamless and simple to use as possible.  Nothing should get in the way of fun!

So please enjoy “When Vikings Attack”! Play it with friends, play it alone, play it online, play it offline or play it via Cross-Play on PSVita and PS3™, just enjoy it!

The game is available for the low low price of HK$80!  We can’t wait to see you all online!

Thank you for participating our design competition. The result will be announced on or before 31st August on Asia PlayStation® blog.

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UPDATE on 16 July 2012 : COMPETITION IS ON TODAY!

Eventually, you can start submitting you crazy designs via the Online Submission Form today but before that, let's see what the producer would like to share with Asia gamers:

So what are you waiting for? Just work out your design and submit it on time as the competition will end on 10 August!

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Have you ever dreamt of using your artistic talent to actually design a character for a game? How about doing this, getting your name in the game credits, and winning a Crystal White PlayStation®Vita console, too?

“When Vikings Attack” Character Design Competition (Asia) is your chance!

Set to come out on PlayStation®Network Autumn this year, “When Vikings Attack” is an all-action fighting adventure game in which you have a group of townsfolk – men, women and kids fight against invading Vikings to keep their idyllic land free from oppression. Want to take a glance at the game? Here you go:

More about the game

Now Clever Beans, the game developer company have tried their best to represent all these brave people in the game but it would be pretty cool to throw it out to the community as well…

All you need to do is to pick up a pen or a mouse to let your creativity run wild on the Viking character template and submit your design via an online registration form from 16th July to 10th August. The character design can be a drawing done with pen, pencil, crayon or computer graphics, but remember to i­­nclude a short description of the character to let us know why your character is the way it is.

Note:

1. Designs should be ‘original’ concepts, and cannot represent trademarked characters (e.g. a Batman design).

2. The character should be one of the townspeople (wacky as you like) with all ethnicities welcome (apart from Viking!)

“When Vikings Attack” Character Design Templates
Female (Click on the photo to enlarge and download)	Male (Click on the photo to enlarge and download)

Here are some examples of a few of the existing townsfolk in the game and how they came from sketch to character model:

Clever Beans, the game developer company of this title will select the best design based on its creativity. The Asia grand prize winner will not only get a Crystal White PS Vita (Wi-Fi) with a ‘When Vikings Attack’ full game voucher, but also have their winning character implemented in the game and their name in the credits! The 1st to 5th runner-up will each get Prepaid Value, while 25 special prize winners can enjoy a free game download of “When Vikings Attack”!

How would it feel when your creative skills are given free rein? When you see a character designed by you come to life on screen? When you win the brand-new Crystal White PS Vita console? You will find that out, before Vikings attack.

Join “When Vikings Attack” Design a Character Competition!

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Submission

1. All submissions have to be sent via this online submission form. (The competition was ended on 10th August 2012)

2. Each participant shall submit:

    a) The artwork design file (in the form of a photo image or computer graphic)

    b) A short paragraph to introduce the character design (Within 80 words)

Prizes

1. Asia Grand Prize (1 winner)

• Crystal White PS Vita (WiFi model) x 1
• Winning design being created & incorporated in “When Vikings Attack” full game
• Game voucher for free download of “When Vikings Attack” full game x 1
• Name in the game credits

2. 1st – 2nd runners up (1 winner each)

• HK$800 prepaid value for purchase on PSN

3. 3rd – 5th runners up (1 winner each)

• HK$500 prepaid value for purchase on PSN

4. Special Prize (25 winners)

• Game voucher for free download of “When Vikings Attack” full game

Terms & Conditions

1. “When Vikings Attack” Character Design Competition (Asia) is opened to Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) members of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan and Korea only.

2. The Competition is open for entries on 16th July 2012 and closes for entries on 10th August 2012 (23:59). Any late entries will not be accepted and a submission of entry implies understanding and acceptance of all the Terms and Conditions listed in this section.

3. Participants must submit an original character design using the template provided and can be created on paper or with any computer program. In case of the former, a photo or a scanned version of the drawing must be submitted. The character cannot represent any existing trademark.

4. All winners will be selected by Clever Beans (game developer company) from applicants of all participating regions listed above based on the creativity of the idea, the design of the character and how Clever Beans thinks it will fit into the game.

5. The result will be announced on PlayStation® Official Blog (blog.asia.playstation.com) on or before 31st August, 2012. All winners will be notified by email individually.

6. The Prepaid Value and game voucher will be presented in the form of voucher codes and sent to the winners’ registered email addresses and PlayStation® message box. The voucher codes can only be used on PlayStation®Network and cannot be redeemed for cash.

7. Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong Limited (SCEH) reserves the final right in case of any dispute.

8. SCEH reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions without prior and separate notice.