At the beginning of the year I released my first ever Blitz 3D game, Rocky. Although far from perfect, most people were pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. For my first 3D fighting game, made in just 2 weeks, it was quite an achievement - and arguably the most electrifying Blitz debut of all time. However, even I, the king of over-confidence, could not predict what would land in my inbox the next day. Just 24 hours after its release, the offer came from Idigicon to get the game published...

Boxer's Story
Naturally, the publishing process demanded that the basic game be refined as much as possible - not least to replace the copyright-infringing Rocky references. Hence the game has been repackaged as "Boxer's Story", a 3D boxing simulator with a fictitious setting. This of course means there are new boxers to get to know and a brand new story to play through...

Exclusive Music
The Rocky soundtrack obviously had to get knocked-out, along with the characters and settings. Thus, an intricate part of this new game's identity is the exclusive music - skillfully composed by fellow student, Andrew Wilson. Music doesn't usually play a big part in my games, but getting this one published made it a professional necessity and the results are great. There are several pieces of music at work. In addition to the introductory theme, there are a further 2 themes for the various menus and setup screens (many of which are redesigned such as the character selection above). As far as the actual fights are concerned, the boxers don't have theme songs anymore - instead there are standard tunes to mark the beginning and ending of a bout. Championship matches have their own tunes to bring a bit of majesty to the occasion... 

Model Behaviour
The name and setting are rather superfluous though. The real modifications lie inside the ring. New and improved 3D models were made for the boxers, which range from the slender original to bulky, obese, and even an Afro! Best of all; new animations were made in the process. Not only are the original animations tidier, but there are also lots of variations - such as different ways of standing, moving, attacking, and posing! The result is that every one of the 16 new characters is unique in appearance alone - never mind the statistics. This of course eliminates the repetitive and predictable nature of the original Rocky game... 

Create-a-Boxer
A by-product of the new model, and perhaps the greatest game feature, is the create-a-boxer mode. This comprehensive editor allows you to alter the existing boxers or create up to 14 new ones - for a total roster of 30! You get to choose absolutely everything that makes up the boxer - from the texturing of the 19 separate body parts through to the body shape, animations, name, and statistics. There are some 100 images to apply to your creation, and you can even adjust the colour scheme, which ensures that the possibilities are truly endless...

Progressive Bleeding
Once your creation steps into that ring though his appearance is beyond your control, as his body absorbs each crushing blow! The original game had a system whereby your boxer's face gets messed up during the bout. This game builds on that with a more subtle system that sees the face gradually progress from bruised through to three levels of bloodiness... 

New Arenas
The locations of this sporting carnage have received a facelift as well. All of the arenas enjoy better designs, since I didn't have to be faithful to the Rocky settings, and there is an improved crowd graphic that shows tiers and aisles. Not all of the arenas are "big time" enough to have a crowd though. Some matches can be fought in the peace and quiet of an empty gym, which can actually be atmospheric at times - as you hear trains rushing by in the outside world...

Video Screen
A nice new arena feature is that somebody finally plugged in that video screen! Not only does it show the usual collection of logos and images, but it occasionally shows a live feed of the match as well...

Hardcore!
Some arenas are "empty" in that there is no crowd, whereas others are "empty" in that there is NO RING! Yes, a great new addition to the game is that there are street fights - complete with street fighting rules, whereby there are no round breaks or TKO's. Things can get ugly if you're in there with a killer, but it's the best match for a no-nonsense battle. To accompany this mode there are a few street fighting characters, most of whom mix in a few vicious kicks with their punches...

New Cameras
Whatever arena you're in, the new camera angles will help you to enjoy it. The less used angles from the original have been replaced with better ones, and even those that survived have been enhanced somehow. The most interesting new camera angle has got to be the first person perspective shown above... 

Statistics
Every taste is catered for in the new game. If brutal Hardcore matches aren't your thing then you may prefer to go to the other extreme with the "Technical" match type. This mode places the focus solely on skillful boxing, as you try to achieve the highest score over a 5 round period. The game assesses how well you are boxing at all times, based on a comprehensive selection of statistics, and you can see the results at any time during a bout. Alternatively, they will appear automatically at round break. Statistics are calculated and can be viewed in all match types, but they're only significant in Technical bouts...

Miracles
Even a number-crunching Technical bout isn't safe from the wonder of miracles though! Occasionally the squared circle will play host to awe-inspiring events, which make even the most one-sided bout a little unpredictable. In amongst the possible miracles are lucky punches that knock a perfectly healthy guy out of sorts, unexpected comebacks when a guy's running on empty, and best of all: the infamous double knockdown from Rocky II...    

Health Meters
To help players better understand the action, a few simple meters have made it into the game. The main bar indicates a boxers long-term health. Like the names from the old game, the colour of this bar reflects the value. There is also a second bar that indicates the boxers short-term health - I.e. how close they are to being knocked down. Once down, this bar changes to a "Get Up!" indicator as you bash to fill it up and return to your feet...

Take Control
As always you can control the game with either the keys, gamepad, or let the CPU do it. A useful new feature here is that you can redefine the keyboard controls to suit you. Elsewhere, the CPU control has been improved. The Rocky game was criticized for being too easy - an issue that was emphasized by the fact that there was just one difficulty setting throughout. Now though there are 3 distinct CPU settings: Easy, Normal (as seen in Rocky), and Hard. That, combined with the roller coaster events of the story mode and the potential for miracles, should make the game ultimately more challenging...

Check It Out!
You can experience many of these features for yourself now by downloading the demo. It weighs in at a hefty 8mb, which may be a little inconvenient, but remember that this game isn't designed for the internet - it's CD-based professional stuff. In any case, a smaller 3mb demo (no sound) is online too...

Order Your Copy Now!
The boxed full game is available to buy now for just £9.99 (or your currency's equivalent). For full details on your ordering options, wherever you are in the world, please e-mail george@idigicon.com...