Following the release of our iPhone game Turbo Duck we wanted to develop another small project in parallel with our XBLA game Space Ark. The project we chose to develop was Soup. and we thought we would share this post-mortem with you which details what went right and what went wrong with the development.

The high concept for Soup was to create something that gave the gamer a warm happy feeling. We knew from the start that very little of our existing tech would be suitable for the project so Simon (our Technical Director) was tasked with designing a new set of tools for the project. The following image shows what was needed to create Soup.

The tools included 1 large onion, two potatoes, one sweet potato, a clove of garlic, one cup of chicken stock (you can use vegetable), one cup of white wine, 2 tablespoons of oil and some herbs (Basil, Thyme and Oregano). In addition we built the levels using a large knife and a wok (a large saucepan is also fine) and a blender.

Our knife tool was left over from a previous project and was only version 1.1 (blunt). Simon upgraded it to version 2.0 (cutting edge). Once the tools were ready he passed them to Derek (Production Director) who, would be responsible for the game play programming on Soup. While he was preparing the game engine the designers were creating assets for the levels.

The oil was added to the wok and the finely chopped onion was fried over a medium heat until it started to turn translucent. While this was happening the potato, sweet potato and the garlic were all peeled. The garlic was finely chopped while the potato and sweet potato were cut into roughly one inch squares. The stock cube was added to a cup full of hot water and the designer had a glass of the white wine.

The potato, sweet potato, garlic and stock were all added to onions in the pan, the designer took another swig of wine and then added one cup full to the pan.

Note: Don’t add too much wine (one cup will do) – you want plenty left for yourself.

Next half a teaspoon each of dried Basil, Thyme and Oregano were added and the soup was brought to the boil then turned down and left to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potato and sweet potato become soft.

With most of the levels assembled Soup was then put through an intensive testing phase to get the lumps out (1-2 minutes in the blender should do fine). Soup was then returned to a large pan to simmer. The designer tested it and added a little salt and pepper to taste. Soup seemed a little too thick at this point so a little extra wine and stock was added.

What went wrong during development?

Our version of knife was out of date and needed to be upgraded. This caused some problems for the designers at the beginning. There wasn’t quite enough wine for both the designer and Soup. In hindsight we should have made sure more wine was available before starting the project.

What went well during development?

Soup was quite a short project, scheduled for just 30 minutes development. Once our version of knife had been upgraded asset production was very quick and easy so the project came in on time.

The taste was excellent and Soup was filling and warming, thus meeting the project original design specifications.

Soup is best served with some crusty bread and yet more wine.

Warning: Soup is not compatible with Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC, iPhone or any other gaming hardware. If you get Soup on your console or PC immediately turn off your console and wipe off the Soup with a damp cloth.

Strawdog Studios are releasing Soup as freeware and hope that users will take the tools and create their own user generated Soup.

Coming soon: Lettuce wrapped Chinese chicken with cashew nuts