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Free for All: An interview with Golemizer's lead (and only) developer
Ah, the life of the indie developer: long nights followed by more long days followed by long weekends, slugging through mountains of code to find tiny errors that break entire worlds... it would seem like a thankless job. It's ironic that many wanna-be designers and armchair developers often picture development as some kind of glamorous process, one that puts the developer in an office surrounded by character sketches, 3-D models, and walls of monitors. The truth is that design, at any level, is often tedious and heart-breaking. You will more than likely find a designer surrounded by lists of numbers and spilled coffee before you'd find him tweaking character models. Making games is hard, they say. It's true. So then why are we so fascinated by the process? Why do we daydream of one day making our own world to explore and share with friends? I decided to ask Dave Toulouse, lead-everything for Golemizer, what he thought about the whole process. Turns out Golemizer is pretty darn fun, complex and open... and it runs within your browser! Click past the cut and let's see what he has to say about the ever-so-glamorous world of game design.
Free for All: Twenty-five free MMOs for that shiny new laptop
So there you are, reading a column from your favorite Massively writer on your shiny new laptop. You might be stuck with your parents and family because of the snow, or you might simply want to find a new MMORPG to play on the device. Perhaps you broke down and bought that cute pink netbook at Target, and now you need something to do with it besides reading your favorite writer of all time? Don't worry, because I've taken the time to compile and test 25 MMOs that will work wonderfully on your new toy! Yes, there are real MMOs out there that are not dependent on the latest graphics card or six gigs of ram. These are fully realized worlds, complete with chat windows and socializing. I will make a note if the game might have some difficulty on the oldest of hardware -- or the least powerful -- so keep an eye out for that. Otherwise, download away! For the record, this is my new toy. I got it for work, but you know the first thing I had to do was try out gaming on it. Click past the cut to see the list!
Free for All: An insight on indie from Alganon
Recently I decided that I wanted to ask different indie developers how their world revolves and what it's like to exist within that world. Development is a funny thing and often much more difficult than many of us will ever know. In my experience, the budget doesn't change the basic goings-on in the development studio, but it can effect what developers are willing to talk about. I would never expect certain mainstream developers to ever open up to certain questions, while many indie developers seem more than willing. Last time, I asked the developers of Istaria what they thought, which you can read here. This time, I decided to send some questions to Quest Online, the maker of Alganon. I received my answers from Derek Smart, president of QOL. Alganon has been one of my surprise favorites of the last year, so I was eager to ask some questions -- after all, he says exactly what's on his mind.
Rise and Shiny recap: Linkrealms
Over the last week I was privileged enough to participate in Mythyn Interactive's Linkrealms beta, a game that I had watched for a while now. The trailer is just neat (to use a truly nerdy word) and strikes you immediately with its awesome animations and spell effects. In fact, the animations are very cool and probably one of my favorite parts of the game. That says a lot, especially since the combat and community are such charmers. There's something about the animations that brings the game out of indie territory -- and out of Ultima Online territory -- and plants it more in the area of original and immersive. Of course, the game is still testing. I will bet that, like many indie games, it will stay in beta for a long, long time. We players need to be forgiving when developers do this and understand that true release -- even just calling it that -- is just not that simple. I can almost sense the fear in my discussions with some of the developers: they have worked their butts off on the game, they have spent way too much time working on this digital world, and they don't want their work to be misrepresented. This fear is completely rational, especially if we think just for a second about how quickly players not only eat up content, but mercilessly blame developers for every single thing they feel is wrong with the game. So, follow me after the jump and let's talk about why this game is so good, even if it does still need a little more time in the oven.
Rise and Shiny recap: MilMo
If there's one thing I think many developers need to learn, it's to keep games accessible. No, I'm not talking about making a game "easy" -- I'm talking about making it available to as many different players as possible. This means making a game that can run on many different PC setups and does not require a degree of some sort to play. Yes, there is a time and a place for uber-realistic, theory-crafting, nerdy-wonderland games, but bear in mind that good design does not automatically translate into complicated design. As I played through MilMo this week, I realized how much potential this new generation of browser-based games has. The new engines, Unity in particular, give developers the ability to make beautiful games that can be accessed directly through the browser. I was surprised to find a good-looking "kid's game" that presented plenty of challenge and fun for kids of all ages (including 36-year-old game writers like myself). Read on for more details.
One Shots: Mine!
You know what we're thankful for? We're always thankful to see new, independent MMO games entering the market like Perpetuum! They generally take interesting chances and try out various new things, which in turn gives us great One Shots to check out. Today's example from Perpetuum is a great case in point. While this may look like a fierce, fiery flower against a rocky cliff at first glance, the actual story of what's going on here is much more interesting. Embolism, submitter of today's screenshot, tells us a bit about what this is: "A few nights ago our corporation, Gallowglass, figured out how to make some new toys. We also had the need for a few million tons of raw material. Given our current need for little toy robots that blow stuff up, we all got together as a corporation to strip the land of its precious resources." The other thing we're always thankful for is more screenshots in our One Shots email box! If you'd like to give us a reason to be thankful to you in particular, you can send in a cool screenshot from your MMO travels. Email it to us at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Guild, corp, group, server, or anything else of that nature is welcome as well. Yours could be the next one we feature here on Massively! %Gallery-85937%
Philadelphia Eagles going self-sufficient on stadium energy from 2011, 30 percent of it renewable
Let's skip right past the cringe-worthy "Declaration of Energy Independence" slogan and look at what the Eagles are actually doing with their pro sports venue. The franchise that dresses in midnight green is aiming to smarten up its eco-green credentials with a new partnership with SolarBlue that will provide all of the Eagles' stadium energy needs for the next 20 years, after which point the team will be free to resell any surplus electricity back to the grid. 15 percent of the total output with be generated with spiral wind turbines erected around the top rim of Lincoln Financial Field, another 15 will come from 2,500 solar panels to be installed near the stadium, and the rest will be obtained from a biodiesel / natural gas plant. So it's not all renewable, but a nice step in the right direction, nonetheless.
Free for All: Lessons from the world of indie and free-to-play
I'm no expert at anything. I'm sort of like the Mario of gaming -- not an ace in one particular area, but relatively experienced in all. Luckily, this has worked out for me. Name a title; I either have played it or know about it. Name a developer, and I can probably tell you something about it that sticks out. Granted, this ability might not come in handy when Twitter is exploding in the usual "Hey, we all love football" Sunday chatter, but look where you're reading this now. On this turf, being a well-rounded gamer has its advantages. Over the last 11 years, I've noticed quite a few trends and picked up on some unique ways that developers do business. I would never say that the information I have is 100 percent accurate, but it does come from a very open mind. I'll also not pretend that all these lessons will lead to massive piles of cash and free booze. Some of them are examples of what not to do. In fact, stop listening to me. Go read the examples right now, after the jump.
SWTOR announces Han Solo's future home as a playable planet
Corellia, the primary planet of the Five Brothers in the Corellian system, has just been announced as the next planet for you to explore in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Who doesn't know Han Solo? This famous smuggler will be born on this pivotal planet in some 3,500 years after the in events in SWTOR, but that does not stop this luscious world from being an important spot in The Old Republic. Corellia is an apex of trade, so its political influence is vast and powerful. Although the citizens adore their independence, the planetary loyalty has never been in question. So, when Corellia's communications were suddenly cut off from the rest of the Republic, the whole galaxy was in shock. The few holo-vids which have been extracted from the planet show extensive terrorist acts and destruction across the planet. We can only assume this is an attack from the Sith Empire. Wasn't the Treaty supposed to protect this planet from such issues? Stay tuned here at Massively for more updates on this senseless violence.%Gallery-101920%
Team17 wriggles free from third-party publishers
Having released only two boxed retail games in the past three years, Worms developer Team17 has been working toward total independence from third-party publishers. That moment has arrived for the studio, which has repositioned itself as an independent digital publisher, reports MCV. "We have no ambitions to return to retail publishing," co-founder Martyn Brown told the site. Team17 has completed a restructuring initiative, which has both promoted existing staff and brought in new hires to fill the roles of a publishing entity. In addition to continuing to self-publish its own titles through digital distribution channels -- having celebrated its 20th anniversary last December, Team17 is one of the oldest independent developers in the industry -- the company will be working with other independent developers to bring their games to digital platforms, including XBLA, PSN and the App Store. "We are actively involved in working with other independent studios to publish their IP. This is a key aspect of our strategy going forward," Brown said. "We now have the right structure and team in place to accomplish this."
Free for All: A sit-down with WURM's Rolf
If there is one thing I have had to grow accustomed to over the last year or so, it's my ever-increasing independent game snobbery. While some people maintain a beer-snob lifestyle and spend their time recommending way-too-pricey ales that simply taste like dirt, I spend my time trolling around forums and fan blogs looking for the next tiny game to spend my time in. I want the game to be duct-taped together, I want it to have a long history of tests and reboots, and I want it to come out shining on the other end -- a testament to the good ole' nerd drive to make a world both large and virtual. WURM Online is my current indie poster-child, an example to flaunt in peoples' faces when they insist on boring me with discussions of the same old classes and mechanics that have been used since the dawn of, well, '99 or so. I love to puff my chest and tell people about my virtual survival stories, forcing them to pretend to be riveted by my tales of farming, sawing lumber and getting lost in the woods. WURM, and its creator Rolf, are my version of Elvis Costello and Donnie Darko: an independent badge to wear proudly on my pocket protector. Join me past the jump for a brief history of the game, and some words from Rolf himself.
Grab yourself an Ensemble Online alpha key with Massively!
How would you like to alpha test an MMORTSRPG? Yeah, that's what we thought. The amount of letters has distracted you. Our evil plan is coming to fruition! And, speaking of things coming to fruition, let's talk about Ensemble Online -- a new game from a small indie developer group. The game is incorporating aspects of a traditional RPG with elements of a real-time strategy game, all under an MMO flag. Retrieve resources, hunt monsters, build buildings, craft weapons, create empires, and wage war with other players in this 2D MMO. It's very ambitious, and ambitious things need testers. We've gotten 50 alpha keys to give away, and that means it's time for a contest! If we've caught your interest, jump with us after the break and we'll give you all of the relevant information. %Gallery-93695%
Love launch day roundup
Today is the day that Eskil Steenberg launches his indie procedurally-generated art-house MMO, Love. As if the idea of one man creating his very own MMO weren't ambitious enough, Steenberg also created a comprehensive set of tools to build the entire game from scratch. If you're curious for more information on this beautifully unique MMO, we've gathered up some highlights from our coverage of Love here for you to check out. Perhaps we'll see you in game! Anti-Aliased: What is Love? So what is love? That's certainly the metaphysical question of the ages, isn't it? ... That's why we're going to spend this week talking about Eskil Steenberg's indie-MMO, Love! A first look at the Love alpha The graphical style floats somewhere between impressionist and Abstract, with only the suggestions of people and things. Gone are the "customize your character heavily" moments of an MMO. You simply log in and your character is immediately created - an amorphous entity ready to take part in all that Love has to offer. Two new videos bring the Love Since we've heard about Eskil Steenberg's concept for a procedurally generated MMO, we've been craving a close look at Love. Luckily for those of us who have only heard about it through news sources, he's decided to publish a video presentation showing off just what gameplay is like in Love....
Boston Indie Showcase participants selected for PAX East
The Penny Arcade Expo is mixing things up a bit for its inaugural east coast occurrence -- the annual showcase of independent games will now focus on local flavors. According to an update on the PAX East site, the Boston Indie Showcase (which attendees can spot on the show floor at Booth 117) will offer six games the chance to be prominently displayed at a major gaming event without "eating into their elusive indie budgets." Here's a list of the games which made the cut, along with links to additional info. Slam Bolt Scrappers - Fire Hose Games AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - Dejobaan Games Dearth - MIT Gambit Game Lab Waker - MIT Gambit Game Lab Turba - Keith Morgado Miegakure - Marc ten Bosch
2D Boy's Ron Carmel explains Indie Fund
Speaking at GDC 2010, 2D Boy's Ron Carmel discussed the game industry's typical publishing model, why it doesn't work for independent developers, and how the newly established Indie Fund will fix it. According to Carmel, publishers offer too much money to indie developers and take too much in return, relegating developers to the role of "tenant farmers," forced into a constant shift between seeking funding and development "until something goes wrong and you can't find funding and you go out of business." Still, Carmel recognizes that publishers are taking the financial risk on projects, so it makes sense that they would see most of the profits. However, even with the advent of digital distribution, which removes a great deal of risk for publishers, developers still see traditional publishing deals -- along with the minimal royalties that come with them. Asked Carmel, "How do we do for funding what Valve did for distribution?" The answer, according to Carmel, is Indie Fund, which will essentially turn the traditional publishing deal on its head. The Indie Fund aims to differ from traditional publishing deals in a few significant ways. The Indie Fund will offer a transparent submission process, make its standard contract details publicly available and provide a flexible development schedule. Perhaps the biggest bullet point of all, however, is that Indie Fund doesn't seek to own developer IPs or exert any editorial control over the IPs it funds. It's also worth noting that Indie Fund won't actually publish or market the projects it funds. Those tasks are left up to developers, though Carmel noted that the members of Indie Fund would be happy to share their experience in securing distribution deals with services like Steam. Indie Fund's contract details aren't yet available, though the stated goal is for developers to see a much bigger return on projects than they would through normal publishing channels. According to Carmel, the Indie Fund seeks only to recoup investment costs and receive a slice of profits "much, much, much smaller" than traditional publishing deals.
Austin Independent School District makes deal to buy more video games for classrooms
We've seen educational video games show up in the classroom before, and it looks like one school district is coming back for more. The Austin Independent School District has ordered up another set of edu-games from a company called Tabula Digita that provides 3D, first-person action-based games to teach students how to do basic math and algebra. One sample scenario in the games has students calculating the location of an in-game weather station on a graph, and then using the data found there to make charts and track down alien creatures. The press release doesn't mention costs, but according to its website, 15 single-user licenses to the games cost the school $1049.25 each, making up a cost of just over $24,000 for the entire 350 student program. The students, who were part of a 10-day JumpStart program and had previously failed a math retest, were allowed to play the games for 30 minutes a day, and, afterwards, 82% of the kids said they had improved their understanding of the concepts. No word on how their k/d ratio came out.
Are new MMOs afraid to take risks?
Syp over at BioBreak is working on an interesting gaming project. He is valiantly attempting to flesh out a timeline for all MMOs in the history... of MMOs. While working on this project, he came to a stunning, if not somewhat obvious realization: MMOs don't take as many risks as they used to and the ones that do aren't rewarded for it. The latter is likely feeding the former in this situation.It seems with all emerging genres that the pioneers really are just that; the risk-takers who pave the way for future products (or services). Over time though, this innovative spirit is lost or at least lessened to a great degree, and when it comes to satisfying the masses, it is somewhat understandable. Take the television, music, and motion picture industries for example. How many hospital dramas have we seen since E.R. first aired? How many recycled pop music tracks fuel success for the next big boy or girl band? We just can't wait to see the next super-hero movie sequel! While individuals may crave fresh ideas and implementations, "the masses," just don't seem interested.However, not all creativity is lost. There are a number of independent MMO developers working on niche titles that might catch your eye. Don't bet on them being a huge hit with the masses, though we're sure they're just fine with that.
Game industry veteran founds financial service firm for indie developers
Garry Tucker has an impressive catalog of positions he's held in the gaming industry. He's filled managerial roles for Take-Two, Activision, Acclaim and Virgin Interactive, and served as finance director for Kuju Games. As far as careers in the industry go, Tucker's had a posh one -- and now, he's using his acquired know-how to lend a hand to the little guy.Tucker recently founded Eightbyte, a London-based financial planning firm designed specifically for independent game developers. Along with offering general financial mentoring and support, Eightbyte will allow indie devs to outsource their bookkeeping duties so they can focus solely on finishing their groundbreaking high-art 2D platformer. According to a Gamasutra report, the firm is only offering assistance to UK devs for now, though Tucker says they have plans to expand. [Image]
LOVE creator Eskil Steenberg on how his game differs from other MMOs
It would be an understatement to say we're excited about the upcoming massively multiplayer online game titled LOVE, and we've certainly given the title some mention here in the past. It's an MMO being developed by one person, Eskil Steenberg, featuring a rather unique art style and some interesting gameplay elements. We're always looking out for more info about the title and came across an interview with Steenberg conducted by Phill Cameron from Gamasutra, just before the LOVE creator's Independent Games Summit lecture at GDC 2009. Steenberg discusses his choice to adopt procedural generation for LOVE, which was actually the only way forward on this project. "Working alone, you simply just can't build a massive world all by yourself, so you need to do something smarter," he says. "Given that I am forced to solve this problem, I get some added bonuses like being able to constantly generate new content while the game is running." Steenberg points out another benefit to this type of game design."As it turns out I think this could be the key to gaming in the future, as the game is able to develop and change in response to the player's actions," he says. "Rather then having a few binary plot choices, the world becomes far more dynamic and responsive to your actions."
Weathering the economic storm: Start-ups speak out
It takes a special kind of crazy to open up a new game studio in an uncertain financial climate. Yet already in 2009 we've seen a handful of people do just that, many on the heels of having lost their previous jobs to downsizing or a studio closure. Recently we spoke with three individuals behind a trio of 2009's start-up efforts to ask them how they plan to weather the economic storm and, more importantly, if seeing the rest of the industry buckle around them makes them feel just a little bit demented for doing what they're doing. "We are crazy!" proclaimed Game Mechanic Studios president and former Electronic Arts senior designer Jason Alejandre, who noted that he saw layoffs four out of the five years he spent working at EA. "The one year that we didn't have layoffs at our studio there were still layoffs at the other EA studios," he recalled. "The leadership changed at the studio level three times and the executive management changed twice." Still, Alejandre doesn't necessarily believe that all of the closures and cutbacks are directly tied to the current downturn. "It's a combination of this is just how the business is, and the other part is due to the current economic crisis. This is our industry. I think [why] the media is currently focused in on this more so in games now than any of the previous years is because the topic is now under the 'Eye of Sauron.'"
