Introversion
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Darwinia upgrades for Vista
Introversion, the little game maker whose project Darwinia garnered them cult status, has just released an enhanced version specifically for Windows Vista. The upgrade has been in the making since June 2006, according to Introversion co-founder Chris Delay. Upgrades include: Shift from OpenGL to DirectX, which enable enhanced visuals such as "screen warping explosion effects, reflective water, and Darwinian soul 'auras.'" Support for the Xbox 360 controller Three new levels: Jailbreak, Stronghold and Doomsday Other Vista-centric compatibility features Those who already own Darwinia can expect an upcoming patch that adds all the enhancements. For those that want to try out the game (and we wholly recommend that you do), Darwinia has been given a prominent purchase location MSN Vista games page for $19.95.Introversion is currently working on a double secret title codenamed Subversion.[Via CVG]
Subversion to deploy procedural city generator
In an update to the development diary, Introversion's Chris Delay discussed the use of procedural generation in the upcoming Subversion. Delay describes the tool as "utterly crucial to companies like Introversion and basically ignored by the bigger boys in favour of banks of expensive artists ... the secret weapon that most developers have yet to (re)discover." He provides preliminary work as to how cities will be created using procedural generation in both picture and video format. Procedural content is a new buzzword in the developer world, whereby programmers use mathematical algorithms instead of artists to create aspects of their game. Games using this technique include .kkrieger, Roboblitz, and most notably Will Wright's upcoming Spore. The process, however, can be taxing on a CPU, but also tailored to the hardware so that the same code can create different levels of desired detail.Very little is known about the game other than it has been planned since before the company's acclaimed Darwinia and DEFCON. Delay notes that the lack of information is intentional so as to not build excessive hype.[Thanks, Sam]
Defcon dev announces new game: Subversion
Introversion, creator of indie darlings Darwinia and DEFCON, have announced their next project will be called Subversion. Company co-founder Chris Delay made the announcement earlier last week, noting that the project is early in production and the development will be blogged.Understanding that many developers fall into the trap where hype leads to disappointment, Delay assures that he will make no promises as to final features and game play details. As another point, Delay points out that the attached images, including the one to the right, is not a representation of the game and anyone who treats the screenshots as such are mistaken. You've been warned.[Via videogames blogger]
Darwinia and Uplink coming to the PS3?
If you've played either Uplink or Darwinia, then you're familiar with, and more than likely love, UK-based developer Introversion. It seems the indie studio has been in talks recently with both Microsoft and Sony to bring its content to each respective company's online arena. "I'm afraid I can't really give you any concrete details at the moment - suffice it is to say that we are currently discussing a number of deal negotiations with Sony and Microsoft," said Introversion's Vicky Arundel while talking with UK-based games site Eurogamer. Given that the company has experience with digital distribution, having released their beloved game Darwinia via Valve's Steam service, the company is a natural fit for each company's service. The question is, will Microsoft try and throw money at the guys to gain exclusivity for their games on the Xbox Live service?
Rumor: Indie darling Darwinia to hit XBLA?
In some leftover scuttlebutt from GDC, word on the street is that the bad boys from Introversion, the independent developers that created indie-darling (and Independent Games Festival winner) Darwinia are working with the big boys in Redmond to get their game on the Xbox Live Arcade platform. Reasons why this is a logical move and a likely rumor: They've already gotten Darwinia on that other major digital distribution network (psst: it begins with "Stea" and ends with "m". Got it?) Uh, they've said they're interested. We know, everyone's interested. Fellow Steam-distributed developers Ritual Entertainment keep screaming about it, but they've got that whole enormous download thing to deal with. The XBLArcade blog points us to this video (.wmv) of SpikeTV's GameHead where Introversion's Mark Morris says, "... it's about 30 megs which makes it perfect for things like Live Arcade." CliffyB asks if they're planning on it and Morris responds, "I'm gonna try. Gonna talk to Microsoft and see what they say." XBLArcade correctly points out that if the developers of an award-winning and critically acclaimed independent game want to bring it to your platform, what do you say? Well, according to German blog Xbox Archiv, you say "Yes. Please." They claim to have overheard a conversation at GDC between the two parties. Let's hope that logic wins the day and we get another stellar entrant to Microsoft's walled-garden of Arcade treats.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]Read - XBLArcade Rumor RoundupRead - Darwinia for Xbox Live Arcade (Xbox Archiv machine translation)
