KIDS Process
May 28, 2021
KIDS is a project by Michael Frei and Mario von Rickenbach.
This page documents the development of the animated film, game, and installation chronologically.
2015
Pre-production/early development continued with the creation of many small prototypes that would test interaction methods and visual ideas. We invited 5 programmers with different backgrounds to come up with their very own prototypes during a game-jam held over a few days. The only restriction was that the prototypes had to be based on a small asset package we sent them.
There were a ton of prototypes. Mario focussed on testing flocking-algorithms. Flurin Jenal made domino effects, Christian Schnellmann a Katamari Damacy clone and one in which kids were committing suicide by hanging, Raphael Munoz a human piano, Florian Faller a sheepherding simulator, and Daniel Lutz a weird puzzler.
"Out of Tune" by Raphael Munoz.
Flocking.
Theme searching.
Submission.
Clap.
Progress.
Exit.
Run, fall, jump.
Disperse.
Repel.
Fall.
Meet.
Swim.
The time from 2015 to 2016 was mainly spent on writing about 20(!) project-portfolios to ask for project-funding.
Hourglass paradox.
Fog of war.
Conform.
Brawl.
Congestion.
Ragdoll physics.
Linetest.
More ragdoll physics.
Chain reaction.
Waves.
Rejected character design.
Relax.
Horizon.
.psd
Big pile.
Very early mockup of an interactive projection.
Gossip.
Pile.
Children’s Games (Pieter Bruegel the Elder)
Submission.
Negative space.
Continue to 2016