Claus on Ice (Advergame)

http://www.2fresh.com/2008/

"Claus on Ice" is the online figure skating game, which we created to celebrate the fresh year 2008! Our aim was to introduce and showcase our online game creation skills (from concept to production) to our clients and prospects. Also, we aimed to create a viral wave in order to introduce the 2FRESH brand to the worldwide audience in an entertaining way. Due to recent worldwide popularity of ice skating (and as a new year icon) we preferred the figure skating concept for our advergame.

For spectacular moves with seamless looping and for perfect integration among different moves (videos), we employed non-linear 3D character animation for our Claus character. Then we lined up and coded these pre-produced alpha channel videos in Flash. We?d prefer not to use recent Flash 3D engines (such as Papervision3D, etc.) on the market due to requirements of the game our objectives. Instead, we coded in Flash AS2 a 2,5D engine, in order to simulate the sense of perspective and depth of field on ice.

We aimed to combine ease of navigation with endless move possibilities of the game. So, the game has a creative and unordinary navigation system for web (inspired from old school Arcade games indeed) and works with a combination of mouse moves and arrow key presses. Also moving the cursor on the screen leads Claus to skate on ice, without the fear of falling at all.

Each move has its points and if you fail to perform a move, you got a penalty on that and it's deducted from your total score. There are 16 (4x4) basic moves you can perform with tracing lines with your mouse and pressing arrow keys. Also, there are few extra hidden bonus moves, which are up to the player to discover. Scoring system and how to play the game it is explained in depth in the very first screen or accessible from the help menu?

Until January 14, we conducted an online tournament and after that we announced the Top 50. We sent out small prizes to thank top 50, for their outstanding performance, their time and their efforts. Now that the competition is over, the score submission system is closed (not visible); but visitors may still play it for fun.

Can Burak Bizer is considered among most aspirational fresh Turkish designers under 30. He believes in idea and execution to communicate. Having been grown-up in multi-cultural environment of Istanbul, the influence of fusion is recognizable in his approach to design. Feeding himself from East and West, he is simultaneously both in and out of these two cultures. Like Renaissance artists, he mastered various different subjects and acquired internationally recognized expertise in graphic, illustration, interactive, art, audio, photography, film, video, etc. His works were published by international publishers; including Collins Design, Laurence King, Rockport, Taschen, etc. His designs have been exhibited in Europe and States. Latest, he has been honored with EULDA (European Logo Design Award), IMA (Interactive Media Awards) and CA (Creativity Award) awards. Can Burak?s clientele include Corona Extra, Kotex, Maxim, Pepsi, Snickers, Starbucks, Vodafone, Wincor-Nixdorf, as well as many other strong local brands. He is currently creative director at 2FRESH - which he founded in 2003 - for Paris and Istanbul offices.

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