I was browsing Direct2Drive to see if I could buy Civ 4 as a digital download. Sadly with no luck since it’s available everywhere with the exception of Europe. Then, under the new release list, I saw Derek Smart’s latest effort and felt this really sick curiosity about it.

I guess I don’t need to explain who he is and what kinds of games he creates, but I’d say that I consider him a controversial figure. Which triggers some honest curiosity. He started to employ a type of mmorpg development before the mmorpgs started to impose themselves on the market. He has one foolish vision, one type of game. He sticks to it and, year after year, he keeps developing the exact same game, wrapping it up in a somewhat (un)finished state so that he can release it and get some money to continue with this ongoing development. Along the years he kept updating the technology and adjusting and enriching the game mechanics, moving step after step closer to that crazy vision he had. From many points of view he anticipated a bunch of trends and, despite all the harsh critics, he still managed to survive and keep creating the games he loves. These games sucks and are awesome at the same time. Between all the indies developers he is surely the craziest but also one of the most interesting for obvious reasons.

It’s not something easy to frame. You can just download and (try to) play a demo of his games to see clearly what’s wrong. But at the same time it’s hard to not feel fascinated by the scope of what he tried to create along the years. There are so many reasons to just dismiss his games as complete clusterfucks, but, still, an undefinable appeal remains. It has some value and deserves that curiosity.

With the release of the previous “episode” (Universal Combat) he changed the name of the “brand” and started a bunch of parallel projects, creating a whole lot of confusion if we consider that it’s still essentially all about one game. To understand what the hell is going on and which type of product was the one just released I started to dig his website and forums and also found a link to an interesting interview that is the actual reason of what I’m writing here. With the time he is starting to sound more… reasonable. Oddly calm and rational even if still firm in his positions. It’s quite fun to read him badmouthing his publisher without a worry. He really seem allergic to any kind of control. Some of his comments are really awesome and I think he is totally right when he says that his games reflect his personality. This is a collection of those parts I consider interesting, even outside the specific context:

– I had two solid offers for the game, but at the last minute – after several discussions with the president – we reached an understanding which later became an agreement. So I went with them instead. I go by one simple rule: I am better off dealing with the devils I know, than the angels I don’t.

– I have a love hate relationship with my publisher. They love me – I get the job done and make them money. I hate them – they cause me too much needless aggravation. At the end of the day, its all good because for good, bad or ugly, we need each other. I think.

Computer Games – How hard is it to come up with new ideas for your space sim series?

– Not very hard, to be honest. The hardest part for me – in any of my games – is the actual implementation of my grandoise ideas. Especially when you consider that most computers won’t even run the darn thing. Ideas – at least for me – come easily because the vision I have for my games is an ever evolving one.

Computer Games – Is A World Apart being made for the die hard followers of your game franchise or are you making it easier for new players to come into the series?

– From the onset, AWA was developed for fans of the existing games. There is absolutely NOTHING in it that would cater to anyone outside that group. I’m not, never have been and never will be, a sellout. If I decide to develop games for another type of market, I will spawn a new franchise. Until that time, the people who have supported my games through no less than six incarnations, are my primary concern and focus. Sure, the publishers can go try selling ice to eskimos, I could care less – as long as I get paid.

Most gamers have a hard time wrapping their heads around what goes into developing subsequent titles in a franchise. In fact, one print magazine reviewer (who shall remain nameless) recently said to me that the magazine EIC said that they won’t preview it because they think that not much has changed between UC and UCAWA. I laughed out loud when I read that; which just goes to show just how clueless some of these chaps are. There are so many clones, derivatives etc littering the shelves – all from big name publishers – and yet, nobody seems to mind. It is one hellaciously corrupt system indeed.

Computer Games – You are throwing in space, planetary and foot combat into A World Apart, and you have ambitious game designs that most developers won’t even touch. Are you worried about diluting your work by throwing in too much into the kettle so to speak?

– No. If I was worried about that, I wouldn’t be doing it. John, you’re from the old school and I think that over the years, you know my style: I don’t care about what people think. Its my game – I’m the one funding its development – I’m the one calling the shots. So, I can do what I bloody well like and have no regard for those who think they know whats best for me, my franchise properties or my fanbase. Only I know that and I think I’ve proven that time and time again. There’s a damn good reason why I’m still in business when all around are falling by the wayside. Its because I stick to my vision and make no compromises for same. Devs who lose their way, are those who lost the vision. Lose the vision and you lose the fanbase. Lose the fanbase and you’ve lost the farm.

Computer Games – In addition to the retail version, an electronic add-on pack for owners of Universal Combat will be available for download. Are you a fan of this form of distribution and will we see more of this for PC games in the future?

– I am not married to any particular distribution method. The main reason for my separating a retail version from an electronic versionwas to ensure that – going forward – my sole business income didn’t come from publishers. Most publishers – are terrible when it comesto paying their bills. A dev spends more time and money trying to get them to cough up what they owe, than what they actually owe. So, the condition of this new deal was only if I were allowed to keep the online distribution rights.

The fact is, direct distribution is going to be the wave of the future and the preferred distribution method for indie developers in the future. You have NO idea just how much crap we have to put up with – even when these publishers are selling our games and making money from them. Most of them shouldn’t even be in business – and won’t be for long. It is inevitable and we’ve already started seeing this already. Why would any indie want to ally themselves to a publisher when you stand little or no chance of ever getting money for your work, when you can simply go direct? When you go to online distributors with a monthly payment method, you get the money directly and frequently. They don’t pay, you yank the product and take it elsewhere. With publishing contracts, termination is not an easy – nor straightforward – affair. So you are usually stuck while some bastards in suits have your game, are making money from it and either not paying at all or habitually paying late.

Computer Games – You are well known for your outspoken viewpoints on a number of topics. How do you think your public persona has affected the interest in 3000AD’s games, if any?

– There’s no such thing as bad publicity. If I really cared about how my persona affected my games, I’d have packed up and moved to Canada by now. Everyone has a personality and I am no different. I just don’t make excuses for mine and certainly don’t tuck it away in the closet. Just like my games, you either like and respect me, or you don’t. There’s no in between – and I could care less either way.

There is a big difference between being an experienced outspoken person who knows what he’s talking about; and just being a clueless outspoken loudmouth. I didn’t need to prove myself to anyone; my work, my accomplishments and my uncompromising standards, say it all.

Computer Games – Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Universal Combat: A World Apart?

– Only gamers with a passion for advanced and uncompromising games, need take a look. Everyone else, move along; nothing to see here; no matter what the publisher’s marketing team cooks up.

Computer Games – The Battlecruiser/Universal Combat franchise has been your life for over a decade now. Any chance you might become bored with it and try out a new genre or setting for your games?

– Nah, I’m never going to get bored. My ultimate long term vision is much too ambitious to afford me that luxury.

He sounds like a cowboy in the far west of gaming :)

About the games it seems that he released two this year. Universal Combat Gold (UCG, DS loves acronyms), which is just a minor update to the previous released game and only available as digital download, and Universal Combat: A World Apart (UCAWA), which is the actual new “episode” with a reworked graphic engine, art assets and a bunch of things that only Derek Smart himself or someone with his same degree of crazyness could identify. And I’m truly ashamed to reveal that I decided to reward at least his stubbornness and perseverance by buying the new game…

His plans for the next couple of years are crazier than ever and I really do expect some fireworks out of this:

Press Release Announcement

THIS is the seamless sci-fi MMO you’ve been waiting for. But if you’d rather kill rats, dance like an uncompromising dufus in a bar, well then, have fun with that.

Universal Combat Online (UCO) is our massively multi player online game. Based on a vastly improved version of the Universal Combat – A World Apart engines, it contains a plethora of new advanced technologies and content to make it the ultimate futuristic battleground with our pioneered vast seamless space and planetary worlds.

Engage in space or planetary battles with hundreds of other players across a vast persistent game world with several galaxies hosted on linked server clusters. Fly an agile fighter or lumbering capital ship; run around in first person with various weapons of mass destruction; helm a submarine undetected up an enemy invested sea or drive at break neck speeds into battle at the wheel of dozens of vehicles. The choice is yours. Its your game. How will you play it?

True skill based gameplay, zero grind. Whether you are a skilled commander of a behemoth space carrier roaming the space ways or a newbie Elite Force Marine defending your planetary base; your own personal skills determine your survival.

Advanced grouping features allow various types of team based gameplay; whether it be fleets or guilds. Built in support for voice chat (internal as well as external apps such as TeamSpeak, Ventrilo) as well as an advanced chat interface.

Build, control and defend space or planetary cities and bases. Become a trader for profit or control the flow of contraband weapons in a combat invested planet or space way. The choice is yours. Who do you want to be today?

Full PvP engagements with NO sissified rules.

Good luck with that :) At least he knows how to pitch his things. If all goes as expected we will see this only by 2010 and it WILL be a huge clusterfuck. But at least it will be an awesome one. I only wish he could take back the old Battlecruiser brand. “Universal Combat” still sounds too much like a lame b-movie instead of a niche, hardcore title. Humor and Derek Smart don’t go along well, what is so fun about him is that he always sounds so damn serious, so he is fun in a sort of spontaneous way.

It’s also nice to see him babysitting his players. Jokes aside, it shows how he is passsionate about his games.

EDIT-
I just found a biased article about some sort of conference with Derek Smart to present his last game (I think).

It’s interesting because he comments one of the last topics that have been discussed around here (fear change):

For Derek Smart has never made a game that he thought his fans would like, he has made games that he would like to play. He confesses, “If you listen to every angry fan or every negative review, you would just eventually get fed up and give up. But, if you try to improve on where you went wrong and continue to make the best game possible, you will gain a faithful fan following.”

Derek also talked on the death of a franchise. He advises that the reason many franchises fall along the waysides is that they try to fix upon what made the series work in the first place.

EDIT-2
It’s also so fun reading his “open letters” to the magazines reviewing and systematically digging his games :) There’s one for each version of PC Gamer (here and here).

The comedy value is incomparable:

Unless you took a wrong turn at Albuquerque on your way to the water cooler and ended up at the ass end of Alpha Cygni when you were clearly *told* to go to Tau Ceti, how could you miss the action?

If not by the game, I’m amused by Derek Smart :)

No more computer games for the guy behind that Katamary Damacy masterpiece. And even a few words are a lesson of design:

“In 10 years time, I am not going to be making games any more,” Keita Takahashi told the BBC News website.

“I would like to create a playground for children,” he said. “A normal playground is flat but I want an undulating one, with bumps.”

At first glance, this seems a strange ambition for a game designer. But Mr Takahashi has a degree in sculpture and Katamari is all about a tactile world.

And he believes children should spend more time in the physical world and less time wrapped up in the virtual world of games.

I was going to just archive the reply I wrote over there as I usually do. But then, on a second read, I gave this passage some more weight and started to think about it:

Developers fear change too. They can be beaten down just as hard; the hammers are just called different names. Message board posts. Emails. Subscription numbers. Publisher pressure. Going home and getting yelled at because your significant other can’t understand why you people just don’t fix X, Y, and Z. After a certain amount of time, inertia kicks in out of self defense. If you don’t change anything, you don’t make any mistakes, after all.

I think I can understand what he is trying to say here. That position is understandable and it’s normal that, given those conditions, the reaction is a defensive one. I wouldn’t blame or accuse anyone. I wouldn’t point my finger. It’s simply legitimate and normal. But still… It isn’t a type of value you can share or build things upon. It’s not something you can expect people agree with. Understand, probably. But not agree with.

The current situation is understandable, but this isn’t a justification on its own. It doesn’t mean that things cannot change. Or that shouldn’t change. It doesn’t mean that nothing can be done to make things better. It doesn’t mean that we have to suffer this (I shouldn’t use “we” here since it’s way too easy to preach without being directly involved, but I wouldn’t know how to phrase it). So I don’t think that this position is defendable. There is no fault in the position itself, but at the same time not enough to make a valid point. The fact that this is what currently happens is the very first reason why we should desire it to change. Work better, offer better products, and not suffocating the potential on our own.

“Shit happens”. So we do nothing and feel jaded or even sage. This isn’t enough of a justification. I’m simplifying, but that’s the tone. It sounds like a type of anxiety-inducing reaction that I actually know rather well. But I’m not so stupid to justify this position as valid. Even if I choose it. I know it’s short-legged. If there’s too much pressure (and I’m sure of this) there’s the need to transform it in a positive drive, or things just won’t work. It’s just frustrating. We need to get educated and educate so things can change. Not work *despite* the negative conditions or the pressure. But transform the situation so that it becomes a positive one. Lead the context instead of suffer it.

But then I write this because Lum brought it up. He says he reads me because he has different opinions. What a liar :) I know perfectly that he agrees with everything I write. He is too intelligent to disagree with me. And I’m a genius. Besides, if he wrote about this it’s because there’s a controversy where he felt involved, somehow. It is evident. He tries to defend a position but it’s obvious that he is siding the other… He wishes he could disagree.

See, it’s like a little kid crying “…my mom spanked me!” Of course he doesn’t want to hear his mum is a bad mum because he loves his mum after all, but at the same time he doesn’t want to keep getting spanked, either.

And this is where Colin Powell arrives (stolen from Eve-Online dev blog):

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It’s an excuse for inaction. It’s a mindset that assumes (or hopes) that today’s realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion. Pure fantasy. In this sort of culture, you won’t find people who proactively take steps to solve problems as they emerge.”

Here’s the rest:

—
I’ll just say this.

Why the hell new games are allowed to get marketed over the mistakes of previous ones?

http://www.corpnews.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2674

“- The combat itself is much longer than what I experienced in DAOC or SB where fights were over inn 1, 2, 3, gone….spend 30 mins regrouping.

– there is NO /target, /group target, or /sticky command.”

This is a very simple example. The *whole* World of Warcraft was built on top of the mistakes, failures and bad habits of previous games. In general I could safely state that these successful games are more the result of the observation than the rabid creativity. Which is also what drives this whole industry, not just the mmorpgs: reiterations over previous models. Who “gets it” is successful. In the mmorpgs this is even more emphasized because who gets it *first* is successful. So what is fundamental is the aptitude to anticipate trends and possible developments. The market itself requires this availability to evolve and rewards it.

My belief is simply that this is what this genre could do at best considering the “ongoing development” and the nature of “game worlds”. The ideal world and inspiration remain, the implementation can improve and grow, along with the possibilities and the technology. You can express new ideas and open new potential from here. Working on top of what you already built. The game can become richer and you can finally explore those ideas that just weren’t possible till that moment. It’s a journey and you are required to learn from what happens along the way so you can continue on that path.

The point is, the games who decide to fear change are consequently predated by other projects. The competition is going to use your weaknesses and by being conservative you just hand them on a silver plate the opportunity to eat your slice of the pie:

“this game is broken and I’m gonna see you in Dark City of Shadowquest 3: Electric Boogaloo.”

That said, I specifically wrote that I don’t fully support what is going on to SWG (as LoH also writes here above). I like change and I like when a company dares, but this should be the result of reiterations, even radical but never to discard months and years of work to steer the game in a completely different way. As I said the ideal should be about working on top of what you built. Sometimes this means to step back and rebuild something following the new rules you learnt, but it shouldn’t mean that the game should restart in a brand new direction that requires to replan and repackage everything from the ground up every six months. Choices, even here, must be made. Once you choose a path you have to stick to it. To commit to it. This is alse why I often criticized devs jumping from project to project. And, if you notice, SWG had a strong churn rate of developers that obviously affected negatively the game. I want authorship and commitment instead.

I don’t support “change” just for the sake of it, in the same way I do not support fancy ideas with no foundation. What I’d like to see is working actively to deliver what was planned and adjust what you are creating with what you learnt along the way.

Then the final point is even more simple. “Change” is good only when well executed. SWG will get many, many more subscribers and will get revitalized for the years to come if it will deliver on the premises. But this is a risk. It could go well as it could just not work. I’m the first to feel sceptical. Six months down the road we will remember this as a huge success, or as a big, predictable (like we are doing here) failure, or something gone so so. The truth is far from *all* these three possbilities. The truth simply depends on how “change” is executed and not “whether change or not”. I hate this generalization about “change”. If *this* change is well executed the players will finally reward it, if it sucks the game will pay an harsh price. The same would apply if we were talking about a brand new product.

And to really conclude, the very first quality of a designer is about learning. In the same way “learning” is what these games are about. As Raph says: “the best personal qualification is intellectual curiosity and a dedication to self-education”. Learning is about change. If a designer “fears change” he is just done. He hasn’t anymore anything to say.

Maybe a more interesting point could be about how we could educate ourselves to not fear change and use it as a positive motivation instead of a negative, stressful pressure. I know that “we aren’t there yet” in the same way I know that SWG’s changes “aren’t there yet”. In fact most of what I saw sucks and is the result of awful compromises. The point is to move in a direction when you decided that the direction is worth the effort.

I want these games to be vital and not just drown in stagnation to finally get predated by better products. I know “we aren’t there yet” but I also know that this is the right direction where to go. And enjoy the ride.

Eve-I, the major news and information site about Eve-Online, died at the beginning of September for a rumored server move but it’s still not back and it seems it won’t be anytime soon.

I used it mostly to read the dev blogs which are rather interesting but posted on a hidden section of the official website that you can access only if you are an active subscriber (which I’m not, currently). So I started to search for another fansite with the backups of those blogs, but without much luck. Till I found what I needed in the most obvious place: their feeds page.

I was trying to build a group on this site but it seems that it isn’t able to digest the feeds, so I moved the thing here. The archives are lost and volatile but at least I can read what’s new. In particular a detailed post about their server infrastructure and lag problems (dated 3 November).

Interesting stuff.

The fault doesn’t lie with the SQL software or hardware, it lies in our server software. I’m sure you’re all used to people blaming the SQL but usually it’s our own stuff which kills it the most :D