Scooter Sketch

I'm gradually working through the photos I took at Offf in Portugal, and seeing which ones to reinterpret as sketches. This is only the second I've created so far, but wanted to share it with you all the same...

No Heroics US pilot

Recently I heard from the team working on a US pilot of No Heroics, who were interesting in reusing my artwork for the main set. Naturally I was happy to oblige, and gave them access to the hi-res files so that they could do just that. Nothing much else to report, although Freddie Prinze Jr. is to star. (Some) more information can be found at noheroics.com and Wikipedia. Creator Drew Pearce has been very much involved with the new version as co-writer and executive producer, and it'll be very interesting to see how it evolves with a different cast and intended audience.

Travis McCoy's Unbeaten Track with MTV's Staying Alive Foundation

Travis McCoy (of Gym Class Heroes fame) is an ambassador for MTV's Staying Alive Foundation, the world’s largest, youth focused, HIV and AIDS prevention campaign. The Foundation asked me if I'd like to design his blog (and design the logo) for the adventure he's going on with some of the team, traveling to Asia and Africa to meet some of the amazing young people who run HIV prevention projects in Asia and Africa. Travis will be writing a song inspired by his travels, to be released on World AIDS day on December 1st.

Naturally I was happy to be involved, and The Unbeaten Track site is now live. Huge thanks to Oliver Jones, who built the site to a top standard in a relatively short timeframe. There are lots of updates on the site as Travis and the crew go into their second week, so your support would be much appreciated.

Computer Arts' top 20 tweeting designers

I got a really nice little surprise this week when Computer Arts added me to their list of top 20 designers who tweet. It was very good of them, as there are so many others out there whom they could have included instead. Just being mentioned on the same page as these folks is very humbling, even though I'm lucky enough to be acquainted with a few of them. As you'd expect, this has led quite a bit of a spike in followers (I've gone from almost 250 to nearly 500 in the last few days!), so this is a little hello to you all. I'll do my best to keep things interesting. Thanks Computer Arts!

And by the way, if you're interested, you'll find me at www.twitter.com/samgilbey.

1066: The Game

One of Preloaded's big projects this year has been a turn-based strategy game to accompany Channel 4's new dramatisation of the famous events of 1066. The gameplay is pretty deep, and even supports online multiplayer. You can play it here.



The project was already well underway when I joined Preloaded at the end of last year, so I've had very little involvement in the whole project other than a bit of play-testing here and there. However, I did get to storyboard the cutscenes for the main single player game, and I've included a few sample images below. Perhaps coolest of all, the legendary Sir Ian Holm (yes that's right, Bilbo Baggins) narrated the cutscenes, lending them an extra level of gravitas and portent.

The game has also been getting some great coverage online, and the team are incredibly chuffed that it's made an appearance on both Edge Online and Kotaku.

Race Against Chime: Big Ben game celebrates the 150th anniversary of the famous clock

Yep that's right, the famous clock has certainly been round the block a bit. Happy Birthday Ben! At Preloaded we were commissioned by Parliament to create an educational but fun game to celebrate its 'sesquicentennial'. We pitched the idea that you would play the character of Little Ben, and have to swing on a rope before the clock face, in order to clean it in time for the anniversary celebrations, and they saw the potential for a fun and challenging game immediately.

You start at midday, and there are twelve levels in all, each lasting a minute each, with the celebrations beginning at midnight. To start with, there's relatively little dirt to clean, but soon you'll have most of the face to contend with, as well as birds and gusts of wind all out to hinder your progress.

In between each level, simple true or false questions impart interesting facts about the great clock. If you answer correctly, you're able to start the level with an XL bucket, which can save you valuable seconds.

I did the majority of the art and design work on this, illustrating the background and the clock face, as well as the interface design and the majority of the animation. I also had lots of fun creating the sound effects, which help to reward or reprimand the player as they progress.

You can play the game here.