THE FLOIGAN BROTHERS

 

CONCEPT

 

(Brian Silva)

12/28/94


Hoigle & Moigle

OVERVIEW

Think of it as a slapstick comedy misadventure set in the late 30’s to early 40’s that centers around two cigar smoking, self-proclaimed jacks of all trades that’ll do anything for a buck: Hoigle & Moigle Floigan.  The intention is to create a unique mechanic of play inspired by the classic comedy teams of the early/mid 1900s, where you are allowed to wreck everything and offend anyone in a slew of nonlinear episodes that are designed to play-out like a live-action comedy short bursting with temptations & potential disasters with very little “forced course of action” or artificial limits, such as: lives, deaths, collecting, score, and percentage meters.  The end result will provide something very different by exploring avenues of gaming, storyline, characters, and surrounding environments that have not yet been traveled while leveraging the best elements from some of the more popular and successful games of all time to deliver a refreshing yet familiar gaming experience.

 

 

THE BIG IDEA

Hoigle (the so-called “smart one”) and Moigle (the never been called “smart one”) have this little crummy little office downtown with their “ample-sweatered” niece/secretary, Honey Pie, and their one legged orphan nephew, Boigle.   These guys are always looking for “the angle”, the get rich quick scheme.  Their “big break” always seems to be just around the corner.  Unfortunately, this never is the case since their jobs never quite turn out to be as easy as they expect.  For instance, the simple task of exterminating an uptown mansion would quickly take an ugly turn when the boys arrive only to discover that the pesky little insects they have been hired to get rid of are actually mutant sized, highly intelligent, and easily aggravated critters determined not only to make the task at hand a genuine pain in the ass, but also, one of mass destruction, gratuitous violence, and hilarity. 

 

The “gags” and animations will all be in keeping with the spirit of the classic comedies and routines of that era: Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, Charlie Chaplin, Martin and Lewis, Buster Keaton, The Marx Brothers, and Laurel and Hardy.  You know...The guy gets his foot caught in a bucket of paste and while trying to remove his foot he inadvertently gets his hand stuck in a vase leading him to knock a burning candle off of a piano, catching the curtains on fire which causes him to slip into and send a huge bookcase careening into a table where a fishbowl housing a live piranha is sent sailing through the air and becomes stuck on his head... and so on.

 

With only the very best intentions, while trying to accomplish any given job, the guys will inadvertently inflict colossal damage and create disastrous accidents upon unsuspecting people and property.

 

 

ORIGINAL FLOIGAN EPISODES

Remember these guys never turn down a job (just because they’re not qualified for a certain job doesn’t mean that they won’t take a crack at it), so the range of professions they undergo will be wide and varied, and they ‘re always outclassed in every situation.

 

·        FUNNY YOU SHOULD MANSION  (Mansion exterminators)

·        RIVETING STORIES  (Skyscraper construction workers)

·        GROIN PAINS  (Lady wrestlers)

·        PET PEEVES  (Neighborhood dog catchers)

·        HYDRANT GO SEEK (City firemen)

·        MANGLE WITH CARE (Driving, deliverymen)

·        HOUSE IN-SPECTERS  (Haunted house, painters)

·        RIOT ON THE SET  (Movie studio back lot cleanup crew)

·        GETTING A HEAD IN SCIENCE  (Mad scientist’s castle, electricians)

·        ASTRONUTS  (1st Moon launch, test monkeys)

·        LION DOWN ON THE JOB (Jungle tour guides)

·        SIGHT FOR SORE ICE (Arctic fishermen)

·        WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOUVRE? (Museum night watchmen)

·        MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DON’T (City zoo cage cleaners)

·        20,000 LEAKS UNDER THE SEA  (Submarine plumbers)

·        KING CON  (Monster island, archeologists)

·        HIGH ON GAS  (The Hindenheimer dirigible, gas technicians)

·        EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINKS  (aboard S. S. Gigantic, cabin boys)

·        TWO BOOBS & A SUNKEN CHEST (Deep-sea divers)

·        WAR IS HECK (WWII messengers)

·        BUM STEERS (Bullfight arena, Matadors)

·        PREHYSTERICS  (Hairy cavemen)

·        ROMAN LESIONS (Roman arena, Gladiators)

·        MARS NEEDS CIGARS  (Martian invasion, Astro Freedom Fighters)

 

 

 

 

THE PLAY

When it comes to controlling the characters, the player has complete control over what they do, where they go, how they get there, how fast they get there, etc.  For the most part, it will always be obvious to the player what he should do in a particular situation by way of blatantly placed items, land marks, supporting characters, vehicles, or even actual dialog spoken by the main characters themselves, AND after all this the player doesn’t actually HAVE to do anything. They can just go where ever and do whatever they wish. There is ALWAYS something happening and something fun to do.

 

“Will they ever die?”  Not really. These guys can take an awful lot of punishment, no matter how severe it might seem.  Although, there will be times when they just get the holy crap beaten out of them to such an extent that they “black out” and awaken in a strange location, propped up against one another, dressed in some kind of embarrassing and outfits with a newspaper reporter always right there to snap a picture and place it on tomorrow’s front page.  Afterwards, the two will restart from their last checkpoint.

 

 

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION

Just because Hoigle & Moigle’s main method of transportation is their feet, doesn’t mean that they aren’t resourceful.  In fact, they’ll have access to the sweetest set of wheels in town…

THE SLAPMOBILE

This is their main ride for traveling short distances throughout the city.  The car comes complete with an extended arm on either side with a giant hand attached to the end so they can slap around a few innocent bystanders waiting along the sidewalks, sending papers, glasses, wigs, and keys flying with every blow of the mighty Slapmobile.  The Slapmobile also comes equipped with a handy “grill mounted cannon” for “when ya’ ain’t got time to screw around, pal!”

 

 

METHODS OF PAIN

Now, don’t think that these guys are a couple of helpless dimwits.  No, indeed!  They’re constantly at the ready with an impressive collection of attacks, such as: poke in the eye, kick in the rear, choke to the neck, boxing of the ear, yanking of the hair, the stomping of the toes, the sock in the gut, the old “stop hitting yourself”, and everyone’s favorite: the slap to the face.  Yes, nothing satisfies like giving some joker a good pop to the head!  These guys can slap anyone, anytime, anyplace.

 

 

ITEMS OF PAIN

Sure, these brothers are pretty handy with their fists and feet, but if there’s an easier way of inflicting pain and humiliation then you can bet they’ll use it.  There’s always a right tool for the right job:  a mallet, shovel, plumbers wrench, pool cue, big flashlight, a “loaded” punching glove, hammer, a 2x4 with nail, baseball bat, a pickaxe, spear gun, rusty pipe, and even a tranquilizer gun. You can bet these guys can take care of themselves.

 

 

THE LOOK

Hoigle & Moigle, along with the supporting cast of characters, will be very identifiable and recognizable with a classic 30’s, 40’s style look to them, highly stylized with lots of expression (and pleasant to look at).

 

The environments will be stunningly dramatic with a heavy influence of art deco and lots of clever use of light, shadow and depth making it a genuine treat just to look at, let alone interact within.

 

 

MUSIC

The style of music will follow in the footsteps of the classic swing masters:  Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, etc. with plenty of “catchy” big band numbers to set the mood throughout.

 

 

DIALOG

One more feature that will make this product stand out from the rest of the games will be the dialog spoken throughout the game.  Characters will talk in the style and rhythm of the “classic comedies” to one another, to themselves, and even directly to the player!  This will be sure to create a more personal connection between gamer and game.  And maybe even a Broadway style musical number here and there starring the main characters and supporting cast.

 

 

CONCLUSION

With all of the above elements successfully implemented, it is our vision to create a gaming experience like none before that is easy to play, fast paced, constantly entertaining, always changing, hilarious and (most importantly) fun beyond belief.