Eric J. Moreels
Jan 30, 2002, 07:09 am
{Originally posted at X-Fan v3.0 on December 12, 2001}
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93recscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93recscrt.jpg" align=left alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Recruitment"></a>The latest X-Men game to sweep X-fandom off their feet is not the latest Activision release, but rather X-Assault (http://darkelf.brinkster.net/nixonvision.asp) - a free online Web-based strategy game.
X-Fan recently caught up with Nixon from game creators NixonVision to find out more about the game that has X-fans everywhere talking.
X-FAN: First up, how did NixonVision begin and who comprises the group?
NIXON: Like all the best ideas, NixonVision began with some charity work. We were all involved with this college organization that was kinda having rough times financially, and being a lateral thinker, I had a neat idea: why not do a You Don't Know Jack-type trivia game, put it on CDs, and sell it as a fundraiser? So we recorded all the voices, wrote some witty trivia, made this huge game, it was a big success, and NixonVision was born... the name came from my old on-air alias when I was a radio disc jockey. We did a couple of websites after that, but our next major project was X-Assault. We're still pretty new.
NixonVision is Nixon (that's me), Script Dubious (who does a lot of the in-depth programming stuff), Wakko (image and audio master), and Daytripper (a wizardess of ideas). We're all very close.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93havokscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93havokscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Havok recruited"></a>X-FAN: For those not familiar with the game, what is X-Assault?
NIXON: In X-Assault, you use a Press Your Luck style game board and an assortment of X-trivia questions to recruit up to eight mutants from the annals of X-history onto your team. Use your recruits to form a battle squadron, and send them out across the globe to battle members of the evil Brotherhood. X-Assault is a game that combines split-second reflexes, X-trivia knowledge, and turn-based strategy to provide a completely unique X-Men experience. Play with almost 30 playable characters, including all of the X-Men teams, the new X-Force, and even old favorites like X-Factor and Excalibur members!
X-FAN: From where did the idea for X-Assault originate?
NIXON: You're going to laugh, okay? We wanted to do a project for fun, that we'd enjoy and that we could show off, but we weren't sure what. Then late one night, I had the freakiest dream. I was a contestant on Hollywood Squares, and Professor X was the host. Then I looked over on the giant tic-tac-toe board, and Wolverine was in the center square, and the other X-Men were in the others, and they were all like, "Okay, ready to play?"
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/xsquares.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/xsquarest.jpg" align=left alt="X-Squares screenshot"></a>So I woke up screaming, vowed to never have pickles before bed again, and went back to sleep. Later, I told the others about it, and we had the idea to do something like that with NixonVision. Seriously. Originally, it was going to be called X-Squares. Is that scary or what?
We all actually liked the idea... everyone here thought it was surreal, kinda eccentric, kinda cool. So we started work on it, did some scripting and programming and designing but the further we got into it, the more problems we had. Did we have enough good graphics of all the characters we wanted to use? Was there enough actual gameplay involved? What would we do for the player's opponent? What about villains?
So the game slowly changed from that point... keeping with the whole "cheesy game show" motif, we started playing around with a Press Your Luck-style mutant board. Then we thought we'd add some trivia. Then Dubious started talking about making them fight bad guys. And what started as X-Squares became X-Assault.
X-FAN: How did NixonVision set about creating the game?
NIXON: You don't want all of the boring details, do you? After the concept work, we started working with the images and actually programming the whole thing into Flash. Luckily, we're very good at Flash. There's a lot involved before you get to the programming phase, though... think character, stat and power creation, finding images, writing questions, picking villains, figuring out how the game flows, choosing locations... and do you have any idea how long it took us to make that pretty map in the map room???
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93selscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93selscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Team selection"></a>X-FAN: How important is fan feedback to development of the game?
NIXON: I'd say it's very important. I think so far one of us has managed to reply to just about every single e-mail that we've received from players... how many game development teams can say that? And a lot of the new features in the game have come directly from player suggestions. For instance, a lot of the special events that are in the game now were sent to us by rabid X-Assault'ers, and we based several of the new characters on who people were asking us for (including the hidden character... that I take full credit for).
In every upgrade we've done so far, we've included fan suggested modifications and tweaks, which is great because our players are smart people, and they're filled with good ideas. As long as they keep sending in ideas, we'll keep doing X-Assault upgrades.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93teamscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93teamscrt.jpg" align=left alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Squadron leader selection"></a>X-FAN: What would you contribute to the game's runaway success?
NIXON: I don't know if I'd call it "runaway", since we're all still very broke, but we've sure got a lot more hits than I thought we'd have by this point! :)
There are a lot of factors, promotion-wise that helped... the regular players have done a great job of spreading word-of-mouth about the game (we may not know about all of these, but especially folks like Blackflak and Nocturne), and I can't leave out the message board topics at X-Fan and the Comic Orgy Forums, and the trailer over at UncannyXMen.net (http://www.uncannyxmen.net/[/URL). Kudos to those guys, they helped us a lot.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93xtxmscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93xtxmscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: X-Treme X-Men team"></a>But I think the one thing that makes the game really popular is that there's nothing like it anywhere on the Internet. Every X-fanboy and fangirl, deep down, wants something where they can see their favorite mutants together, something where they can see those mutants in action. There've been X-Men video games before, but they always severely limited what characters you could pick and play with. This isn't an arcade-style game, it's not a mindless fighting game; it's a game for the thinking person, a strategic experience, and it rewards you for all those years of useless trivia you've picked up.
Like we say in our promotions for the game, there's nothing else like it... anywhere. And that's why I think it's successful.
X-FAN: What's in store for X-Assault in future versions?
NIXON: Before I answer that, let me say that we have started on what we're calling version 0.93B, and we want to have that out before Christmas... it won't be a full upgrade like the last few ones with tons of new features, but it will have a few new goodies just in time for the holidays. We'll be adding a few new team bonuses and events, cleaning up some graphics, and fixing the infamous "Why Psylocke Sucks Against Cassandra Nova" issue. Oh, and our new logo shows up, too.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93doopnovascr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93doopnovascrt.jpg" align=left alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Doop vs Cassandra Nova"></a>But we have been throwing some ideas around for the next full upgrade... we'll definitely have a few new villains, for starters. The big thing we'd really like to do, though, is add what we're calling a "conversation engine". The idea is, if for instance you have Cyclops in a battle, and Jean Grey is back in reserve giving him support... well, something different should happen. Maybe he gets a bonus because he's trying to show off for Jean, maybe she whispers sweet nothings in his ear.
On the flip side, say Wolverine is fighting Sabretooth, and Strong Guy is in reserve. Since those guys are pretty much total opposites, maybe Logan would just get annoyed at all of Guido's stupid jokes. Maybe he'd get distracted.
That's the kind of thing we're planning on trying next. We'd also really like to use an idea a certain Aussie X-Fan submitted to us, regarding different levels of attacks, letting heroes choose a weak, moderate, or strong attack.
And finally, (I probably shouldn't give this away in a public forum, but... ) we're thinking about adding some new hidden characters in one of the next upgrades. Odd new hidden characters. Like Cypher. And Lil' Wolvie from the Bullpen Bits.
X-FAN: How are things progressing on the Marvel approval front?
NIXON: I really wish I knew. I heard that a reporter from one of the big industry magazines really liked the game and was going to ask Joe Quesada about it, but that may have just been a rumor. I haven't heard a thing from anybody associated with Marvel. We feel so... left out.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93arcjugscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93arcjugscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Archangel vs Juggernaut"></a>X-FAN: What else has NixonVision got planned?
NIXON: X-Assault has worked so well for us, that we're very seriously considering spinning off another "Assault" game. But we're split, see, because Wakko and I want to do an "Avengers Assault", while Daytripper and Script want to do something called "J-L-A-Assault".
But for now, we just want to do more upgrades and make X-Assault as good as it can possibly be!
For more details, or to try your hand at the game, make sure you stop by the X-Assault (http://darkelf.brinkster.net/nixonvision.asp) Web site.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93recscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93recscrt.jpg" align=left alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Recruitment"></a>The latest X-Men game to sweep X-fandom off their feet is not the latest Activision release, but rather X-Assault (http://darkelf.brinkster.net/nixonvision.asp) - a free online Web-based strategy game.
X-Fan recently caught up with Nixon from game creators NixonVision to find out more about the game that has X-fans everywhere talking.
X-FAN: First up, how did NixonVision begin and who comprises the group?
NIXON: Like all the best ideas, NixonVision began with some charity work. We were all involved with this college organization that was kinda having rough times financially, and being a lateral thinker, I had a neat idea: why not do a You Don't Know Jack-type trivia game, put it on CDs, and sell it as a fundraiser? So we recorded all the voices, wrote some witty trivia, made this huge game, it was a big success, and NixonVision was born... the name came from my old on-air alias when I was a radio disc jockey. We did a couple of websites after that, but our next major project was X-Assault. We're still pretty new.
NixonVision is Nixon (that's me), Script Dubious (who does a lot of the in-depth programming stuff), Wakko (image and audio master), and Daytripper (a wizardess of ideas). We're all very close.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93havokscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93havokscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Havok recruited"></a>X-FAN: For those not familiar with the game, what is X-Assault?
NIXON: In X-Assault, you use a Press Your Luck style game board and an assortment of X-trivia questions to recruit up to eight mutants from the annals of X-history onto your team. Use your recruits to form a battle squadron, and send them out across the globe to battle members of the evil Brotherhood. X-Assault is a game that combines split-second reflexes, X-trivia knowledge, and turn-based strategy to provide a completely unique X-Men experience. Play with almost 30 playable characters, including all of the X-Men teams, the new X-Force, and even old favorites like X-Factor and Excalibur members!
X-FAN: From where did the idea for X-Assault originate?
NIXON: You're going to laugh, okay? We wanted to do a project for fun, that we'd enjoy and that we could show off, but we weren't sure what. Then late one night, I had the freakiest dream. I was a contestant on Hollywood Squares, and Professor X was the host. Then I looked over on the giant tic-tac-toe board, and Wolverine was in the center square, and the other X-Men were in the others, and they were all like, "Okay, ready to play?"
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/xsquares.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/xsquarest.jpg" align=left alt="X-Squares screenshot"></a>So I woke up screaming, vowed to never have pickles before bed again, and went back to sleep. Later, I told the others about it, and we had the idea to do something like that with NixonVision. Seriously. Originally, it was going to be called X-Squares. Is that scary or what?
We all actually liked the idea... everyone here thought it was surreal, kinda eccentric, kinda cool. So we started work on it, did some scripting and programming and designing but the further we got into it, the more problems we had. Did we have enough good graphics of all the characters we wanted to use? Was there enough actual gameplay involved? What would we do for the player's opponent? What about villains?
So the game slowly changed from that point... keeping with the whole "cheesy game show" motif, we started playing around with a Press Your Luck-style mutant board. Then we thought we'd add some trivia. Then Dubious started talking about making them fight bad guys. And what started as X-Squares became X-Assault.
X-FAN: How did NixonVision set about creating the game?
NIXON: You don't want all of the boring details, do you? After the concept work, we started working with the images and actually programming the whole thing into Flash. Luckily, we're very good at Flash. There's a lot involved before you get to the programming phase, though... think character, stat and power creation, finding images, writing questions, picking villains, figuring out how the game flows, choosing locations... and do you have any idea how long it took us to make that pretty map in the map room???
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93selscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93selscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Team selection"></a>X-FAN: How important is fan feedback to development of the game?
NIXON: I'd say it's very important. I think so far one of us has managed to reply to just about every single e-mail that we've received from players... how many game development teams can say that? And a lot of the new features in the game have come directly from player suggestions. For instance, a lot of the special events that are in the game now were sent to us by rabid X-Assault'ers, and we based several of the new characters on who people were asking us for (including the hidden character... that I take full credit for).
In every upgrade we've done so far, we've included fan suggested modifications and tweaks, which is great because our players are smart people, and they're filled with good ideas. As long as they keep sending in ideas, we'll keep doing X-Assault upgrades.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93teamscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93teamscrt.jpg" align=left alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Squadron leader selection"></a>X-FAN: What would you contribute to the game's runaway success?
NIXON: I don't know if I'd call it "runaway", since we're all still very broke, but we've sure got a lot more hits than I thought we'd have by this point! :)
There are a lot of factors, promotion-wise that helped... the regular players have done a great job of spreading word-of-mouth about the game (we may not know about all of these, but especially folks like Blackflak and Nocturne), and I can't leave out the message board topics at X-Fan and the Comic Orgy Forums, and the trailer over at UncannyXMen.net (http://www.uncannyxmen.net/[/URL). Kudos to those guys, they helped us a lot.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93xtxmscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93xtxmscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: X-Treme X-Men team"></a>But I think the one thing that makes the game really popular is that there's nothing like it anywhere on the Internet. Every X-fanboy and fangirl, deep down, wants something where they can see their favorite mutants together, something where they can see those mutants in action. There've been X-Men video games before, but they always severely limited what characters you could pick and play with. This isn't an arcade-style game, it's not a mindless fighting game; it's a game for the thinking person, a strategic experience, and it rewards you for all those years of useless trivia you've picked up.
Like we say in our promotions for the game, there's nothing else like it... anywhere. And that's why I think it's successful.
X-FAN: What's in store for X-Assault in future versions?
NIXON: Before I answer that, let me say that we have started on what we're calling version 0.93B, and we want to have that out before Christmas... it won't be a full upgrade like the last few ones with tons of new features, but it will have a few new goodies just in time for the holidays. We'll be adding a few new team bonuses and events, cleaning up some graphics, and fixing the infamous "Why Psylocke Sucks Against Cassandra Nova" issue. Oh, and our new logo shows up, too.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93doopnovascr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93doopnovascrt.jpg" align=left alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Doop vs Cassandra Nova"></a>But we have been throwing some ideas around for the next full upgrade... we'll definitely have a few new villains, for starters. The big thing we'd really like to do, though, is add what we're calling a "conversation engine". The idea is, if for instance you have Cyclops in a battle, and Jean Grey is back in reserve giving him support... well, something different should happen. Maybe he gets a bonus because he's trying to show off for Jean, maybe she whispers sweet nothings in his ear.
On the flip side, say Wolverine is fighting Sabretooth, and Strong Guy is in reserve. Since those guys are pretty much total opposites, maybe Logan would just get annoyed at all of Guido's stupid jokes. Maybe he'd get distracted.
That's the kind of thing we're planning on trying next. We'd also really like to use an idea a certain Aussie X-Fan submitted to us, regarding different levels of attacks, letting heroes choose a weak, moderate, or strong attack.
And finally, (I probably shouldn't give this away in a public forum, but... ) we're thinking about adding some new hidden characters in one of the next upgrades. Odd new hidden characters. Like Cypher. And Lil' Wolvie from the Bullpen Bits.
X-FAN: How are things progressing on the Marvel approval front?
NIXON: I really wish I knew. I heard that a reporter from one of the big industry magazines really liked the game and was going to ask Joe Quesada about it, but that may have just been a rumor. I haven't heard a thing from anybody associated with Marvel. We feel so... left out.
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93arcjugscr.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/games/X93arcjugscrt.jpg" align=right alt="X-Assault v0.93 screenshot: Archangel vs Juggernaut"></a>X-FAN: What else has NixonVision got planned?
NIXON: X-Assault has worked so well for us, that we're very seriously considering spinning off another "Assault" game. But we're split, see, because Wakko and I want to do an "Avengers Assault", while Daytripper and Script want to do something called "J-L-A-Assault".
But for now, we just want to do more upgrades and make X-Assault as good as it can possibly be!
For more details, or to try your hand at the game, make sure you stop by the X-Assault (http://darkelf.brinkster.net/nixonvision.asp) Web site.