Devblog: Boufbowl background texts Info - 2018-03-26 16:00

Hello everyone!

It's [Dewit] here for a new devblog, and I'm going to talk to you about Boufbowl background texts.

Just so you all know, I've written all of the Krosmaster card background texts since the Dark Heroes pack! I've also given their names to many of the game's "generic" characters. I don't work alone, since [Nuuh] and some other collaborators (giving a shout to them by the way) provide me with ideas, but it's up to me to write the final texts while bearing in mind how much space is available on the cards.
 

Collector cards

For Boufbowl, since we had a strong common thread among the cards, I established a common theme among the different texts: I tried to imitate the tone of collector cards that recount the players' greatest moments in glowing terms. These summaries can be found on the back of baseball cards, in sticker albums, or even in a certain franchise about a little wizard where they appear on the cards included with chocolate frogs...

I had my model: a somewhat pithy text that recounts the career highlights in a few sentences. All I needed to do was invent a career for each Boufbowler! 

 

Small but tough

Level-1 cards offer the most space for a background text and allow one to more fully develop a joke. For example:

"Laika" is the name of the first dog to travel in space. Thus, the text uses terms related to space (rise, stand amongst the stars, stratosphere, parabola). The sugary drink bearing her name, however, that only make me laugh it seems! Sportsmen are, nevertheless, sometimes to blame for these kinds of advertising gimmicks...

Simon Jean is inspired by Gene Simmons, the singer of the band KISS (because of the paint on his face). I had fun imagining the career of an athlete finding greater success in music, all while creating a joke based on the famous emblematic makeup.

 

Middle ground

Levels and 2 and 3 have less space for a background text, but enough to insert a joke at least. That's where the "collector card" perspective really stands out in my opinion.

Jason Nik and Arno Kelse are called that way because, during testing, they were nicknamed "Sonic and Knuckles" on account of their pointy red and blue hair. I was thrilled to make this inside joke a reality, and their texts are full of references to these characters. With such sources of inspiration, the texts are very easy for me to write. The key is to give them a fun twist!

Jerry had to be as dumb as an Iop. I made an emphasis on that aspect. I'm very proud of the last sentence!

Marty Nee is probably my favorite text in the box. It's exactly the kind of idiotic anecdote one would find in a sport as crazy as Boufbowl! I also love the somewhat absurd statistics people often cite when they talk about top athletes.

I owed it to myself to make a reference to Fabien Barthez's bald head and came up with Fabine Berthaz. I also wanted to make a reference to the Stadium Gods calender somewhere on a card... So, I created the exact opposite, a calendar where the Boufbowlers were fully clothed!

 

Big names, little egos

Strangely, the smaller a text is, the harder it is to write. Sometimes, there is no space for the background (like for Amalius), but when there is only one line to fill, that's when I really have a hard time. I have a tendency to place the joke in the title rather than in the text itself. 

As Chabal O'Leary was heavily based on Sebastien Chabal, I had to make reference to his enormous beard. I really like the idea that a magazine comes up with titles like "Best Facial Hair" every year...

For Franky Bery, the inspiration is much more embarrassing! I'm not very familiar with Franck Ribery, so I drew inspiration from another Franky: Franky Vincent, the French singer of "Vas-y Franky, C'est Bon" and "Fruits de la Passion." You can throw tomatoes at me if you want!

 

I had a lot of fun writing these texts. I hope you found reading them entertaining! ;)