Hey, players! Been starting to play Stray? Or just curious about how they came up with the game? We got you! Stick around with us to know 10 things you probably didn’t know about the Stray game!
10) Annapurna Interactive Raise Funds for Stray Cat Charity
You may have read an article we wrote with this news, well yes! Stray cats roam on and around streets, highways, and alleys all over the world. Annapurna Interactive, Stray‘s publisher, works with Cats Protection, the largest stray cat organization in the United Kingdom. They help in finding new homes for these cats, and Annapurna helps in funding through a giveaway (where you offer a small donation for the charity). Additionally, Annapurna reached out to the Nebraska Humane Society for this giveaway. Annapurna raising awareness about these lost cats while publishing one of the most loved games today is touching.
Want to win a copy of the new Stray game? 🐈🎮 We’ve got six digital game keys to give away for #Steam and #PS4 or #PS5. Enter now! Be a #PawsomePlayer and #StreamForCats. https://t.co/YTKCTVJqGd
(T&Cs apply – must be 18 or over and a UK resident) #StrayGame @A_i @HKdevblog pic.twitter.com/HmgaRpKV3p— Cats Protection (@CatsProtection) July 15, 2022
RELATED NEWS: Stray: Raising Funds for Real-life Stray Cats
9) Stray‘s Map Location is Based on a Real Place
Yes, you read that right, Stray‘s map is based on a real location. The map is quite a hazy, maze-like design but in a cyberworld, something along those lines. It is also quite big for a cat to wander on, yet an exciting journey it would be, right? Also, the map is based on an actual place in Hong Kong!
Moreover, according to an interview, Blue Twelve Studios’ Producer Swann Martin-Raget mentions that the developers of the game “were fascinated by this place that no longer exists called the Walled City of Kowloon.” The place is like a tight environment with buildings and structures built close to each other. Quite terrifying for people, but for games played online and for a cat to play adventure, it sure is something to look forward to!
8) As a Cat, You Have (More Than) Nine Lives
At the beginning of your adventure in the game, you can see realistic and detailed graphics with the cats, the color, and the raindrops. Stray offers a realistic approach in a virtual game, however, you may be left wandering around and may not avoid mistakes that would end the life of your cat in the game.
Worry no more, as your cat character respawns every time this happens. Those bug robots may kill you while they chase you and that’s okay! Your cat is okay, and you’ll pick up your game again from where you left off. The game does not go harder as the game progresses, so expect a smooth, challenging game along your adventure in Stray!
7) Great Cat Simulator
Haven’t we mentioned that this is one of the best simulator games in existence? First and foremost, because of its main character — the stray cat. So far it has overly positive reviews on Steam, and players have been interested in this simulation game.
The graphics, the storyline, the protagonist, we say that this is worth trying for! You can purchase Stray on Steam which can be played on PC, and PlayStation. The game is consistent with its overall design, gameplay, and story, as one of the producers, said, “We worked on the design of it, to try to have it consistent with everything.”
6) The Design is A Lot Harder Than We Think
Do you know what made this game amazing and truly enjoyable? It’s because of how realistic and is made by cat lovers and fur parents themselves! Also, this is how cats view the world from their point of view and BlueTwelve Studio hands it down to players who want to experience the cats’ perspectives.
The overall design is basically dependent on how cats wander and live. The aircon, the pipes, and the small openings are ways for cats to pass through certain places or from one to another. The world looks a lot bigger, even those human robots are terrifying as they tower the cat. And this world that BlueTwelve Studios created made the game interesting along with its unique design challenges.
5) Development Started as a Two-Man Team
Stray has been started with a two-man team. The game development was front-headed by Koola and Viv, and later on, named as BlueTwelve Studios when the team grew little by little. These two co-founders and directors have the real vision and origin of the video game — they wanted a cat adventure game. Their strength of vision of what they want to create, and a lot of inspiration from the cats surrounding them is the great start they needed to make Stray.
They had a sense of direction that led all of their ideas to a single goal — to this unexpected concept, despite the difficulty in animation, they manage to do it. These two started the game, and Martin-Raget said that “We started doing a lot of prototypes with all the gameplay ideas. I think the general direction remained very stable for the whole project; we really knew what we wanted to do.” Additionally, the news of the gaming coming since 2015, now is released just this July for the players to enjoy!
4) The Cat Actor, Oscar
To start our cat executive staff and actors, we introduce you to the game’s cat actor, Oscar! He is a sphinx who is used for the animation reference of the video game. Oscar comes to the studio every day to do his job, to jump and run when their main cat animator, Miko, needs to see his actions! Well, his breed is most likely to be fitting for the job as they are energetic, and jumping and running are just way too easy for them to do!
We can consider Oscar as one of the most important cat figures the developers and animators needed to relay the best cat moves to the players. In the blog post, they mentioned that “Animating a quadruped is already quite challenging but the subtleties of a cat’s movements are incredibly precise and hard to convey properly.”
3) The Director, Jun
The CEO (Cat Executive Officer) according to Annapurna Interactive, Jun is one of the cats that helped them in the development of the cat video game. He is one of the cats that come to their studio every day! He monitors everything and the team’s efforts, that’s why Jun comes to the office daily. You may view the Tweet of Annapurna in February as they were in the development of the game, alongside their CEO, Jun!
ceo (cat executive officer) jun from the @HKdevblog team wanted to let you know that stray is still coming this year and that programming with bean toes can be tiresome at times pic.twitter.com/0UaK3qwI4G
— Annapurna Interactive (@A_i) February 9, 2022
They mentioned in their blog post that Jun’s tasks in the office, “Being the executive chief general president commander director officer at the studio, he was in charge of monitoring the team’s efforts every day and making sure everyone was working on the right topic.” Peek at the sleeping Jun above, he may be tired of doing his tasks and is now taking a rest. Well, these cats are their support to finish the game that people are loving now!
2) The Voice Actor, Lala
On the other hand, the cat’s meows and purrs are a little too real in the game, right? Because there is an adorable cat behind all those meows in Stray! The voice actor of most of the sounds in the game no other than the cat, Lala! Also, the game has hired a lot of cats in the development of this newly-released video game.
This is Lala, she's voice actor in the game #Stray which was released two days ago on ps5. pic.twitter.com/0tbW1bqzBB
— JANKENPOPP (@jankenpopp) July 21, 2022
Behind the image of the lost, orange cat in the game is a cute, grey-ish cat named Lala. She grabbed every Stray player’s attention with her soft meows and purrs. Well, we hope that this could be the start of Lala’s voice actor career (also, look at her! such a cat model material too!). Now, we’re left to wonder, how was she able to record all those lines? That’s just too purr-fect!
1) Stray Protagonist’s Appearance
Following the cat actors and behind-the-camera cat staff, we’ll move forward to the cat protagonist of the game! Of course, the main character in the game is also based on a real-life cat! Murtaugh is one of the two cofounders’ cats, a red stray cat they found in Montpellier, France, just under a car about seven years ago, according to Martin-Raget. Martaugh is not exactly copied as the protagonist but he acts as the main inspiration for the game’s character. Well, he is called “The Boss” for a reason!
Moreover, the cat in the game easily captures the hearts of players (cat and pet lovers!). Look at these mesmerizing big eyes and the curious, adventurous face! It may just be a stray cat, but they made it a little too adorable for us! Furthermore, the developers went through a lot of design changes until they reached the final crafted look of the cute protagonist.
RELATED NEWS: Stray Mod: Play As a French Bulldog; Here’s How!
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