So I had the pleasure to chat to the two creators of this brand new project and I think it has the making of a very fun project .
Hey guys how has your day been ?
bakerboy: It's going great thanks! Preparing some drops, messing around in after effects and having some fun . What about you?
Was gaming now just trying get a few things sorted . I am guessing its still quite early over there ?
bakerboy: Yeah it's 13:00, just back from lunch! What are you playing currently?
Cod on ps5 lol @WiLOUCHE your very quite !!
WiLOUCHE: Oh no my friend, I'm quite a memer! It's been a really good day, lots of good things in the work for Virus Busters! Art is coming together really nicely!
How did you guys meet ?
WiLOUCHE: We've met at the university! We both have a bachelor in graphic design! As soon as I met this guy, WE KNEW we had a lot of things in common. We went to a lot of comedy nights together, had many drinks, we were also gamers back then, we played a lot of Overwatch. We've known each other for the past 6 years and counting! He is one of my best friend, I'm glad to be working on this project with him, it keeps us connected!
bakerboy: We were both interested in crypto in general, and have been invested together with pretty much everything WAX related. It started with Alien Worlds like a lot of people, and went on from there to pretty much every projects . My girlfriend does joke around that he's my second girlfriend .
When did you decide to create a project ?
bakerboy: We have been wanting to create a project on the Wax blockchain for a long time. We always knew it was gonna happen, but we did put it off a couple of times because similar projects appeared before we could go further. We've been throwing ideas around for a couple of months, and we really loved the computer theme. So about 2 months ago, we started thinking about Virus Busters. We began by thinking about the general concept, the name, branding, and the underlying mechanics, etc.
Right before we started the discord, we had an idea for a wacky character that could do most of the communications for us. That character is Buster, the boss of Virus Busters. In the future, our hope is that he can interact with users on the Discord.
It was really important for us to have fun creating the project, this is 100% aa passion project and we wanted to be both happy with our visuals and concept before going further with a collection.
And where would you hope for this project to lead to ?
bakerboy: Honestly, being there right now is already a stepping stone for us. It fun to be a participant in the WAX universe, but being a creator is really satisfying. We are really excited to show more of the collection to the community. Anything after the initial release is a bonus for us. We are learning a lot about new programs, management, blockchain in general. It might sounds cheesy, but we are here to have fun, and have a community that enjoys the content we create. Who knows what this could lead to. We already have ideas for branching collections in the future, and possible collaborations with other projects, but for now we want to make a collection with fun mechanics (airdrops/blends/collecting).
How many NFTs have you created so far?
WiLOUCHE: For the moment we have 5 different Pop-Up Promo NFT, we also have an hidden NFT that can be claimed on our website https://www.virusbusters.cards/ . We encourage everybody that follows the project to collect all the promo NFTs because we are planning to use them really soon! As soon as our promo phase is over, the whacky viruses will make their entry! Most of them are designed already. We will reveal more of the mechanics on how to acquire them when the time comes! The NFTs are all designed with the Virus Busters lore in mind!
What was the first NFT you guys dropped ?
bakerboy: In general, or within that collection? I have participated in a couple of contest, won third place in the rplanet community fanart contest (https://wax.atomichub.io/explorer/template/promorplanet/167292) And our first NFT for Virus Busters was the Annoying pop-up (https://wax.atomichub.io/explorer/template/virusbusters/316443) We wanted to stay within the computer theme by using a fun schema (popups) for all our promotion purposes. It enables us to announce pretty much any events in a pop-up template which we find really cool. Those promo pop-ups reveal a little bit of the characters and the sense of humour to come, without revealing too much. (You'll definitely see that crazy face in the future though) (edited)
Are this from the project ?
bakerboy: The first one is not, but the pop-up promo is from the Virus Busters collection .
When is the next NFT going to drop ?
bakerboy: We are currently starting another round of promo drops, we expect the next one to be Friday, at 13EST/17GMT . All the info's will be announced on discord and on twitter
WiLOUCHE: Here is our little lore/backstory about Virus Busters, it explains a lot about the mechanics that will come with the collection: So, you might have heard that Virus Busters is looking for new employees? No? Oh well, you'll do just fine anyway. Let me start from the beginning. Virus Busters is a cybersecurity agency helping people with computer issues on a daily basis. Our Boss, Buster, is totally useless when it comes to computers. We don't complain too much, because most of the time he pays us to fix his own computer from multiple viruses he caught god knows where. Well, this time, it's bad. Whatever he downloaded, it managed to infect our whole system. No device has been spared. Wanna help us recover our devices and destroy those pesky viruses?
Can we have a sneak peak ?
WiLOUCHE: Here is a preview of the style we are going for for the NFT collection itself (Viruses, rigs, supplies, etc.)
This is a preview of our collection called Pop-Up Promo dropping currently for free on our discord! This one is going to be dropped Friday!
bakerboy: The second one is the drop we are doing Friday !
Oh brilliant so which one of you are the artist ?
WiLOUCHE: We both have our respective strengths but with the same graphic design background! Bakerboy is a lot better than me with everything web, blockchain and "coding" related! I'd say I have more ease with animations on after effects. We both work on concepts, designs, virus models and more importantly we both try to learn from each other with this project!
So its 50/50 with the work load ?
WiLOUCHE: We try to yes! But my friend Bakerboy is a workaholic and a speed runner !
Ah what has been your favourite NFT to create ?
bakerboy: They are not released yet, but the viruses are gonna be a lot of fun to show. We created them in a 3d modelling program, their style will look a lot like the business card above.
Ah can we not tease the readers ?
bakerboy: I can give you some of the images already released on the website for the people who have not seen them yet, but these are not official NFTs yet, more concept
Awh and what program are you guys using for creation ?
bakerboy: We are using a little program called picoCAD. It's built on the PICO-8 platform. We love it because it is very limited, forcing us to think outside the box when we create our models.
WiLOUCHE: And combining our workflow with the classics Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects!
How long do you guys take to create each NFT ?
WiLOUCHE: We don't time ourselves per NFT, but recently Bakerboy and I made an event called Virus Jam. The goal of this exercise was for us to create a bunch of viruses to get the creative juices flowing for the whole project! Which worked quite well if I say so myself, heh?
bakerboy: Yeah, it really depends on the virus, usually it takes more time fiddling with the details, than creating the initial model
Is there a dream collab for your project ?
bakerboy: We've been following a lot of WAX projects in the past. I think we can safely say that some of our favourites are Dodo Farming, CritterCraft and Train of the Century. We would love to work with them if they are interested. We even have NFT templates planned especially for collaborations.
Nice so who is your favourite artist ?
bakerboy: If we can go outside of NFTs, my favourite artist is Simon Stalenhag. I love the eerie scenes he creates.
WiLOUCHE: Outside NFT I would say Ralph Steadman because of his original ink style and way of expressing through his illustrations. Really expressive and original art style
What's the biggest collection in your wax wallet ?
bakerboy: Quantity wise, Immersys is definitely the champion with all the resources I have gathered, but we are pretty deep in Train of the Century . And a special shout out to GrimFolks on my side, one of the best looking collection out there.
WiLOUCHE: We're also pretty deep in CoinDodoCard, The Seventh Seal and Rplanet
Is this a full time job ?
bakerboy: We wish, but it is not. It's a passion project. We're pouring a lot of time and love into it. Who knows, maybe one day
Can you see this project on other blockchains at any point ?
bakerboy: Hard to say for now, we are currently focusing solely on WAX because it's the chain we use the most, but it's not outside the realm of possibilities.
How does your family feel about your project ?
bakerboy: I would say that most of our family members have no idea what NFTs are, so it always brings some interesting conversations!
WiLOUCHE: Hahah good question, same for me, it's kind of hard to explain the project to another generation that has no clue about what an NFT is. Even my girlfriend, I don't think she grasps the project as a whole as she is not too techno-savvy, a little bit like Buster.
Ha ha ha . So does your day job help with your NFT creation ?
bakerboy: My last job helped me greatly with web design. I built a full website from scratch which is a great personal accomplishment. Apart from that, since we work in the graphic design field, I suppose it can help us develop more skills and get more ideas for our project, that is for sure.
So tell us something random about you?
WiLOUCHE: I drink 3 cans of sparkling water a day. I love to eat Cachitos and Boustan with Bakerboy. My favourite soda is Dr. Pepper.
bakerboy: My discord username (bakerboy) comes from when we were starting R-Planet together. The first NFT we acquired was bread, and WiLOUCHE found it so absurd that he started calling me baker boy.
Ha ha love them what you guys do to unwind ?
WiLOUCHE:Usually gaming will do it for me, Diablo 2: Resurrected is my go-to since it released, I like Nintendo switch games also. I quite enjoy watching movies with my girlfriend too after work! And laughing with my second girlfriend Bakerboy .
bakerboy: Oh yeah, anything with this guy becomes absolutely funny, so just hanging together, also board games and pc/switch gaming
Ha ha bromance lol . Where can the community keep up to date with your project?
WiLOUCHE: The best way to follow the project closely and have access to the drops is by joining our Discord! https://discord.gg/vKWRKtsDCX Also Twitter is a good way to follow us and our shenanigans if you don't have Discord!
https://twitter.com/VirusBustersNFT
bakerboy: And of course our website, which we plan to update https://virusbusters.cards/
Where can we buy your NFTs ?
https://wax.atomichub.io/market?collection_name=virusbusters
Any chance of a giveaway or drop for the readers ?
bakerboy: Yeah for sure we can provide you with a drop link of about 50 NFTs of our next promo! How would that sound? We also have a giveaway active with a prize of 100waxp if you wouldn't mind sharing it https://givelab.com/bRCQpt
Brilliant love it before we finish up is there anything else you would like to say or add for the readers ?
WiLOUCHE: Sure thank you for your time Crackers! It really has been a pleasure. I would like to add to everyone reading and interested in the project that this is a collection with multiple mechanics. We are talking here about airdrops to owners of "rigs", pack opening, virus collecting and burning and more! Stay tuned and follow us! Thank you for reading and a special thanks to you Crackers for setting up this interview!
Thanks you guys for your time it has been a pleasure .
Got it.thank youn😁