Derek Smart: Episodic content and being an Independent Developer
At the beginning of December, Derek Smart announced that Universal Combat Collector’s Edition, the final game in the series, will be released in the first quarter of this year. Also, a new title, Galactic Command – Rise of the Insurgents, will be released on PC around the same time. Rise of Insurgents will also be released on XBL in early 2008
GALCOM is intended to be the first of four episodes, released quarterly, which tie in with Smart’s already established (through previous titles) world. The difference with GALCOM is that it should adopt a more pick-up and play game-style.
Gamasutra has a rather lengthy yet in-depth interview with Smart about his plans for the game, and the challenges that he encountered working with the console. You can get access to that via our read-link below. What we really want to focus on is Smart’s take on the advantages that developers can get from providing episodic content.
Here are a few snippets of that from the interview:
How often do you intend to release episodes? Do you feel the time between releases will give you a chance to take on board any comments – whether they be good or bad – regarding the previous episode?
We are planning to release a new episode as frequently as every quarter. This will give us enough time to take in the comments as well as see which aspects we need to revise, enhance, tweak for future episodes.
Do you intend to release the episodes of the game over Live Arcade, and, if so, how much of a challenge is it to work within the 50MB limit?
Apart from the fact that our episodes will be less than 50MB, it is highly unlikely that we would run into this problem, because the episodes will most likely not be released via Live Arcade, but rather through regular content download – similar to how patches and updates are pushed through, regardless of size. Then again, we’ll have to wait and see how this goes because it is entirely up to the publisher and Microsoft.
What advantages and disadvantages does episodic content present for 3000AD?
As I mentioned earlier, the primary advantage is that we get to extend the life of the game while gaining residual income through its life. I can’t see any disadvantage to this model at this time. Our scenarios are primarily script (all data) driven, so the resources required are minimal.
For the rest of the interview feel free to use our read-link below.
At the beginning of December, Derek Smart announced that Universal Combat Collector’s Edition, the final game in the series, will be released in the first quarter of this year. Also, a new title, Galactic Command – Rise of the Insurgents, will be released on PC around the same time. Rise of Insurgents will also be released on XBL in early 2008
GALCOM is intended to be the first of four episodes, released quarterly, which tie in with Smart’s already established (through previous titles) world. The difference with GALCOM is that it should adopt a more pick-up and play game-style.
Gamasutra has a rather lengthy yet in-depth interview with Smart about his plans for the game, and the challenges that he encountered working with the console. You can get access to that via our read-link below. What we really want to focus on is Smart’s take on the advantages that developers can get from providing episodic content.
Here are a few snippets of that from the interview:
How often do you intend to release episodes? Do you feel the time between releases will give you a chance to take on board any comments – whether they be good or bad – regarding the previous episode?
We are planning to release a new episode as frequently as every quarter. This will give us enough time to take in the comments as well as see which aspects we need to revise, enhance, tweak for future episodes.
Do you intend to release the episodes of the game over Live Arcade, and, if so, how much of a challenge is it to work within the 50MB limit?
Apart from the fact that our episodes will be less than 50MB, it is highly unlikely that we would run into this problem, because the episodes will most likely not be released via Live Arcade, but rather through regular content download – similar to how patches and updates are pushed through, regardless of size. Then again, we’ll have to wait and see how this goes because it is entirely up to the publisher and Microsoft.
What advantages and disadvantages does episodic content present for 3000AD?
As I mentioned earlier, the primary advantage is that we get to extend the life of the game while gaining residual income through its life. I can’t see any disadvantage to this model at this time. Our scenarios are primarily script (all data) driven, so the resources required are minimal.
For the rest of the interview feel free to use our read-link below.