Switch Keys
over 6 years ago – Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 10:14:27 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Releasing on Monday, November 20th for Nintendo Switch and Steam!!!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Nov 09, 2017 at 10:41:13 PM

Hey Battle Chefs!

Battle Chef Brigade is out of the oven and will launch on...

Monday, November 20th for Nintendo Switch and Steam!

That's less than two weeks away!

The new trailer showcases a bit more of Mina - enjoy!

As we reach this milestone after over 4 years of tough development, I want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts and pans. Battle Chef Brigade wouldn't exist without your support. You kept us accountable, let me know when my updates were troubling, and reminded us that we were building something exciting and fun. A special thanks to our Backer Demo folks who, just over a year ago, played the beta and identified the areas that needed more time in the oven. Thank you, backers. I'm so thankful to you all for believing in us. I'm so proud of what we've made for you and can't wait to hear what you think!

The Adult Swim Games marketing machine has started churning, so you'll be seeing lots of great stuff. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to make sure you can feast your eyes over the next few weeks! Personally, it was thrilling to see a billboard here in Chicago with some familiar faces!

 

If you see a BCB billboard in your city, please send us a picture - we'd love to see the different formats and locations.

Speaking of sharing, please spread the word about Battle Chef Brigade wherever you can! The Holidays are a scary time to launch a game since so many big games release, but we're hopeful that you can help BCB rise above the noise! There will be a ton of illustrations, videos, and other media to share.

Audio Fun

And we can start with some cool little videos right now! George has made some great little videos showcasing different aspects of the audio design (click to open the Twitter video links):

 

 

 

Day of the Devs

I'll be in San Francisco this weekend for Day of the Devs, an awesome, free indie game showcase with some fun BCB tie-ins, and a press tour. If you're in the Bay Area, stop on by, say hi, and play some BCB on a Switch!

 

Stay tuned for more Battle Chef Brigade news leading up to launch! Thanks again for believing in us!

Spooky Halloween Bugs
over 6 years ago – Tue, Oct 31, 2017 at 10:43:29 PM

Hey Battle Chefs! The oven timer is about to explode and we're so close to launch! Battle Chef Brigade is waiting on one final approval and then we'll announce the release day.

This will be a quick update since updates might become a bit more frequent soon!

We've spent the last month on bugs, insects, polish, and boss bugs. There have been an incredible number of little things to get just right, but we're almost done. In our tracking database, we resolved over 800 issues in October. Some were major (getting stuck in ceilings as Thrash) and some were minor (wrong dish translations in French), but they're all crushed!

Here's a bunch of the terrifying images we got from the Quality Assurance teams. We managed to produce characters with heads, no heads, no faces, and backwards heads :D Happy Halloween!

Idling

Since art has mostly wrapped up, Eric found a little time to give Mina a combat idle! No more statue Mina while standing.

That's all for this update, Battle Chefs! We'll have a release date to share with you soon, so stay tuned!

Basting the Beast
over 6 years ago – Fri, Sep 29, 2017 at 08:34:12 PM

Hey Battle Chefs! As we approach launch, things are getting a little crazy in the oven. Coats of polish are being applied, audio is being balanced, and bugs are being stomped. Dig into an enormous update!

Latest trailer

There's finally a new Battle Chef Brigade video! It was done by the superheroes over at Chainsawsuit and we are so happy to stop showing the ancient Kickstarter trailer! This one focuses on explaining the basic concept of the game.

Switch keys

Many of you asked to be able to add a Switch key to your pledge, so I've spent way too much time trying to get BackerKit to behave with our setup. As mentioned last week, the keys will cost a bit since Steam keys are free to generate but Switch ones are not. There will be a private update sent after this one with information about how to add a Switch key.

Thrash Smash

Eric finished up some animations that were using temporary frames for months! Here are a few:

Backer Judge, Monsters, and Veterans

Huge thanks to our Super Chef Backers at the higher tiers. It was really fun expanding the world of Battle Chef Brigade to include you and your ideas!

Judge Kevin the Generous doesn't hold back on the personality and his voice-over matches this pose perfectly. He's my favorite judge.

Next, the Brigade Veterans are displayed at the start of the game as Kamin narrates the history of the Brigade for the player. In-game, you'll be able to see all of their little illustrated quirks. We'll be sending each veteran their illustration before long (Eric is a bit busy finishing up the game!)

And finally, the Monsters in the Caverns biome were all designed based on Backer concepts and feedback. As a result, the Caverns is incredibly dangerous for Battle Chefs!

Art Book Update

For those wondering, we're planning on putting together the art book after launch so that we can include art from the final polish pass that's going on right now. We want to make this a stellar art book and not rush it while we're all focused on the game itself.

Japanese

We made the decision to add Japanese to our list of localized languages and the demo was shown at the Tokyo Game Show! Huge thanks to Kakehashi Games for making it all happen.

Real Recipes

This month, Vicka over at Pixelated Provisions was at it again! Check out the recipe for these Verskit Tail Churros!

 In addition, a new contender has entered the Kitchen, Jammy, with a delicious take on Thrash's Taka Berry Miguelitos!

 If you make either of these dishes, let us know if they taste as delicious as they look!

That's enough for this month, Battle Chefs! Stay tuned for juicy morsels in the coming weeks...

Release Window: Holiday!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 07:32:41 PM

Hey Battle Chefs! Battle Chef Brigade has a release window and we just finished voice recording for 13 voice actors! Read on for the juicy details and answers to your pressing questions.

Holiday

The big news yesterday from Nintendo: Battle Chef Brigade will release on Switch and Steam this Holiday season. We rushed to put together an updated version of the Kickstarter trailer, which you can see here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hjNL-cEE_o

PAX

We'll be at PAX with Adult Swim Games and Nintendo, so if you'll be there, come say hi! A new trailer will also be released soon that explains the game's concept and shows off some bits you haven't seen. I'll cover all that in the next update, but until then, stay tuned to @BattleChefGame!

Other Platforms

If your immediate question is: "What does that mean for Steam, PS4, and Xbox?", here's the deal:

Steam is planned to release on the same day as the Switch version. We're also planning on supporting additional computer storefronts as well, so stay tuned!

PS4 and Xbox will follow the Switch, especially once launch issues are dealt with and we support the per-platform features and requirements. Launching so many consoles at launch was biting off a lot more than we could chew. We've decided that a staggered launch would be a lot smarter for our tiny 3-person team. We're doing our absolute best to make everyone happy - we've come this far and don't want to let you down.

Switching to a Switch key

A few backers have asked if they can get a Switch key instead of a Steam key. We haven't fully figured this out yet but we're working on it. There are two important things to note:

• To change from Steam to Switch, there will almost certainly have to be a small cost since Switch keys are not free the way Steam ones are.
• The Fantasy Feast in-game items tier might be tricky to unlock on the Switch, so that is likely to only be available on Steam.

So, stay tuned as we figure out how to manage the logistics of that! Right now we're focused on quality assurance, localization, and voice-over integration, but know that this is very important to those of you with Switches!

Stretch Goals

Way back when we launched this Kickstarter, we had a very limited idea of what Battle Chef Brigade would be. As a 3-person team, we restricted our plans to a few slightly different chefs, each with simple combat moves and a basic cooking system. However, we dreamed of a comprehensive combat combo system, a cooking system full of depth, and a big story loaded with of lovable, fun, voiced characters.

I'm so happy to tell you that we got to do almost everything we dreamed and imagined would be possible. We made the biggest version of Battle Chef Brigade that we could and I know you're going to love it. Some secondary bites will have to be released after launch, but we are sure you'll agree that a couple quality chefs involved in a beautiful story is better than a bunch of cookie-cutter chefs that share most of their combat moves and the same generic story. You're about to go on a delectable adventure with Mina and Thrash. And, once you've met them, their friends, and their foes, we hope to continue exploring this big, fun world with you.

Thank you all so much for believing in us. We can't wait for you to experience the first bites of all that Battle Chef Brigade is. Whenever I talk to other Kickstarter creators, I hear tales of horribly mean backers and painful demands. I feel extremely lucky to have all of you on our side. The unhappy messages can be counted on just one hand, which nearly brings tears of thanks to my eyes. None of us expected that this would be the biggest game of our careers, but thankfully it's also the best. Thank you all.

HOT DIGGITY - Voice-Over!

When we added the Narrator and Chef One Liner VO stretch goals, we were so excited. Voicing a character brings them to life in a way that can perfectly complement their artwork. I'm so pleased to announce that no only did we voice the announcer and chefs, but we voiced OVER 40 CHARACTERS! This means that we've voiced all major scenes, most minor ones, and even Judges expressing disgust (or delight!) concerning your food. We just got all of that into the game this week and it's utterly wonderful. The characters of Battle Chef Brigade feel so real. We can't wait for you to meet them!

In the meantime, you can meet the amazing voice cast, many of whom are backers too! I won't list the many characters they each play since you haven't met most of them yet.

Starring:  

• Erica Mendez as Mina 
• Dave Dixon as Thrash
• Tom Taylorson as Kamin

With spectacular, show-stealing performances from:

• Amber Lee Connors
• Apphia Yu
• Ben Britton
• Brandon Paul Eells
• Chris Niosi
• Elspeth Eastman
• Kevin Powe
• Melanie Ehrlich
• Sarah Williams
• Scott Lambright

Here's a little taste of what you're in for:

Stage of Development

A while back, I pointed y'all to Russ Pitts' documentary about Chicago. I hope some of you backed it! It's now been released on Youtube and you can check out the episode that shows off where we work (the Indie City Co-op), each of us, and my dog. And some old BCB footage. We were integrating Thrash animations into the game back when they were filming. Check it out!

All the best, Battle Chefs! Battle Chef Brigade is nearly golden-brown and ready to serve. We can't wait for you to dig in! Look for PAX West news and a new trailer over the next week!