I am currently a software engineer who pursues writing and game design in his spare time. It has always been a pursuit of mine to design game entertainment.
I enjoy writing fictional pieces with a emphasis on humor and rich environments. In game design, I like to examine proven principles and see how they will develop in the future. I also am very interested in online player interaction, where design must be constructed so that every players can have varied play styles but not at the expense of others' experiences.
In light of the volume of recent Gamasutra articles pertaining to game piracy and DRM, I try to provide a layman's look at combating piracy (what is being implemented and what we could be doing) without annoying the consumer.
Valve Software boasts "entertainment as a service"; developers actively engaging the customer base with on-going game updates and support. At what point do you change the fundamentals of the original game? Will the customer be receptive to the changes?
@Andrew: It's still a concern because you bought an initial product based on what the initial product offered, and changed by itself and you have no recourse against it. This is solely unique to software. TF2 has become more than a game -- it's a service at this point. This ...
@Tim: Yeah, and that's a shame. It's a really interesting issue that I'd love to see a talk or discussion on, i.e. Finding a Equilibrium Between 'Established' and Innovative' in Big Budget Titles .
Alistair, this is a great article. The part about finding a great team is what I found is a big stumbling block, at least for me. Do you have any further tips or resources on constructing an indie team
This game is a fantastic romp, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. The music in this game always fits. I have to say, these guys know what they're doing keep an eye on them
@Richard I think that Tripwire is trying a different strategy. Believing they get no revenue from this recent update is folly. Steam sales and free weekends have proven that you will see great amounts of purchases, similar to the UT3: Black release. Tripwire 'gives away' a giant update, allows players ...
