Riot (video game)

Riot

Riot logo
Developer(s) Leonard Menchiari, Marco Agricola
Publisher(s) Leonard Menchiari, Merge Games
Director(s) Leonard Mechiari
Designer(s) Leonard Menchiari, Marco Agricola
Programmer(s) Marco Agricola, Fabrizio Zagaglia, Jendrik Illner (former)
Artist(s) Leonard Menchiari
Writer(s) Leonard Menchiari, Noemi De Cicco, Leonardo Bianchi, José Antonio Sánchez Parrón, Mostafa Hovsam, Mattia Traverso, Gianluca Rubinacci
Composer(s) Giacomo Langella
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Release 2017
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Riot is an upcoming indie video game about a riot simulator based on real events. The project started with an Indiegogo campaign in February 2014, which ended in a success. The developers went silent until 2014, whereupon the goal of the "second half of 2014" was given by the developers.[1] As of January 2017, the release date (given by Steam) is "early 2017".[2] The director of the game and previously an editor and cinematographer at Valve, Leonard Menchiari, has experienced riots personally and the game "Riot" was created as a way to express it and to tell the stories of these fights. The player can pick between playing as police or rioters.[3] The game will be released in PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. The producers are interested in bringing the game to how many platforms it is possible, but they can only support a certain number with the current budget.[4]

Gameplay

RIOT is made of two game genres. If the player chooses to play as the rioters, they will find a game that is strategic, but it is mostly about fast-paced reactions to the situations happening all around them. There will be very little time for planning and it will mostly be about responding. This does not mean that the strategic component is cut out, but just that the response time will have to be short. This section of the game will be about controlling a chaotic (but not random) mass of people. The second genre belongs to the policemen. When played through this faction, the game becomes more similar to a strategy game. It is more organized, orders are sent through an actual "button-y" user interface (instead of the gestures used for the rioter), and the game is more focused on planning rather than fast response. Both components are still present, but the policemen faction is more organized and logical.[5] The game includes six main campaigns set in: Italy, Greece, Spain, Egypt.

Other unlockable riots set across the world will be available as well.[3] Each scenario will have its own background, background elements, props, police uniforms, and procedurally generated activists’ clothes.[3] Each character will have different stats that will determine its own psychology and its ability to react in different ways depending on the situations they’re in, which means that each single person can react in unpredictable ways based on the elements that will happen in each riot.[6] RIOT is planning to release an in-game level editor where players will be able to re-create the riots that are currently going on in the world and use the video game to spread awareness about them.[5] The levels can be uploaded and shared with anyone in the world, and will be rated by the players based on quality and historical accuracy.[3]

Development

The scenarios in Riot were partly informed through designer Leonard Menchiari's participation in the Italian No TAV protests.[7][8] Riot was part funded through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, raising $36,139 in March 2013.[9] Some of the game's budget was for travel and research. Designer Mattia Traverso, who joined Menchiari at the time of the Indiegogo campaign said, "Physically visiting these places and joining the live riots is fundamental", "how could we even claim to describe such an important topic without having lived it multiple times or having talked with the rioters or the police?"[10] The game aims to depict scenarios in a neutral manner, allowing the player to explore both sides of the conflict.[11]

Riot emulates a 2D retro look even though the scene is 3D, which gives more realistic lighting, physics, and visual effects. All character movements are physics based. This means that rather than following just a path, the crowd movement will be influenced by the physical contact given by the rest of the crowd.[3] The art style is inspired by Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.[7]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.riotgame.org/blog/?p=533
  2. ↑ "RIOT - Civil Unrest on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 http://www.riotgame.org/
  4. ↑ http://www.riotgame.org/FAQ/
  5. 1 2 http://www.riotgame.org/blog/?p=17#more-17
  6. ↑ http://www.riotgame.org/blog/?p=470#more-470
  7. 1 2 Colin Moynihan (2013-02-22). "The Lede: Video Game Inspired by Clashes in Egypt and Italy Allows Gamers to Fight the Police". New York Times. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  8. ↑ Gamespot staff (2013-03-19). "How the World's Riots Inspired a Video Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  9. ↑ Leonard Menchiari. "RIOT". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  10. ↑ Jessica Conditt (2013-03-08). "Riot in the streets, at a desk, in your hand: An indie documentary game". Joystiq. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  11. ↑ Kris Ligman (2017-01-19). "Exploring real-life protests in Riot: Civil Unrest". ZAM.com. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
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