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Crime
Pays
Some developers in the IGF were well on their way towards publishing success, with the GDC recognition speeding up the process. For Poland-based Techlandsoft, creator of the IGF Best Art Award winner Crime Cities, the difference in its organization after the award was as simple as getting more publishers to listen to them. The group remained realistic after the win, according to Andrew Beard, International Sales and Purchasing Manager. "The version of Crime Cities on show at the IGF had stupendous graphics for it's day, coming from an unknown developer based in Central Europe," said Beard. "It was not, however, a complete game, so although in it's current state it might have earned a clean sweep of the prizes, at the time we felt honored to be considered for any of the prizes, no matter how good the 'game' looked."
Techlandsoft has continued to work on Crime Cities since the March 1999 IGF, with two revisions to its in-house 3D engine, and better multiplayer modes and AI. "We are fortunate that we could spend the time creating a truly polished product, not just a graphical shell to hide behind," Beard said. Techlandsoft also continued to show the award-winning game after the IGF at other events, including the ECTS. Their work ended up paying off: Crime Cities and another game from the company, Mission: Humanity, will be published by Eon Digital Entertainment in October. The 60-plus staffed Techlandsoft is also working on a racing game and an RPG, as well as games that will use the Crime Cities engine. Regarding the benefits of the IGF win, Beard said "[Now we have] a nice trophy to go in our reception area, and it has played a part in getting a multiple-title publishing deal." Beyond that, Beard said that the award made it easier for potential publishers to remember them, a silver bullet against a publisher forgetting about them. "The IGF prize is something that lasts," Beard said. "Many trade shows can show your product to people, but a few months later they will have forgotten about it. The prize we won is as relevant today as it was then, and it is not only something linked with Crime Cities, but to the Techland development team specifically. They have created a game that won a peer voted prize for Best Visual Arts. It is one of the major prizes available in the industry, not influenced by advertising, sales figures, brands, PR agencies, politics or anything else."
Most developers (who are, of course, gamers as well) will heartily remember his or her last really good game of Quake, but few will think fondly of their last exciting game of Mavis Beacon or Carmen Sandiego. Few games have entertained as well as they have taught, which makes it that much more of an accomplish- ment for two educational games, Morphonix' Journey Into The Brain and Whoola's Acidia, to win the respect of the IGF judges. Morphonix President Karen Littman said that games are a great medium to educate kids through. "Computer games are uniquely suited to weave together two things that kids love: knowledge and games. When these can be woven seamlessly, content becomes play and play become content. That was our goal as we designed Journey into the Brain."
The Morphonix' team had been creating kids' educational software since 1988, well before the IGF. In fact, the festival would be one step in a long list of awards. "Immediately after the IGF, there was no difference [in the company]," said Karen Littman, Producer and Lead Designer of Journey Into The Brain. "We continued entering Journey Into The Brain in other contests and traveled with it." Journey Into The Brain went on to win numerous accolades, including finalist for the 1999 Educational Title of the Year (9-16 years) from The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, and Morphonix found a distributor for the product. There are parallels between creating a game for adults and creating a game for children. For example, Littman notes the importance of graphics to immerse the player in the game. "Testing has shown us that kids are initially drawn to the striking art in the game," Littman said. "As they begin to play, they become captivated by the characters and game-play, which inevitably leads them to interest in the neuroscience content." The other educational game that reached the finals was Whoola's Acidia, an online RPG that teaches 30 basic chemistry concepts through interaction. Though Whoola's Sridhar Iyer said that the impact of the IGF recognition was less because of the educational focus of his company, he said the acceptance helped. "The IGF gave us some validation." Acidia is still under development and Whoola is aiming to release it later this year. It is also working on "two online massively multi-user educational games." As for Morphonix, it is not currently producing any software, though Littman and others are working as consultants to game, software and web developers.
Perhaps with Journey Into The Brain and Acidia, though, Morphonix and Whoola respectively have already left their mark on a younger generation of gamers. And, maybe, the next generation will be inspired to enter the IGF years from now.
Becoming an IGF Finalist was a dramatic turning point for NSP (Never Stop Playing) Games, creator of the tactical combat game Torune (formerly V.D.). "I remember checking our web page one day in early February (1999) and finding over 400 new hits since the day before. We hadn't received half that many in the 3 months that the site had been up," said NSP Lead Programmer Everett Bell. The three-man group had been working on Torune for a little over a year when they heard about the competition, making progress on the game in-between work schedules. Things changed after they were told that their game made it to the finals, Bell said. "After being notified that we were selected as finalists, we devoted every minute we had to improving the demo for the game as much as possible, in addition to getting everything together for the conference." It was good that NSP kicked things into high gear, for nothing was the same after the finalist announcement. "Before the IGF, we spent months simply trying to track down the right people to contact who could actually get us closer to having our game published," said Bell. "Within days of being announced as an IGF finalist, WE were the ones being contacted by publishers, agents, and the media, all wanting to know more about the game. The publicity we received for [Torune] even before the conference was phenomenal." Like other finalists, NSP fanned the flames of publicity, creating t-shirts, demo CDs and other promotional items to foster the buzz. It seemed to pay off, for by the end of the week-long Game Developers Conference NSP had two great publisher leads for Torune: one well-known publisher and one entertainment agency. "We spent the next few months putting some hard work into polishing up the demo and bringing it up to the current technology standards," Bell said. Bell said NSP continued to pursue its leads, as well as creating new ones, but by the end of 1999 the financial state of the company was brought to the forefront. "By the end of the year we hadn't received any concrete commitments, and had to seriously start thinking about bringing in revenue to keep the company alive. [Torune] has been put on hold while we work to complete a few smaller games to generate some cash flow." Most recently, NSP has partnered with Cydoor Technologies and has created two free, full-version logic/puzzle games, with a third in the works. Though the journey for NSP to get Torune published is far from over, Bell said they feel that the IGF recognition has put them a step ahead. "Just having the ability to say that we were finalists at the first IGF has really changed the way we are perceived by others in the industry. There are a lot of people involved in game development who can't devote the time needed to really get a feel for the abilities and potential of a small development group. Having the IGF under our belts has made quite a few people stop and take a little more notice in us." As for Torune, NSP still has its eye on publication. "We hope to return to Torune soon," Bell said, "and know that when it is complete, it will have been well worth the wait."
One commonality among independent game developers, especially those with little or no outside funding, is the battle to balance two professions: your passionate job in game development and your "real" job. Put in this light, it is amazing how beautiful the IGF Finalists games were, including Flagship: Champion. The real-time space combat game was put together in a schedule only a hardcore game developer could handle. "We must have been the shortest development effort," said Keith Nemitz, head of the Flagship: Champion team. "Three months total for the first submission and another month or two for the actual conference." A well-earned IGF recognition, indeed. But not without a price. "We were so busy, our website missed the original press release. Otherwise, we didn't pick up many comments. I blame myself for not promoting it beyond the conference. My brain could have been served as gelatin dessert," Nemitz said. Positively, Nemitz and company are still hard at work on a demo release of Flagship: Champion. As for Nemitz, he works at the 3DO Company, currently creating an interface for a PS2 title. And the best thing he's gotten out of the IGF recognition? "A lot of respect at my new computer game job. Game people know how tough it is."
As heard straight from the horse's mouth, gaining entrance into the IGF finals is no small matter. The third annual competition, set for early March of 2001, will bring about more innovative and interesting games. Now, like the next cast of Survivor, independent game developers know what they're getting into. Or do they? Perhaps past winners can give some insight. "Make sure you have a demo that you can do in your sleep and takes no more than a few minutes. Have a longer demo for those people who are interested," said Cognitoy's Kent Quirk. "Test everything. A lot. You'll be amazed at how easily people can break your code." The finalists also note that time is a big factor: even if the deadline for next year's competition has passed, it is never too early to get started on a game. "Plan to demo the product early, and prepare a convincing presentation. For an independent developer, demonstrating a near complete game months ahead of the competition is very challenging." Vicarious Visions' Guha Bala said. "Start last year," said Keith Nemitz. "Have experience building games, and organizing projects. Otherwise, look towards IGF's years in the future." Getting to the actual finals round is only part of the battle, notes NSP's Bell. "We made quite a few demo CDs to pass out, along with printing up T-shirts and other promotional materials for the game. We wanted to take full advantage of what we felt was a very important opportunity for us." Quirk also reminds finalists to cover the basics. "Wear comfortable shoes. Bring extra shirts and deodorant." With the adventures told by former finalists, this would be sound advice for before AND after an IGF win. Despite the challenges, Morphonix's Karen Littman recommends the experience. "I'd tell them to go for it. The exposure is great. It was a good experience." A special thanks goes to the IGF finalists for sharing their stories with us. The third annual Independent Games Festival is planned for the second week in March in San Jose, CA, as part of the Game Developer's Conference. More details on the festival and the conference can be found at www.indiegames.com and www.gdconf.com. ________________________________________________________
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