Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 10 May 2007 02:20:00 GMT
Gish co-creator Josiah Pisciotta released a bunch of Gish numbers, including sales stats (approx. 4500 copies sold, $121,000 USD made over 4 years) and development costs (approx. $5700 USD).
I’m surprised that Gish didn’t sell more copies online, but when I think about it, how many people really knew about the game outside of the independent game community? Josiah also mentions “a lack of a shared vision among the developers” as a reason for missed opportunities such as console distribution (i.e. XBLA), which is really too bad.
Well, I hope Gish 2 sells a million copies, now that Edmund has complete control over the property. If anybody deserves the success, it’s him!
(Source: GameSetWatch)
Posted in Platformers, Community, Developers | 7 comments
Posted by BMcC
Wed, 09 May 2007 14:30:00 GMT
Whoa. It has just been announced that Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert is working with Hothead and Penny Arcade on Penny Arcade Adventures.
That is pretty darn sweet. Ron is one of my heroes. My hopes for this project have just increased!
Posted in Nerd Love, Comics, Cartoons, and Illustration, Developers | Tags PennyArcade | 9 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 08 May 2007 16:22:00 GMT
Slitherine Software, creators of Legion Arena and other PC strategy games, has announced The Kameleon Project, a program where Slitherine will help other independent developers get their projects off the ground by providing help with… well, basically anything they need, from production to marketing to tech support.
I like the idea of having a company that will essentially “fill in the cracks” for indie developers, although I am suspicious of the Kameleon Project for a multitude of reasons. For one thing, any and all information about what Slitherine gets from the partnerships is noticeably absent from the website. It’s obviously not a completely altruistic endeavor, so what’s the deal? For another, I really haven’t heard about them… I assume they have a strong historical strategy niche carved out, but if you’re making a game that doesn’t fall in that category, can they really help you?
And one other thing is that (and I think I mentioned this before) at GDC this year one of the Slitherine guys was a total dick to us (completely unnecessarily, I might add) and if you end up working with this guy, he will probably be a dick to you! Although if you’re paying him moneys, maybe he won’t be… but he’ll still be thinking dick thoughts about you.
(Source: GameSetWatch)
Posted in Community, Developers | 16 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 07 May 2007 16:32:00 GMT
Here’s something that the Something Awful guys and I can agree on: Dwarf Fortress is awesome. Which is why I was elated to hear that creator Tarn Adams (aka Toady One) has decided to go full time:
“He he he, I’ve been out of school for two years. I’m quitting my job as a visiting assistant math professor (like a baby professor) to write video games, DF in particular. Ideally, I’ll be supported by the DF community. Realistically, who knows? Right now I can pay for food, utilities and a slice of rent on donations, and I’ve saved enough money to make an honest effort for some months after I leave my job mid-May. I’m hopeful that when I finally have my time freed up I can push things forward to the point where the project generates enough interest that I’ll be able to pay my bills and maybe even get health insurance or something. Whether or not that’s optimistic remains to be seen, but I think it’s worth a try.”
Donationware is a tough route, but I would love to see Tarn get to make DF a living! Given his insane pace, one can only imagine what the game could look like with a few years of full time work. Send money!
Posted in Roguelikes, Community, Developers | Tags TarnAdams | 11 comments
Posted by BMcC
Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:17:00 GMT
Bernie, creator of such classics as A Game With a Kitty, Darkside Adventures, and Reactor 09, has been busy lately. He got himself a new ISP, moved into his own place, redesigned his site, and best of all… started work on a new game!
I would give you a link, but that screenshot is literally all that’s been made public at this point. I imagine it’s going to turn out great, though!
Let’s hope these new things add up to another successful year for our man Bernie.
Posted in Developers, Previews | Tags Bernie | 9 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 11 Apr 2007 02:56:00 GMT
Speaking of Interactive Fiction, Gamasutra has an interview with Emily Short, who wrote Floatpoint, a two-time winner at last year’s XYZZY Awards, and Savoire-Faire, which has won four awards, including Best Game of 2002.
The interview itself is excellent, mostly due to the thoroughness with which Emily answers questions about her design process. Not surprisingly, she’s quite adept at explaining how she sets out to create good pacing, rewarding challenges, and interesting narratives. Even though she works with IF, her methodology could easily be applied to other types of games with great success, I think.
I personally haven’t had much experience with IF other than a brief stint with Colossal Cave Adventure as a kid, followed shortly thereafter by some prepubescent amusement with the hilariously-titled and really poorly-made Madame Fifi’s Whorehouse. But after reading this interview I think I’m going to give Savoire-Faire a spin.
Posted in Interactive Fiction, Developers, Interviews | 5 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:40:00 GMT
War Angels, the very promising pseudo-sequel to the classic “Klik” game Factor X, has been canned in favor of something called Project Explosion. That’s right… Project Explosion.
From my experience there is always a point during a long project where development feels more like work than fun. There is always a point where you feel like you could do better if you started over. Why? Because you learn things during development. You grow, you get better, technology gets better… games in general get fancier. It’s inevitable. At that point, you have two options: you can sac up and finish what you started, knowing full well that, even though you’ve made some mistakes, your current game still has a lot of value, or you can give up and start your next game immediately. When you chose the latter option, you tend to rush the development of your next game and put undue pressure on yourself early on because all the time spent on Game #1 is now tacked onto Game #2 before you even start. What are the chances you’re going to finish this game (a bigger, and even more ambitious project), if you couldn’t finish the first one?
Of course, there is always the possibility that you never should have started a project in the first place, that the current project is a hopeless mess, that it’s time to cut your losses. I’m hoping this is one of those cases. But damn did War Angels look fine to me.
Posted in Shoot-em-ups, Community, Videos, Developers, Action / Arcade, Previews | Tags Hamish, Moonpod | 26 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:31:00 GMT
Mark Overmars, the creator of Game Maker, has announced that version 7.0 of the popular game creation software has been released! Not exactly sure what the full feature list is, but Mark had said something about extensions as being a big part of this build.
What’s really interesting about this release is that the game is currently only available for download at YoYo Games, a UK-based “social network” (?) for gamers that’s headed by Mark and “a group of former and current game industry execs.” According to Mark, YoYo will offer exclusive online publishing and distribution to games made with Game Maker, and the resources available at YoYo will make development on the program go much faster.
Interesting!
(Source: Indygamer)
Posted in Community, Developers | 21 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:55:00 GMT
GameTap, the subscription-based game distribution network, recently announced that they are extending their service to independent games, via a program called “GameTap Indies.” In addition, GameTap will be handing out GameTap Indie Awards to three hand-picked indie games that this year’s IGF awards (which is next Wednesday!):
“One recipient will receive a $10,000 advance after signing a five year distribution deal to be a part of the new GameTap Indies label. Two additional recipients will each receive a $5,000 advance after signing the same five year distribution deal to be part of the new GameTap Indies label.”
Anyone here use GameTap and can comment on the service?
(Source: Shacknews)
Posted in Community, Developers | 20 comments
Posted by BMcC
Tue, 20 Feb 2007 08:31:00 GMT
Fun, free games. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?
Ravuya Games is a collection of freeware games (for Windows and Mac OS X) and articles by none other than Ravuya himself.
TIGSource is proud to showcase the work of such a valued member of the community. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a pretty nice guy, too. Ravuya! We encourage you… to CONTINUE!
Much love.
(Source: The forum! Heh.)
Posted in Macintosh, Windows, Developers, Freeware | 4 comments
