Indie Games Follow-up: The Class of 2000

Entering the Dragon's Lair

"We stood out because we did something different, and we did it well. I was pleased to see that the 2000 finalists were almost all doing something different from the run of the mill game - that's what the contest should be about."

David Dunham of A-Sharp, LLC

The turn-based King of Dragon Pass seems to embody the best principles of independent game development: innovate design, quirky humor and an ambitious, though attainable, concept with possibly more variations than a game of Diablo. A-Sharp LLC, creator of the IGF Visual Art winner, is aware of the potency of great graphics, but also realizes the value of excellent game design.

	David Dunham, lead designer, with A-Sharp's award.

"King of Dragon Pass has a fine art style that almost no other games attempt, and we had some excellent artists executing it," said A-Sharp's David Dunham. "I think we backed it up with an interesting, deep setting, an unusual multi-generational story and some fine writing."

King of Dragon Pass stood out at the IGF, getting the attention of quite a few publishers. "It was certainly a big change to have people coming up to us and asking about publishing it, instead of trying to hunt down the right people and make a pitch," Dunham said

Nothing came of the publishing discussions, but A-Sharp was already thinking of its future well before the IGF. It opted for complete independence. "I think the big change had nothing to do with the IGF," said Dunham. "Shortly after submitting to the 2000 contest was when we
decided we'd need to self-publish. That was certainly something of a career shift, since we had to get into production and marketing."

A-Sharp self-shipped King of Dragon Pass right before the IGF finals in March. The IGF became an excellent promotional vehicle for the game which the team has built upon. "I remember someone complaining last year about the cost of entry and the difficulty of duplicating CDs. Well yes, there is non-zero work involved, but the opportunity to have your game noticed is well worth it," Dunham said. The team's most recently effort in marketing is creating game t-shirts, now available on its website.

	A-Sharp team members as Dragon Pass characters.

 

The small team of two, composed of Dunham and Elise Bowditch, admits that it's not sure what is planned next. Dunham said he would love to do another title as innovative as King of Dragon Pass and hopes that the standards remains high for the IGF finalists and winners.

"We stood out because we did something different, and we did it well. I was pleased to see that the 2000 finalists were almost all doing something different from the run of the mill game -- that's what the contest should be about."

Taking Care of Business

"We plan to continue making exciting, creative games and have a damn fun time making them."

James Thrush, Super X Studios

Super X Studios seems to be continually busy, as if it hasn't slowed down since its IGF win -- this becomes apparent while trying to track them down for an interview. "Sorry for the delay getting back to you," said Super X's James Thrush. "We've been busy finishing Far Gate, which just went gold!"

The work ethic of Super X, formerly ThrushWave Technology, evidently showed last March when its space RTS Far Gate (then called The Rift) received the IGF Audience Award. Its efforts also paid off after the IGF, when Super X signed a contract with French publishers Microids.

	The Super X team.

 

"The IGF was instrumental in us landing our publishing contract for Far Gate with Microids, France," Thrush said. "Microids, along with half a dozen other major publishers, approached us at the IGF to discuss publishing opportunities. This, along with the exposure to the press and to other game developers, helped establish Far Gate as a potential major title."

It has been a long journey for the ten-person studio. "We began the project last 1997, and for the first two years there were only four people on the project: one programmer, two artists and one musician," Thrush said. "Only in the last four months of the project did we expand to 10 people."

Now with Far Gate complete, Super X is working on a Far Gate expansion pack, a possible console port and, of course, a new title.

Thrush recommends anyone interested in game development to get involved with the IGF, despite the heavy workload. "Do it! You won't regret it. And keep trying -- it took us two years to get into the finals."

Back for More

"Hearts is doing great, we have been steadily increasing our online players and eating full meals. Can't complain about that! Our next game, Hardwood Spades, has made it to the IGF 2001. We are totally jazzed and hope to milk out the spotlight a little better this time."

Jonas Stewart, Silver Creek Entertainment

In the days of four-year game development cycles and consoles that claim to be "thinking," there is something to be said for simple, addictive gameplay, presented in a beautiful form. Silver Creek Entertainment, creator of IGF finalist Hardwood Hearts believes this simplicity may have been what caught the attention of the festival.

"Well not sure what the actual reason, but I suspect that it's the fact that we had a well polished and finished looking game," said Silver Creek Entertainment's Jonas Stewart. "Hardwood Hearts did a great job presenting a classic game in a new light. Adding visual effects that augmented the original game."

His team seems to be onto something: Their follow-up, Hardwood Spades, has made it to the 2001 IGF finals. "We are totally jazzed and hope to milk out the spotlight a little better this time," Stewart said.

Though they had success with the last IGF, Stewart said that Silver Creek Entertainment has been supporting the GDC for years prior. "We have yet to miss a year at the GDC since we started going about five or six years now. We normally volunteer and find that a cool way to experience the conference and highly recommend doing it, especially to folks that don't think they can afford to go this year."

Right now Silver Creek Entertainment is polishing up Hardwood Spades and getting ready for the next IGF. Though it is a second go-around for them, Stewart remains humble (and humorous) about the honor of being selected. "The best thing is the pride of knowing we were chosen. And it's even more gratifying that we are returning in 2001 with Hardwood Spades. Silver Creek must be doing something right -- or that extra gift certificate to the Elvis Macaroni Art center we slipped in with the entry form was a big hit. Hard to say."

In for the Long Haul

"The SEED concept came about four years ago... now, the feedback we have had from various publishers indicated that this mix of a shooter with platform game elements is more suited for consoles. With this in mind we are currently rewriting the engine to support DX8 and an easy Xbox port."

Gabor K. Kadas, head of Human Soft

Credit is often given to those who come out of nowhere and gain immediately success. Often neglected, however, are those who have paid their dues and slowly have earned their rewards. Human Soft, creator of IGF two-time finalist SEED, definitely fits in the latter category.

Its 3d platform shooter, probably most comparable to Eidos' Thief: The Dark Project, has been the focus of the ten-man team for the last four years. Human Soft has also had its hands in other pies.

"Human Soft was involved with ten-plus published game projects on various platforms and one would hope that being a finalist twice would make publishers notice you even more," said head of Human Soft Gabor K. Kadas. His game, however, has yet to get a contract. "We have had several emails asking us for the release date for SEED, but we are unable to give one until we find a publisher."

Kadas said he is surprised that a good publishing contract hasn't come through, especially considering the originality of SEED's gameplay. The shooter uses shadows and lighting to add new levels of game depth.

"We wanted to add an additional element to the gameplay. We felt that in all the games, lighting and shadow effects were only used as eye candy," Kadas said. "Adding the light and shadows in the gameplay would create a 'fourth dimension.'"

	The SEED team.

 

The complex graphics used in SEED actually grew out of necessity, he said. "When we started development work on SEED, the accessibility of 3D cards were limited and we started the engine by experimenting with software renderers. As time went by, we realized that we needed hardware support, so we added Glide and OpenGL abilities to the engine, but still producing the shadows partially from software to create a very unique look for them."

Human Soft has continued to modify and update SEED, and the interactions with various publishers has not been fruitless. The team has listened to the insight given by the larger companies and has, in turn, tightened its product.

In fact, the knowledge from those potential producers may get SEED onto two of the most sought-after next generation machines. "The feedback we had from various publishers indicated that this mix of a shooter with platform game element is more suited for console," Kadas said. "With this in mind we are currently rewriting the engine to support DX8 and an easy Xbox port. We are also trying to keep it as platform independent as possible so we can port it to the PS2 as well with ease."

Human Soft is also working on other games for consoles, PCs and the Internet. When asked about future goals for the company, Kadas replied "To have a title that makes it in the top 10!" It seems that despite setbacks and disappointments Kadas and his team believe they will get their due rewards.

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A 2001 Odyssey