ONE SHOT: THE HEIGHT OF BEDAZZLED DARWINIAN FASHION
Indie game dev rock star finery, spotted by negativegamer at Manchester’s Videogame Nation museum exhibit [via GoNintendo].
Previously:
See more posts about: Darwinia, Introversion, Offworld Originals, One Shot
CHRONOMETER, DARWINIA+, AND INTROVERSION’S OTHERWISE ‘DISASTROUS’ 2008
Continuing in that spirit of full disclosure that they kicked off with the bare-all website for upcoming Xbox Live Arcade dual-pack Darwinia+, Introversion programmer Chris Delay is currently undergoing a minorly gut-wrenching look back at the studio’s ‘disastrous’ 2008 “in three increasingly depressing parts.”
The first part kicked off with a sweet spot — at least for readers and fans of the developer, anyway — with the first concept image (above) of the company’s unannounced game that was being developed for UK network Channel 4. Called Chronometer, and based, said Delay, on a long time Introversion idea, it was due to become the company’s most ambitious game.
But that optimism is short lived: Delay makes casual and foreboding reference to signing a deal with Pinnacle for a DS version of their thermonuclear war game Defcon, a deal we all now know has since gone under. He goes on to describe the contentious relationship forming with Microsoft at the time, stating in no uncertain terms: “we believe Microsoft were absolutely correct in the calls they made, and we were wrong. But at the time, oh my god they were pissing us off.”
You can read part one in its entirety here, and part two’s just recently been published, which describes Delay falling further away from his true pet project — Subversion — only to be met with anything but fanfare when they’d first revealed their multiplayer Darwinia sequel Multiwinia to the press.
2008 in Hindsight, Part 1 of 3 [Introversion, part 2]
Previously:
- Full disclosure: Introversion publish confidential Darwinia+ docs …
- Ragdoll Metaphysics: Introversion on Mathematical Cities, Gaming …
- Speak about destruction: Introversion hope for 2009 release of DS …
- What's he building in there: Introversion's Subversion – Offworld
- Introversion playing with fire with unbeatable DEFCON AI – Offworld
See more posts about: Darwinia, Introversion, Offworld Originals
FULL DISCLOSURE: INTROVERSION PUBLISH CONFIDENTIAL DARWINIA+ DOCS, EMAILS
After first being announced for Xbox Live Arcade almost exactly a year ago and already several months behind schedule, it’s hard to tell if this is a move of frustration at the normally opaque process of console certification, or a move of pure indie developer philanthropy, but with the apparent full cooperation of Microsoft, it’s apparently a mix of the latter and a healthy dose of pure marketing savvy.
In either case, Darwinia and Defcon creators Introversion have taken the unprecedented step of uploading any and all documents relating to the ongoing development of Darwinia+ — the Xbox 360 port of their original Darwinia and later multiplayer followup Multiwinia — laying bare all the “good, bad and very very very bad” for everyone to see.
Included you’ll find their internal schedules and project plans, problematic early 2008 confidential usability reports from Microsoft, snippets of Darwinia‘s AI code, and nothing less than e-mails between the team and Microsoft.
Well, ok, it’s not everything — they won’t go so far as to let you read their contract, though they do highlight the length of time it took to get signed, but they do, at least, let you see them caught with their pants down by the ever-reliable ESRB leak: all in all it’s quite good reading for fellow indie devs and anyone wanting to get a behind the scenes look at the console development process.
Darwinia+ home [Introversion]
Previously:
What's he building in there: Introversion's Subversion – Offworld
Introversion's DefconAR: mutually destructive augmented reality …
Introversion playing with fire with unbeatable DEFCON AI – Offworld
The art of vector-war – Offworld
Offworld: The Offworld 20: 2008's Best Indie & Overlooked (pg. 2)
See more posts about: Darwinia, Introversion, Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
THE ART OF VECTOR-WAR
First announced in March and now existing somewhere in excruciating limbo, Introversion’s Darwinia Plus tops the list of my most anticipated Xbox Live Arcade games. Made up of the original arcade/real-time strategy Darwinia release and the more recent multiplayer version Multiwinia, this pitch-perfect parody trailer — sending up Halo 3‘s melodramatic “Believe” ad — does a good job of explaining why.
The PC versions are available now via Steam or direct from Introversion.
See more posts about: Darwinia, Introversion, Offworld Originals, Xbox 360
