Another indie game I REALLY like: StarForge

Once again, I'm not only an indie game developer, but I'm an indie game lover.  I try to post up games that I just wish as many eyes as possible would see.  Last time I showed Megabyte Punch, and that game's really coming along (check that one out, too, if you haven't).  This time, check out this exciting game in development called StarForge.  To describe it in short, take Minecraft, Starcraft II and Halo, and throw them into a blender, and basically, this awesome game is what you'll get.

But this game is really its own game, uses a very unique voxel-building system, incorporates several genres to define its own subgenre of RTS game (something I myself can relate to), and is just quite a promising game.  It's already making some waves and gaining some notice in the world of indie games.  What's even more crazy is that currently, only two guys are developing this game, and they're using Unity game engine to do it (again, I can relate to those myself). These two guys are creating (part-time) a kind of game that even larger major full-time game development teams won't do. This game is both inspiring and interesting to me.

Watch this video on YouTube of one of the developers walking through some of the development of the game, and then download their pre-alpha "builder demo" here (or their website, if that download link should stop working for any reason).  Enjoy (and then support them by Liking the video, if you like it)!

- Brian

TWO demos for the Kickstarter and other news

I'm working on two different playable demos to present as the example of my game Cyka, which I'll be seeking some support with through Kickstarter.  What kind of two demos?  Well, one demo is being developed with the Unity game engine and one is being developed with Unreal Development Kit.  And they're both representing two great versions of the game Cyka.

One game, two game engines. six stores!

I needed two versions to fulfill the potential of this game.  I wanted this game to be available for as many platforms as possible and to play seamlessly cross-platform and persistent-world online between those platforms, and for that, I'm choosing the Unity game engine to develop the "standard" version of Cyka.  I wanted this same game to be even more visually-stunning, the environments to be even more destructible and interactive, and to be available for Steam (which currently does not support cross-platform with such other platforms as mobile devices), and for that, I'm choosing the UDK to develop the rather "enhanced" version of Cyka.

This second UDK version will be called Cyka: Steamed Edition (fitting for a steampunk-themed game), will include the Cloud Quest mode found in the non-Steam special edition of Cyka called Cyka: Cloud Quest Edition, and the present plan is that it will be priced lower than the original wider-platform version of Cyka.  But both versions will be huge genre-bending experiences, beautifully-rendered, done with 100% quality, and put you in the company of thousands of gamers online.  And we still plan to enter our a working demo of each version of our game into the Independent Game Festival (IGF) and IndieCade 2013 both next year, and yes, we aim to win the top prizes in both (we're that confident about the brilliance of this game).  My company PolyKhrome will be pushing the limits of both game engines, as our game pushes new limits in the genre of online action real-time strategy games.  I explain it all here on my developer's blog.

If you'd like to know a little more about what game I'm creating, please visit my development blog.  And if you have any questions or comments about the game or my company, please e-mail me at PolyKhrome@gmail.com (soon to be BrianLockett@PolyKhrome.com when our official website is complete).  Some details about the Kickstarter have already been revealed, and there's more to come in coming days.  I've got some great offerings in store for supporters, but without the demos, they mean nothing.  So PolyKhrome is diligently working to develop two demos that'll blow you away.

If you're interested in possibly joining PolyKhrome, send me an e-mail and provide me with a link to your website, blog, or portfolio, and we can talk.  I'll provide more details then, but I can say that while experience with Blender and Photoshop are preferred, we can work with users of other software, but good experience with Unity and/or UDK is necessary.  We'll be looking for an assets artist or two (characters, environments, props, and 2D elements), an additional game programmer or two (preferably one with some network programming experience), and an illustrator with some graphic design experience.  Later, we'll be looking for an additional game musician/sound designer, though we already do have plans for later seeking a particular amazing freelance game musician in mind.

Also, this summer, I'll be starting back my Operation Moogle effort on the side.  It was a project I started last year to respond to Square Enix's call for an organized effort to be enough of a united voice saying we wanted a Final Fantasy HD collection from them of their most beloved Final Fantasy titles of the past.  Last year, we went into a hiatus as summer came to a close, but this year, we're picking up right where we left--and our supporters are ecstatic!  And Square Enix are listening--we currently have an employee with some brass at Square Enix following us on our Twitter page!  If that sounds interesting to you, check it out, sign our petition, and take our poll--your voice counts.

And finally, I'm excited about the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 (or E3 2012), just 12 days away!  Personally, I'm very interested in the only officially-announced next-gen console to be showed there, the Wii U from Nintendo, as both a gamer and an indie game developer.  I've been following the development of this console for the last year and a half, back when it was just a mysterious project, and when it was finally unveiled last year at E3 2011 (and I talked about it here on this blog last year), I can say that I immediately saw what I could do with that system.  It immediately addressed some of the things I wanted to do with gaming, and its controller is really all I can ask for as a game developer.  I can definitely say that the Wii U will be in PolyKhrome's future, as soon as we become a better established to do so with our current work!  I'd love nothing more than to see the likes of Cyka II (which is already being planned) on the Wii U someday...

Anyways, folks, that concludes this post.  I hope to hear from some of you soon!  I tell you, this is going to be one exciting summer, folks!

- Brian

Few game terrain screenshots on Facebook

I have a few game terrain screenshots today being posted on the PolyKhrome Facebook page.  It's early development shots of the canyon desert terrain for the continent Zapade in my game Cyka and this region alone about 21 miles big.  The continent in this game is expansive and huge, and fully-explorable as a persistent world in the game's online Conquest mode.  There's only the rough stage and you'll see them fully-textured and perfectly-tweaked for the game pretty soon.

By the way, as posted on the PolyKhrome developer's blog, which is undergoing a little reconstruction today as well, the first 100 people to Like the PolyKhrome Facebook page and leave the comment "I want Cyka!" will receive a free PC or Mac desktop version of the game when its finished.  If you want to know more about just what Cyka is about, be sure to check out this article on the PolyKhrome developer's blog.  Later!

- Brian

Hello and Here's My Game...

Hey, folks.  In case you've been one of the people checking back at this blog, sorry I've been kinda tardy (like 7 months tardy).  But I've had a lot going on with me personally, most of it good.  Very good, in fact.

Well, first off, I did find an apartment here in New York, so yeah, that's good.  I'm thankful that worked out.  But enough about that--let me get right into my game (or should I say, games).

While I'm still working on that RPG title I talked about last time (and conceptual development for that continues along), I'm currently working on another game.  While I won't share details about the RPG just yet, I'll go ahead and reveal some details about this game I'm working on now, and my new indie company PolyKhrome.

The name of the game I'm working on right now is called Cyka, and it's a wonderful twist to my favorite gaming genres.  Basically, in Story mode, you play as a robotic being named Cyka who is a commander of a medieval-style alien steampunk robot army of knights (yes, you heard me) in charge of defending his homeland against invading neighboring cities.  Development for this game will take about 15 months (subject to change, and depends on what all I can get done--though my personal deadline is 10 months), and it will released for PC and Mac, and I plan for an iOS/Android tablet release and possibly Linux (depending how much support I get for such).

The gameplay is so highly unique, I'm afraid of sharing some of it too soon here, but I will tell you this much:

• While the game's single-player Story mode is very fun and in no way watered down, the game truly shines in its online multiplayer modes, which include Versus mode and Conquest mode.
• The game will strongly appeal to those who like online RTSes and RPGs (in fact, it's defining a new genre, truly unlike anything done before, really).
• The game is a high-end indie game ("AAA indie game") featuring a highly-stylized realistic style, to be beautifully rendered by the Unity Engine.
• There is special attention going into the game's soundtrack as well, to truly make the world as fantastic as the game plays.
• This game will be supported by a Kickstarter fundraiser (which I am currently organizing and I will let you know when it will be available soon), and will be offering special editions of the game to early supporters.
• In Conquest mode, the game goes on while you're offline and your stats are affected.
• The game comes with a PC/Mac version of the game, along with an additional iOS/Android version of the game.  This will allow players to transfer their data from the computer version to the mobile device version of the game, and take their gaming on the road and access their Conquest mode game stats online from their mobile devices.  ( A Linux computer version of the game would be supported via Chrome Native Client version of the game.)
• This game will be DRM-free.
• This game will be made to look beautiful no matter what you play it on.  Whether you play it on your computer, ultrabook, smartphone or your tablet.
• There will be online tournaments and I plan to eventually host events at indie gaming conventions around in the U.S. and Canada (I expect this game to be popular with online team gamers and have something in the vein of StarCraft tournaments).
• I will enter the 15th Annual Independent Games Festival in 2013.  (Even though my game won't be 100% by time for submission, I will still have enough of the game built to showcase it.  I plan to still win something.)
• After I release Cyka on Steam and Desura, I will release a free browser-based version of the game called Cyka Free that features a unique blended version of the full Cyka game's Versus and Conquest modes.
• The target release time for Cyka is Autumn 2013.

I'm truly building a game that I want to play other people with, and have a good fair chance of losing.  It's truly that kind of game, and it's going to be one of those kind of games I think that you'll be playing for a long time.  It's an insanely addictive game.

I'll be showing work on this game on my company blog site, PolyKhrome Blog, but I'll show you the logo so far: 

Currently, the company is finishing Cyka's game design document and are working on an early prototype of the game.  I'll keep you updated.  (And I won't leave that long anymore!)  See you back here soon.  Keep exploring!

- Brian

Where You Been, MMJ?!

Well, long story short--for the past two months, I've been looking for a new apartment in a certain region in New York with no success...aaaaand tomorrow's my last day with my current apartment's lease.  And I'm living on less than $1000 until the next available pay period way at the end of September.  Yeah...  Going through a bit of a hard time, but I'm not worried.  My situation could be worse, and I have confidence that things will work out soon.

Meanwhile, I've been running this effort on the side called Operation Moogle, and if you're a gamer, I urge you to check it out.  Even if you're not a Final Fantasy fan, we're on the forefront of staring something new in the gaming industry--a possible new era where game developers actually ask for the gamers' voice towards developing a game.

A bit of good new is that I'm starting active development with my first indie game title.  I'll need a new computer soon, though, but first, I'll need to find a new apartment before I can get a new computer.  And I don't want to reveal too much about it at the moment, but as I have revealed before that it an RPG title of Japanese style, I'll further add that it will feature a third-person shooter battling engine and will be developed using the Unity game engine.


Oh, and I'm still working on my software idea, too.  But I'm still holding on revealing details about it for now--it's a really good idea, and I think it'll double the 3D modeler's workflow, but I don't want anyone beating me to the punch.  I want the credit of being the guy who invented it.  Maybe they'll erect statues in my honor.  Hehehe.


As a quick announcement--check out my new MMJ Favorites page here on this blog.  I just put that up today.

Anyways, that's what's been going on.  By the way, I've been thinking that the white text on black background might be a bit harsh on the eyes, so I'm trying out this softer light blue color.  What do you think of it--do you like it better or not?  Any suggestions, if you don't?  I'd appreciate your feedback on this.  Keep exploring!


- Brian



>> Be about others, and you will never be bored. <<

[UPDATED May 8, 2013: The light blue color of the font for this older post has since been reverted back to black to fit this latest blog layout template.]