We asked guest blogger Penny if she would care to write for us one day, pretty soon she had located the reason for her entire existence and we were sent on an intergalactic mission to gain her press privileges for this event! We jest, find out more about Penny by reading her blog! You can say hi to her on twitter too
This week, Doctor Who came to Yorkshire. Daleks terrorised the area around Sheffield railway station for several hours, even managing to squeeze in a few digs at Sheffield Wednesday via voice of the Daleks, Nicholas Briggs, and his ring modulator. The new Daleks are bigger, scarier and more colourful, though apparently they like to have their now frighteningly extendable plungers tickled, and soon you will be able to confront them yourself at home.
It was all in aid of the launch of four brand new but very different Doctor Who adventures, the first of which, ‘City Of The Daleks’, will be available for free download from the 5th of June on the BBC website. Doctor Who: The Adventure Games mix story and gameplay that intend to get three generations of families around the PC or Mac, even if they have never played games before, and improve media literacy. The games are referred to as four new episodes of Doctor Who, and at the launch yesterday at developers Sumo Digital , all involved were very keen to point out the canon status of the game, and the way it was developed alongside the current series of the TV show with full involvement from the executive producers, Steven Moffat, Beth Willis and Piers Wenger.
For those not embroiled in fandom and its terminology – canon means these stories officially count as part of the overall Doctor Who timeline, events can be referred to in future and while not playing will not spoil enjoyment of the main show, those who do choose to join in will notice extra detail in the programme. The game designers were consulted when, for example, the new TARDIS set was created, and the final design of parts of the programme incorporated elements required for the games. The characters of the Doctor, his companion Amy Pond and the Daleks are all voiced by the original television actors – Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Nicholas Briggs, and the episodes are written by Phil Ford (episodes 1-3) and James Moran (4), both writers who have worked extensively within the Whoniverse.
‘City Of The Daleks’ is set in London in 1963, but when the Doctor and Amy arrive, Trafalgar Square is in ruins. The Daleks have been interfering with the timeline, and must be stopped… You play as the Doctor, with a mixture of mini puzzle games and bigger runaround levels, and as a non-gamer testing a near-final version of the game, I was a bit rubbish and had to be helped out on several occasions by Anwen Aspden from BBC Wales Interactive in order to see more of the game in the time available. Although the game is designed to work on computers that are perhaps three or four years old, as the team want as many people to be able to play as possible, the graphics still look fantastic and gameplay is complex and engaging. The artwork I’ve seen from later episodes is no less thrilling, and the Cybermen are the next big enemy to return…on tricky icy terrain.
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games are very much a Yorkshire thing – developed by Sheffield’s Sumo Digital, leading UK games designers, and overseen by key figure in the games industry Charles Cecil (Broken Sword), of Revolution Software , based in York, the project is also backed by BBC North, Screen Yorkshire and Game Republic. It was important to all involved that the press launch should be in Sheffield, and it was good to see so many journalists from all over the UK in attendance, from London and Glasgow-based writers to Wakefield’s own games website SPOnG
