Sifting

Ideas have no value I was told once by a game designer, because everyone has ideas, and everyone thinks that at the moment of conception their idea is the greatest in the world. That it could change everything…

So the first thing that all game designers need to learn is to be able to let go of their ideas, to be able to admit that there could be something better. One of the ways we condition ourselves to do this is to develop hundreds of them, to not nurse a single thought for too long, to move on and explore alternative thought processes.

Even after committing to a design, we must be able to know when to retreat. Often in production, due to time pressure, or team stress, or a hundred other problems we get locked into a particular mindset, “this level can only work this way!” and sometimes that mindset is just plain wrong, we have to be able to set back, breathe, examine our work critically and reassess in certain circumstances. Sometimes the best course of action is to scrap it and start over.

So how do you know when an idea is good if you spend so much time try to distance yourself from it?

For me it’s a feeling, one of those gut instincts.

It’s when the design just unfolds itself; you don’t need to force it. And one of the best signs that a design has promise is that even in prototype form, when it’s just squares and circles and Google images it is engaging, fun and different.

So here is a teaser, an image from the prototype I have been working on for about a week. I don't want to jinx it, but I have a good feeling about this one.

 

Branching Out

MIDNIGHT SHOWING!

Darkknightdarkknightdarkknightdarkknightdarkknightdarkknightdarkknightdarkknightdarkknight.

Ok, now that we got that out there, we can continue.

So over the past couple of days we have been setting up our branch studio from Birnam Wood Games. It’s called Offshoot-Studios and its snazzy new website went up yesterday, some work is still being done on it, but for the most part it is complete. You can see it here.

So why in the world is a four man team starting another company?

Well, we felt that the contract work we have been doing did not hold up to the vision of Birnam Wood Games, which was to capture a sense of wonder, excitement, and exploration. Our contract work is our stopgap, a way for us really grow as a company and get our footing. And while the work is fun, it still does not conform to the ideals of the company.

So Offshoot-Studio’s was born.

It is the face we wish to show potential clients, to help get them excited about working with us and it helped to narrow down exactly what we were willing to do outside the realm of traditional games. So Offshoot-Studios will be about bringing the idea of gameification, which is the application of game design thoughts and processes, to the business and corporate world.

By no means have we given up making games, not even close. We have actually just wrapped up production on Loc. We only need to test the game further before submitting to Apple and we have started working on two new projects, but until these games can support us financially, we need an alternative.

So if any of you are interested in what gameification is for what you do, please let us know at info@offshoot-studios.com

Just around the river bend.

Don’t say it.

I can hear it already sitting in the back of your throat. I know, I’m sorry I didn’t post yesterday. But it was for good reason; just like any school kid might say. We all took a field trip yesterday, piled into Marguerite's car and drove to Middlebury to go consult/meet our company lawyer.

One of the things that makes us stand apart, in my eyes, is that we all work together extraordinarily well. This is beyond just being able to tolerate everyone's presence. We are a great dynamic team, each with their own unique skill sets and who are more than just colleagues.

I mean, Mike and I live together, we all have board game night once a week (usually), and we all end up going to films together.

Because of this, if someone is feeling uneasy about some aspect, we pounce on it and try to figure out all together the best way to navigate forward. So that was what we did, we took the time to plan on how to get around the next bend.

Apparently this is rare. Last summer, when we were working in our spare time on Loc, there was another group of Champlain kids, seniors who had just graduated, that were trying to start up a company based around an arcade shooter they had made during the Global Game Jam. They were working in the labs and almost every time we were there to just meet up and touch base we heard them arguing, yelling at one another and threatening to leave.

Our lawyer put it perfectly, starting a company is like a marriage. Everyone has to be invested, actively engaged, and you need to be in it for the long haul.

So advice for anyone thinking of starting their own, make sure you have the right people, more than anything else. A speaker at the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) who was giving a talk about start-up development called the people you start with your soul mates. You are going to go through hell sometimes and you need to be sure that they will all be with you through the heat and in the end help pull you out of the fire.

Storms Coming

The video game industry is still extraordinarily young. Its roots can only be traced back to the beginnings of modern computing in the 70’s. In comparison, film has been around for more than a century and even comics got their start in the 30’s.

And as such the industry was this weird, interesting mix of talent from all corners. One of the first developers I ever met was a level designer at Idol Minds, a small studio in Colorado. He had a degree in English Lit. A programmer I met touring one of the studios in Montreal used to work in taxes, he left after feeling like his soul was being destroyed. The lead artist at Funcom in Montreal used to be a professional actor, who fell into performance capture and then animation.

This great diverse set of talents gives the game industry a huge array of different skill sets and backgrounds. There were never any schools that offered a dedicated game development degree, the industry just picked up passionate people who had a drive to learn.

Now all that is changing. We were the fifth graduating class of students from Champlain College who have a Bachelor of Science in Game Design, Game Art, or Game Programming. We are the new generation. We grew up in the “modern console” age; games are part of our culture, part of our everyday life. Being able to go to college and study it as a viable degree shows how seriously the game industry is taken as a competitive field.

So what is going to happen?

Who knows?

Maybe more independent student made studios? That’s what we did, but even then we were an outlier. Half of our graduating class was able to get a job in the industry and that after our original freshmen class size for Electronic Game Design (EGD) was reduced to nearly 60, half of the 120 we started with.

Either way, by being immersed for so long in video games, after studying it for four years, we get to make our mark. A storm is coming, just wait, our generation has only begun to get started.

So What’cha up too?

One of the most important things to remember for any game developer to do is to actually play video games. Sounds weird right? Why wouldn’t we play video games in our spare time?

I had a few friends in college not play any because making video games just took up too much of their time on top of schoolwork. Going to the Montreal International Game Summit (MIG’s) and the Game Developer Conference (GDC) I’ve met a few professionals who also don’t play. For a few the game industry is just a job, it’s not a lifelong hobby, they go in put in their hours and go home.

Generally this happens in those in marketing, PR, or management. The dev’s who actually do the heavy lifting and who live in the trenches of production are always passionate people who love games.Which is absolutely necessary.

Just like in any medium a dev needs to learn from those who came before. By playing games we can break down why something is so successful, why the game “feels good”, why it’s fun; which in the end is what we all want for our own games in order for them to succeed.

So I already talked about my experience with Riddick, I’m playing through Butcher Bay right now and eagerly watching the steam sale, waiting for Max Payne 3 to get even cheaper than it already is.

But what is everyone else playing?

Well Matt is crazy; he is going for the 100% play through on Super Meat Boy (SMB)… For those who don’t know it is one of the hardest platforming games out there. SMB a 2D side scrolling game where you control a boy, made out of meat who is trying to rescue his girlfriend, bandage girl, yes she is made out of bandages, from a evil fetus in a jar who wears a monocle and a top hat. You just need to see it to believe it.

Matt just finished a 100% sweep of world 1 & 2 and is going to start the slog through world 3. He claims that there is no way he will be able to keep it up in the worlds 5 & 6, but I don't believe him. This is the guy who actually beat the Binding of Isaac.

Early access for the Secret World began about two weeks ago and Mike has been playing it on and off. The Secret World is a new Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) from the developer Funcom. Our friend Joe works there! Go Joe! But unlike the other MMO’s out there the game breaks away a lot of the usual rules.

There is no set class base for one, players can mix and match however they want creating hundreds of unique possibilities. Another big stand out feature is that the game has a very Lovecraftian feel to its design. The horrid creatures that H.P Lovecraft brought to life, such as the Old Ones, fill the world and stand as a great gothic stage for the player.

Marguerite just finished Mass Effect 2 playing through as a renegade Shepard. There was this painful week when I had finished Mass Effect 3 for the second time and then played through the new Extended Cut ending and couldn't talk about it at work. But hopefully she will be getting that one soon, Origin might try to match Steam and do a summer sale as well.

For anyone who doesn't know the Mass Effect franchise puts you into the boots of Commander Shepard, a human war hero and council Specter. It becomes your job to gather a crew and help stop the destruction of the universe. The story is sweeping, as you can probably tell from the plot, but it plays perfectly. From the moment you start, you get sucked into the experience, and all you ever want to do is see what happens next. A cinematic experience, wonderfully crafted and one of the best ever made.

 

Changing Gears

So Loc is getting closer to finally wrapping up.

Thank goodness, it’s been a great game and is even better know that the port to iPad is nearly complete, but we have been working on this game for what feels like ages. And make no mistake, making the transition from PC to iPad was no simple task.

We thought, “Oh it will be fine. We’ll just get a Mac and push the build to iOS button. No big deal.”

Wrong.

The game launched and immediately crashed, didn't even make it to the first screen... Mike and Matt have been grinding away figuring out how it to get it functional and now, about a month and a half later we are super close. I’ll break down what happened during this development port once the game is finished and actually out there on the marketplace.

But at the same time we finished the first major piece of contract work, which had kept us employed and while we are negotiating the terms of the second game we have been dreaming of what to do next. Between working on Loc and running a small bit of QA for our last game I have been prototyping a few ideas, just to see if they are any good.

And what we now have is opportunity, the chance to actually start a new process and take everything we learned from the development of Loc and put it into practice. The common joke around the office is that our next game is going to be so slick, because we now know what not to do.

An announcement won’t come from us in a long while regarding whatever it is we do next, and right now that could range anywhere from space exploration to archeology. The sky is the limit and we just need to reach as high as we can.

And Kickstarter Does it Again

Yesterday Matt showed us all this new android based console that just hit Kickstarter. Yes, I am talking about a new home console system that would hook up directly to your television. It’s not coming from Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo, but a group of entrepreneurial industry vets who want to change the industry.

It’s named the Ouya, a bit of a strange name, but then Nintendo broke all rules when it named their console the Wii, and it looks to be a game changer.

So what is this thing? It kind of came out of nowhere and suddenly exploded in popularity.How much attention has it gotten? To put things in perspective head over to their kickstarter page. They initially asked for $950,000. At the moment of this writing its hit $2.6 million, it’s been a little less than 48 hours…

Just for the sake of it, I threw the Ouya Kickstarter over to Kicktraq, a free prediction system which shows trends for any kickstarter program you put in. According to that, at the rate Ouya is going they will peak at $40 million in 28 days.

This is huge; a major shift that could change how Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo approach the market because pretty soon there is going to be a fourth console.

Why are people excited? Well for developers the SDK (Software Development Kit) is going to be free! That is a big seller right there. The Wii is locked down; nobody without express permission from Nintendo can make applications for it. The PS3 is in a similar boat. Any 3^rd party developer has to pay a large overhead to procure a special development system as well as software to even create a game. The Xbox, thanks to XNA is a relatively open market place that allows anyone to be a developer. However, we have heard some nightmare stories about the submittable process for Xbox.

So watch out, something evolutionary is coming and who knows what is going to happen next.