Be brave, not beige!
The first prize for the lucky person that finished all 5 levels and was selected randomly from a prize draw was a trip around the world for two people. So the concept was basically, 5 different games that take you an a trip around the world.
I programmed the game’s skeleton, which included a user profile system and scoreboard. I also did the first level of the game, which was basically flying a plane and collecting orange blobs for points.
I knew some of the guys from VenetiCOM from before, but I had no idea they were running an online dating portal. I’m usually very sceptical towards such communities, but when I visited them, I saw why it worked for them. They were constantly animating their visitors, chatting with them, organizing social events and group activities. I was very inspired by their enthusiasm and positive attitude.
When they got a chance to advertise ona-on.com on TV, they asked me if I would make a 30 second TV ad for them. I aggreed to help them, but since they didn’t have any material, except photographs from the events and we didn’t have time for elaborate animations, I decided, we would do screen-captures of Luka using the portal and use that and the photos as material.
The other problem was the music. The only music they could provide in such a short time was by a band from Trbovlje that played some kind of quasi-deep cheezy 80s rock. At first I thought, “oh, it’s gonna be that kind of a commercial”, but then I rethought it and decidet to do the music myself. So I took a few riffs and a vocal from their song, sliced everything up, introduced some beats and remixed everything into something very disco-ish.
At first, they were a bit shocked, but I think they liked it eventually.