Six O’Clock Swill
Six O'clock Swill is a physics based bartending game based in 1950’s Melbourne developed by students at Swinburne University.
Mix and serve a variety of drinks to increasingly demanding customers, your reputation is on the line.
Back then, bars used to close at 6:00pm, which meant; a rush of people are coming wanting a drink!. Work as fast as you can to serve as many customers as you can all yearning for a pint before you close.
My Role
I was Art Lead on Six O’Clock Swill and worked primarily on concept designs, background art and some assets.
When we started production in the second semester of 2022 I started with a timeline schedule for the art team to work from which helped immensely to keep everyone on task. Throughout the project I received drafts for art objects/assets/characters and gave feedback for improvements. The overall art style drew inspiration from the Australian painter John Brack and we sought to emulate his style in minimalist black and white to draw focus towards the colourful liquids and their silly physics. The view through the window behind the bar scene in-game was made by me and is directly referencing the background of John Brack’s painting ‘Collins St. 5pm’.
At the same time I worked with our sound designer, who joined the project later on, about the range of sounds we needed. I volunteered as contact point for music production with Jordan B. Moore, a student who joined the project from Melbourne Polytechnic. Direction and composer drafts for the music of the game was done between myself and Jordan.
All music was composed by Jordan B. Moore [contact], an artist from Melbourne Polytechnic.
The Idea
We were developing the idea for a physics bartending game when we discovered the Australian artist John Brack and were intrigued by his art style. We became more invested in basing the game’s style and design around a period setting, ideally like a John Brack painting. After some iterations we had a name and a game that we liked; Six O’Clock Swill.
Collins St. 5pm, John Brack, 1955, Oil on Canvas
Some History
The name Six O'clock Swill refers to a time in Australia and New Zealand between 1916–1960s bars were subject to restricted trading hours being forced to close at 6:00pm. This led to a rush of patrons after 5:00pm as people were let off work and tried to get their drinks before closing. Bars adapted by making longer bar areas and tiling walls and floors to make them easier to clean.
John Brack
John Brack (1920–1999) was an Australian painter who often painted life and the people of Melbourne. He was a realist who often depicted urban Australian life. One of his most notable paintings is ‘Collins St. 5pm’ (1955) which depicts a crowd of people leaving work at 5:00pm heading home or to the pub. The bar in-game of Six O’Clock Swill is called "Bracks" in honour of John Brack.
The Team
Six O'clock Swill was developed by a team of Swinburne University students for their capstone games project in 2022.
Adam Kelsey - Art Lead
Sayankumar Chandara Sagar - Artist
Alec Stewart - Artist
Dan Chadderton - Sound Designer
Ewan Lyon - Programmer
Ryan Chessum - Programmer
Chris Wiltshire - Programmer
Ryan Sharp - Programmer