3. Relationship with Microsoft

Because we were using XNA Game Studio, Microsoft wanted to see the game succeed as badly as we did, as proof that XNA Game Studio could be used to create professional-caliber games. To that end, they did everything they could to make the tools we were using good enough for our needs, and helped us promote the game (like giving us a couple of minutes on the big stage at GameFest).

The PR was fantastic, also: considering we spent zero dollars on marketing, Schizoid was surprisingly high profile, using the "number of Google hits" metric.

Part of the reason was because we brought on PR guy Kirk Green (under similarly creative terms as the rest of the team) to get us in front of websites and magazines, but the fact that we were "the first professional XNA Game Studio Game" and Microsoft was promoting us as well was huge.

4. Art-Illuminated Design

With our first rough draft proof-of-concept with its "programmer art", we had no idea what the theme of the game would be -- it was entirely abstract, with various symbols for heroes and enemies.

James took that, and played it, and created enemies that fit the gameplay:  egglayers are like cockroaches with sacs of eggs; the creatures that move around randomly are like clusters of eyes, looking in all directions; creatures that fire bullets in all directions look like bursting flowers; creatures that inexorably wriggle toward you, but get hung up on walls, look like lobsters. 

From that organic, petri-dish universe it seemed clear we'd need curvy walls, and fortunately we had another friend, Chip Brown from Adobe, a master with Bezier curves, who was willing to make that happen, and make them animatable. The end result is a game that's much less "rectangle-y" or "Cartesian" than most arcade games; there are very few hard angles in Schizoid.

5. The Art of the Start

Bill and I both read Guy Kawasaki's The Art of the Start, and it occurs to me that the story of Schizoid and Torpex is a great example of his chapter one. We were making meaning: "We're going to change the world!" So many startups say this that it's become a cliché, but we believed it. 

There's never been a game quite like Schizoid -- it may have elements reminiscent of other games but by putting them together in a new way to make the Ultimate Teamwork game we did something really new, and that inspired us: "We're creating what could be a new genre! A game one simply must play!" We had a mantra: "Co-op!"

We had gotten going: we started making a game instead of making design documents. Our business model, bone simple, as Kawasaki says it should be: sell it on XBLA. And our lists of milestones and tasks: a schedule made using the techniques from Mike Cohn's Agile Estimating and Planning. (Kawasaki enthusiasts know we should also have had a list of assumptions. We didn't... not written down, anyway.)

It's a powerful formula. Did we actually change the world? It's too early to tell, but I'm not sure it matters. What matters is the process. I think these elements, taken together, are why people joined up with us on faith, why we made it onto the XBLA platform, why we're hearing such nice testimonials, and why we're in the PAX 10. We've made a game we're really proud of and still enjoy playing to this day.