SKYCURSER

Client: Griffin Aerotech — Arcade Game Developer

THE ARCADE OF THE FUTURE

Griffin Aerotech started with three crazy game scientists. Chris, Phil, and Brad – they began a lifelong dream and set out to make history, bringing the classic arcade games back to reality.

THE BIRTH OF AIRFRAME™

Along the way, issues were tackled and problems were solved. One of them the biggest challenges was hardware. Since developers want powerful hardware and ease of programming, they decided to build their own unique platform. It’s called AIRFRAME™.

Now, with SKYCURSER in arcades all over the world, and other games in the conceptual stages, their new mission is to lead the way for the future of the arcade.

CREATIVE BRIEF

Create a classic look and feel, and game cabinet that best represents the arcade games of the 1980s. “SKYCURSER” is described as a horizontal, meat-on-metal shoot ’em up (shmup).

PROJECT: SKYCURSER LOGO

After reviewing the Creative Brief, studying some arcade cabinets and 80's films, the logo began to flesh out.

WEAPONS SYSTEMS

Pencil, Paper, Illustrator, Photoshop, Wacom Cintiq.

PROJECT: SITE DESIGN

With the logo in place, the creative team ready to showcase their works, Griffin Aerotech began to develop the arcade shells and needed a site to launch a Kickstarter project. A one page slick to give users the idea of the project and find out more details as the project evolved.

WEBSITE CREDITS

Site Design — Charles W. Clark
Development — Angela Tran
Copy Edits — Shari Finnell
Game Art — Chris Cruz

KICKSTARTER SUCCESS

PROJECT: CABINET DESIGN + BUILD

With the success of the Kickstarter campaign, the development team moved on to build the cabinets that would hold SKYCURSER and the engine AIRFRAME.

PROJECT: CONTROL PANEL

As the design team worked out the cabinet details, I moved on to create the control panel. Although the main plane in the video game is a modified F-14, I used the legendary SR-71 Blackbird to give the craft a more futuristic feel. Don't tell the CIA.

The original control panel design for the arcade cabinet. As the team began testing, and exact placement of the buttons, and throttles, the red indicators were used to punch holes to measure different types of controls.

FINAL DESIGN :: CONTROL PANEL

ILLUSTRATION DETAIL

Countless hours were spent working on the details of all the buttons and dials to give the control panel a realistic feel.

PROTOTYPE CABNIET

After the SKYCURSER team built the cabinet and applied all the graphics with a fresh coat of paint, it launched a demo event to energize the community and gather ideas and reactions. Now the game can be found worldwide and in arcades near you.