The Game Developers Conference 2015 in San Francisco, California is next week!

We’ll be sending our CEO Ben Walsh from the east coast to the west coast with a demo of MUD to show off to everyone. We’re looking forward to seeing and hearing feedback on our progress of the game.

The past week has been quite the trial for our team. We’ve had to battle some lots of snow and ice and their effect on the running water in our office, but we’ve been working hard and are really focused on bringing you guys a really nice environment to see at GDC. You’ll be dropped onto an island in the world of MUD and discover it’s secrets. Wild creatures roam the island; how will you survive?

Soon we’ll have a teaser trailer that will give you a peek into the world of MUD. It looks great and we’re excited to show it off.

We’ll in touch again after GDC, until then, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates!

Recently, our CEO Ben Walsh was invited to a panel at the Millennial Developers Summit hosted by Millennial Media last month. After the event, he gave an interview to TechnologyAdvice.com regarding fundraising and bootstrapping your business. Below, you can listen to the complete interview, view the full article here, or just read the key points from the article below.

Here are the key takeaways quoted from the article:

• Know yourself, your team’s capabilities, your passions, and your core competencies.
  People may approach you and ask you to do something you’ve never done before. Focus on the things on which you’re an expert. Get to know the different personalities on your team and likewise observe the areas in which they excel.
• Pick projects that are aligned with your company’s vision.
  Bootstrapping is a double-edged sword as it generates revenue, but can also pull you away from the original ideas that caused you to start the company in the first place. Therefore, pick projects that are aligned with your company’s long-term vision. Don’t get caught in the idea of doing something for the money because eventually you may not be happy doing it.
• Know when to walk away.
  Evaluate the opportunity cost of everything that comes your way. Is it beneficial for you or your company in the long-term? Short-term income is helpful, but not as helpful as creating a pathway to desired long-term success.
• Hire a great team.
  Walsh stressed the importance of hiring the right personalities that fit your company culture, especially for small startups. Hiring a misfit could be like voluntarily infecting your company with a cancer that could destroy the company. Hire slow and fire fast. Spend a longer amount of time getting to know your candidates before actually hiring them. Hiring friends could be hit or miss, in that they could either prove to be effective or they could be too comfortable or too casual to take orders from you. Exercise prudence during the hiring phase.
• Understand user acquisition.
  Walsh noticed that “user acquisition” has become a buzzword (buzzphrase?) in the gaming space today. But there’s not much advice or tools presented on what to do with it, especially when talking about user acquisition on a bootstrapper’s budget. Walsh further explained that companies must understand that user acquisition has to begin with the concept. Start with your product and your vision for that product, ask yourself these questions:– Who is your audience?
  – Does your idea or product resonate with your audience?
  – Is this an idea someone would pay money for down the road if executed well?

Share your thoughts with us here, on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to hear from you.

We thank you all for voting for us and supporting Pure Bang Games. It really means a lot to us.

We’ve been working hard here on a few projects as we build towards bringing you our next original IP that we will be talking about more in the future. This project has us working hard and keeping us busy. For those that were at the awards show, you got to see a glimpse of what is coming through some art concepts we showed off.

On that note, we’re so busy that we’re expanding our staff! We’ve actively been looking for additional programmers and artists to join our team here at Pure Bang Games. Please visit our Jobs page or pass along the info if you know someone who would be a great fit.

We’ve been trying to be more active with our social media presence via Twitter and Facebook, so please make sure that you are following us there for the latest Pure Bang updates!

We look forward to updating you again soon!

Deep Dive is part 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, part Tales of Cthulhu, and a little bit of The Abyss, all rolled up into an addictive endless runner for iOS and Android.  You discover legendary treasures and monsters, while competing against your friends and players from all over the world.

We showed Deep Dive at Gamescape and the response was overwhelming–we really loved seeing a large diversity of people playing and enjoying the game.

Our players were obsessed with beating their previous scores, and Ryan Green from That Dragon, Cancer* had the best quote when he told me, “I would play this game while I’m on the toilet!”  That’s the highest compliment you could pay an endless runner.

There are so many endless runner games in the app store that it was difficult to see how we could shake up the formula.  And then Ben shared this image** with the team:

**Source: “Into the Depth” by Patrick Reilly.

We got really excited thinking about the diving theme.  The diving element fit perfectly into the idea of an endless runner.  We settled on a vertical orientation to heighten that weightless feeling of falling through the ocean.  We also tried to incorporate our favorite things into Deep Dive’s theme:  old monster movies, the works of Jules Verne, The Abyss (for the older folks at work), etc.  We also looked at some of our favorite endless runners like Jetpack Joyride, Ridiculous Fishing and Knightmare Tower for inspiration.

Using those starting points, we’ve created the next game that’ll keep you busy while sitting on the toilet — epic monsters, legendary treasures, and awesome upgrades all wrapped up in a short burst game.

This is definitely the best game we’ve made so far, and we can’t wait for you to play it!

* Ryan is developing That Dragon, Cancer with Josh Larson.  If you haven’t heard of it, it’s an incredibly moving game about his son’s struggle with cancer.  They’ve also been nominated as finalists for next year’s Indiecade! You can check out their website here: http://thatdragoncancer.com/

Me: “I’m a producer at a game company.”

Person A: Cool…

A long beat as we look down at our drinks.

Person A: So… what do you do?

What does a producer do? I know I didn’t know the answer until I actually started taking on production responsibilities at Pure Bang.

In the simplest terms, a producer generally acts as a project manager. A producer has to make sure that the team (1) completes the game on time, (2) stays within the budget, and (3) completes the game to the highest possible quality.

The job description definitely lacks the auteur allure of becoming a writer or designer. But beyond the management, the producer is often in charge of creating and maintaining the vision (whether it’s for a game or a game feature).  The producer then sets clear goals that the team can pursue in order to achieve that vision.

Hideo Kojima, the master behind the Metal Gear games, is probably one of the most famous producers in the game industry.  In a recent interview, he spoke about how becoming a producer allowed him to realize his vision for the Metal Gear series.

Hideo Kojima — no man has seen more use out of a cardboard box than this man.

“[In order] to create something truly great, you have to create the environment that allows people to create freely. And in order to accomplish that, I decided I had to become a producer, that becoming a producer would allow me to create the teams that I wanted to create.”

I first entered the industry with the goal of becoming a narrative designer (it’s just an industry term for a writer who works on games). Contrary to what most people believe, most designers have very little input in the overall creative direction of a game unless they are very senior. Designers also have no control over matters of budget, scope, and personnel — all essential elements that determine the creative outcome of a game (gamers who complain on comment boards don’t understand how significantly budgetary constraints and lack of time drive creative decisions during production).

I’m not singling out design as an inferior and subordinate discipline. Far from it. Design is a complex discipline that requires the rare talent of being able to combine analytic and creative impulses to create game systems. They are some of the smartest and most motivated and passionate people I know.

Shigeru Miyamoto — I worship this design god.

Let’s face it — we have all gotten to a point, regardless of profession, where we simply went through the motions. For me, I was just “making games.” This is simply my story, and the realization and change I had to make for myself at Pure Bang.

I am not interested in just making games. I am interested in creating a vision. I believe it is this yearning that elevates people from mercenaries to patriots. This is my guiding principle as a producer, and it is something I try to communicate to the team through my actions. 

More importantly, how a team chooses to balance difficulty requires making assumptions about who their players are and which changes will result in the optimal difficulty (not too easy, not too hard) for them. You can do this by “stepping into the player’s shoes.”  In other words, you have to work towards an understanding of the player’s expectation for his or her skill level and progress in the game.

When we tested Super Nut Jump (SNJ), we learned that a majority of the players found the game too difficult the first time they played. Specifically, players found it difficult to “catch” the squirrel with the trampoline once they reached the first nut. The effort it took to get the squirrel to that point would immediately feel like a chore, and they would stop playing shortly thereafter.

When bouncing the squirrel to reach the nuts, the squirrel moves in a smooth arc through the air. But when it hits a nut, it bounces off and speeds to the ground in an unexpected angle. Looking at the game from the player’s perspective, we knew that no player could possibly anticipate that transition based on previously established in-game movements (and the playtest proved this point). We knew we had to organically build up the difficulty, instead of breaking suddenly away from it.

Knowing this, we adjusted the game so that the squirrel moved consistently with established movement patterns in the game, rather than suddenly breaking out into incredible speed, velocity, and angle.  We also made it easier to get up to the nuts, so that if you did crash, you didn’t feel like you wasted a lot of time.

In any creative endeavor, you must serve the work, not your needs. By looking at difficulty from our own perspectives, we ended up creating a game that people found too difficult to play.  By really looking at the game from the player’s perspective, and understanding what their expectations were from the behaviors we established in the game, we managed to make SNJ more accessible and fun to play.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how to kick things off, and then I remembered the old adage “write what you know.” In light of that, I’ve decided to write about something I know very well: Guild Wars! Today begins my weekly column covering what is one of the most talked about MMOs of 2012, Guild Wars 2.

A few months ago, Guild Wars celebrated its 7th birthday! That is quite a long time for any game to see constant play, let alone an MMO with no subscription fee. I must admit that I let my Guild Wars character fall by the wayside for many of those years. It wasn’t until ArenaNet announced exclusive benefits in Guild Wars 2 for your achievements in Guild Wars’  The Hall of Monuments that I returned to the world of Tyria. And what a different world it was!

Many of the pet peeves I had with Guild Wars when I left had been ironed out, and I could not have been happier with the progress the game had made while I was gone. I had to wonder, if such strides could be made with small patches in Guild Wars, what could ArenaNet accomplish by building an entirely new game from the ground up?

You’d have to be living under a rock if you are a gamer who hasn’t heard about Guild Wars 2 by now. Guild Wars 2 is  plans to take a lot of the established MMO paradigms and turn them on their heads. If you are in fact an under-the-rock-dweller then take a look at their MMO manifesto over on the Guild Wars 2 website. Needless to say Guild Wars 2 has high ambitions, but does it live up to the hype?

Having played in the beta for Guild Wars 2 I can answer that question with a resounding “Maybe!” There are certain aspects that ArenaNet nailed, while others were frankly difficult to gauge over the limited scope and time period of the Beta Weekend Events and stress tests. I’ll give you a synopsis of my impressions on each of the big features Guild Wars 2 is implementing.

Classes:

I was ecstatic when I heard that Guild Wars 2 would get rid of the “Healz, DD, Tank” holy trinity of MMOs. Guild Wars 2 has done away with strict class systems in order to ensure that all classes and players can work together — every class will be able to take care of itself with a dedicated healing skill, and there will be no ideal party formation. Has Guild Wars 2 achieved this ambitious feat?

Yes! I spent time as both a Thief and an Elementalist and neither one felt more useful than the other. In fact the game has made it so difficult to pick which class I want to play that I have decided to take both classes to the level cap! (This coming from the guy who, after seven years in Guild Wars, only hit the level cap of 20 once). Both classes felt distinct. Their play styles varied greatly, but not their roles. In addition, whenever I encountered another player who decided to help (more on the interaction between players later) I never felt burdened by their class choices while playing with that player.

If you’re interested in checking out what the classes in Guild Wars 2 have to offer take a look at this handy build tool, you can check out skill sets people have made or create your own. Guild Wars 2 Codex

That wraps up today’s post! Tune in next week when I cover lessons I learned from Guild Wars 2 as a technical artist !

Atari Circus

By today’s standards, Circus is a very simple game. Similar to Breakout, your goal is to pop 3 rows of balloons by bouncing clowns off a seesaw. If you clear a row, you get bonus points, a fun sound effect, and a new row. The goal of the game is to get as high of a score as you can.

One thing to note is that my mom is very competitive, and Circus was her favorite game. We would play this and other games every night and she never went easy on me. Of course, over time I got better at the game and kicked her butt! One could say the apprentice became the master I think that this sort of high score chasing is perfect for mobile, where you don’t always have a ton of time, but want to engage in quick burst games. Hopefully, others will agree.

We gave ourselves 2 months to make a playable game, and another 2 months to make it fun and polished. Will Gallagher handled the art, Drew Nicolo the programming, and Yuzun and I helped with design. This is Drew’s first programming credit, as he is our Technical Artist… I drafted him to this project after I played a Galaga clone he had made to demo our new tech.

Old Circus Concept

During development, we struggled with the Circus theme, especially the clowns. It was nostalgic, but didn’t really excite us. Will created a Circus bear character to replace the clowns and make the game cuter. I thought they looked a little like chipmunks. Thinking about chipmunks, led to the idea that Squirrel’s trying to grab nuts would be a lot more fun… and Super Nut Jump was born.

Super Nut Jump

Along the way, we replaced the seesaw with a trampoline, added bombs falling from the sky, and a timer so that it is more “blitzy”. The biggest change came when we decided to make it vertical instead of horizontal. This was done for two reasons, we wanted the squirrel to jump higher and stay in the air longer, and we discovered that sweeping your finger across a wide screen led to “finger drag”. The drag was causing a couple problems: 1.) the longer you went without taking your finger off the screen, the more it pulled at your skin, slowing your movement and making it uncomfortable 2.) taking your finger off the screen and putting it back would cause the trampoline to jump to the new finger position. Making the game vertical solves those problems.

We’re going to submit the Flash version of this game to game portals and the mobile version to publishers. I am looking forward to seeing the feedback that we get and will let you all know when and where it is released.

So last October, with the Kindle Fire launch a month away, we decided to try our hand at mobile games, starting with Android.  We’ve released 3 titles since then on the Amazon and Google Play app stores. Our most successful title has been Zombie Chess, which launched December 28^th, 2011.

Since then we have expanded our technology to allow us to build iOS, Android, and Web games simultaneously with a single code base.  We split the team, which was small for a Facebook company but large for a mobile company, into 4 sub-teams, each working on their own projects.  To stay focused, we created the following guidelines for all the teams to follow:

• The game must work for Web and Mobile;
• The game should take less than 2 months to complete; and
• The teams must spend the same amount of time polishing and improving the game after it is “completed;”
• The game should be polished until it is fun and interesting;
• Each new game should be an improvement in quality over the previous games;
• And there has to be an audience for that type of game!

This brings us up to today – we now have 3 games that are weeks away from launching (the 4th team has been working on client work – we are bootstrapping after all).  Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be sharing our thought process on all the games, but below is a sneak peak at Super Nut Jump – a game about one young squirrel’s dream to fly high – coming soon to web, iOS, and Android. ]]> http://purebang.com/focus-attained-super-nut-jump/feed/ 0