Operation Hardcore transitions to full release

For the past 2+ years I’ve locked myself in the studio pretty much every weeknight/end, making pixels move, making crazy electronic sounds. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “How is this different than any other 2 year stretch of your life?” Well, I suppose it’s not THAT different, except this time I actually have something to show for it: my first independent game is now in full release on Steam! Full release as in “it’s
finished”!

As with pretty much every project ever, it’s taken way longer than I expected, and is nowhere near as grandiose as I had initially schemed, but, it’s done! Another notch on my belt as an independent musician and game developer.

With any luck (and probably a lot of hard work), this is just the start of the next chapter of my life and career. I’ve already lined up a publishing deal for my next game, and have been chatting with some insanely talented folks about partnering on some things in the future.

Thanks to all those who supported me through this project, helped spread the word, or were just there for me when I needed to let off some steam.

Tomorrow night, I celebrate by playing some drum & bass at The CoHo! 😉

OKA at The Carleton July 31st

I’m stoked to announce that I’ll be opening for Aussie band OKA at The Carleton in Halifax on July 31st! This show has become something of an annual tradition for them, and I’m really excited to be on board for this one!

I’ll be kicking off the night with a live set of original deep/downtempo bassy stuff, and will have keyboardist James Spray (UFO) and guitarist Phyl La Ferrierer (Landing Sound) on board for a few songs.

(Facebook event page | tickets)

Operation Hardcore news

So, a lot has happened since I first announced the game a few months back.

Firstly, I’ve partnered with a old internet acquaintance, Ricardo Chirino, to assist with art. He’s also stepped up on the marketing and promotion front in a big way.

Frooty Booty, c. 2003

Little known fact: he and I worked together on a submission for a 72 hour game dev competition over a decade ago. In fact, the game did fairly well (2nd overall, 1st in sound, as I recall).

Secondly, our Indiegogo campaign came and went. Though we were able to raise a few hundred dollars, it  was nowhere near enough to support the cost of developing for Wii U. This led to a decision to instead focus on PC release first.

Ricardo and I then spent the next couple months polishing up a demo, which was released a few weeks ago. In parallel we worked on promoting the game on Steam Greenlight, including putting together this gameplay video:

Well, it looks like everything is coming together! The game was Greenlit on Steam yesterday and we’ve had quite a few downloads of the demo, as well as some feedback/reviews rolling in (make no mistake, the game is hard!)

What’s next for us? Well, another few months of development, for sure. While we already have a full alpha build of the game there’s still a long list of bugs, additional features, and a whole lot of polish that needs to be added.

To those who have supported us over the past few months: I just wanted to say thanks! We’re in it for the long haul, and we promise you it’ll be worth the wait 🙂

Operation Hardcore: a game by Adam McLellan

Most of you know that music is a big part of my life, and last year was a big year for me: I released 2 EPs, an album and several remixes; 17 or 18 tracks in total, I think!

What you might not know about, however, is my other passion: video games. (well, there have probably been some indications that I play a lot of video games, but I also have an interest and history in video game design and development.)

For 2015 I’ve resolved to really push this envelope, much like I pushed the music envelope in 2014.

On that note, I’d like to officially announce my first independent game title: Operation Hardcore. (well, the original name was “Badass: Operation Hardcore”, but sadly the folks over at Nintendo are likely to veto this so I thought it best to preemptively change the name)

Operation Hardcore is a 2D action game with the heart and soul of a retro game, but the mind and body of a current-gen game, including modern sound design and music (by me), analog controls, HD output, etc. I’m targeting a Wii U release later this year and, depending on how that goes, may be exploring additional platforms in 2016.

While the project is entirely self-funded, I am hoping for some help from friends and family. I’m running an Indiegogo (crowd-funding) campaign for the next month and a half. Anything you can contribute is greatly appreciated, and I’m offering several perks in exchange. Here’s a link to the campaign.

Feel free to reach out with any questions, words of encouragement, words of discouragement (you’re crazy/what the hell are you doing!), or whatever else you can think of 🙂 If you’re a fan of this genre and want to help in other ways, I will be looking for play-testers throughout the course of development (you don’t need a Wii U for this, just a PC and an Xbox 360 controller)

Thanks for your support,
Adam

“Time & Space” nominated for ECMA “Electronic Recording of the Year”

Just a quick note to say that my Time & Space EP has been nominated for ECMA “Electronic
Recording of the year”! If you haven’t heard it yet, you can check it out on my SoundCloud.

You can find the announcement and full list of nominees here.

Congrats and best of luck to all the nominees!

Snug & jfspray to release “Battle for Planet Earth” on August 5th

ARM YOUR WEAPONS! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE ALIEN INVASION!!

In the distant future, mankind is ruthlessly invaded by a violent species of alien that have wrenched control of our solar system, targeting the most densely populated planet: Earth.

Accompanied by a select squadron of elite marines, you are enlisted in a covert mission to infiltrate the heart of the invasion forces. The human race has placed its faith in you to overcome supreme evil and take back planet Earth!

The soundtrack to the greatest game you’ll never play!

“Battle for Planet Earth” is an 8 song concept album from Snug & jfspray inspired by classic action/shooter video games of yesteryear, complete with original box art and a track progression that tells a story of alien invasion, inter-planetary conflict and the subsequent fallout.

The album officially releases on August 5th but is available for pre-release now via Bandcamp: http://snugsound.bandcamp.com/album/battle-for-planet-earth

The Deep End @ The Board Room Game Cafe

I’m really excited to announce the new day, time and venue for The Deep End: the second Wednesday of every month from 8-11 PM at The Board Room Game Cafe, starting Wednesday April 9th!

Anyone who’s ever talked to me about these shows knows that I’ve wanted to combine chill/deep electronic music with board games since pretty much day one but there simply hasn’t been a suitable venue in Halifax, until now…

For those who don’t know, The Board Room is a LICENSED board game cafe on Barrington St. with over 400 (!) games. In addition to a bar and a cafe they also have a kitchen.

As always my goal is to create a very low-key and INCLUSIVE environment, so don’t be afraid to bring people who you might not normally think to bring to a “show”: co-workers, family, etc.

(BTW, fear not, they have *3* copies of The Settlers of Catan plus expansions… phew!)