The Future of Indie RPGs
by Jay Barnson · 03/17/2008 (9:34 am) · 0 comments
The second "Indies of the Round Table" panel discussion is up, where the experts of indie RPG development speak up on matters of interest to RPG fans and developers. This month's question is, "What does the future hold?"
What Does the Future Hold?
When asked about their expectations of future games, many mainstream developers reply with stock answers about ever more realistic graphics and rarely-realized promises of more believable AI. Indie RPG developers, on the other hand, have to make advances in different areas and small innovations. In the past, this has included capturing the attention of new audiences, creating wild hybrid games (such as found in Dwarf Fortress, or ... some titles by these panelists!), and revisiting older, classic ideas with modern technology and design sensibilities.
Panelists include Thomas Riegsecker of Basilisk Games, Josh Engebretson of Prairie Games, Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software, Georgina Bensley of Hanako Games, Jason Compton of Planewalker Games, Steven Peeler of Soldak Entertainment, Amanda Fitch of Amaranth Games, and Mike Hommel of Hamumu Games.
Quote from Josh Engebretson:
'I think product deployment and compatibility are major improvement areas for the future. The focus will be the web which is slowly becoming a viable deployment platform. There are a number of cross browser/cross platform tools such as Silverlight, Java, Flash, and the new Director 11 that will play a major part in allowing customers to easily stream games. This will avoid the download, install, and compatibility issues that especially plague indie game companies.
'There are already some great examples of browser games. The line between "browser games" and "desktop games" will be completely blurred. This is already happening and we're seeing major investment from companies like EA into web deployment. As most indie game companies depend solely on web based sales, I think this is an important place for indies to be as well.'
Check out the rest of it here:
The Future of Indie RPGs: Indies of the Round Table #2
Jay Barnson
Rampant Games
Tales of the Rampant Coyote
What Does the Future Hold?
When asked about their expectations of future games, many mainstream developers reply with stock answers about ever more realistic graphics and rarely-realized promises of more believable AI. Indie RPG developers, on the other hand, have to make advances in different areas and small innovations. In the past, this has included capturing the attention of new audiences, creating wild hybrid games (such as found in Dwarf Fortress, or ... some titles by these panelists!), and revisiting older, classic ideas with modern technology and design sensibilities.
Panelists include Thomas Riegsecker of Basilisk Games, Josh Engebretson of Prairie Games, Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software, Georgina Bensley of Hanako Games, Jason Compton of Planewalker Games, Steven Peeler of Soldak Entertainment, Amanda Fitch of Amaranth Games, and Mike Hommel of Hamumu Games.
Quote from Josh Engebretson:
'I think product deployment and compatibility are major improvement areas for the future. The focus will be the web which is slowly becoming a viable deployment platform. There are a number of cross browser/cross platform tools such as Silverlight, Java, Flash, and the new Director 11 that will play a major part in allowing customers to easily stream games. This will avoid the download, install, and compatibility issues that especially plague indie game companies.
'There are already some great examples of browser games. The line between "browser games" and "desktop games" will be completely blurred. This is already happening and we're seeing major investment from companies like EA into web deployment. As most indie game companies depend solely on web based sales, I think this is an important place for indies to be as well.'
Check out the rest of it here:
The Future of Indie RPGs: Indies of the Round Table #2
Jay Barnson
Rampant Games
Tales of the Rampant Coyote
About the author
Jay has been a mainstream and indie game developer for a... uh, long time. His professional start came in 1994 developing titles for the then-unknown and upcoming Sony Playstation. He runs Rampant Games and blogs at Tales of the Rampant Coyote.
