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Presentation of the Kiro'o Project
Hi everyone and welcome to the Kiro'o project presentation.
What is the Kiro'o project?
It is an endeavor to create video games inspired from African culture.
The project is directed along 3 main directions :
The first consists in creating the Kiro'o Tales genre.
We say « Genre » in the same way that Science Fiction and Heroic Fantasy are also genres in their own right.
Because the aim is to create a comprehensive story telling methodology,
An audiovisual methodology, which you'll discover in our model version.
Then, follows the establishment of the Kiro'o Games studio,
Glimpses of which you can get in this video
The 3rd phase is dedicated to the creation of games such as AURION
Which will exploit the Kiro'o Tales genre and will be realized by the Kiro'o Games Studio
To sum up
A new genre, to wit the Kiro'o tales, will serve as the inspiration source for the realisation of games such as AURION in a would-be Studio called KIRO'O Games
These are the 3 poles upon which the Kiro'o project rests
The Kiro'o Games project is initiated and housed by the MADIA SARL Company, which I co-founded
The studio would be established in Yaoundé, Cameroon, after its creation.
As of today, it is made up by a crew of young and talented artists and programmers,
All working for free, for the moment.
In ten years of existence, the project has seen many volunteers come and go.
Some of them are still with us
But what they all have in common,
Is the passion and the dream of realizing a great game based on our culture
Which will give the players exciting gameplay moments
This can even be read in our motto: Gamer Spirit Design
Aurion, the 1st game by the studio is an action RPG
We have in mind to release 3 versions from now to 2017
The 1st is to be released in 2014 and will be an action RPG in 2D format
The other 2 versions will be released in 2017 and 2018 in 2D Sellshading format or in 2D according to the fans tastes.
So Aurion is the first game to exploit The Kiro'o Tales story telling technique
Along with the visuals and audio tracks we are setting up
And keep in mind that our ambition for the game is
To exceed existing works in terms of gameplay and depth in story telling
The project is multidimensional and, therefore, targets many goals.
Our main goal is in the cultural area where we intend to
Present a practical way to exploit our traditions
By carving them to international standards and tastes
This the goal of the Kiro'o Tales genre
On a social note, we think that with the video game,
We can promote some values that only Africa can offer
Not only for African youth,
But for the whole world, given the current globalization context.
Economically,
Our goal is to assess the viability of this activity,
Which will employ young computer scientists
Artists and youths in general,
Currently underemployed on the continent.
With each version of Aurion, we've always attempted to push further the limits in spite of our amateur status.
Let's take for example the 2003-2005 version
For which we had already included the QTE long before the release of God of War
Or another RPG apart from Final Fantasy 13
To illustrate our avant-gardist vision in the dynmics of the fighting scenes
The current version of Aurion is just a mock-up
Which was published on our Facebook page
And does not feature the gameplay action phase
It nevertheless served for lectures and for earning the credibility of our partners
We've therefore given 2 lectures
One in Yaounde where presented the sociocultural incidence of the project,
And the other in Douala which was more economically oriented
With Aurion the challenge will be to make up a new visual style
In terms of layout, we've got to innovate
In terms of colorization, we've got to find a visual style that reflects African art, Africain paintings
As of now, we're still researching
And I think we're on the right track.
There are many challenges to overcome with this game
Among them, there is the need to harmonize the different styles of our team of artists
Because we're quite many
And there is a need for each one of them to adhere to a given pattern so as to get recognizable characters in the game.
Also, their work
Ought to be easily exploitable for the programmers,
A great challenge too, but we're on the right track.
About prospects,
They are many for African artists and especially Cameroonians.
Many of them are acquainted with comics, painting, and all kinds of odd jobs in the field of art;
But for this occasion we're going to work on video games.
So some of them will be required for landscapes, characters, scenery or buildings, even for vehicles, just in case the need for them arises,
Let's admit that this is a huge opportunity for African artists.
For the 1st version of Aurion expected for 2014,
We've chosen to use Microsoft's XNA as a development platform,
Because it provides us with many advantages
Most notably its simplicity in the development of video games,
The efficiency of the platform is well established in high profile projects
And lastly, it is suited to many games platform, PC and XBOX 360 especially
Our challenge is to create our own game engine, the Astral Engine whose main challenges are:
As with every engine, it ought to be generic, while being able to manage unique cases
Concerning the musical aspect of the Kiro'o project,
It's going to be a massive undertaking
Because African music is rarely, if ever, exploited in the video games domain
What I perceive at face value is the need to find the right mixture between the typical pronounced rhythms of African music,
And the epic flavor associated with video games
Especially with the kind of games we intend to develop
So there's a need to find the right mixture between the two, which is quite a challenge
What does this opportunuty represent
In fact it's entirely going to be a new creative landmark
Because it's not going to be a matter of single-mindedly composing music
Sure, it's got to be a heartfelt activity, but there is a need to incorporate other members of the crew
Meaning it's got to be in tune with the pictures, the actions. . .
Graphically, Aurion espouses the 2D format for the 1st version and Sellshading format for the upcoming ones.
Here we face a double challenge
First, getting acquainted with game design techniques,
And then, transcribing the ideas and concepts in graphics suited for development,
Given the fact that we are geared towards the elaboration of a new graphic scenery
As for computer graphics, we're highly qualified
But managing skills for a professional video game is quite a novelty
Which is going to provide African designers with many opportunities
Fortunately the crew is made up by passionate people and hard core gamers.
I would like to return to the passion aspect of the project
Which, according to me, is as important as its sociocultural or economic counterparts
Because this project stands on the shoulders of the crew.
A team of passionate people
These are the programmers, artists or the musicians gathered around this project as a family
Which we intend complete, with the support of the people watching this video
It's also the beginning of a great adventure
Because until now, we've achieved pretty amazing things
On a side note, the project allows for the fulfillment of our passion wholeheartedly, beyond our respective academic background
But also we get some kind of badge of honor from being pioneers in this domain
Because in Africa, We're virtually the first
Thanks for watching
We hope you've taken the time to appreciate our "KIRO'O team"
And you've assessed our passion and ambition to create good quality games inspired from African culture
We invite your support of whatever nature it may be, be it technical, financial or you may want to join us
So that we may contribute to this industry which has enchanted our lives
Up until now
In the name of the crew and the Kiro'o project, I thank you for watching this presentation.
To be continued...
Under the patronnage of
Ministry of Arts and Culture of Cameroon Under the patronnage of
Ministry of Arts and Culture of Cameroon