Cody Louviere gave up a good job at a local marketing firm for 12-hour-plus days with his video game startup, King Crow Studios. He works before he gets to the office and after he goes home.
“I spend about an hour with my wife and my dog. We watch TV, and then I crash,” he says.
It’s not a glamorous lifestyle, but he’s fulfilling a lifelong ambition.
15
Number of full-time employees in game development and support at the Louisiana Technology Park, according to John Nettles, associate director of communications. Nettles estimates they also have about 30 part-time or contract employees in the game sector as well. Pixel Dash Studios has completed about 11 games for eight clients through the Tech Park. Find out more at latechpark.com.
“My 13-year-old self would be very happy with my life choices,” he says.
It’s a dream he might have pursued in Austin, Seattle or Quebec. But Louisiana offers financial incentives for digital media companies. And Louviere is getting a boost from the Level Up Lab program at Baton Rouge’s Louisiana Technology Park, where he gets business advice from Tech Park executives and collaborates with like-minded programmers and designers.
Louviere, a Lake Charles native, is an evangelist for Louisiana’s small but growing gaming scene.
“If you have a game idea, if you have the entrepreneurial spirit, or if you just have talent that you can contribute to the gaming industry, we have a community here that you can be a part of,” he says.
We visited the Tech Park to check out three homegrown games expected to be available soon on a computer or gaming console near you.
Quest of Souls
By King Crow Studios
The gist: Brunhilde the Good Lich (basically an undead, evil-hunting witch), Yoshimbo the samurai (who appears to be an anthropomorphized lizard) and Toki the dragonslaying Corgi (based on Louviere’s own pet corgi) blast their way through Louisiana-inspired levels in search of an evil sorcerer with a stolen artifact.
The gameplay: A shooter with fantasy roleplaying elements, retro pixel graphics, detailed storytelling and customizable characters. Endings will vary based on the decisions players make.
The inspiration: The 1990s Super Nintendo era, including Final Fantasy 3, Pocky and Rocky 2, Super Smash TV and Secret of Mana. Existing lore informs the backstories of the various creatures. Welsh Corgis, for example, are said to be steeds for fairy warriors, so Toki is based on that legend.
The status: When this story was reported, Louviere’s team had nearly completed a demo and were hoping to raise $42,000 through Kickstarter to finish development on the game. He expects to release the game for PC, Mac and Linux, and he is in talks to release it for consoles as well.
Tadpole Treble
By BitFinity Games
The gist: Baton, the newborn tadpole, tries to find her way home, swimming through sheet music while dodging the musical notes of each level’s theme song.
The gameplay: A side-scrolling adventure game featuring several levels and bosses and original musical compositions. The notes are your primary obstacles, and you hear each note as you pass it. Players also can create their own songs and play through them or share them with friends.
The inspiration: BitFinity founders (and brothers) Michael and Matthew Taranto are lifelong gamers who grew up in a musical family. “Whenever I see sheet music,” Matthew says, “it almost looks like a Mario game platform. You can go left to right with sheet music as you read it, and you have these obstacles in your way.”
The status: Pretty much done. BitFinity intends to release Tadpole Treble on PC and Mac. The game also has been submitted to Nintendo a couple of times, but they are still ironing out all the bugs in hopes of Nintendo picking up the title for Wii U.
Nefarious
By Starblade Games
The gist: Instead of rescuing a princess on every level, you’re trying to kidnap a princess, or maybe a prince. “You’re like reverse Mario,” says Starblade artist Josh Hano. “You’re playing as Bowser [the bad guy], instead of the hero.”
The gameplay: Mega Man meets Earthworm Jim. Crow, the main character, wears a purple suit of armor and a mechanical glove for wielding various types of explosives.
The inspiration: It’s a “love letter to villains” that subverts common video game tropes. Other games end with boss fights; in Nefarious, you’re the final boss in someone else’s mission. You might have to fight another baddie who’s trying to kidnap the same princess as you, and you might find yourself captured by a princess.
The status: Hano says the game is about 70% finished. He hopes to launch this year for PC, Mac and the Wii U.
Testing, 1, 2, 3
Veteran video game tester and recruiter Matt Hazen talks with 225 about life at EA Baton Rouge
