I saw the post on Facebook and did a translation of this yesterday. I was waiting for somebody to contact me so I could send it, but then I decided it would be faster to check the forums, looks like it has already been done (albeit perhaps a rough translation though).
Here's my version. Can I have something? :D
<b> The game company that lets its users pay for it's development fees in advance</b>
With the rising cost of game development, how does one go about creating the games they want to create? One company has an interesting approach to this question. By appealing to the very people that are the most keen to see the game developed - the player community - this company has managed to raise a staggering $35,000. Game Scramble's Kiyoshi Shin reports on American company Unknown Worlds Entertainment, who has found a different approach among the boom of 'social-oriented' and 'free' game models.
<b>Firm favorite "Natural Selection"</b>
When major American game developer 'Valve' released 'Half-Life' for the PC in 1998, they had a strategy which ensured the game's success – they　proactively made public the source code and development tools for the game, allowing users to freely create 'mods' for it – with the exception of commercial purposes - and saw users form many new communities based around these mods.. 'Mod' is derived from 'modify',
One such mod to use the Half-Life engine is the popular 'Natural Selection' (NS), released in 2002 and with over 1,000,000 downloads to date. Themed around a battle between humans and aliens, NS is a multiplayer first-person shooter game. However, unlike traditional FPS games where one simply shoots it out, NS was fresh in that it contained strategy elements that allowed for a more lucrative game progression - namely, it required players to co-operate military-style in order to create and expand their base of operations.
NS continued to be updated until 2007, and continues to lead a strong following of fans. However, with the release of 'Half-Life 2' in 2004, the original Half-Life engine that NS was built upon began to show it's age, graphically and technologically. With this, NS lost a chance to commercialize itself onto the market.
However, the players wanted more. According to game designer and CEO of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Charlie Cleveland, the root of the problem was how to raise funds for further development. At the time, large-scale mainstream games for the Playstation 3 and Xbox360 were already the norm, and the cost for such titles sometimes ran into the tens of millions. The desire to continue development was present, but the funds weren't - with an in-house team of only five full-time staff, the potential to raise such capital was close to zero.
After an arduous two year period of negotiations by Cleveland, an angel investor finally granted him a miraculous $500,000 in backing, and NS2's initial development fees were secured. However, even that sum of money would not come close to covering implementation of the latest graphical technology. Commonly, a developer would approach a large-scale publisher about forming a partnership to have their product marketed; however, Cleveland instead chose an interesting route.
<b>Drawing in users through reserved sales</b>
In May of 2009, Unknown Worlds Entertainment started taking pre-order sales, at $40, for their work-in-progress that was NS2. They made use of Valve's PC game sales and distribution platform, Steam, to achieve this. Of course, this wasn't just a hopeful gamble, but an approach that was taken after consulting with the many enthusiastic NS fans online, as to whether they would support - and pay for - such a venture.
The devoted fans were reluctant to see NS fade away into obscurity without a new breath of life. The result was over 10,000 pre-orders from happy fans willing to help - and their numbers continue to increase, proving to be a vital source of capital for the continued development of the game.
The progress of the game's development is displayed on their official website, and the team actively informs it's readers of planned features and updates. In keeping with their character as a development company grown from the roots of a mod community, they have released the mapping tools as a special favor to those who have pre-ordered.
Although users are as of yet unable to play the game itself, the mapping tools allow them to enjoy a taste of what the eventual game will be like. Already, several user-made maps for NS2 have been announced online. In addition, they are planning to soon release - to those who have pre-ordered - the scripting environment, which allows for creation and implementation of original game events, as well as tools for the creation of in-game machinima and movies.
As the original NS continued to be updated and tweaked based on feedback from actual players, so did its gameplay balance continue to improve. The same approach is being taken for NS2, with willing participants being actively welcomed into the development process.
<b>Staff around the world</b>
The game engine and tools have been created by the company entirely from scratch. Originally, they had intended to purchase an engine license for Half-Life 2 and expand upon that - in the end, however, they decided that the framework was not suited for the game they wanted create. Main programmer Max McGuire has been tackling this huge task by himself, stage by stage.
McGuire is a highly talented programmer, and were he to work in a major company, he would no doubt earn a high salary with little such effort. Despite realizing this himself, McGuire decided to bite the bullet, as he said that "being able to freely exercise my creativity was big motivating factor" in getting involved with the startup company. It was impressive to hear him continue: "I want to meet the expectations of the 10,000 who have already pre-ordered".
Unknown Worlds Entertainment also has a unique development set-up. The company's development office is based in San Francisco, but the creation of 3D models, maps, music, sound effects, and other tasks are outsourced to 10 external staff. Those 10 staff are spread around the world in such places as Central America, Canada, Australia, England, Estonia, and Indonesia.
They have gathered their staff by recruiting those with talent amongst the mod community, or through introductions from friends. In reality, McGuire has spoken directly with only two of those ten. After an upgrade to the development data management server, he has been able to keep track of where each staff member is with their work, so he sees nothing problematic about the situation. 　 <b>Release date 'Unknown'</b>
At present, development is progressing on a playable alpha version of the game. However, when asked about the final release date, Cleveland answered "we don't know". The team has monthly meetings with investors, however at each meeting, Cleveland finds himself repeating the same thing: "it's still not finished; we can't give a release date". "Our investors must be amazed", says Cleveland. However, the team knows how eagerly the fans are waiting for the game, so much so that it hurts.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, supported by funds from their fans and mindful of their big expectations as they continue with development, were not a pre-existing company who followed the traditional route of first securing funds, determining a release schedule, and then finally beginning development. They are a small team of individuals whose groundwork has allowed them to involve the very community themselves in developing the game that they want developed.
NS2 differs from the current boom of social games - it can indeed be classified as a full-blown title of its own. However, they are trying to show that there are ways of realizing your product other than simply pouring in capital, as major companies do. According to McGuire, this model of user-based support is already being employed by several recently formed companies in North America, and will no doubt continue to draw attention in the future. <i> Original article by Shin Kiyoshi for Game Scramble</i>
<!--quoteo(post=1761113:date=Mar 25 2010, 03:02 PM:name=Nordom)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nordom @ Mar 25 2010, 03:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1761113"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Noooo! You guys did it all wrong!
I was going to translate this as well but hold it for ransom. In order to get it they would need to post something not yet released to the public!
But now we won't get anything past the usually Friday update.:(<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I had the same idea, except somebody was bound to go ahead and post it.
Hey, I spent a good 3 hours on that translation. I hope they thank us ;)
GISPBattle GorgeDenmarkJoin Date: 2004-03-20Member: 27460Members, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Gold, Subnautica Playtester, Forum staff
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hey, I spent a good 3 hours on that translation. I hope they thank us ;)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Thank you, was a good read, apreciate the time and effort you put into translating it...
I hope this is not what Japanese sounds like.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Google translate mangles Japanese a fair bit. Japanese is a subject object verb language, where English is subject verb object. Consequentially there are a ton of grammatical differences that don't translate very fluidly in an automated system.
Comments
Here's my version. Can I have something? :D
<b>
The game company that lets its users pay for it's development fees in advance</b>
With the rising cost of game development, how does one go about creating the games they want to create? One company has an interesting approach to this question. By appealing to the very people that are the most keen to see the game developed - the player community - this company has managed to raise a staggering $35,000. Game Scramble's Kiyoshi Shin reports on American company Unknown Worlds Entertainment, who has found a different approach among the boom of 'social-oriented' and 'free' game models.
<b>Firm favorite "Natural Selection"</b>
When major American game developer 'Valve' released 'Half-Life' for the PC in 1998, they had a strategy which ensured the game's success – they　proactively made public the source code and development tools for the game, allowing users to freely create 'mods' for it – with the exception of commercial purposes - and saw users form many new communities based around these mods.. 'Mod' is derived from 'modify',
One such mod to use the Half-Life engine is the popular 'Natural Selection' (NS), released in 2002 and with over 1,000,000 downloads to date. Themed around a battle between humans and aliens, NS is a multiplayer first-person shooter game. However, unlike traditional FPS games where one simply shoots it out, NS was fresh in that it contained strategy elements that allowed for a more lucrative game progression - namely, it required players to co-operate military-style in order to create and expand their base of operations.
NS continued to be updated until 2007, and continues to lead a strong following of fans. However, with the release of 'Half-Life 2' in 2004, the original Half-Life engine that NS was built upon began to show it's age, graphically and technologically. With this, NS lost a chance to commercialize itself onto the market.
However, the players wanted more. According to game designer and CEO of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Charlie Cleveland, the root of the problem was how to raise funds for further development. At the time, large-scale mainstream games for the Playstation 3 and Xbox360 were already the norm, and the cost for such titles sometimes ran into the tens of millions. The desire to continue development was present, but the funds weren't - with an in-house team of only five full-time staff, the potential to raise such capital was close to zero.
After an arduous two year period of negotiations by Cleveland, an angel investor finally granted him a miraculous $500,000 in backing, and NS2's initial development fees were secured. However, even that sum of money would not come close to covering implementation of the latest graphical technology. Commonly, a developer would approach a large-scale publisher about forming a partnership to have their product marketed; however, Cleveland instead chose an interesting route.
<b>Drawing in users through reserved sales</b>
In May of 2009, Unknown Worlds Entertainment started taking pre-order sales, at $40, for their work-in-progress that was NS2. They made use of Valve's PC game sales and distribution platform, Steam, to achieve this. Of course, this wasn't just a hopeful gamble, but an approach that was taken after consulting with the many enthusiastic NS fans online, as to whether they would support - and pay for - such a venture.
The devoted fans were reluctant to see NS fade away into obscurity without a new breath of life. The result was over 10,000 pre-orders from happy fans willing to help - and their numbers continue to increase, proving to be a vital source of capital for the continued development of the game.
The progress of the game's development is displayed on their official website, and the team actively informs it's readers of planned features and updates. In keeping with their character as a development company grown from the roots of a mod community, they have released the mapping tools as a special favor to those who have pre-ordered.
Although users are as of yet unable to play the game itself, the mapping tools allow them to enjoy a taste of what the eventual game will be like. Already, several user-made maps for NS2 have been announced online. In addition, they are planning to soon release - to those who have pre-ordered - the scripting environment, which allows for creation and implementation of original game events, as well as tools for the creation of in-game machinima and movies.
As the original NS continued to be updated and tweaked based on feedback from actual players, so did its gameplay balance continue to improve. The same approach is being taken for NS2, with willing participants being actively welcomed into the development process.
<b>Staff around the world</b>
The game engine and tools have been created by the company entirely from scratch. Originally, they had intended to purchase an engine license for Half-Life 2 and expand upon that - in the end, however, they decided that the framework was not suited for the game they wanted create. Main programmer Max McGuire has been tackling this huge task by himself, stage by stage.
McGuire is a highly talented programmer, and were he to work in a major company, he would no doubt earn a high salary with little such effort. Despite realizing this himself, McGuire decided to bite the bullet, as he said that "being able to freely exercise my creativity was big motivating factor" in getting involved with the startup company. It was impressive to hear him continue: "I want to meet the expectations of the 10,000 who have already pre-ordered".
Unknown Worlds Entertainment also has a unique development set-up. The company's development office is based in San Francisco, but the creation of 3D models, maps, music, sound effects, and other tasks are outsourced to 10 external staff. Those 10 staff are spread around the world in such places as Central America, Canada, Australia, England, Estonia, and Indonesia.
They have gathered their staff by recruiting those with talent amongst the mod community, or through introductions from friends. In reality, McGuire has spoken directly with only two of those ten. After an upgrade to the development data management server, he has been able to keep track of where each staff member is with their work, so he sees nothing problematic about the situation.
　
<b>Release date 'Unknown'</b>
At present, development is progressing on a playable alpha version of the game. However, when asked about the final release date, Cleveland answered "we don't know". The team has monthly meetings with investors, however at each meeting, Cleveland finds himself repeating the same thing: "it's still not finished; we can't give a release date". "Our investors must be amazed", says Cleveland. However, the team knows how eagerly the fans are waiting for the game, so much so that it hurts.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, supported by funds from their fans and mindful of their big expectations as they continue with development, were not a pre-existing company who followed the traditional route of first securing funds, determining a release schedule, and then finally beginning development. They are a small team of individuals whose groundwork has allowed them to involve the very community themselves in developing the game that they want developed.
NS2 differs from the current boom of social games - it can indeed be classified as a full-blown title of its own. However, they are trying to show that there are ways of realizing your product other than simply pouring in capital, as major companies do. According to McGuire, this model of user-based support is already being employed by several recently formed companies in North America, and will no doubt continue to draw attention in the future.
<i>
Original article by Shin Kiyoshi for Game Scramble</i>
I was going to translate this as well but hold it for ransom. In order to get it they would need to post something not yet released to the public!
But now we won't get anything past the usually Friday update.:(
I was going to translate this as well but hold it for ransom. In order to get it they would need to post something not yet released to the public!
But now we won't get anything past the usually Friday update.:(<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I had the same idea, except somebody was bound to go ahead and post it.
Hey, I spent a good 3 hours on that translation. I hope they thank us ;)
Thank you, was a good read, apreciate the time and effort you put into translating it...
I hope this is not what Japanese sounds like.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Google translate mangles Japanese a fair bit. Japanese is a subject object verb language, where English is subject verb object. Consequentially there are a ton of grammatical differences that don't translate very fluidly in an automated system.