A couple of weeks ago, I was playing through the latest build of the game. I’d just finished implementing some new features in the combat system. After spending quite a bit of time tweaking and changing things, I just wasn’t happy with how it was turning out.

Combat in the original Trial By Magic from 1993 was real-time. At the time, the term “Action-RPG” probably hadn’t been invented. Games like Diablo and Torchlight didn’t exist. However in 2013, they most certainly do exist and are exceedingly popular, with multi-million dollar development budgets and matching sales.

This presents a bit of a problem for me with Trial By Magic, since it’s not intended to be an action game at all, though it does share the real-time combat aspect of modern ARPG’s. The expectations of what a real-time combat system should look and play like are well and truly defined, and the game I was playing – pre-pre-alpha as it was – could never be compared favorably to existing ARPG games.

I discussed this with Anthony, who has been doing most of the design work lately, and we decided that it might be better to go a different direction altogether. So, for the last couple of weeks, Anthony been designing a turn-based combat system.

Presently nothing has been implemented in the game code, however the system design is quite well advanced. It’s even possible to play it using a real-life game board, with miniatures and dice!

Using minitures to test the combat system

Whether the final game has turn-based or real-time combat is not yet decided. Once the turn-based system has been completely designed, we’ll implement it and see how it plays. Then we’ll decide.

Are you an RPG fan? If so, do you have a preference for real-time or turn-based combat?

L8r, Paul

I’ve been thinking about unlikeable characters: the villains, antagonists, and characters that just walk around doing more harm than good, or those that start sounding like they have no redeeming features. Firstly, these characters have purpose. Without them, there would be no conflict, and everyone would just be fine and dandy and agree to disagree on things. But the question is: how do I make sure that these characters aren’t one-dimensional “drama-bots”?

I’ll preface this by saying that I’ve played quite a few villains in plays. So when I think about my character, or I begin to work on a bad character, I try to think about them as having real motivation behind their “evilness.” Whatever they are doing, they need to believe that it is, somehow, the right thing. They need to be justified in their bad behaviour, no matter how selfish and irrational it may appear to others. If this is a major character, then significant backstory is required. A minor character? Then motivation is generally enough, but you could choose one random event or a moment when it became their driving force.

Using the example from the picture: (spoiler?) 

We nicknamed Sheena “Sh!tMum” because she’s a terrible parent, due to her marrying up and only caring about spending time with rich folk, being drunk. Her daughter despises her, but formed strong bonds with the townsfolk she spent time with. We want you to like her daughter, but she doesn’t feature much at all.

Marketing Workshop
Cost: FREE
Date: Wednesday 12th June
Time: 1:30pm-5pm
Venue: Spacecubed, Ground Floor, 45 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia 6000
Booking: Bookings can be made via this website.

Although the workshop is booked out, you can use the contact details provided at the above links to be put on a waiting list.

For any developers who have released a game since 1st January, 2011, this is a great opportunity to get your game into the running for the $2,000 prize, as well as the honour of  being the first game developer to win the category at the WA Screen Awards!

The entry form can be found at the following link. The form appears to be tailored for film entries, so make use of those Additional Information boxes for all of your game-related details.

Best of luck to all of the entrants!

Deviator, the show I worked on with PVI Collective and friends, is playing in Sydney, Australia starting tomorrow night. Get in there, tickets sell fast!

The question for me is should I apply for funding, to help further Class 3 Outbreak and Zombie Outbreak Simulator? It’s “free” money, so if it could help, I might as well? :)

Binary Space was started by Jay Weston and I a bit over 4 years ago in February 2009. Here’s a timeline of everything that’s happened since then:

So to summarize, C3O began on the web, and then partway during development we released ZOS on the web as a kind of ‘teaser’ for C3O. After the initial “classic” C3O was released, we expanded into a new C3O based on user-generated maps all over the world built using an editor. Building on the original ZOS we then created a version for iOS. In December last year Jay left Binary Space, and I’ve been continuing development on both the web version of C3O and the iOS version of ZOS.

Over those four years, the web versions of C3O and ZOS have been played over 4 million times, and the iOS version of ZOS has been downloaded by over 160,000 people.

Here’s the strategy that I’m planning for the future:

So in the short-to-medium term there are three main things I have planned:

1. Add more features to the web version of C3O.
2. Expand ZOS for iOS to allow it to play all 2000+ user-generated maps from the web version of C3O.
3. Release ZOS on Android.

In the longer term the combination of all three of the above will result in releasing C3O on both iOS and Android. Then after that I will continue developing on all 4 of those streams until Class 3 Outbreak and Zombie Outbreak Simulator ultimately take over the world! ;)

There are of course a lot of risks and unknowns with this strategy. But could some funding from Screen Australia’s games fund help?

My plan is to apply for funding to develop ZOS for Android. This seems like a good candidate for funding because it’s a small and well-defined piece of the future strategy.

According to App Annie’s research, in the first quarter of 2013 total revenue on the iOS App Store was about 2.6 times total revenue on Google Play. ZOS has earned about $29k on iOS, so that means it will earn exactly $29k / 2.6 = $11k on Android, right? :)

Of course it’s more complicated than that. While both the iOS App Store and Google Play have about 800,000 apps each, and while many apps are available on both platforms, in general each store has different apps with different monetization strategies. The only real way to know what ZOS on Android might earn is to release it and find out.

Still, it seems like an Android version of ZOS has a pretty good chance of making at least some fraction of the sales from ZOS on iOS. So if I can put in an application to Screen Australia for some amount of funding less than that, it should be a fairly strong business case.

Besides the potential financial return from an Android version of ZOS, I know there is plenty of demand for it. Almost every time I make an announcement about the web version of C3O or the iOS version of ZOS, I get comments asking when it will be available for Android! :)

The only problem with making an Android version of ZOS is that I don’t have the skills required to make it happen! So I’m putting out a call to see if anyone out there would like to partner with me to help me build it?

This will be paid work, but riskier than a ‘normal’ job application. For a regular job, if I like you I’ll hire you straight away and pay you as the work is done. This time it’s a bit different. You don’t have to do any work up front – just be willing to let me include your name on the funding application that I submit to Screen Australia. But if the application is successful then as soon as I get the funds from them, you’ll get hired and get paid :)

I’m looking for three people to help me build ZOS for Android:

1. An Android developer
   I did a little bit of Android development a year or two ago, but that was for a business application, not a game. Although I could learn Android game development myself, I’d prefer to hire someone who already has experience. Most of ZOS for iOS is built using standard C++ and OpenGL ES 2.0, with Objective-C used for just the user interface. So I’m assuming that most of the code will be usable as-is, and so it will mostly be UI and integration code which you will need to write.
2. An artist
   Most of the in-game artwork (like zombie and civ sprites) already exists. However the user interface will most likely need to be adjusted to make it work with Android (eg to support different screen sizes). Some of the user interface elements could be re-used (eg buttons), but I’m willing to consider redesigning the whole interface if you’d rather start with a clean slate.
3. A marketer
   I’m looking for someone to help with the ‘obvious’ marketing aspects like helping to promote the game on Android after launch. However this also includes the equally-important role of providing advice before and during development on how the game should be developed and monetized to make it marketable.

The amount of user interface code and art required shouldn’t be huge. There are pretty much only three screens that need to be developed: map selection, the game itself, and the options screen.

What will I be doing? I’ll do general coordination / project management type stuff, as well as helping the developer work with my existing code. I won’t be including anything for me in the funding application though – I’ll only make a return once it starts selling.

The deadline for funding applications is mid-July. From there Screen Australia have said they’ll take about 10 weeks to process the applications. Assuming an extra month or so to finalize a contract with Screen Australia, it will probably be around November or so before work could start. I’m happy for you to work full time, part time or in your spare time – whatever works around whatever else you’re doing is fine. And if November comes and you’re suddenly busy with your dream project, it’s fine if we need to delay or if I need to find someone else.

If you’re interested, send me an email at jobs@binaryspacegames.com with some info on why you’d be suitable (eg some details of projects you’ve worked on before, etc).

Since the funding is provided by the Australian government to support the Australian game development industry, you will need to be living in Australia. However if you live overseas, are awesome at what you do, and would love to work on this project, then please still get in touch with me and we’ll see what we can work out.

Finally, if you’d like to see ZOS released on Android, you can help the cause by letting me know! Post a comment below, like or comment on the Facebook page, send me a message on Twitter, send me an email, or share this post with your friends. The greater the response, the stronger the reason to develop an Android version of ZOS in the first place, and so the more likely it will happen!

Thanks,
Saxon

I’d also like to take this opportunity to once more thank our sponsor, Qantm Perth, for providing an excellent venue and on-site support (and yo-yos!) – thanks guys!

And now, for some photos of the event.

It’s always exciting when we hear about new developers and games coming from Perth! Today, I’d like to introduce you to Tankya’s Adventure: The Curse of Zoltar by Entropic Entertainment, which was released earlier this year.

Tankya’s Adventure: The Curse of Zoltar Is a cartoon adventure indie game, featuring elements of platform games and shooters. A colourful and exciting journey where players pit steel fists against dark voodoo magic across beautiful landscapes in order to save the island. Play as Tankya, a young pirate girl who has been born with a unique gift; the ability to talk to Steel. She can only talk to steel, as Gold is too snobby and Iron is too boring. Tankya lives on a tropical paradise, enjoying her days in lazy bliss. However, little does she know – deep in the jungle, from the great monkey temple of Ouzumarogaza, a dark magic is growing that threatens to change everything.

Tankya’s Adventure is available now on Desura, and is also up on Steam Greenlight.

(I think Ben was a little disappointed that I stopped, but I feel that it’s better to try something and then decide to stop rather than: never trying it, stubbornly continuing with it despite your dissatisfaction, or simply continuing without considering if you want to.)

Much like the last couple of years, the last few months have been full of challenges, opportunities, and work, work, work. Parenthood and Hungry Sky have been keeping me busy and very occupied (in my thoughts and feelings). I think constantly about parenting and business, and often discuss these topics at length with Heidi and Minh respectively.

Family

In the backyard.

Amelia has grown from a baby into a toddler. She seems incredibly clever to me. (Although I’m not sure that her any of her actions are out of the ordinary for children her age.) At 16 months, she feeds herself, runs around, plays with toys (her favourite is the shape sorter), turns pages on books and happily yells out some of the words (Me: “Is Spot under the bed?”, Amelia: [lifts flap in book] “No!”).

It was particularly interesting seeing how her play with the shape sorter progressed. She quickly realised that the round shapes didn’t require any particular orientation in order to fit through the round holes. So she would tip the shapes out, immediately grab the two cylinders, pop them into the round holes, and then give herself a clap. A few weeks later, she had sorting all the shapes down to a fine art. She would grab the shapes in matching pairs with two hands so that she could put them in promptly one after the other. As Heidi would say: “Clever bunny.”

Business

The other day, Minh was surprised to see that we had sent our 50th invoice. I think it was for an app, or possibly to the Art Gallery. Either way, I suppose that it was a milestone of sorts… for it to be business as usual… if that makes sense. Writing quotes, undertaking work, sending invoices – it’s our day-to-day work, and (like Amelia with her shape sorting) we’re getting it down to a fine art (or at least a standard routine).

Maybe that’s why we had to make some changes. I always imagined that we could use contracting as a starting point (to bootstrap the business), rather than an end goal. Minh and I made some changes to our business partnership, which has resulted in 1/3 of our time (and 50% of my time) being allocated to developing products (rather than undertaking contracts). That’s the idea anyway. In reality, I’ve been working maybe 75% (and soon around 100%) on contracts by bringing forward contract days. The corollary is that I’ll likely be working on products for all of July. Woohoo!

In regards to speculative projects, we’ve been working on an indie printing business (for card games) and I’ve also working with a few others to put together a shared working space for Perth game developers (the Department for Being Awesome). There are a few other projects we have cooking, but I can’t say much about them yet unfortunately.

Cards we produced for Andrew Hawkins as part of a speculative printing business.

Other

It’s strange how when things change, it quickly becomes difficult to remember what they were like before. I remember not being a parent, but I can’t really summon how it felt to have even a day without interacting with Amelia. Likewise, there are many other aspects of my life that I’ve left behind and can barely remember. There are very few that I miss though.

I used to get terrible headaches well into my late twenties. These were often preceded by a sense of detachment (including loss of proprioception) and periods of intense deja vu (fairly disconcerting) but also absolute clarity (quite useful at times). Heidi called these experiences “Aura“, which seemed to fit the bill. I imagine she has some idea what she’s talking about, being a doctor and all. They used to upset me, but now I miss them. Odd how things work out. I’d even take the headaches to get them back.