Flug The Slug
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Origins
Flug the Slug is a fictional video game character that started merely out of classroom antics where creators "Simple" Simon Brooks, John "Hoj" Fotios, and Troy Melling quelled their boredom by drawing random cartoons on their papers. Eventually one cartoon become common between the three of them, that being an abstract slug in which they openly dubbed as "Flug". As days went on in their slow lectures, the character, Flug, developed a more comical appearance, along with new characters that would, in turn, become part of the world of this idea.
Influences
Although Flug was an original idea by Brooks, Fotios, and Melling, their resources to help create a world for their character was heavily influenced by the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Even though Flug does not possess abilities that are reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog, many characters and and on-screen items are somewhat similar to those from the Sonic series. For instance, the villain Dr. Spudnik, with his floating machine and arsenal of robot minions, is a clone of the Sonic villain, Dr. Robotnik.
Appearance
Flug is clearly a rather large yellow slug, though abstract in shape. Being a cartoon, Flug does not possess the traits commonly reserved by slugs (tentacles, tube-like body, and mucus trails), but instead has two large round eyes, and a low mouth. Though Flug's expression has remained rather stoic throughout the series, he has been known to produce a rather large set of teeth when making a cheesy smile.
Dr. Spudnik's role is almost identical to that of Robotnik's, being a persistent warlord in attempts to dominate the peaceful world. The only differences between the two, would be that Dr. Spudnik is a green, mutated slug, and apparently cannot leave his ship, much like a hermit crab cannot leave it's shell.
The reason as to why Sonic themes were used to influence the series, what that Fotios, the designer of the Flug games, is a devoted Sonic Fan, in which his own ideas were the product of the games he fascinated, a very common trait acquired by today's programmers.
Video Game Debut
Flug the Slug was released by John Fotios, in 2004, when he took it upon himself to bring the idea of Flug to life. He used the designing program The Games Factory that he acquired from Clickteam, a company specializing in script-free video game design programs, and created the first game ever to star Flug. Though The Games Factory was a very early program from Clickteam's production, it had a number of unexplained errors and limitations, though the programming was simple enough for beginners of all ages to use. The program came with a wide set of pre-drawn backgrounds and objects as well as music and sound effects, which is what most of Flug the Slug was composed of.
Story
Though the story from the first game is not quite crystal-clear, it is said that Flug, being the protagonist, must stop the evil force of Dr. Spudnik and his armies from taking over the world of Bugtonia. After successfully attacking Spudnik, with Flug's rather prominent jumping ability, and chasing him out of all the corners of the world, Flug ultimately defeated the evil Spudnik (or at least made him retreat with his army) at his base of operations in the Metal Scrapyard, thus saving the world from evil.
The series continued later, when it was said Spudnik returned, and continuing to do so, even if every time he returned Flug trounced him for it. Spudnik's manner of constantly perusing world domination taught him to create stronger armies consisting of more and more bizarre cronies that he produces in his massive factories, and he hopes to finally crush Flug's single handed attempts to thwart him.
Criticism
Although Flug is treated as a gem of an idea in current days, the release of the first game was rated rather poorly on it's debut. The low views of the game came from it's absolute linearity, in which the player just had to maneuver from the left to right screen while dodging some obstacles a few players regarded as annoying. Due to it's current success with the continuing series, the community of the Martin2K forums, in which the series grew up with, has become extremely supportive of Flug and the series, even though the walking grounds for it were shaky in it's beginning.
List of Games
- Flug the Slug (2004)
- The very first Flug game which was produced as the result of a shared idea between three friends in a class.
- Flug the Static Slug (2004)
- Although being a Flug title, it was produced by Harry Wood, a veteran member of the Martin2K community, and not John Fotios, but the game was smiled upon, since it brought life to creating the Flug sequels. "Static", as mentioned in the title, comes from the game's static engine, which is the movement system for the character.
- Flug the Magic Slug (2004)
- John Fotios' second Flug game which was named after his friend's tribute to the series. Fotios' game returns to the tyrannical Dr. Spudnik storyline, since the previous game did not.
- Flug 3 (2005)
- Much like the game's inspiration from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the third installment of the Flug games got the highest reviews. The game had been given a new polish to make it's levels more interactive and visually appealing, which boosted people's opinions about the game.
- Flug Adventure (2006)
- To outdo the high acclaim the previous installment achieved, Fotios finally broke the left-to-right linearity of the game, allowing players to explore the levels in all new directions rather than consistently moving in one. The addition of new features and graphics gave the game a feel that all it's predecessors lacked.
- Flug and the Great Medallion (In production) (2006)
- Though there is little word about it's production, starting in 2007, team members from the Martin2K Forum insist that the game is slowly making progress, if any at all. Members Jag9, Hoj (Fotios), MadDawg, and E-Man are attempting to make a new style of Flug, to further raise the bar on their designing knowledge.
- Flug GB (In production) (Demo available 2008)
- A video game 'de-make' of the Flug series, in which the game is down scaled to replicate a vintage black and white Gameboy Game. Conceptualized in a screenshot mock-up competition, the production of the game started promptly after the contest, and a playable demo was available shortly afterwards. The full game is still currently in production, but it is nearing completion and can be expected before late summer 2009. Designer: E-Man.
- Flug Ware (In production) (2008)
- First in the line of Flug spin-off series, Flug Ware consists of lightning fast gameplay featuring challenges that must be completed within mere seconds of it starting. Many of the games involve simple tasks of navigating Flug from point A to point B, or other games include fast clicking and pressing of random buttons. The game follows a tangent that varies greatly from traditional Flug games, involving massive amounts of profanity and characters acting in ways that stretch far out of character, but in all produce a rather hilarious result. Fotios began designing the game in 2008, but has been postponing the release of the game, due to it's lack of completion.
Trivia
- Flug has made a secret cameo appearance within Fotios' entry for the rather small Winter Collaboration Project held on the Martin2K forums.
- Though "Flug" is a simple rhyme of the word "slug", it also is a German word for "flight", coincidentally; although it has nothing to do with the character.
- An official Flug T-shirt is available for purchase at Zazzle.com
References
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