Plan for Anthony Rosenbaum
by Anthony Rosenbaum · 02/11/2005 (12:11 pm) · 5 comments
Well, I am sitting here while my class is taking a test I decided to put in a little Plan. Usually my plans are rather short but I think I'm going to do a retrospective so I might get a bit long winded.
For those who don't know me I am an Original VL2 (the ole skool name of Torque) user. I was first introduced into game development with Jedi Knight( Dark Forces 2) unfortunately my computer back then could not run the editor sufficiently and so I chose to abandon modding. After several years of "hard core gaming" I was poking around the Black and White forums, waiting for that game to be released when I started hearing a buzz about Tribes 2. Now I never was a Tribes player, but I decided to get the demo, and well fell in love with it. It was neat seeing such a unique game genre (now which has been over done since BF 1942 came along). Soon after Tribes 2 was released, and yes although there was lost of issues with the game, I thought it was "awesome". While surfing the various T2 forums I ran across threads referring to Garage Games. Now this was months before the engine was release to GG but I knew that T2 modding would be a great way to "get a leg" up on learning how game development works.
I had graduated with an Art History degree and had no real knowledge of Game development or Computer Science for that matter. I was able to get my brain around making levels but looking at scripts was a different matter. . .they might have been written in Greek. Anyway I knew I loved games, and I knew Art History was rewarding educationally but I never saw my self as a curator. It was after my girl friend at the time (now my wife) saw how fanatic I was about playing games (Zelda's Majora's Mask) that she said, "If you like it so much, why not do that?" I replied "really can I?" No one had ever said "make a game" but rather "stop playing those games" ( ahh parents). Any way I started with a "make games without programming book" although I never did anything spectacular with it I did learn a lot of things, like collision detection, that I had taken for granted. Soon after I thought well I can make art for games, I am trained in that. After several thousand pages of learning Photoshop, 3d Studio Max, Poser, Bryce, and anything else I thought would be useful I began experimenting with custom models.
By the summer of 2001 I began learning Javascript, TorqueScript, and audited some classes in C++. It is amazing how many students take Computer Science without having any idea what they wanted to do with it. Anyway, once GG had the engine it was all a matter of time till it would be released. I remember the day it was released. I didn't have enough money in the bank, but the good ole credit card got dusted off for the purchase.
The next year I was set on building "my game" it was a G.I Joe Tribes Clone game (didn't I just say that genre was over done), I figured by using G.I Joe it would cut down on the art research side, and it was for my own personal learning anyway. Well time went by and things evolved I remember posting shots of my first model (Cobra Commander) then my first wheeled vehicle (the Vamp). I was most discouraged by the outburst it caused. People don't want to see someone else IP being used, mark my words. That particular project was halted when I saw a BF1942 mod doing the same thing, and well they had a full team.
One thing I did learn from it was to think small, do one thing a week. Write out the algorithm on paper, then test it. I think this is the most important thing for new developers. Don't shoot your self in the foot by doing too much before you know "how" to do things.
Another thing that was useful was meeting people; let it be via the forums or via IRC. When I first encountered Ed Gardner, I had attempted to do some art for him. But let it be my crappy skills or that art is subjective, or that those DSQ files are a pain to set up, but I could never get anything I liked or would behave properly. This encounter would pay off immensely later though. It was the winter of 2003 when I met Adrian Wright, I had been making noise about some homing missile which he wanted to use. After repeated attempt to help Adrian I recommended that I just join his team to do what I could to fix the issue. Initially I joined his team to help with art, but soon became the C++ programmer. It was there I reencountered Ed G. again. Most of MGT were people like me, they tried to make a game "by them selves" and realize "I need a team".
The early days were great, I ported tons of code I had from "Yo Joe" to the Critical Subterfuge repo. I remember when we had our first sounds for missiles I thought "this is sweet, lets sell it as is!" Well 6 months into it we submitted it to GG and they said, "good start, check back in 6 more months". Although that was discouraging it was what we needed to hear. At the end of the summer of 2003 the team finally met in person. Funny thing is I felt like each member was an old friend by then. Time moved on, our need meet was at IGC 03 which was a great experience. I remember I wanted to talk with Tim Gift because he was on of the programmers on my favorite Dynamix title, which I had forgotten the name of. After some description he said "Battle Drone" I think both of us felt a bit nostalgic when we heard the title uttered.
IGC 03 was great, putting faces to names, and getting lots of feedback. The main word I heard most was Polish. For you future game makers, the key is, keep the game polished. When we hit the 1 year mark things were dragging team wise. Working on a project with all your free time without having money is a hard thing to do, especially when you loved ones keep questioning you. Lucky Adrian had the answer, free tickets to E3 (thanks Apple). Once we got that email, amazingly people started working again.
Lore EA was released about the time I got married. I think because Lore is such a community driven game releasing it as EA was the best for the product we got lots of feedback that would have been impossible to realize had we kept it in our own bubble. Time moved on till around fall of 2004. IGC 04 was creeping up, it seemed the more we improved the more issues we discovered. Luckily we had great support from GG and other members; I can't thank Ben G. enough for all the help he gave us. By IGC '04 I was privilege to be able to use the prototype of the Torque AI pack in Lore. I felt honored to help contribute and was most humbled when, upon returning, I was honored by being raised to Associate status.
Right before Christmas MGT was reinvigorated by placing in the top ten for the Independent Game Festival. At that point I felt that even if Lore doesn't make us millionaires it was an honor to be recognized.
We have just past the second year in development. Critical Subterfuge has changed a lot, hell it is Dark Horizons now (silly marketing). The bots are in not to mention we have multiple operating system support. Well things have finally come together all those loose ends have been tied up. We are about to release Lore Invasion so get ready. I do think it is a vast improvement since the initial release. If you played it then, please try the latest version before you write us off. If you think it is worthy Max Gaming would be honored if you would support us by voting for Lore at www.gamespot.com/igf
Thanks everyone, Support your Indies
For those who don't know me I am an Original VL2 (the ole skool name of Torque) user. I was first introduced into game development with Jedi Knight( Dark Forces 2) unfortunately my computer back then could not run the editor sufficiently and so I chose to abandon modding. After several years of "hard core gaming" I was poking around the Black and White forums, waiting for that game to be released when I started hearing a buzz about Tribes 2. Now I never was a Tribes player, but I decided to get the demo, and well fell in love with it. It was neat seeing such a unique game genre (now which has been over done since BF 1942 came along). Soon after Tribes 2 was released, and yes although there was lost of issues with the game, I thought it was "awesome". While surfing the various T2 forums I ran across threads referring to Garage Games. Now this was months before the engine was release to GG but I knew that T2 modding would be a great way to "get a leg" up on learning how game development works.
I had graduated with an Art History degree and had no real knowledge of Game development or Computer Science for that matter. I was able to get my brain around making levels but looking at scripts was a different matter. . .they might have been written in Greek. Anyway I knew I loved games, and I knew Art History was rewarding educationally but I never saw my self as a curator. It was after my girl friend at the time (now my wife) saw how fanatic I was about playing games (Zelda's Majora's Mask) that she said, "If you like it so much, why not do that?" I replied "really can I?" No one had ever said "make a game" but rather "stop playing those games" ( ahh parents). Any way I started with a "make games without programming book" although I never did anything spectacular with it I did learn a lot of things, like collision detection, that I had taken for granted. Soon after I thought well I can make art for games, I am trained in that. After several thousand pages of learning Photoshop, 3d Studio Max, Poser, Bryce, and anything else I thought would be useful I began experimenting with custom models.
By the summer of 2001 I began learning Javascript, TorqueScript, and audited some classes in C++. It is amazing how many students take Computer Science without having any idea what they wanted to do with it. Anyway, once GG had the engine it was all a matter of time till it would be released. I remember the day it was released. I didn't have enough money in the bank, but the good ole credit card got dusted off for the purchase.
The next year I was set on building "my game" it was a G.I Joe Tribes Clone game (didn't I just say that genre was over done), I figured by using G.I Joe it would cut down on the art research side, and it was for my own personal learning anyway. Well time went by and things evolved I remember posting shots of my first model (Cobra Commander) then my first wheeled vehicle (the Vamp). I was most discouraged by the outburst it caused. People don't want to see someone else IP being used, mark my words. That particular project was halted when I saw a BF1942 mod doing the same thing, and well they had a full team.
One thing I did learn from it was to think small, do one thing a week. Write out the algorithm on paper, then test it. I think this is the most important thing for new developers. Don't shoot your self in the foot by doing too much before you know "how" to do things.
Another thing that was useful was meeting people; let it be via the forums or via IRC. When I first encountered Ed Gardner, I had attempted to do some art for him. But let it be my crappy skills or that art is subjective, or that those DSQ files are a pain to set up, but I could never get anything I liked or would behave properly. This encounter would pay off immensely later though. It was the winter of 2003 when I met Adrian Wright, I had been making noise about some homing missile which he wanted to use. After repeated attempt to help Adrian I recommended that I just join his team to do what I could to fix the issue. Initially I joined his team to help with art, but soon became the C++ programmer. It was there I reencountered Ed G. again. Most of MGT were people like me, they tried to make a game "by them selves" and realize "I need a team".
The early days were great, I ported tons of code I had from "Yo Joe" to the Critical Subterfuge repo. I remember when we had our first sounds for missiles I thought "this is sweet, lets sell it as is!" Well 6 months into it we submitted it to GG and they said, "good start, check back in 6 more months". Although that was discouraging it was what we needed to hear. At the end of the summer of 2003 the team finally met in person. Funny thing is I felt like each member was an old friend by then. Time moved on, our need meet was at IGC 03 which was a great experience. I remember I wanted to talk with Tim Gift because he was on of the programmers on my favorite Dynamix title, which I had forgotten the name of. After some description he said "Battle Drone" I think both of us felt a bit nostalgic when we heard the title uttered.
IGC 03 was great, putting faces to names, and getting lots of feedback. The main word I heard most was Polish. For you future game makers, the key is, keep the game polished. When we hit the 1 year mark things were dragging team wise. Working on a project with all your free time without having money is a hard thing to do, especially when you loved ones keep questioning you. Lucky Adrian had the answer, free tickets to E3 (thanks Apple). Once we got that email, amazingly people started working again.
Lore EA was released about the time I got married. I think because Lore is such a community driven game releasing it as EA was the best for the product we got lots of feedback that would have been impossible to realize had we kept it in our own bubble. Time moved on till around fall of 2004. IGC 04 was creeping up, it seemed the more we improved the more issues we discovered. Luckily we had great support from GG and other members; I can't thank Ben G. enough for all the help he gave us. By IGC '04 I was privilege to be able to use the prototype of the Torque AI pack in Lore. I felt honored to help contribute and was most humbled when, upon returning, I was honored by being raised to Associate status.
Right before Christmas MGT was reinvigorated by placing in the top ten for the Independent Game Festival. At that point I felt that even if Lore doesn't make us millionaires it was an honor to be recognized.
We have just past the second year in development. Critical Subterfuge has changed a lot, hell it is Dark Horizons now (silly marketing). The bots are in not to mention we have multiple operating system support. Well things have finally come together all those loose ends have been tied up. We are about to release Lore Invasion so get ready. I do think it is a vast improvement since the initial release. If you played it then, please try the latest version before you write us off. If you think it is worthy Max Gaming would be honored if you would support us by voting for Lore at www.gamespot.com/igf
Thanks everyone, Support your Indies
About the author
#2
02/11/2005 (1:28 pm)
Its been 2 years already? WOW, IGC 2003 seems just like yesterday, and its unbelievable that with all the rollercoaster ride it is to be a indie, that the original team is not only still together but adding new members for what we look forward to being a successful future together.
#3
02/11/2005 (1:31 pm)
@Anthony - CS now DH: Lore Invasion its all good. Its a great community that just keeps growing together. The Lore play here at Desktop Summit has been awesome! We're about to start another tournament play... 
#4
Anthony, great read. It's been a long road for you guys, but all the work has got to be worth it. Publishing a game is awesome in and of itself, but having it nominated for highly competitive awards is just incredible. Once again, great job to all you guys.
02/11/2005 (1:55 pm)
*voted* Go Lore!Anthony, great read. It's been a long road for you guys, but all the work has got to be worth it. Publishing a game is awesome in and of itself, but having it nominated for highly competitive awards is just incredible. Once again, great job to all you guys.
Associate Logan Foster
perPixel Studios
Oh ya and Vote for Lore if you are reading this .plan, it takes no time out of your day to do so and you can in part help support Torque based games and this community!