The Birth and Evolution of PDF

NOTE: All images in this update are pre-alpha. Gameplay, graphics, and style are subject to change as the game progresses.

So what is PDF?

PDF stands for Pigeon Defense Force. It is a top-down shooter co-created by Toxic Creativity writer Luke “Mazer” Jonavic and 3D modeler Randall Eide. The game was originally going to be a simple flash game where players controlled a pigeon as they attempt to poop on targets to rack up points. This game was titled Pooping Pigeon Pandemonium (PPP) but as time went on, the game evolved into Pigeon Defense Force.

What kind of game is PDF?

 Pre-Alpha Screenshot of the Park Level

By the time we decided to scrap PPP, several assets had already been figured out. Things such as level count, environmental models, and concept art had been completed. We did not want to throw away these assets so Luke came up with the idea of changing the game from an arcade style score-based game to that of a Top-Down shooter.

What prompted the change of genres?

Several things. The biggest challenge we faced was replayability. We did not want this game to be something people played once and never again. We wanted to make sure we had something that kept players coming back for more. There were several different ideas we went through – from combos to adding enemies –but at the end of the day, it was decided that there wasn’t much we could do in terms of convincing the player to keep coming back to the game.

Another issue that came up was the fact that we were planning on using animated sprites. The bird and the people that the players would poo upon were going to be 2D sprites. At first we figured this would not be much of an issue but as the sprite list began to pile up, we realized that we just did not have the resources necessary to complete such a list.Finally came the question of challenge. Like the replayability, we wanted to make sure that the players felt challenged enough when they played the game. While we planned on having several obstacles to get in the way of the player as they dropped their pigeon bombs, it wasn’t enough to really provide a serious challenge to the player.

All of these challenges prompted the transformation of the game from an Arcade-Style flash game to a more traditional, classic Top Down Shooter. With the change of genres, we were able to address all of these issues; from adding challenges and unlockables to keep players coming back to being able to render everything with 3D models, to increasing the difficulty through enemy and bullet count.

Pre-Alpha Pigeon Ship Models

Who is involved in PDF?

Originally PDF was under the control of Luke and Randy – Luke working on the game’s structure in terms of story, gameplay style, and some of the level designs while Randy worked on ship models, level creation, basic programming, and object placement. The size has increased considerably since the project’s start to include the following:

• Paul Merrill: Artwork and Project lead

• Randall Eide: Models and Textures

• Alex Nasha: Music and Sound FX

• Aaron Mason: Programming

• Luke Jonavic: Lead Writer & Marketing

With this expansion, the game has really begun to take off. A majority of the levels have been modeled and laid out, several of the player ships have been textures and prepped for gameplay, power-ups and enemy hit points have been tweaked, and the overall game is beginning to come together as a whole.

 Pre-Alpha City Level layout

So that is PDF. We will be detailing more of the game through future development blogs including the evolution from PPP to its current design, the inspiration for enemy and player ships, the storyline and its creation, and gameplay videos. We look forward to keeping you updated and hope that you look forward to playing out game when it is released. Thank you very much!