Silver Strike Bowling :: Keeping Score: Part 1

> Find A Game > Forums

Keeping Score: Part 1

Our First Look at Silver Strike LIVE with Project Manager Ralph Melgosa

SS LIVE!

While many of you witnessed the quickie Silver Strike LIVE teaser story a few weeks back, much if not all of the fun tidbits in Silver Strike LIVE have yet to be uncovered.

Although the game debuted briefly at Club Lucky's Tournament of Champions in October, the majority of the SSB public has yet to see or hear any of the juicy details for the upcoming update. In fact, the screenshot above the first SS LIVE in-game shot to be seen!

In a ongoing series on Silverstrikebowling.com, IT senior artist and Silver Strike LIVE project manager Ralph Melgosa will be filling us in on the status of his new version of SSB. In doing so, he'll be providing plenty of revealing information about the Silver Strike LIVE as well as the creation process leading up to the 2010 release!

Take it away, Ralph!

Thanks again for helping us out, Ralph. Let's start with the basics. What exactly is Silver Strike LIVE?

RM: Silver Strike LIVE is a more interactive and connected version of Silver Strike Bowling. While in a sense this is just an update; there are so many new features and upgrades that I believe we wouldn't be justifying just how different it is by calling it such. Trust me when I say that this will be unlike any arcade game you've ever played before.

Without spilling all the beans quite yet, can you give us an idea of some of these significant upgrades?

RM: The biggest addition is without question the addition of Prize Play, similar to that of Golden Tee Golf. We are also adding a ton of customization to the game that Golden Tee players will find familiar. This includes custom clothing and custom bowling balls. There will also be new features and game modes, the graphics have gotten a huge facelift, and so much more. We took the GT formula and put our own spin on it. While I can't unveil all of them quite yet, players will be thrilled with all the enhancements.

As you alluded to, Golden Tee provided a lot of insight on SS LIVE. What other tools did you use in prepping for this project?

RM: Having the most successful arcade game ever made to use as an in-house reference was an obvious perk but there was also a lot more involved. To be honest, I've always read message boards and forums to gauge player's suggestions on what they would like to see. We take all these suggestions to heart and discuss any that we think could add some value. I think that fans of the game will appreciate some of these finer additions we've made. We also did some extensive bowling research to ensure we created a more realistic bowling game.

Describe how this creation process came about, and when did the idea for SS LIVE first begin?

RM: Since Silver Strike has been online for a few updates, in some ways it was already LIVE, just not for prizes. We originally wanted to monitor how the Golden Tee LIVE Prize Play tournaments did. After seeing how much enjoyment people have gotten out of it, bringing this same format to Silver Strike became a no-brainer. The concept for Silver Strike LIVE has been in the works for a while, but the last few years is really when concept transformed into a creation.

What is the status of the game and when can we expect to see it in bars?

RM: The game itself is nearly complete and we are actually just finalizing sounds right now. The internal testing process is underway, and we are really just throwing on the finishing touches. While I can't give an exact date, the game will definitely be played in the first quarter of 2010. And as an added nugget, my hope is that there will be people playing it before 2010 although I can't spill those beans just yet!

Thanks to Ralph for providing some insight on SS LIVE and we look forward to hearing more from his as time goes on. Stay tuned to Silverstrikebowling.com for much more!

Silver Strike LIVE