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Neal Stephenson's crowdfunded game finally canceled
After a year of development and another year on life support, Clang -- the sword-fighting game from science fiction writer Neal Stephenson and Subutai games -- is finally dead. Thing started off well enough after it topped its $500,000 crowdfunding goal on Kickstarter and an early beta was released to Steam. But a year later the Kickstarter cash ran out and Stephenson, reduced to working part-time on the project, said that the prototype "wasn't very fun to play." With no more cash to improve it, Clang has now been terminated, though Kickstarter investors can receive a refund on request. Stephenson accepted part of the blame in the final update post, adding that the story of the failure could fill a book. In fact, he did write a short book about it, which may eventually get published -- we imagine that would be far more interesting than the game itself. [Image credit: Subutai Corp.]
Neal Stephenson's Clang reduced to a part-time project as cash runs dry
Crowdfunding a project doesn't guarantee that it will be finished on time, or at all. Unfortunately, we're seeing an example of that uncertainty today -- Subutai has reduced its work on Neal Stephenson's Clang to an "evenings and weekends" schedule after running out of development money. Venture capitalists weren't willing to take a risk on a swordfighting game and invest the additional cash that the team had been counting on, according to Subutai. The company has shipped almost all of its promised Kickstarter perks, but it doesn't know if or when it will finish the software in question. There's still a way to help, however. Subutai suggests funding Sixense's Stem controller, which would at least bring a Clang-friendly peripheral to market.
Neal Stephenson's digital publishing platform adds a dash of Wiki to novel-reading
It's not surprising that this man -- the one responsible for some of our favorite sci-fi reading material -- has a vision of how books will work in the future. Neal Stephenson's company Subutai has developed a new digital publishing platform upon which The Mongoliad has just debuted. It feels like a cross between a Wiki, a glossary, and a serial novel. The first chapter of the epic fantasy novel about the Mongolian conquest is available to read online for free, but in order to access extra material and edit documents in the "'Pedia," you'll need a paid subscription. iOS apps are currently going through Apple's approval process; an Android version is also in the works. Stephenson and the Subutai team -- which includes writers Greg Bear and Mark Teppo -- promise to have a new chapter for subscribers out every week. [Image credit: jeanbaptisteparis' flickr]
