Charge! preproduction was started in March of 2024, with official production starting in July of 2024.With a December 18^th 2025 Release.

The original concept of the project was inspired by the book series A saga of seven suns , where the alien faction had a jousting sport, with lasers and mirrors. This concept had been fleshed out by Mr. Chou back in 2011, in a community college communications course, where the assignment was to “invent” a sport:

Sport Name:

Charge!

A Sport that combines Laser tag, and capture the Flag.

Equipment and set up for the Sport:
1. It’s played in a stadium or some sort of indoor/ outdoor field. There are Rotating mirrors on the ceiling as well as stationary mirrors placed on the playing field, used as defense.
2. There will be walls and other obstacles with multiple mirrors on them facing in many directions and angles.

3, Each player has a suit of “Armor” which is plated with mirrors, however there will be sensors placed in specific areas on the suit where there are no mirrors. (Basically Laser tag vest with mirrors over the non sensor areas) Also a shield which is half mirror and half transparent. (Designs are up to the player. As well as predesigned standard patterns. )

1. Each player has a laser gun with unlimited shots but 3 seconds for recharge between them. You can also shoot a quick 3 shots but then you have a 10 second recharge time.
2. 2 end zones, 2 flags

Basic Set up Diagram:

Basic Set up Diagram:

1. Rotating Ceiling mirrors optional.
2. Prisms optional
3. Square is either a little house to take cover in or an elevated platform.

How the Game is Played:

1. Players start on their respective side of the court in a line on either side of their Flag.

Players shoot at each other and at the mirrors as an attempt to hit the opposing players’ vest sensors. If a player is hit he/she

1. Rotating Ceiling mirrors optional.
2. Prisms optional
3. Square is either a little house to take cover in or an elevated platform.

How the Game is Played:

1. Players start on their respective side of the court in a line on either side of their Flag.
2. Players shoot at each other and at the mirrors as an attempt to hit the opposing players’ vest sensors. If a player is hit he/she is out
3. Players can shoot their lasers through a prism which will spread out the beam and weaken it. This means there will be multiple beams but it may be more diffuse and not land on the sensors square on, if at all. Also friendly fire is a possibility.
4. The objective of the sport is to get the opposing teams Flag to your end zone position. And guard it for 5-10 seconds. If player is taken out then the opposing team must take all other players out to return the flag and not lose the round.
5. When moving with the flag the player must choose between their gun or their shield, can’t be holding all three. (Must either holster their gun or strap their shield to their back.)
6. If you deflect a laser off your shield in such a way that you hit an opponent’s sensor the hit player is out and your team gets one of its previous out players back. (If there are no out teammates, then it still counts as out, and if a teammate is hit later you can use that as credit to bring them back immediately.)

Rules and Regulations:

1. No touching of any of the mirror or prism surfaces. If done, player and team face disqualification.
2. No shooting your own teammate. If done the player is out for the entire round and can’t come back.
3. No tampering with sensors, doing so may potentially ban the player and its respective team.
4. No shooting for the face. Doing so will put the offender out.
5. Played in an odd number of rounds, Ie. 3, 5. 7. etc. Majority wins
6. When you are hit you are out, if you have the flag you drop it.
7. Can’t hold the flag, the gun, and the shield at the same time. Penalty is to be out and lose the flag. (Can switch off between them.)

This was the base draft of the game, and was use as a reference.

(By Leon Checn)

As development began, there were a few critical issues that needed to be addressed, prime among them, the actual core game loop, and the “feel” of the game. As I. the CEO and executive producer painted with a broad brush, there were key details that went unaddressed, with the team hard at work, the question of solid direction was asked time and time again, I, Mr. Chou was unable to provide the necessary design directions, due to this, there was some frustration and turn over, that made it very challenging.

Under the guidance of Riley Durbin, lead developer, and Leon Chen, lead design, we were finally able to chape out the critical details that were needed to get the project going. Yuli Dai, an environment artist, later rose to art director, acting as load baring forces to push the execution of the project forward. There were 2 original levels created, under the guidance of the former art director, which later were scrapped, as they did not fit the project, as it evolved.

1^st was “Arena A” a dimly lit space, with mirrors and prisms, the second was an industrial level, which was also scrapped. As development marched on, the team itself was a little structurally unstable. As we are a volunteer rev share studio, keeping people engaged is a significant challenge.

Regardless of these concerns, HG marched on, the best we could. In late May of 2025, Kelsey Coffman a producer, who also runs GG women professionals joined our ranks. With her experienced hand, we set clear benchmarks road maps and a schedule for development. This culminated ultimately in a successful launch on December 18^th of 2025.

There was a narrative and world Mr Chou planned out as well, which manifested in the different player models, humans and Androids. This project was meant to take place in the end of Indie tib sec we had planned, Equation of Humanity (EOH), Our lead 2D & UI artist, Bryon Rredfield, stepped up, and made a few characters, that would symbolize this world. A world where Ais and humans would live, compete and collaborate. Peacefully.

(By Bryon Redfield)

We developed a novel game mode to suit this world, originally we were going to just do capture the flag, but Durbin had the inspiration to take it a step further, really looking at the mechanics, and what would be an experimental game mode and objective.

Despite us reaching the conclusion of Charge!, there were numerous issues that would plague the team, which would eventually lead to most of the leadership team transitioning out after release.

I as the CEO didn’t make things easy, as I had just started a Masters of Research in Cyberpsychology. Beyond that, I had a health Crisis that forced me to overload the leadership team during the homestretch in mid-August 2025, as I was unavailable for HG for a while. Despite my personal challenges, both Vultures, and Charge! Continued under their respective leadership teams. Development had gone on for about a year and a half, and most of the leads didn’t anticipate the project taking so long. Due to this, we committed to have something by the end of 2025.

(By Yuli Dai)

Due to this schedule, we had to cut significant scope. We originally had 3 levels planned. A laser tag arena with mirrors and prisms, to test the mechanics, and a Capture the flag industrial level, both of which were scrapped. The remaining level, deemed motherboard was decided to be polished and presented as the singular experience of the project. A lobby was also, made. Discussions on pricing were had with Kelsy, where if we had the lobby in time, and how that would adjust the price point on steam.

I did rush the project through preproduction, which would backfire significantly. From feel of the game, to core game loop, to art style, to most appropriate engine, all of these concerns had band aid solutions, which would snowball in constant divergent discussions on how things should be done, and what should be done. As HG’s debut title, we did remarkably well, with what we had. Yet there was a core mechanic which we assumed would work, that took several iterations. That of the Mirrors, as this was a laser tag based first person shooter.

I did not fully consider the different ways this could be done; we started with static mirrors in the environment, then we prototyped placeable mirrors by the player. We finally settled on a power up based mechanic, allowing for a specialized mirror like shot with the alternate mouse click.

We also did consider non steam multiplayer servers, which we decided not to go with.

Marketing, as for most indies is a challenging endeavor. And we were no exception. Beyond this, upon retrospect, I personally believe, we released during a particularly economically challenging time. Furthermore, we released on December 18^th, a date in the window where most people are getting ready for the holidays, and NOT checking social media. Usually from mid-November to mid-January, people are checked out, focusing on close friends and family, as it is the end and beginning of the year.

Our social media presence is also majorly focused on LinkedIn, and due to the state of our industry, most people are not buying games, when they don’t even have stable jobs.

Lastly, I made another assumption, that is our old Tiberium Secrets community would roll over and likely purchase. This lesson, that unless you’re a big brand, most people are Genre loyal, not organization loyal.

As this chapter in HG ends, we know it’s just a threshold to what’s next. This also serves as a testament of our model of team management and game development processes and procedures.

I Have been proud to serve with all the Charge! team, and I hope this acted as a scaffold for them, to do whatever they intend next.

This is the end of Charge!, unless a publisher wants to pay us to do more.

So,

Lets all Charge! Into the future!

Progress IN PROSPARITY: PROSPARITY IN PROGRESS