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Since I left Rockstar North in May last year I've been learning how to develop games for iOS using SpriteKit. I spent the first 3 months or so going through tutorials and a book which I bought and since then I've been working completely on my own game. I've built the whole thing from scratch, from the game engine to the mission script, animations etc. DuPz0r and DiO have done a brilliant job as my graphic designers and we're continuing to make good progress. Ideally I wanted the game finished within 6 months but it's a pretty huge job, especially for 1 developer and 2 part time designers so it's going to take maybe another 6 months but it's coming along well. I've amazed myself by just how much work goes into a game, even something as 'small' as this. I've been keeping a design doc up to date as we go and its coming on for 40 pages so far which gives you some idea of what's involved. It's not your traditional iPhone game (i.e. small levels, pick up and play, good for 2 minutes when you're on the toilet etc). It's a full - almost GameBoy style - platformer RPG. It features a turn based battle system similar to something you'd see in Pokemon and will feature a number of puzzles in each area as well as some hopefully fun mini-games. I'm hoping to have the full story take around 10-20 hours to complete (including all of the battles you'll have to do), which isn't bad for an iPhone game. If it's successful I'd like to re-develop it and release it on PS Vita or maybe the consoles as an indie game. Anyhow, it's yet another zombie apocalypse game. The basic story is that a Scientist wants you to help him find a cure by going out and getting samples from all of the different zombie forms. You'll have to battle them and kill them, then you can search their corpses for a specimen sample. You can also capture them in battle using a Lasso which will unlock additional data. The game is still very much a work in progress and the game engine is still under constant development, but quite a lot has been done so far and there is a lot of functionality coded and working including saving and loading data, an XP and ranking system for the hero, a full inventory system, a full dialog system, collectables, interactable items, containers which can be searched, multiple levels and sub levels, complex multi-layer UI and a pause menu system... I thought I'd let you guys know so you could offer any feedback on the development. I need to do a lot of work just to get the game into a state where it can be considered finished and fully working, but if you have any ideas which would make it a better game I'm all ears. I'm ideally targeting a release in June or somewhere around there, although having done nothing else but this for the past 9 months or so, I am going to eventually need to get a new job so the development might slow down a bit. Definitely want it finished and released by the end of this year. The game doesn't yet have a name, so if anyone can think of a cool and unique name for the game let me know. We have about 50 potential names but I'm not 100% happy with any of them yet. Working title is Not Another Zombie Apocalypse, although it's not completely unique. If anyone with design or audio skills wants to help out I'd be very happy for the assistance. There is potential financial reward for any work you contribute, but I can't guarantee anything until I see if the game makes any money when it launches. You would of course be listed in the credits either way. Here are some screenshots of the first few levels. I'll hopefully have a trailer style video to show off in the next few weeks.

All I can say is that it looks brilliant! If I played any games and owned an iPhone, I'd be on the lookout for this!