Revolution 60

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Revolution 60
Developer(s)	Giant Spacekat
Engine	Unreal Engine
Platform(s)	iOS
Mode(s)	Single-player

Revolution 60 is an interactive video game by Giant Spacekat for iOS platforms, in which a team of four women working in an anime-themed special forces unit attempt to liberate a space station.

Giant Spacekat first demoed Revolution 60 at Pax East in March 2013. Originally targeted to release in late 2013, the development schedule was extended. In July 2013, the company ran a Kickstarter campaign, asking for $5,000 to accommodate the extra time, and to fund a PC release of the game in addition to iOS. The fundraiser brought in $12,728.^[1]

The game received a 73/100 score from critics on the video game review score aggregator Metacritic.^[2] iMore awarded Revolution 60 'iOS Action Game of the Year' in 2014. ^[3]

Revolution 60 is set an unknown time in the future, where political issues have grown between the US and China, and space has undergone major militarization. A US orbital weapons platform has malfunctioned and is drifting off course, triggering a possible political incident. An elite team of spies, led by Holiday, disembark onto the station with the aim of reestablishing control with Chessboard - the onboard AI.

Revolution 60 combines multiple game elements, focussed on a touch-based system on iOS

The player mainly controls Holiday. Exploring is based on paths outlined by circles on the screen. By touching the circle the player can explore the appropriate area of the weapons platform. When dialog occurs, the player is offered a choice as to what the protagonist will say. What the player chooses affects aspects of Holiday's character.

Combat is grid-based and occurs in real-time. Holiday starts with a single melee and ranged attack, with successful hits building up a power bar that unlocks a special attack. The opponent will utilise one of several melee or ranged attacks. Both opponents can move within the grid, though Holiday is restricted to the first 2 rows. Completing combat adds experience points to Holliday which unlocks options within a talent tree.

In-combat special moves and particular events within the storyline trigger a Quick Time Event, requiring the user to follow a shape on the screen in iOS, but for the upcoming Windows version it will be similar to the approach used in The Typing of the Dead.

Production of Revolution 60 began in 2011, approximately 1 year after Brianna Wu met animator Amanda Stenquist-Warner through an advertisement on Craigslist.^[4] The initial version of the game was to be a top down Turn-based strategy, along the lines of Final Fantasy Tactics, although Wu chose a change in direction to a 3D game after seeing Infinity Blade.^[5]

After briefly hiring contractors, Wu and Stenquist-Warner hired Maria Enderton as Lead Developer/Technical Artist, who had been a school friend of Warner's.^[6] Artist Frank Wu provided designs for the spaceships (including the armored transport Xiezhi, the Dragonchild fighter ship and the Death Lotus capital ship) as well as the space station N313. Jenna Hoffstein, a freelance developer, designed the combat system from the ground up.^[7] Carolyn VanEseltine (ex Harmonix) refined the combat system, upgrade system and overall difficulty curve ^[8]

During development, Wu provided a development diary, initially through App.net then through her Twitter account. She would outline difficulties faced such as designing a talent tree suitable for seasoned gamers and newcomers. Not wanting to alienate core parts of the market, VanEseltine 'gathered a testing pool, with the direction that it should as closely represent our market as possible: 50 percent self-described core gamers, 50 percent casual, 50 percent male, and 50 percent female.'^[9]

Adopting an inclusive, cross-market approach to playtesting which in turn would influence gameplay presented its own issues: 'men that were between the ages of 20 and 30 were very antagonistic and negative toward choices and tweaks that made the game inclusive to everyone else'^[10]

Amanda Winn-Lee provided voice acting, after Wu had been impressed by her previous anime performances.^[8]

The game was created for a total budget of a few hundred thousand dollars, and was released for iOS devices in July 2014. The app is free to download and playable up to a certain point, after which a single in-app purchase is required to complete the game. Wu acknowledged her dislike of microtransactions, and wanted the balance between a one-off cost yet still allowing players to try the game ^[11]

Wu, who described the sci-fi themed action-adventure as "Heavy Rain meets Mass Effect", was credited as head of development.^[12] Wu described the art style as inspired by Space Channel 5 and Sailor Moon ^[13]

Reflecting the almost all-female development team, the game features an all-female cast.^[14]

The game has 24 endings, with no 'correct' ending, based on the player's decisions and actions throughout the game ^[15]

Once completed, the player has access to 'Girlfriend Mode' - the highest difficulty setting. This was named in direct response to a comment by John Hemingway, lead designer on Borderlands 2, where he dubbed the 'Best Friends Forever' skill tree in the Mechromancer class 'The Girlfriend Mode' because it was so easy ^[16]

In August 2013 Giant SpaceKat took to Kickstarter to obtain funding for a PC and Mac version. As of August 30th 2013 the title had received $12,728 after asking for only $5,000. The delivery date according to the Kickstarter rewards is August 2013.^[17]. Wu stated that the body proportions were being reassessed based on consumer feedback. 'The women in Revolution 60 are extraordinarily well fleshed-out people. They are characters with a fully human range of traits, and I’m extremely proud of telling a story that lets women be the heroes. That said, I think we can do better portraying body types going forward.'^[18]

Revolution 60 was developed on Unreal Engine 3 using UnrealScript. '[We] use Maya to do all the animation, and then we port it into UDK.'^[19] Due to a desire to include a rich storyline, emphasis was placed on character expression with more detail in the face and hair to avoid having to express emotion solely though a bunch of gesticulation.^[20] While this allows for more emotion and communication in the cut-scenes a trade-off occurred due to hardware limitations, requiring less detail on the body of the game characters. This was the primary factor in the design decision to employ the 'skin-tight suits'.^[21] When asked why Unreal was the preferred choice over other similar 3d engines, Wu stated that the Matinee cinematic tool within the Unreal Development

Kit was a major selling point making Unreal 'the most attractive engine for our game type.'^[22]

For increased expression, the character of Holiday has a 'staggering' 78-83 bones in her model mesh, with the majority of bones making up her face and hair.^[23][24]'Amelia in Revolution 60 has 17 bones in her hair, making it move and sway as she talks.'Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).

In keeping with the cinematic experience, Wu scripted the game in the same manner a movie would be scripted, in both approach and according to the Screenplay format. However, based on feedback at Pax 2013, it was considered overly-reliant on long cutscenes and 'we tore our game down and rebuilt it. It lead to us creating the rule that no more than between 15-30 seconds would go by without you interacting with the screen somehow.'^[25]

iMore awarded Revolution 60 'iOS Action Game of the Year' in 2014, declaring that "the modeling is gorgeous, the animation delightful, the music engrossing, and the voice acting outstanding." ^[26]

The game currently has a 73 on the video game review score aggregator Metacritic based on eight critics.^[2]

The Guardian describes it as "a cartoonish science fiction adventure for smartphones, notable for its all-female cast and cinematic story, a rarity on mobile platforms."^[27]

One reviewer on Pocket Gamer called it intelligent and "hugely entertaining". Another cited some issues with pacing and a heavily linear storyline, but overall found it "enjoyable and compelling."^[28][29]

Kotaku stated "I Can't Get Enough Of This Sexy Sci-Fi Spy Thriller",^[30] saying that "as the credits rolled for Revolution 60, Giant Spacekat's science fiction spy adventure for iOS, I felt the familiar pang of loss I feel whenever a great game ends."

Toucharcade gave Revolution 60 3.5/5: "The overall plot comes off really well. It's clearly intended to be a first chapter, with major sequel hooks in the ending no matter which way you finish. Yet, at the same time, it genuinely feels like a proper story that can stand on its own." However, they felt "[it] fails to deliver in terms of gameplay." They acknowledged "It's free to try, offering up a decent slice from the beginning that will give you a fairly accurate picture of the overall game. After a while, you'll have to unlock the rest of the game via a $5.99 IAP if you want to continue." ^[31]

Multiplayer.It gave Revolution 60 7/10. They felt the Quick Time Events happened too often, but praised the high quality of the voice acting and dialogue, and the high replayability of the game.^[32]

Macworld called Revolution 60 "the most ambitious iOS game you'll play this year",^[33] giving it 4.5/5.

Gamebreaker.tv gave it 5/5, stating: "Revolution 60 is pushing mobile gaming to the next level and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.", ^[34]

Revolution 60: The Chessboard Lethologica is an E-book published alongside the game. While providing tips to the game, many areas of the Revolution 60 universe are also explored in depth. This includes profiles of the main characters, technical information on armor/weaponry and vehicles. Frank Wu, Brianna Wu, VanEseltine and Warner were contributors.

A comic acting as a prequel was published in August 2014 and is available from the Isometric Podcast online store.^[35]

Giant Spacekat has stated there will be a sequel: Revolution 62, where many of the original characters will reappear. Wu stated that Giant Spacekat would be attempting to recruit Felicia Day in a voice acting role for a main character.^[36][37]

The sequel would use the Unreal 4 engine so there would be a high likelihood of a Android port.^[38]

A male Chinese-American character called Chase will appear in the sequel.^[39] He is briefly mentioned in conversation by the characters in Revolution 60.

• [1] Revolution 60 website
• Revolution 60 at IMDb
• [2] iMore.com
• [3] Revolution Raver interview with Frank Wu
• [4] The Art and Science of Spaceship Design I: The Xiezhi from Revolution 60 by Frank Wu
• [5] An Interview with Artist Frank Wu