Game of the Year, 2013

December at last, which means it is that time again. Here are my top games of 2013!

1.       Assassins Creed IV : Black Flag

2.       Crusader Kings II : The Old Gods

3.       Civilisation V : A Brave New World

4.       Fallen Enchantress : Legendary Heroes

5.       Europa Universalis IV

The Breakdown

Looking back on it, this has been the year of expansions finally making games become worthy of their promise. It’s been a fantastic year for strategy but rather mediocre shooters and RPGs.

Assassins Creed was the surprise hit for 2013, much like Crusader Kings II was last year.  Being such a console centric game, I had intended to give it a miss but thanks to getting it as a freebie with a new graphics card, I decided to give it a go – and I am so glad that I did! Fantastic graphics, good storyline, interesting mechanics, high level of polish and a good port to PC all combine to make a great game. It was marred only by a slightly repetitive nature (caused in no small part by the lack of different ship types to fight).

9/10

Crusader Kings II was already game of 2012, but The Old Gods added so much that it might as well have been an entirely new release. A new map, with all new factions, new raiding mechanics, new faiths (and mechanics to make them unique), the ability for Norse nations to sail up rivers all leant itself very well to an already deep game. The only downside is with the extended timeline, it can become a little too easy to become massively dominant in the latter years.

9/10

A Brave New World made Civilisation V into the game is really should have been from release, and finally made it a real addition to the excellent legacy left by Civilisation IV. Trade, new very interesting nations (Venice!), tourism, culture, widespread rebalance of the economy. I would have rated Civ V at about 4/10, but this expansion easily boosts it to the new score. It finally just makes the game feel complete and for the first time, actually fun.

8/10

After the travesty that was Elemental : War of Magic, Stardock finally got their act together with the 3^rd rendition of the game. Legendary Heroes added many things, including a far more intuitive hero skill line, far better balanced skills and powers, new units and technologies, massively improved AI, and most importantly virtually rebuilt the combat system from the ground up so that it became a real asset to the game rather than something to just autoplay through.  This game just edged EU4 and State of Decay to the spot because it is also an example of good business practice. Stardock gave all the subsequent updates to the awful core game (Fallen Enchantress and Legendary Heroes) to owners of Elemental for free. They acknowledged their mistake, rejigged the team behind it, appointed a new design lead, expended significant resources to improve it, and then rewarded those who had stood by the concept of the game. I can’t but help think that other developers would have just let it quietly die out.

8/10

The fifth in my chart clings to the spot rather tenuously, though I have great hope that with some future DLC (like Crusader Kings II and EU3 got) will really make its potential to shine. It does itself justice as a good successor to the loved EU3, especially with the emphasis on national identity (each nation now gets unique boni). It is marred in some areas though, most especially in the monarch points being so arbitrarily awarded and based entirely on a random number generator. Having more control over such a core mechanic would go a long way to improving it. There are also something of a shortage of national ideas with which to really flesh a nation out with, but these are things that should be easily added to. I am also really excited about the upcoming Conquest of Paradise expansion which adds a randomly generated New World – so the Player cannot just go directly for New York!

7/10

Notable Mention

This is a game I struggled to place, as it is a strong contender with EU4 and Fallen Enchantress for the 4^th / 5^th spot.

State of Decay kind of came out of no-where but it instantly impressed. With a higher focus on the actual survival of a Zombie incursion and the stresses it places on the community than most bland Zombie games really gave it an edge. Add into that emergent character development, GTA-style driving, and an interesting world to explore and exploit made it into a must-try. There are some downsides in that it is clearly made by quite a small studio and it does get repetitive. Zombies are not much of a threat (except the “specials”), and the AI can sometimes do really stupid things. Game also continues while you are not playing and this can kill off beloved characters which I really dislike (you have no power over this happening). Note, I have only played this on the console and not PC. I do own the PC version, but I’ve just not had the chance to try yet so cannot comment on how well it’s been ported.

7/10

Honourable Mentions

The honourable mentions go to games which I know to have great potential, and which I do own – i’ve just not had a chance to play them yet. It is quite possible that they get added to my top games list in hindsight as they were released this year.

X-Com : Enemy Within

Victoria II : Heart of Darkness

Skyrim : Dragonborn

Possible Contenders

These are games which I have heard rated very highly, but are either not out on PC, or that I do not own.

Grand Theft Auto V

Bioshock Infinite

Dishonoured

Saints Row IV

Wolf Among Us

Last of Us

Titles to look out for

These are games announced or otherwise showcased this year which could well be contenders for next year’s top spot. As always though, I am sure some surprises will come through and shine!

7 Days to Die – Minecraft meets hardcore Zombies. This is survival mode as it was meant to be; an actual challenge to survive. Locate and upgrade a base, scavenge for materials, and then cower in fear when night falls, and hope that all your spike traps hold the horde at bay.

ARMA III - Yes, it was released this year but it works in a similar way to Mount and Blade. They release a fantastic though rather barebones game, then rely on modders to really bring flesh to the very powerful foundation. We just need to wait for some mods to come through now!

Project Eternity + Wasteland 2 – Considering the lack of good RPGs this year, there will be a lot of pressure on these games to deliver!

Peace and quiet!

This is just a short one for today. You may have noticed that I missed my blog posting slot two weeks ago, sorry about that! It was for a good reason though, honest. A friend of mine offered his flat to me for the week so that I could get my head down and really thrash out some work on Vinland the book.

Although the manuscript was completed some time ago, I have been working on editing it so that it is polished enough to send off to an professional editor, then to agents and eventually a publisher – this of course takes time, and balanced between Starium and other duties it fell by the wayside a little.

So given a week of blissful quiet and space I was able to hammer out a significant amount of work, and got to roughly the book – probably a good 3-4 months worth under normal circumstances! 

So as you can see, sometimes a little peace and quiet, together with a change in environment can be all you need to get a shot in the arm, and get productive again!

The Dream Vision

Dare to dream - you never know when they will come true.

“You have to dream before your dreams can come true” – Abdul Kalam

School reports often labelled me as “a daydreamer”. To them, it was a bad thing, as it meant that I was not giving the teachers 100% of my focus, but to me it was to become a badge of pride. During these times, my mind was never blank – instead I was off creating worlds in my imagination, populating them with all kinds of weird and wonderful people and places.

Often, these worlds were related to the games I played, and there are countless examples on the internet of my dreams being made manifest as short stories on various forums. One of these dreams – a meeting between Leif Erikson and Christopher Columbus at sea was to become the basis for my earliest concepts for the Vinland books and games.

Dreams are I believe, one of the most important assets that a designer can have, and this is the philosophy that I embrace when creating new things. When I was young it was only fantastic worlds that sprang forth, but now it can be anything from game mechanics to mentally play-testing and discovering new nuances that I would perhaps have missed. I will lay awake at night, often for hours mentally going through my experiences of the day, filtering through anything valuable and locking it away. I always sleep with a notebook by the bed in case something very important or inspirational pops up, and write it down.

When working on Prophesy of Pendor and Vinland: Arctic Assault I used to lay out the “Dream Game”. For this I used to write out my plans on the development forum, purposefully ignoring all limitations of budget, manpower and resources. This was the very best design that I could come up with, and the sheer scope of this used to drive our programmers mad when they first read it.

Note the highlighted “I” there. My dreams are just that – mine, and while I may once have believed that I was some sort of genius, experience has taught me that the insight of others is often extremely valuable. I will frequently discuss my “Dream Visions” with friends at the pub, or post them in full on our development forums. I want, no need input from others – this is the only way to improve them.

This is where the evolution part of the design process comes in. With the initial concepts aired in public, I then encourage a discussion of the elements, including most importantly a reality check from more cynical members of the team. It is during this that the ideas are refined; the possible expanded upon, and the implausible rejected (or put aside). The dreams will evolve with each iteration, becoming less a vision and more a design, being polished and developed during each pass until it is in a form most suitable for implementation.

A great example of this process in action is in Prophesy of Pendor, when we were working on the Order of Dawn. At first there was a very black and white relationship between them and their arch rivals, the Eventide. One was good, one was evil. Very simple... very boring.

During discussions it was then questioned whether the very principles underpinning the Dawn could be corrupted in such a way as to make them possibly even more evil than the reviled Eventide – and if so, how to include the Eventide into this story. This is where the fanaticism of the Dawn came into play, their very dedication to good and justice to the exclusion of all else led them to becoming fanatics blind to any other outcomes.

A branch of the Order awoke to the danger and decried the zeal of their brethren, pushing for a more pragmatic approach – resulting in a massive schism and the formation of the Eventide. Unfortunately this very pragmatism would then go on to corrupt the Eventide in its own way, but the outcome for both orders was vastly more complex and interesting than the initial dream. The design evolution had done its job.

Ironically it was a programmer who called me out on this process, tired of the continual conceptualisation and evolution of the ideas. He demanded that we designers only present fully formed ideas, straight from our minds. While it is entirely possible to personally polish the vision I have; this was a problem I struggled with during work on Vinland: Arctic Assault, as the dreams I had underwent far less refinement than they do on say, Starium with its much larger team. I am under no illusions that it is the input of others that allow it to reach their full potential and thankfully the other designers on my team backed me on this and the programmer conceded on how things were developed over time.

I would encourage fellow designers, to post / air / discuss / debate their Dream Vision, and then collectively revise it until it shines. Restrictions of the internet, and the nature of much of my work being virtual means that much of this must be done online (though this means there is automatically a log of any suggestions), though some of the most fun discussions I have are with friends at the pub, hammering out the concepts over a beer. The more relaxed the environment, the better it is for this. There is never a “right” answer to this exercise, but the more angles it is explored from, the more refined the dream will become.

It can be useful to have a thick skin for this, because sometimes it behoves the project throw it out as impractical. Even then, it should never be deleted, as in my experience a rejected idea would become the basis for some of our most important and popular features.

So don’t stop dreaming, and never stop sharing them because you never know; it could be the next Big Thing.

Image courtesy of http://www.worth1000.com/entries/488412/fantasy-planet

Playing games to making them – how perspectives change

Once long, long ago, I was just a gamer and I simply consumed the digital entertainment provided by others. Explosions? Awesome. New guns? Sweet! At that time I put most of my energy into thinking about how great the experience was, and that I wanted more of it.

After a time I became curious though... was this the best that could be made? Those little areas that irritated me, could they be improved? If I had unlimited time and incredible skills, what could I make myself? What would be the perfect game?

The answer this would change on a daily basis depending on what I was doing at the time. Warcraft II made me convinced that the “perfect” game was a real time strategy. Shadowbane determined that the true path lay in an MMO. Mount and Blade led me to believing that the future lay in medieval simulations. Now I am sure that this is not an experience unique to me – I’ll bet that many other gamers will spend the rainy days at the office dreaming of their perfect game. Playing scenarios through their head of each awesome scene, shaped always by their own experiences.

My version of Warcraft II had no unit caps and a more expansive tech tree. Gareth’s Shadowbane, removed the money farming grind, and replaced it with automated farms and peasants who provided an hourly income. Battlefield 1943 introduced factories and an upgrade tree for unlocking new items and tanks.

I then started working as a game designer, first for the Mount and Blade mod, Prophesy of Pendor, and then later as the lead designer of my own studio, Zatobo, and now most recently as a freelance game design contractor.

This collective experience changed everything.

Just playing games changed my perspective of imagining my perfect game to analysing those products and working out precisely what I liked and disliked about them as I played. I took them to pieces in my mind, bemoaning bad design decisions (I cannot play Diablo III anymore, its core design simply ticks me off too much now), working out how they solved problems, and rarely getting excited by clever mechanics. Some games left me wondering about the future of the industry (the aforementioned Diablo III), and declaring its imminent demise, while others left me with a sense of wonder at what they had achieved (Mount and Blade).

Over the weekend I had something of a unique opportunity. I found myself playing “Game Dev Tycoon” by Greenheart Games, with some friends. While the game itself is good fun, it isn’t revolutionary, nor does it do much that is truly innovative but its subject matter is fascinating. A game about making games (with an achievement for making the game, in the game...).

This made my think about my own process of making games – how did I do it? Why did I do it this way? What had I learned during my three years as a part of the industry?

Well this is a subject for next time. Stay tuned! 

Image courtesy of; deborahtindle - http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/change%20perspective

Game Dev Tycoon - http://www.greenheartgames.com/

Pirating pirates pirating pirates... or something like that.

Yo ho ho... and a free game?

A couple of days ago, I saw Eurogamer running an article about a company, Greenheart Games,  which made pirates pirate their own games...

It actually makes a whole lot more sense than you would think. Game Dev Tycoon is a game about making games – a game development simulator, and the change they made was to introduce piracy in pirated copies of the game. Essentially this takes the form of a random event, whereby sales will begin to decline eventually making it impossible to run a profit.

Even more amusing is the fact that Greenheart Games have revealed forum posts of people asking how to combat the piracy in their games, with questions like "Guys I reached some point where if I make a decent game with score 9-10 it gets pirated and I can't make any profit”, and even asking if it is possible to research DRM with which to combat this piracy. While the irony here is of course amusing, more important is whether people understand that a mirror is being held up to their own actions, and start to realise that copying games (and other media) really is hurting the content creators out there, and small companies like Greenheat Games in particular.

Whether this will have any impact on piracy remains yet to be seen, however I fully applaud the attempts here, and I do not think that there could have been a better platform from which to do it. I can only wish I had come up with the idea first!

You can read the full article here; http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-04-29-game-dev-tycoon-forces-those-who-pirate-the-game-to-unwittingly-fail-from-piracy

And the company’s blog where they talk about it here; http://www.greenheartgames.com/2013/04/29/what-happens-when-pirates-play-a-game-development-simulator-and-then-go-bankrupt-because-of-piracy/

A personal challenge

Well things have slowed a little this month at Zatobo, with the programmer having other commitments for several weeks, and the business guy out of the country, the decision was taken to halt development work for two months.

Of course I am sad not to be hurtling forward with our new project(s), but the big upside is that I can get back to working on the book full time for that period. My plan is basically to undertake the National Novel Writing Month (but in September), and challenge myself to write 50,000 words, and hopefully bring Vinland to a conclusion in the process.

Things have been fairly slow so far (but then for me, the beginning always is) as I try to dive back into the fascinating world of the Vikings. Thankfully my reams of notes have served me well in reminding me just what was happening, and what is to be occur in the future. The book is currently in two parts, the early stuff in Greenland and then their sailing to Vinland without anything really connecting the two events. My ambition therefore is to fill this in, introducing another character or two and filling those who already exist in.

Throughout work on Vinland, there has always been one major antagonist, but without spoiling too much, they are at some distance to events directly going on with the people in Vinland. I have therefore created another character (or rather re-written one) to full fill a more direct conflict with Leif and his crew who I hope will spice things up rather more. It’s been a while since I have shown things off, so here is a little slip that I have recently been working on. Please bear in mind that this is still very much a part of the manuscript and as such has not been treated with the spit and polish of a published work;

“Citizens of Hvalsey!” Thorstein began, a warm smile on his face which Iva immediately hated.

“I come here before you today, not to complain about injuries received during my duties as an enforcer of peace in the town, but rather to ensure that this man is never again allowed to perpetrate such violence. I am a fighter, a man well used to taking blows from my foes, but next time we may not be so lucky. Imagine, if then it was your wife, or your son, or even gods be so cruel, your daughter.” As he said this, Iva noticed her father sitting on the other side of the room, watching the proceedings with a frown on his face. He was so intent on the words of the young noble, that she was sure he had no idea that she was present.

“My mother and I were doing our rounds of the town, but hearing a commotion in Gorran’s home decided to investigate. On arrival, we encountered a brawl going on between two strangers to the town. We managed to stop this in short order, and determined that the cause had been women, not just any women but a mere thrall and a wayward girl.”Again Iva looked over to her father, and saw that now his fists were balled up, and a vein was throbbing in his neck. Clearly he had understood whom Thorstein was talking about.

“I am sorry to inform you all that this girl, a daughter of Hvalsey no less, was the spark that caused an argument to descend into violence, with her misguided attack on our guest...” Iva tried to shrink further into the shadows, but it seemed that still no one had noticed her, all were intent on Thorstein’s words. She observed however that Thjodhilde threw her another glance from her place at the table, but she made no indication that she had recognised the young woman. While she was watching Thjodhilde, she felt another pair of eyes on her, and looking up the table saw Gorran was also watching at her, and as their eyes met, his widened in recognition. Meanwhile Thorstein had continued his speech.

“Perhaps we are wrong to lament so about her actions however. How can we hope to protect the young when there are all these foreign interferences coming to Greenland, there seem to be more strangers in town at the moment than citizens, and this my friends worries me greatly.” Thorstein said, beginning to pace in front of the table, using his hands to articulate his points. He had dressed this up in such a way that the audience failed to realise that he was of the same age as the girl he was chastising. At these words, the massive thrall lifted his head to regard his accuser, moving for the first time.

“It is not on this lady’s misdeeds however, that we are here in deliberation about, but rather on the aftermath of her actions. I was busily restraining her, prepared to make her put things right like a good citizen of this fair settlement should, when this barbarian launched himself from the shadows and went at me like a savage animal.” Thorstein observed, watching as the captive began to struggle against his bonds, clearly becoming more agitated. From the audience there were a number of jeers, which only incensed the thrall more, much to Thorstein’s obvious satisfaction.

“With such influences as this, how can we expect better from our children? It is clear that this creature here before us has no morals, no conception of good or evil. He is an animal and deserves to be treated as such. When a dog bites its owner, we put it down, and so it should be here. Put this mad beast down!”Thorstein instructed.

The thrall began making moaning sounds, his jaw working furiously but unable to make any comprehensible sound. The attempt just made the calls from the crowd worse, a sentiment that Thorstein was quick to seize upon.

“Rruf! Down boy!” he called out, making a growling noise and snapping his teeth together like the jaws of a dog. The crowd responded wildly, many barking at the thrall, making him twist and bend with fury.

“And what if you kicked the dog, and it bit you then?” Leif interjected, rising from his place. Thorstein turned to face him, but said nothing. The thrall seemed to calm a little, but continued to make whimpering noises.

“On whom would the fault fall? Surely then, the dog has been provoked, and is only then acting in a manner that is natural. Are we so different? Many fights begin because one party feels threatened, can they then be held accountable for the attack? On whom does the blame lie?” he continued, rounding the table to join his brother. Iva raised her head on hearing this, pleased that the man was putting up such an eloquent defence.

“The blame brother, lies with the one to strikes first. Words are bandied around like ale, men like banter it keeps their minds sharp, but only rarely does it descend into violence as we are describing here.” Thorstein responded, clearly warming to the intellectual cut and thrust. Iva felt sickened, it was clear he was doing this for the sheer pleasure of watching his victim writhe. The difference between the brothers could not be more pronounced.

“You ask many questions brother, but answer few questions. Riddle me this; what separates us from the animals?” Thorstein continued, his smile still fixed, but the warmth in it was gone. When Leif did not immediately reply, he answered for himself.

“The difference, lies in that we can separate words and actions. You accuse me of being a liar...” Thorstein began, then seeing Leif was finally about to rally continued, purposefully cutting him off, holding his palms up to his brother.

“...yet here I stand, my hands are empty of weapons, neither have they formed a fist with which to strike you. You come before us to defend this animal, why? Can he not defend himself? Father said we were both to speak our parts, yet instead he struggles against his bonds. Is that the mark of a civilised person, or a beast? ” Thorstein exclaimed, his argument hammering home, his smile had faded, replaced by a look of expectation, smugness even. Leif remained silent, his face stony.

“Your arguments seem to claim that he was provoked to violence, why then did he not call out a warning first? Viking law states, does it not, that the difference between a sanctioned killing and that of murder is that a killing requires both parties to be willing combatants, on an equal footing when neither man’s back is turned. Otherwise, it is murder. Could we not apply the same logic to assault?” Thorstein continued to press his advantage. Turning, he had addressed Rhuntyr directly, as if to get confirmation. The lawspeaker was quiet for a while, considering the implications, and Iva watched the man closely, trying to read some kind of emotion from his flat face.

The room fell silent, waiting for the decision.

After a pause, he gave a nod. Iva felt her chest seize up at the judgement, knowing in her heart that the priest had just issued the brave thrall’s death warrant. The room erupted in shouts, men calling to their neighbours about the outcome, while others yelled for the slave’s head.

Leif, his face still like rock, walked down to the thrall and the voices in the room fell quiet, waiting to see what the heir would do. He crouched down in front of the German, and the slave raised his head to regard his defender. Iva could only imagine the anguish on the poor man’s face, and was touched to see Leif’s own cool exterior shed some of its ice at what he must have seen in the thrall’s eyes.

“Can you understand me?” he asked softly. The big man was still for a moment, then slowly inclined his head.

“I know you have a secret, it may save your life. Can I share it?” Leif continued, his voice still gentle.

Image courtesy of; http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-4122434587

Mixed Media in Vinland

So back in March I began to discuss the background to MixedMedia writing, and how it is currently being used by others in the industry; but then how does this feed into the Vinland world, and my own plans with it?

Well at the moment, there are two sides to my work here, the games and the books. I have big plans for both, as laid out below. Films will (hopefully!) come later, but nothing concrete is planned for that medium just yet.

Books; if you were among the first readers of this blog, then you will be well aware that it all began with an idea for a book. This in time became Vinland: Revelations, a text that I am still labouring diligently away at. It all began with an idea... what if the Vikings survived in America? What in history would have to change for this to happen? To explain this, I applied the Butterfly Effect, where one seemingly minor change in time can cause a dramatic transformation of history. Therefore we need a situation just like the butterfly flapping its wings, and causing a hurricane.

The event I settled on takes place in the early history of Vinlandic exploration and colonisation, and was at the time attributed to the intervention of the gods. But these gods are fickle creatures, and in this telling they chose not to intervene, and rather to let events play themselves out. The result? Well that is up to you to discover.

Revelations was created to explain how the Vikings made it to the New World, it will then spawn a parallel series that will take place sometime later and covers how the Viking people in this alien world have developed and made it their home.

Games; now that the bones of the story have been set, we find that we need something to fill in the gaps or detail, and games happen to be very good at doing this. They allow the player to actually visit and take part in the setting, and to see with their own eyes the wonders seen by the characters, their decisions there can really matter.  

As you will be aware, our first release was Vinland: Arctic Assault, a simple game which traces the journey undertaken by Leif Erikson in Revelations (now released on Desura, please do support this project by following the link below!), however this is more about survival and discovery. Where the book concentrates more on the characters and their personal challenges, the game is more about the dangers faced at sea, and by actually putting the player in the role of the helmsman, makes this nuance all the clearer.

Arctic Assault is certainly not the end of the road for this, we have already begun work on a second game. Although this one is not directly related to the Vinland series, it will use Vinlandic factions, and allow us to build up a little more detail on the different factions in power, and their relationships with each other. The ultimate goal of this game is to provide the technical backdrop for a full on RPG, set in early Vinland, where the player will be able to visit the towns detailed in the books, and using those as a base, evoking and expanding on topics only touched upon briefly in other mediums, thereby allowing us to broaden the Vinland universe. 

Image courtesy of: http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6021580

Emotional Rollercoaster

So, i’ve been rather quiet on here lately due to living on somewhat of a roller coaster existence recently, both in terms of work with Zatobo and on the book so here follows an account of the trials and tribulations experienced for both.

Zatobo

The jubilation that followed the release of our long awaited Vinland: Arctic Assault was cut short by a series of attacks on our website, which left us with a dramatically reduced online presence. This was only made worse by the realisation that the core files were damaged beyond repair, meaning that we had to take our entire website off air and with it the sole means we had to sell the game.

During this time, we sent numerous requests to various online distributors like Steam and Desura in an attempt to broaden our market base and provide alternative means of acquiring the game however this hope was dashed by a series of refusals.

We then turned back to the drawing board, and looked deeply at the game we had crafted endeavouring to build on our strengths and reduce the weaknesses. This produced our first update, which included a number of performance updates, most principally the graphical user interface and a complete overhaul of the campaign map.

The new campaign map

Armed with this update, we then re-applied to Desura, this time going right to the top and... nothing. Silence. Noting that in the past, they had been very quick to get back to us with a response I decided to investigate, starting off by testing my email account. Turns out that the same attacks which knocked the website out, may also have been the cause of email problems; it could send but not receive messages. I then sent a note with my alternate account to our contact at Desura, and thankfully he had a copy of his reply.

What an important message it was! Acceptance to their distribution service! Break out the champagne people, we’ve finally made a breakthrough!

This is by no means the end of the road for us now, we still need to fix a couple of lingering bugs, sort out some legalities and upload the latest build before it is available to the public. Still, this is some awesome progress!

Vinland: The Book

While work with the game has been an emotional tempest, the book has been something more of a calming experience. Although progress on the book has at times been slow due to pressures of working at Zatobo, I have been able to chip away at it. 

During the past month, I spent over two weeks exploring Scandinavia, with a trip around Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In this time I visited as many Viking sites as I could stomach during my time there, even getting to sample a traditional Viking feast in Stockholm, featuring mead and reindeer!

This has proved to be a very positive effect on my efforts on the book, providing a great deal of inspiration to continue. Although the plan of the books has remained much the same for the past couple of months, the detail that has gone in has increased, as has (I hope!) the believability of the Vinland Vikings. 

At the moment I am going through what I wrote many months ago, connecting up some of the loose ends, and making sure that the characters are developing in the way I want. At the last word count, I was at around 80,000 of a new target of roughly 120,000 so I am well on the way to finishing!

Finally, as a thank you for your patience in waiting so long for Vinland, here is a short extract I recently wrote and particularly like. We join the story just as Thorstein intervenes with his mother, Thjodhilde, as a fight is about to break out between Rorik, Iva and Edvin over the treatment of one of the slaves.

Enjoy!

“We offer our apologies for the behaviour of our citizens” Thorstein offered, gesturing to Iva. Rorik dropped his hand away from the knife handle, and Edvin visibly relaxed “this is no way to welcome visitors to Greenland.”

“Thorvald, I had believed you more than capable of keeping the peace” Thjodhilde taunted “must Thorstein do everything here?”

“Fights begin. Fights end, it’s better than letting long held grievances be decided by a knife in the dark” Thorvald pointed out with a shrug, not rising to the bait.

“That maybe true...” Thorstein began, his smile sending a chill down Gorran’s spine. The young lordling walked through the room towards Iva, Edvin tried to stand his ground, but was moved aside by Thorstein’s gaze, his eyes as menacing as a silent iceberg in the night.

He then gently took her left hand in his, and patted it comfortingly as though to stop it from shaking. Rorik looked on at the scene, his jaw set, all the arrogance gone from his stance.

“...but we must show that violence here will not be tolerated” he concluded calmly. Suddenly he bent down, using his weight to drag Iva with him and thrust her arm into the flames of the fireplace, moving his own hands away from the flame to grasp her arm at the elbow.

Iva let out a hideous shriek as flames found the flesh on her arm, and Gorran had to cover his nose as the stench of burned hair and skin saturated the room.

Vinland: Arctic Assault RELEASED!

Zatobo Games are very pleased to announce that Vinland: Arctic Assault has been released to the public. You can get it by following this link right to the store.

There is also a demo of the game available on the website, just follow the “Demo!” link. You can either download a version, or try it in your browser.

Vinland: Arctic Assault is a game in which you take the role of Leif Erikson on his famous voyage into the unknown, which would culminate in the discovery of America, known to the Vikings as the mystical land of Vinland. You must guide his intrepid crew from the safety of foster-father in Norway, through Iceland and Greenland, across the dangers of the Northern Atlantic and finally to the Americas themselves.

The storyline is written by author, Gareth L. B. Kay and introduces a number of characters which will feature in the forthcoming Vinland: Revelations novel. These heroes can be recruited to assist Leif in his journey, each adding their particular skills to his efforts. You will also be able to pick up a wide range of different weapons, and select from three different classes of ship to customise the experience to your particular preferences and play-style.

Along the way you will have to defeat nefarious bishops, wild witches and of course waves and waves of ice, all the while working to overcome the best efforts of the elements themselves in the form of storms, fog and even blizzards and avalanches.




We are currently exploring further distribution methods including Wooglie.com and Kongregate, plus we are in talks with Desura and will be investigating release on Steam shortly, so stay tuned about getting the game through your favourite channels!

Find out more at Zatobo.com
Track us at http://www.indiedb.com/games/vinland-arctic-assault
Follow us on Facebook and @Zatobo on Twitter.

Vinland: Arctic Assault Release Date Announced!

The story of one of the most incredible adventures in history is about to make its way to the digital platform on Monday the 23rd of April. Join Leif Erikson, the Viking explorer credited with being the first European in America, on his extraordinary voyage of discovery.

Face a multitude of dangers on the high seas, including villainous bishops, wild witches, the restless dead and of course tonnes, and tonnes of ice bergs. To aid you against these challenges, you can enlist a group of Norse heroes, men and women able to instil new abilities and powers on your ships. Choose from a wide range of different weapons and vessels in order to be best equipped to overcome all that stands in your way to Vinland!

Zatobo are so excited at the moment to be so close to finishing the game we have been slaving over for the past couple of months. What started out as a brief email exchange between modders has evolved into something special here, and we are thrilled to finally be able to show it off properly to the world. The pressure is on to get everything in place now for the big day, but we are confident that everything will be ready.

We will be announcing more over the coming days, including where you will be able to get the game. In the meantime, enjoy the release trailer we have just launched and we hope to see you in Vinland soon!

Indie Games Channel Interview

We are very happy to present our very first interview with the media. It goes into quite a lot of depth around the development of both the formation of Zatobo as a company, and on development on Vinland: Arctic Assault. The below is the result of a discussion between interviewer Ozzie Meija and Lead Designer Gareth "Mordred" Kay.

You can find the full article here

Mixed Media Writing : What is it?

Mixed media writing is a term that I keep on talking about, but have never really explained what it is, nor have I discussed what it means for my own work on the world of Vinland. When asked what is it that I enjoy doing most, I would have to answer “creating worlds”. While imaging new geographical locations or thinking up new characters might be interesting, it is how all these elements work together that really holds the fascination. With the emergence of ever improving technologies the interplay between these themes becomes more and more advanced, and is continually unlocking new opportunities in creating worlds. In this article I want to begin discussing just what these elements are, and how they work together.

Essentially mixed media writing is the process of creating a world through multiple platforms, each one filling in new details in the greater picture. Where a single book tells only one part of a whole, a series of books can cover multiple stories and so fill in much more detail about the entire world in which the characters are living, and thus reveal far more about the particularities of this creation compared to the reality in which we all live. Mixed media writing takes this concept a step further, building on the strengths and weaknesses of each platform to fill in even more of the detail. Currently I would argue that there are three big players in the storytelling-entertainment industry, books, film/television and games.

Books, are great at building character. This is because you can get inside that person and hear not only their dialogue and watch their action, but also listen in on their very thoughts, and it is this personal touch which really builds up how these characters behave. Film or television on the other hand allow a more visual experience, showing you how the world looks and behaves while still populating it with the interesting characters (though lacking the thought processes), and act to really dramatise any action sequences to raise a thrill that books can only dream of. Finally we have computer games, these share many of the benefits of the other two mediums (and their pitfalls), but allow the player to really experience the world. Their exploration of the world is not tied solely to the imagination of the author / director but they also have the ability to create their own tales and story from their experiences. Games give the player a world and invite them to experience it for themselves.

Individually each is of course a very powerful tool in creating their worlds. Books have started off many of the most well known; for instance Lord of the Rings or Narnia while film/television have their own franchises, think Star Trek or Star Wars, and games have theirs too such as the Elder Scrolls or Warcraft.

You will immediately thing “hold on a moment, all of these have films / books / games made of them too!”, and this just goes on to highlight just how powerful mixed media storytelling has become, and how important it is to each of these worlds, which would most likely be a mere shadow of what they are now. Each world uses the strengths and weaknesses of their medium to impart a little more of the detail of that world, and each person who consumes this does not suddenly forget what they learnt, they keep it and subsequent offerings only increase the image of this world in their mind.

In the Lord of the Rings books they may learn about how Bilbo fears the ring and its influence on him far more than you get from the films, but the films in turn impart more of a visual clue to the differences between the Orks and Uruk Hai than was possible in the books, while imparting more of a sense of the true scale of what they were up against. The games on the other hand, let you explore different areas of Middle Earth that are not covered in the books, and experience the world outside of the direct influence of the Fellowship.

Taken individually you would only get a small fraction, a tiny piece of what makes the world turn, but when these are compounded the image becomes far more complete and the world takes on a life of its own. 

Find out more at Zatobo.com

Track us at http://www.indiedb.com/games/vinland-arctic-assault

Follow us on Facebook and @Zatobo on Twitter.

Image courtesy of the Matrix

The Triumph of Internet Democracy

I had planned to use this blog to talk to you all about something really big being seen more and more often in the writing industry, namely that of “Mixed Media Storytelling” however this will need to wait until next time due to some really interesting news filtering through at the moment which has the potential to challenge the current Publisher / Writer (or studio) relationship.

Last night something rather big happened, the team behind the Monkey Island series managed to raise $400,000 in just 12 hours, without the input of a publisher.

A little background; Double Fine, the company owned by Tim Schafer, a well known game designer has been going round, cap in hand to many of the big publishers in order to get an advance, to create a new point and click adventure game. Now, considering these are the guys who made Monkey Island, probably the most famous title within that genre (if not in the gaming industry as a whole), this should have been an easy task. Unfortunately for them the publishers did not see a large enough return on investment in this dying breed of game so refused them.

Now, game designers being the passionate, stubborn people that they are, who have a burning desire to create something when an idea flashes through their minds, wouldn’t take “no” for an answer and so turned to alternative investment sources; in this instance a website dedicated to raising funds from the general public in order to start an entrepreneurial enterprise. This website is called Kickstarter.com. Kickstarter offers companies a way to create a project and advertise the need for funding to the internet, with one major stipulation; investment may not be for capital return. Rather the investors will receive producer credits when the project is done, or are entitled to other rewards depending on the level of their financial commitment. In this case, rewards went from a signed poster, to a personalised poster of the investor, to a picture of the other designer smiling (a rare occurrence I guess... clearly a man after my own heart. Photos are for looking angry in, not smiling), with each reward requiring a pledge ranging from $15 to $150,000.

Double fine asked for $400,000, with Kickstarter having the stipulation that if this minimum is not reached, then no funds are handed over. Double Fine broke all previous records for commitments, and level of funding within 24 hours, and some other stuff, having reached, and exceeded their minimum in just 12 hours. They had a month in which to raise this money. At the time of writing this article, their fund was well over $900,000.

So just what does this mean? Well, for a start the publishers are once again lagging behind public demand, a continuing trend where they just seem to be entirely out of touch with the consumer. Kickstarter is a pure, unrefined form of democracy, and the public are voting with their wallets for what they want created, not leaving it up to big men in suits. Is this case the norm? Certainly not, as we really are talking game-development superstars here; however this does have the potential to turn things around within an industry terrified by piracy (and punishing legitimate users as a result) and generally scared to take risks. Now companies can cash in on their reputation for greatness, using a long history of good, well polished products to raise capital for their next project.

So, coming back to earth for a moment; I am not a development superstar, and Zatobo is not a well loved company with a proven track record of quality, so just how will this affect us? Well, when we founded the group, we made the commitment to quality over quantity, with the intention to release a series of smaller, well polished games to raise some funds in order to expand. This technique will go hand in hand with this emerging funding model, where we can capitalise on a good name and the goodwill of our followers to provide a capital injection on future projects which will make it both more likely that we can continue doing what we love, but also free us from some of the financial burden and allow us to take risks; and it is only though risk-taking that innovation can flourish.

Of course, to actually do this we have to deliver on our promise of high quality, enjoyable games and we are working exceptionally hard on meeting this commitment. Not only is personal pride at stake here, but now we also have a financial incentive to make good material that people want to play and if this motivation is affecting us, then it will have a similar grasp on other companies and quite frankly, this can only be a good thing, both for the consumers and the industry as a whole.

Find out more at Zatobo.com
Discover the latest development details at IndieDB
Follow us on Facebook and @Zatobo on Twitter.

Image courtesy of; www.gcommerce.co.za

The Prestige

And behind this curtain...

“Every magic trick consists of three parts, or acts. The first part is called the pledge, the magician shows you something ordinary.”

-The Prestige

History is the same way, through the writing left at the time and archaeology unearthed by historians, we are able to discover what happened, the pure solid facts. We might be able to see what the people of that era did, with an idea on how they might have lived and what tools they had but is this really true life? Is this really seeing what their lives were all about? Can we truly think like they did, and understand what they do?

“The second act is called the turn, the magician takes the ordinary something and makes it into something extraordinary.”

-The Prestige

Next came the novels, the work of historical or even true fiction. These stories take the truths gleaned through historical artefact and theory and turn it into something understandable, something that we can relate to. We begin to see the people living their lives in our minds eye, we begin to become attached to the people and characters of that era. This is what I have done with the Vinland book, I have taken the world given to us by history and transformed it into something real. The bones in the ground now mean something to us, the small combs found at nearly every Viking grave come to hold new meaning. The people  begin to come to life, each with their own ambitions, vices and virtues, they have in a word become human; but none of this is really tangible. We cannot touch this world, we cannot change it, we cannot live in it.

“Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out.”

-The Prestige

Then comes virtual media, or more specifically computer games. Suddenly we are a step closer to living the life of a Viking, to bringing the struggles, the woes, the glory, and the wonder of this lost age to life once again. We can now walk among the Vikings, we can interact with them, we can see the world through their eyes, with their ideals and impressions. The hopes and fears of the common man become real, the desires and eccentricities of kings become important once more.

“You want to be fooled.”

-The Prestige

Books have always been a very important facet to humanity, either through revealing the thoughts of those long dead, or by providing a glimpse of glorious worlds forever lost to us, or on idea of worlds which never even existed, they are an important aspect of remembrance, else the personal triumphs of those who came before us would have been lost to time. However they have that one essentially fault of the written word; once on paper it cannot be changed. Through the dynamism of digital media, we are able to tell numerous stories with a visual representation of how things would have looked, better yet we are able to interact with the tale, to change and mould it depending on our desires, and it is this ability to change things which allow us to really get to grips with how things were, to understand what it was that drove these enigmatic people. After all, the best way to learn, is by doing; and until humanity develops a time machine which will allow us to live among our ancestors in person we will need to settle with being fooled by an animated digital image.

And so, may I present to the world, the new computer game studio Zatobo. This is a company I have set up with some very talented people from across Europe, the name itself meaning “Storyteller” in Japanese. This in itself should give you enough of an idea of what I am hoping to achieve with this enterprise. First, I start by writing books, this creates the foundations of a new world and now add in the games, which brings it to life. The first project we have begun is “Arctic Assault” in which you take the role of the intrepid explorer, Leif Erikson, and must work to get him safely to the fabled lands of the west, to his destiny, to Vinland.

Buy Vinland: Arctic Assault, our first release now with the button below!


Find out more at Zatobo.com
Discover the latest development details at IndieDB
Follow us on Facebook and @Zatobo on Twitter.

Curtains courtesy of Pixel77.com

I'm plotting against you...

...I’m an author, it’s what I do.

Or at least, that’s what the slogan on one of my new t-shirts says. I love t-shirts... and cargoes.... and plotting... and apparently ellipsis’ too.

Anyway! I hope that all my lovely readers had a spectacular festive period, and have since recovered from hangovers and indigestion. For myself the end of the year was a time of reflection, thinking on what I had achieved and what I have hoped to do in 2012 (other than watching loads of the Olympics, obviously!) 2011 was generally a good year for me; I finally graduated with my masters (only 9 months late, Brighton!) and began work on the Vinland book while taking over as lead designer for Prophesy of Pendor. Do you guys do the same? How has the past year been for you? What have you learnt? Achieved? What do you hope to do for 2012?

Work on Vinland the book has slowed somewhat since the bustle of NaNoWriMo (explained last month), though I have some interesting possibilities lined up for this year which branch out the franchise. I really want to talk about this now, but I am sworn to secrecy for another week or two but believe me, once things are formalised and official you guys will be among the first to hear of these exciting developments. On the book itself I have reached the 80,000 word mark and while my initial aim was 100,000, I think I will be surpassing that so my latest estimate is around 120,000. Hopefully once my current project has settled somewhat then I will be able to get back to the writing, as Leif and the others are beginning to feel a little neglected.

So in essence 2012 for me, at least at the moment, looks to be another year filled with creative projects which fully test my abilities as a designer, a writer and someone who is self employed and therefore lacking a boss yelling at me. This way of life suits me rather well, I can get things done when my night-owl impulses allow though I do admit the temptation to procrastinate can be overwhelming at times; still it’s nothing compared to the efforts required to avoid this while writing dissertations and essays... this writing I actually enjoy doing. There honestly is nothing quite so thrilling as being able to create worlds and bring life to them through characters you see sketched out as a series of personality traits and watch them slowly mature as the story grows.

(Image courtesy of the Austin Powers films)

How do you like your eggs?

So, it has been some time since my last post, over a month in fact, however it has been an insanely busy one for I took part in this year’s NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month for the uninitiated). This is a writing challenge in which you have 30 days to write 50,000 words.

This, as the studious among you will recognise is the same length as five dissertations, all written in a single month! Not even to mention all the research required for a good historical-fiction novel (of which I am quite sure I have done more of, than in either of my dissertations... Vikings > Politics / Management. Who’d have thought?!) Some of this research has really helped the tale to progress, like much of the work I did on the flora and fauna of Newfoundland, including the discovery that flax grows natively there, a particular fibre that one of the crew is very skilled at processing and which becomes vital to their survival.

Other bits of research had less of an impact, for instance I found myself trying to find out whether the Vikings like their eggs fried, scrambled, boiled, poached, etc. I never did find out the answer to that. 

Since NaNoWriMo, I took a couple of days out to recover (25 hour writing stints are NOT good for the health!) but am back now, writing in full swing. My word count has finally topped 80,000 out of my target of 100,000 (though I am sure that will be over run; current expectation on completion is roughly 120,000 now)

I have several projects going on, the book, Pendor and one more which is very much linked to Vinland and I hope that I will be able to reveal more about it in the coming weeks.