Alien Hominid - Development

Development

Alien Hominid began as a flash game developed by programmer Tom Fulp and animator Dan Paladin, which was released on Newgrounds in August 2002. It is often referred to as the Alien Hominid "prototype" by The Behemoth. Inspired by side-scrolling shooter games such as Metal Slug, the flash game features a little yellow alien who has crash landed on Earth and must fight through hordes of FBI trying to capture him. The game consisted of one level containing two bosses, who would later reappear in the retail version. It became very popular among the online gaming set and has currently been played over 19 million times. Later in the year, then-co-worker John Baez approached Paladin as a fan of Alien Hominid. He suggested that Paladin and Fulp make a console version of the game, even offering to produce the game. Paladin and Fulp agreed, forming The Behemoth. In the course of two years, Alien Hominid became a much larger project than its online prototype. While 3D graphics were considered initially, The Behemoth decided nothing compared to the traditional 2D stylings of the prototype. The art of Paladin, who drew all visual aspects of the game by hand, became much more refined (though still cartoon-like and inviting). The project was entirely re-coded for consoles, and many new gameplay features were created. Matt Harwood of Petrified Productions, who had previously worked with Paladin, created all of the music for the game. DJH has been credited with extensive play-testing, citing Alien Hominid as "the pinnacle of arcade entertainment".