When I look out the window, I often see our two cats stepping on the back wall as they jump over the fence to visit the neighbor’s garden. They go up and down, covering seemingly impossible distances for their tiny squares and yarns, but without suffering any harm. It’s an instinct that the BlueTwelve Studio team knows all too well, having modeled their anonymous protagonist cat on their debut adventure game, Stray, after a couple of feline mates and companions, it turns out.
“About 80% of the team owns cats, or they own a cat, depending on how you look at it,” says producer Swann Martin-Raget. “We actually have two cats who come with us almost every day to the office and work with us. The main character is based on one of the director’s cats named Murtaugh. It’s not an exact copy, but it’s the main reference. We also have L “Oscar, who is a Sphynx, a skinless cat, so he’s a great reference for animation because we can clearly see every movement. We also have a lot of streets we’ve taken, but yes, we’re definitely big fans of and these animals are fascinating to us. “
The cat of BlueTwelve co-founders Murtaugh is the lead role model for Stray’s ginger protagonist.
In fact, during our 30-minute tour of one of Stray’s first dystopian cyber landscapes, BlueTwelve’s deep love for cats immediately surfaced. Despite being alone, injured and separated from his family, your feline protagonist is an instantly warm and playful presence in its sea of metal, neon lights and ruined robots. There’s a dedicated meow button, for example, as well as button stains for kneading carpets, scratching the backs of worn-out sofas, and of course pushing paint jars precariously placed over the edge of tall cornices. Classic catechisms, that is, all have been animated with love by hand, Martin-Raget tells us, rather than mo-capped.
You will use your agility and mischievous nature to explore and navigate this strange new environment, crafting its rules and how you will escape, Martin-Raget explains. However, a much more mechanical rule that you will quickly encounter when playing Stray is the limitation of your ability to jump. Your four-legged friend can only jump on a platform when you see the safety of a button at your intended destination, meaning you can’t accidentally fall to your death or miss a jump. Given that our demonstration was without a doubt, it’s hard to say exactly how much this will affect the flow of our exploration when Stray finally launches on July 19, but Martin-Raget tells us it was one of the only ways the team could prevent playtesters from misreading the environment.
Well, hello to you too.
“At the beginning of the project, we moved away from the classic platform challenges. We did some testing with some people and seeing people constantly losing their jumps didn’t really make us feel like a cat, and the fantasy of being a cat that we had in our It was a matter of being gentle and easy to get where you want to go, so we came up with this commitment to be able to have jumps in the game that are very easy to do but also allow a lot of freedom. go where you want, but in a very smooth and agile way “.
“The fantasy of being a cat that was in our minds was to be gentle and be able to easily go where you want.”
In defense of BlueTwelve, I’m also not sure I’d like my chances of navigating this robot city without that extra help. Even through the light mist of our Discord flow, it was clear that Stray’s cybercity was full of little details waiting to be stung and palpated. Boxes and bottles are scattered in the alleys and supported on balconies, pipes are stacked and folded to create makeshift stairs, abandoned TVs sound in a static mist on rooftops and buckets hang in the air on pieces rope, just waiting for a comfortable. passenger sized to send it plummeted down. As the old saying goes, if it fits, sit down.
Some UI indications, then, are welcome additions to my eyes, especially when the rest of the screen is completely free of other HUD elements. The camera does a brilliant job of framing your cat’s journey through this mysterious world, but it’s not so rigid that you feel locked in. In fact, while some areas of the city are more linear than others, its main squares and thoroughfares seem fascinating. playgrounds open to climb. Most importantly, they look completely natural, they also live in places, not artificial creations designed for video game cats to pass the waltz without hindrance. Air conditioning units are surprisingly useful, such as vending machines, awnings, pipes, and metal barrels.
And the prize for the best zip line in a game is for …
However, it’s not just about looking and being a lovely little nuisance. In a later segment, we were shown the cat being chased by swarms of insect-like creatures called Zurk with large bright eyes, which were spilling from all angles into a bright green sewer. Here, you’ll need to use your platforming intelligence and a little quick thinking to get over them and escape. Unlike its quieter scanning sections, you can die in these action sequences, says Martin-Raget, giving the game a kind of gamble, though your punishment for failure is still relatively light. just a quick reappearance at the last checkpoint. But even in times of relative calm, you’ll still need to exercise some lateral thinking to solve some of your smart-looking physics puzzles that allow you to manipulate your environment. (And if you think that a cat that uses its weight to move turntables from side to side while jumping between them is too far-fetched, let me introduce you to my cat Midna, who can open all the doors from home jumping and hanging.the handle).
You are not alone in your journey either. At first, you buy a small backpack that houses a little robot friend named B-12. He is your mainstay in understanding this world, and allows you to communicate with his resident robots, as well as other snippets of technology you’ll find around the city, such as translating signs and placards. But it also has a practical purpose, providing objective reminders, a handy flashlight, and access to your growing inventory of items you’ll need to order and various side missions. After all, a cat has to have some kind of pockets, right?
Avoiding a swarm of these annoying creatures is one of Stray’s main escape sequences.
I couldn’t see what these side missions really meant during my demo session. Aside from some classic fetchquests (e.g., bringing a lost book to a particular robot), this is where Stray will have to prove himself in his release. While the world itself seems to be a fun place to walk around, its enduring appeal will no doubt depend on the reasons it gives us for going there.
- Developer: BlueTwelve Studios
- Published by Annapurna Interactive
- Release: July 19
- Enabled: Windows
- From: Steam
- Price: £ 24 / € 28 / $ 30
As things stand, these motives will be provided by some of the other robots you will become familiar with throughout the game. During our demonstration session, we met an engineer who will fix the broken objects, while the bartender will offer you tips and advice on the things you found (he also has an excellent pool table in the upstairs room, which without will definitely offer endless fun (in christening balls). Robots may not be the only other creatures you come across. When asked if there were human characters in the game, Martin-Raget was very shy, simply saying he would not answer the question and that “robots are very important in the city.” As a result, I wouldn’t be surprised if Stray had a few more secrets up his sleeve, but we’ll have to wait until the final game comes out to find out what they are.
So yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. After two years of waiting, it looks like Stray is shaping up to be a pretty substantial adventure, with Martin-Raget saying he expects a regular play to last between 7 and 8 hours “at a normal pace”, with the finalists watching something nearest. 9-10 hours. This is much bigger than I expected, in all honesty, although after seeing the city in action, it is clear that BlueTwelve has worked hard to make this place a fun and interesting setting to spend. the weather. I’m also really looking forward to shredding your worn-out furniture, kneading your flea-bitten carpets, playing with the TV controls, and knocking all objects out of sight, because honestly, what else are you going to do between missions and story missions when you’re such an adorable fluff ball? Finally, we have a good cat in video games, so keep in mind, fellow cats – this vagabond wants to be the real meow of the cat.