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Anyone Can Do It!
(but few do)
Supposed Cost of Entry
"EA has teams as large as 200 people or potentially as large as 300" - Scott Cronce, chief technology officer at games giant, EA. (May 2005)
“With the bill for some big budget games now reaching $10m, producers are facing costs of up to $20m a title.”
- BBC News (May 2005)
It looks like the PS3 and Xbox360 marks the end of the independent developer.
Don’t Believe Everything You Read
About Me
• John Passfield• Founder of Interactive Binary Illusions,
Gee Whiz! Entertainment, Krome Studios
• Creative Director, Pandemic Studios
Early Years
Chilly Willy
• First game published 1984• Team size: 1
Chilly Willy
Halloween Harry
• Second game published 1985• Team size: 1
Halloween Harry
Halloween Harry
• Remade in 1993• Highest selling shareware game until
the release of Doom• Team size: 4
Halloween Harry
Flight of the Amazon Queen
• Published in 1994• Point and click graphic adventure• Team size: 2.5
Flight of the Amazon Queen
Zombie Wars
• Published 1996• Sold on the internet (before our time)• Team size: 4
Jaruu Tenk / Spirit Board
• Screen Operas published in 2000• Team size: 2
Krome Years
• Championship Surfer• Barbie Beach Vacation• Extremely Goofy Skateboarding• Sunny Garcia Surfing• Barbie’s Sparkling Ice Show• TY the Tasmanian Tiger• Jimmy Neutron: Jet Fusion• King Arthur• TY the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue
Krome Years
• Produced titles for PSOne, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox and PC
• Team size: 10 to 60+
Boom Time
• Developed for Palm Pilot in 2001• Team size: 1
After Krome
• Sold share of the company in 2005• Joined Pandemic Studios• Worked on Destroy All Humans! 2• Working on new Pandemic game
• Developing small games for myself
The Console Market
• PS2/Xbox require 50+ people• PS3/Xbox360 require 100+ people
• Small developer dead, right?
Movie Analogy
• Current console thinking is:Games = Pirates of the Caribbean
• But not all movies are Bruckheimer blockbusters– Sideways, Napoleon Dynamite, Borat
• Need to change your thinking about what a game is and can be
Looking Back
• Shareware was successful• But had restrictions
– Internet was in infancy– People had to order over phone/by mail– Demos required retail versions– A lot of work!
Things Have Changed
• In the 2000’s the web exploded• People could download demos• Digital Rights Management curbed
piracy• People not nervous about using credit
cards online
Bejeweled
• Failed advergaming product• Released as “shareware” in 2001
Bejeweled
• 10,000,000 units sold to date• That’s a lot of money
• Ushered in a whole new ball game…• …the Casual Game
Things Are Looking Up
• The PC “Casual Games” market has saved independent developers
• 1-5 person teams are making money
• Happy times!
Example Casual Games
• Virtual Villagers• Tumble Bugs• Bookworm• Dream Day Wedding• Zuma• Solitaire• Monopoly• Carrie the Caregiver
Mystery Case Files
Diner Dash
Peggle
Not Just PC
• The console market has discovered “casual games”
• PSN for PS3, Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox360 and Virtual Console for Wii
• Independent developers aren’t locked out of console development
fl0w
• Developed by Jenova Chen
fl0w
• Discovered by Sony• Sold on the PS3 Network
Worms
• Developed by Team 17 in 1994• Xbox Live version in 2007 for $10
Puzzle Quest
• Developed in Australia• Available on PC, DS and PSP
• Merges Casual Game and Core Game play mechanics
• This caters to a new category I call “Gamer Dads”
Puzzle Quest
• Combination of Bejeweled and RPG
Puzzle Quest
• Appeals to core gamer
Little Big Planet
• Developed by Media Molecule• To be published on PS3 PSN
• Team size: 14
Word Shake Experiment
• Wanted to see how hard it was today• Simple word game• Began in 2004, shipped in 2005
• Team size: 1 (plus art contractor)
Word Shake
Word Shake
• Developed with PopCap framework• Used TryMedia’s ActiveMark DRM• Used free tools
TOOLS
ArtRage 2
ArtRage 2
• FREE – for limited edition• USD $19.95 – full edition
• http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html
Audacity
Visual C++ 2005Express Edition
Visual C++ 2005Express Edition
• FREE
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/
Pro Motion
• USD $29.95 – lite version
• http://www.cosmigo.com/promotion/
Alternative Frameworks
• Play Ground SDK (FREE)– https://developer.playfirst.com/overview
• Irrlicht (FREE)– http://irrlicht.sourceforge.net/
• Blitz3D ($100) / Blitz Max ($80)– http://blitzbasic.com/
• Torque Engine ($150)– http://www.garagegames.com/
• Ogre3D (FREE)– http://www.ogre3d.org/
Here’s How I Used The Tools
Brainiversity
• PopCap framework• Began November 2006• Less than 6 months development• Developed nightly during “TV time”• Signed to Oberon Media
• Team size: 1 – With music by Mick Gordon
Brainiversity
• Brain Training style game• 4 brain categories
– Analysis– Math– Memory– Language
• 16 mini-games• 8 stamp rewards
Check Out The Game
You Can Do It Too!
• Never been easier to make games• Everyone has a PC• Lots of talent out there
– http://forums.indiegamer.com/
• Heaps of excellent free tools• Huge market (millions of PC owners)• Easy to distribute and monetize
– http://www.trymedia.com/
Questions and Answers
All images are copyright © their respective owners.Talk is copyright © 2007 by John Passfield.