I’m John Denton, Digital Creative Director, games designer and co-founder of Goodboy Digital.
You’ll find here a brief sample of output from my 18 year career in the digital arena.
Play is of fundamental importance to me in the content I create. Whether in it's own right or as a component of a campaign, playful engagement touches people with a potent energy. Gameplay has long since evolved from straight out advergames into social communication tools that can forge lasting brand allegiances.
And it's fun too! :D
Client: The Leisure Society • "Fight For Everyone" Playable video single
The lucky break on this one was the rather lovely video from Persistent Peril that was literally crying out to be made interactive. The challenge of course (this being a music client!) was to maximise limited budget & time to squeeze out the best possible result. But where there's a will there's a way, so team Goodboy went at it hard and knocked it out the park with a tight little game that showcased the single. And once again, this one works in-borwser on mobile dee-vices!
Client: Waste • Flash VS HTML5
This one went big, fast! Having created the Waste Invaders game which we evolved from Flash to iOS to HTML5, we thought it might be time to ask the big question - which is better?! And so not without a small degree of trolling & button pushing we put out the Flash VS HTML5 website to put forward our story and poll the audience on what they thought. All sorts of tricks went into this one. The whole animated timeline of the site was built using none other than Flash itself! Using some fancy footwork and the Pixi.js engine, we then converted all that Flash animation data into a format that let it fly in-borswer not only on desktops but also mobile / tablet devices.
Client: Waste • "Xmas Party 2013" digital sendout
The joys of a Christmas! We decided that for the 2013 Xmas Card we'd put together a nice little dance number, complete with fully rigged 3D models running on a super enhanced version of Gumball's (see below) Custom Bone Tool. It being the time it was, Gangnam Style moves couldn't help but slip in there too ;) The final touch was to hook it all up with a big dose of social, letting people send their own versions to friends & family with their own Facebook profile pictures pasted up on their dancers.
Personal (Conix Games): Twang the Fox
Conix Games latest offering and debut into the maelstrom that is the Apple App Store. Twang is an unashamedly cutesey adventure following the titular fox as he tries to rescue his family. We hooked up with Kiwi mobile masters, PikPok for publisher duties in order to try to rise above the (considerable!) noise. Five star ratings on most territory App Stores and solid sales figures mean that we'll be back for more! In fact we're already onto our next big thing...
Client: Turner • Gumball Character Creator
It's literally ALL about the "Custom Bone Tool" this one!
Personal (Conix Games): SKID MK.
Conix Games second outing took on the Kart racing genre but brought 3D racing to Flash when all around were mere sprites! More custom engines and unique style made sure that after only being out for 2 weeks it racked up over 2 million plays! Recently we passed the 30 million play mark and also got featured in 3D world magazine.
Personal (Conix Games): DAYTRADERS OF THE DEAD
Taking its gaming cues from classic 80's shooters, DTOTD is pure old school arcade action. Silky smooth 50fps gameplay coupled with an engine which can effortlessly throw over 1000 zombies at the screen keep it all nice & intense. Gameplay count went clear of the million mark within it's first 6 months and continues to rack 'em up.
Client: BHF • Yoobot
Last year we brought you the super popular Yoobot! The (multi-award winning) lifelike ‘mini-me’ from the British Heart Foundation, teaching kids about the dangers of junk food. The campaign was a massive success with over 1.8 million registrations. This year we bring you Yoobot 2 – “Yoobot vs Yoonot”!
Client: BBC • META4ORCE
The BBC love a dystopian future. So we flooded London and cancelled the 2012 Olympics. Not really of course. I'd be locked up if that was the case...
META4ORCE is a futuristic, animated detective series in which a team of four genetically-altered investigators must solve a high-profile crime case. The project was part of the BBC's drive to push the '360' pan-platform format launched on the BBC in June 2008.
The mini-series, covered 30 minutes of broadcast animation, and was accompanied by eight fully integrated online games, seamlessly pulling the audience right into the narrative. We pushed the then fledgling Papervision to its limits on this one to provide deep, immersive 3D gameplay.
Client: BBC • The Wrong Door
3D asteroid high jinx back when Papervision was barely out of nappies...
Client: SCEE • ZWoK
ZWoK was a multiplayer masterpiece, pushing Flash in new directions it at times felt like it wasn't quite yet ready for! We whipped that Flash RIGHT into shape though!
