Just a reminder to everyone that this Wednesday is the big day where you will be able to get your hands on Lucidity. It launches on XBLA & Steam for (I think) the very reasonable price of $10!
Later today we will be answering some questions from people on the development of Lucidity over at LucasArts Workshop. If you haven't checked out the site I recommend it, as we continue to post stories on the development of Lucidity.
We thought it would be interesting to share as much about the development process as we could, in the spirit of sharing key learnings and challenges with anyone else developing small games or interested in doing so.
In the mean-time, a pretty cool hands-on preview over on WorthPlaying continues to help build the good buzz prior to launch. We've been getting a lot of good buzz about the visual style and the audio, but this one gets into the nuts and bolts of the gameplay as well.
FTA;
Lucidity is a shockingly addictive game. The randomly generated nature of the items makes replaying stages exciting and interesting because there isn't a single set solution. Whether you're simply trying to reach the end of the stage or replaying to collect fireflies, the game encourages you to be creative and tricky
This quote from the article by Anna Anthropy sums up the point well;
"contemporary game design is a victim of clutter," says Anthropy. "because the games industry is hit-driven (big budget games need to sell huge amounts just to recoup their costs), games are designed to be everything to everyone. unfortunately, the result is a game full of features which all tug in different directions, and which stretch the idea of the game thin beyond recognition ... they stretch an hour's worth of ideas over eighty hours of filler."
This reminds me of conversations we had about the Lucidity gameplay during early prototyping. We started expanding the core functionality of the game, adding a much wider range of different pieces and also power-ups. We decided in the end to strip it back because we felt that the additions really didn't add anything.
The launch trailer has gone up on Gametrailers. I embedded this version that posted by BeastMode1100 on youtube. Alternatively you can watch it at gametrailers here.
The clip where Sofi pushes her grandmother over is one of my favorite moments.
We wanted to play around with the fact that we had 3D and 2D assets in the game 3D/2D and decided to have Sofi push the static card over to convey the drama of the moment when Sofi realizes all is not well in her fantasy dream.
If you are in the LA area this weekend, I recommend you head over to Culver City to check out IndieCade! This is a newish conference that started out as part of E3 but is stepping out to become its own thing.
Prices are very reasonable (from $20-$290) and there are some excellent speakers including Jenova Chen, Daniel Benmergui and Henry Jenkins, formerly of MIT now at USC. Come participate and support a conference that provides a platform for the awesome growing indie scene!
I listened to this great show on PBS about Innovation and how to succeed in a recession.
Great discussion that includes Robert Sutton, Stanford Professor and author of 'The No Asshole Rule'. I haven't read it but will be adding it to my amazon list.
This discussion reminded me of articles I have read about the importance of preserving innovation cultures in a recession, such as this one from Business Week.
Companies that get conservative, cut back on risk taking, will emerge from a recession in a weakened position. Recessions are the time when old paradigms break down and make way for new business models.
This is what I believe we are seeing in the games industry, where $60 games are starting to visibly lose ground to more affordable digital content.
Shadow Complex is a new IP for XBLA that sold over 200K units in its first week, I have heard talk its tracking to sell around 1M units, which sounds reasonable. Trials HD, another recent XBLA offering, sold 300k in the first month. These are great numbers for games that cost significantly less than boxed product to develop, with much smaller teams.
Then you have all the free to play social games such as Farmville and Pet Society, that are by all accounts raking in a lot of money via micro-transactions.
Contrast with EA's admission recently that they have been disappointed with sales of Madden 10, despite it being critically acclaimed and one of there consistent top sellers.
As well is being linked to the economy driving people to find lower cost outlets for their entertainment, I believe this is also strongly related to the move to 'affordability and convenience' that is offered by digital content (I wrote about this in a previous post).
My favorite quote from the PBS show. On how to protect a creative idea and nourish it so that it can truly flourish.
"You don't plant a seed in the ground and then dig it up every week to see how its doing".
David Nottingham is a creator of videogames with a specific passion for original IP. He worked with good fellows at Rockstar Games back in the day, before leaving to form DevLove, a videogame production company dedicated to the creation and development of awesomeness. Today he works with a team of amazing and passionate people at LucasArts.
Check out this free little indie game called Fig. 8. It is the whole package.
Read a great article from Rodian Joubert today on Gamasutra called Minimised Game Design For Indies: Yes Or No?. (the article is a republish from this site)
If you are in the LA area this weekend, I recommend you head over to Culver City to check out IndieCade!
I listened to this great show on PBS about Innovation and how to succeed in a recession.
