Blog for Adrian Wright at GarageGames.com

Lore Aftermath - back to our roots..

Adrian Wright — 2008-06-05T20:28:38+00:00

So the title of this post is a little huh? I am sure for people who don't know the Max Gaming team, but as a short history on a few of us here at Max Gaming before we got the developer bug I will take us back about 20 years :)

Myself and Ed both have spent roughly 20 years being mech fans, even to the point where I ran resource based leagues for MW2, MW3 and MW4 for well a long time :) Others on the team are also big mech fans (just not as old as we are).

When we first started down the road of starting Max Gaming to build multi-player PC games, our first project was Dark Horizons - Lore a persistent multi-player game which featured something we all loved, Mechs. This game at the time was a pure labor of love, something that 6 or 7 of us stuck together for 2 years to get to launch, and an additional 6 months to refine even farther as DH Lore: Invasion.

During that time period we were very focused on making the game ease of access, fast paced, something with a easy learning curve. And to that end as a NOOB!! developers I believe we did a outstanding job. we have built up a loyal set of base players, some which actively play, some of which actively are waiting on the next release, and some which have really become icons of that community.

With all that said, I always felt that we could have pushed it further towards our experiences in the mech genres, made it more simulation oriented but keep a relatively easy learning curve and fast paced action.

So after getting the nod to get a new version of Lore up on InstantAction.com I was determined to get "back to our roots" as mech game players.

In this new chapter in the Dark Horizons Universe, Lore: Aftermath we have went back and made some BIG changes.

Basic concepts of re-design

#1 - Make MAVs big hulking machines of destruction (check)

#2 - Customization is KEY!!!! (Let players individualize their MAVs with skins, insignias, decals, weapons)

#3 - Community (One of the strengths of the first Lore) Get the players input early and often (NOTE: we have been having players in a private testing for 3 months already)

#4 - Stick to what makes the game FUN!!!! (subject of beta app forum "I wanna blow things up")

Obviously there are more that went into making Aftermath, but these key 4 elements have been our driving force during development. All concepts that really have brought MGT as a company back to its roots.

Re-design of the Mechanized Assault Vehicle (more to come from Logan Foster from the art aspect)

In DH Lore: Invasion MAVS were small (about 6 meters tall or so), unmanned, remotely controlled machines of war. Very fast, especially for a Giant Robot and able to deliver some pretty decent firepower.

This was and still is a very cool concept, but in Aftermath we really wanted to get back to the roots on mech gaming the BFR (BIG GIANT ROBOT). Besides just being COOL, we wanted the player to connect more with their machine of war, and what better way of doing that, then putting the pilot back into the battlefield.

The MALICE assault chassis:

The other major change in the new retooled MAV is the level off customization a player has the ability to do. Of course we provide a myriad of pre-configed MAVs for those who just want to jump into battle, but for the tweaker in all of us Giant Robot fans we really have tried to make it easy.

Players can design the mav from chassis up able to pick engines, auxiliary equipment (jumpjets, turrets deployers etc..) a myriad of weaponry to a variety of base paints, unit insignias and decals.

Community

You can't have a online game that doesn't have a community, so one of the things I am really excited about is the integration with InstantAction.com. As a company who has built systems into our past games to help the community engage each other, I have great respect for what the folks working on InstantAction.com are providing us as a developer.

Another aspect of community that we really foster is getting players involved, finding out what they want, how they feel about gameplay and the group of private testers we currently have has been instrumental in helping us bring Aftermath home.

Wrapping it up

As I am horrid at doing blogs I feel I should wrap this one up, and save the more for another date. I invite anyone who is interested in finding more out about the game to head on over to www.loreaftermath.com We are still adding content, especially in the game info area, but please stop by, sign up on the forums and make yourself at home.

CALL FOR TESTERS!!! almost forgot, we are still accepting testers into the fold so head on over to www.loreaftermath.com and register yourself in the "I wanna blow things up" forum.

The little things... (Lore: Aftermath)

Adrian Wright — 2008-04-08T20:47:10+00:00

So as many of you know who make video games alot of features always end up on the "if we have time" list.
in our upcoming IA release Lore: Aftermath we have had many things that have went onto this list, but with a little extra time here during our closed beta (www.loreaftermath.com/phpBB3 if you are interested). we have had time to go back and put in a couple things that had been left on the cutting room floor.

One of the things I didn't like about the original game was the fact that my MAV got stopped by a tree, very frustrating to me. So in the new game with the MAVs about 3 times the size as the first game, we really didn't want little things like trees to be a issue. Unfortunately, because of time and budget considerations up front our decision was to have treeless environments :(

As this item was at the top of my list of "if we have time" items Tim (Tim Newel - senior programmer) made a need little modification to the fxshapereplicator so I could add blowmeups in mass:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDJqYW3zeAA

I don't post alot, but its the little things that get me geeked.

Lore: Invasion now FREE!!! and whats to come....

Adrian Wright — 2007-12-21T17:37:41+00:00

So I believe the original Dark Horizons Lore game was the 4th torque game released on GarageGames (if I am wrong sorry, but pretty sure I am right :). Originally launched in April 2004 and followed up with the major version patch to Lore: Invasion in 2005.

With something new on the horizon for the Lore franchise, Max Gaming in cooperation with GarageGames are now offering Lore: Invasion for FREE!! Yes that right, you can now play this persistent Mech shooter for FREE!! just goto the Lore: Invasion and you can download the game for FREE!!.

If you don't know much about Lore: Invasion you can read about its launch HERE. Also, you can visit the community site to get in the know of events and commnity support at www.darkhorizons-lore.com

Lore: Invasion 2.0.2 release image below:

With this change Max Gaming is proud to be turning over release of community generated patches to the Skunkworks mod team, who along with the Ambassadors core has keep the community going for the last year.

Even though Max Gaming is not actively working on updates Lore: Invasion , we will keep the login server up and running, along with the dedicated servers for a indefinite time frame.

So whats to come???

Max Gaming is currently working on a new release for the DH Lore franchise, retooling the gameplay that even the most diehard Lore and traditional mech fans will love.

Very soon (like maybe later today or Monday :)) We will post more information on the upcoming Lore sequel which will be coming in 2008.

Can a Indie make it? a little MGT history.

Adrian Wright — 2007-10-04T19:57:19+00:00

First, I just realized looking back at my last post, that I have not done a good job posting every month :)

So as I sit here getting ready to head out the IGC, WOOT!!!!! I have been reflecting on how our business continues to evolve as we grow, so I thought I would share a bit of our history with everyone.

For those who read this and don't know anything about Max Gaming, we were first incorporated in 1998 when we were doing backend systems for our Mechwarrior community sites and automated Leagues. Also at the time I was getting into 3d game modding with the Mechwarrior series and Shogo: Mobile Infantry.

In 2000/2001 myself and Ed Gardner (whom not only took part in my MW leagues, but was interesting in some V12 engine that we were all waiting to see :) ) start writing a design document for a game called Critical Subterfuge: Arena. A persistent Sci-fi FPS, with players creating characters and stables that battle in online leagues. This game was pitched to some relatively large publishers with one spending 4 months talking about the game with us until the "What else have you done in gaming" question came up.

After this rejection, Ed and I sat back and realized that we were going to have to make a game on our own, get it released so we could answer that question in the future :).

We then enter the "Lore" years of Max Gaming, years where most of us worked part time on making what we intended to be a quick project, and turned into a persistent fast paced Mech game, DH: Lore and followed by a re-release DH: Lore Invasion. Looking back, this is the game that helped build the foundation of where we are today.

Interesting dates in the Lore history:

DHL IGC Preview (October 2003)
Dark Horizons Lore release (April 7th 2004)
Dark Horizon lore version 1.1 (August 2004)
Dark Horizons Lore: Invasion (March 2005)
Lore IGF finalist (2006)
Dark Horizons Universe RPG release (April 2006)
IGF Compilation Disk May 2006
Lore on Gametap November 2006

During this time we also worked on another project close to mine and Logan Fosters heart:

Realm Wars 2 (This game was extremely fun to play at IGF 2005, and hey my difs definetly got a lot better from my early Lore work :) )

Realm Wars 2 (IGF 2005)

In the summer of 2006, we were offered a small contract gig to do Desert Gunner with Digital Fusion. This came to light based on the work we had done in torque with Lore and Realm Wars, and allowed our first 2 employees to go full time and get PAID!!!! (Logan and I had been full time with no pay for almost a year at one point in time)

Over the last year we have had the fortune to work on two released projects, one our own property.

Kachinko (December 2006)

And the other contract work we did in conjunction with our development partners at 21-6 productions:
Evolver Multiplayer (July 2007) for Tabula Digita

And soon we are completing work on another serious game:
Fire Fighter Safety (TBD)

Looking back over these last 5 years, i realized we have "shipped" 3 Lore sku's, a pen and paper RPG, 1 casual game, a arcade game (with PC version), a educational game, and soon another serious game. Not to toot our own horn, but WOW!!! We did it!!!

Though the last 2 years has been mostly contract work, which allowed us to go fulltime, I have to say that we are living the dream.

I wake up every morning, go to the office, and do something in the realm of making games for a living.
How much better can it get? Well looking forward into the next 12 months, it gets a lot better, getting back to working on our own games more, continuing to build our contracting business and some other stuff I can't yet talk about is shaping up to be what Ed and I set out to do 7 years ago :)

So what was the point to all this self love? Well recently I have been reading some posts that almost discourage indie's from following their dream, one even suggested that no studios had been successful from the GarageGames community. Well I am not positive how others judge success, but I think what we have done is a good start not to mention the pool of artists and coders that I know have made a living off contract work, and the following great indie studios:

21-6 Productions
Prairie Games
Pocketwatch Games
Plastic Games
Synapse Gaming

These are just a few that I happen to be able to rattle off, so if I missed you please don't take offense I just don't know everyone like I use to.

In conclusion, if you have a dream or desire to make a living as a indie developer working for yourself or a small indie company then I encourage you to do what it takes to get there. Even if the money isn't always great to start, at the end of the day its worth it.

The last year in review - post #2 (alot photos)

Adrian Wright — 2007-05-01T15:11:40+00:00

OK the most exciting thing outside of making games for a living, is that over the last month we have opened our office here in Aurora, Ohio. This is a big milestone for us as we have been clawing our way to getting here for such a long time, so I wanted to share the images of our first office with those working their way up also.

We have about 1/3 of the building right now, with room for about 6 employees. We have a option for another 300 square feet which if things continue to go well we may take up later this year.

Ouside the building:(yes that was the first of april and that is snow!!)

We have a couple of intern coming to spedn the summer with us, and my wife is wandering is this really the intern office :)

The previous tenant was kind enough to sell me most his furniture, unfortunately we had to move it:

Main office before:

Main office after:
(intern desk)

(Tim's desk)

(Sebastien's home away from home)

And last but not least I need a place to sit, and be able to close my door when the days are long.

The only pic i forgot to take was of the break room, which has a microwave, a few chairs, a 37 inch LCD and our Xbox 360 for those times when we just need to decompress.

Sorry there were so many images, but excitement here is overwhelming right now!!!!

I plan on making monthly posts again starting next month now that the last year of traveling all over has subsided. look forward to continuing to see the GG community grow and prosper.

The last year in review - post #1

Adrian Wright — 2007-05-01T14:47:34+00:00

Ok Max Gaming has been around making games for about 6 years now, but this month is the one year anniversary of the full team going full time, woot!!!!!

Over the last year and a half we switch to doing a good bit of contract work, joining forces with our long time friends at 21-6 on some very neat stuff.

In the last year we have added two key components to our staff, allowing us to take on more challenging and different ventures, and I would like to introduce these newer MGT staff:

Judd Pickell - Web and Java Programmer. Judd is currently working on something new for our Dark Horizons community which should go live here in the next couple of months, along with working on our next gen of persistent games. Judd joined us in January 2007.

Judd at his first GDC:

Tim Newel - Tim has stepped up and taken the Lead programming slot here at MGT. After working on various projects with Tim over the years, it was a no brainer for us to welcome him into the fold. Unfortunately for Tim the week he moved to Ohio from Tennessee this year we had a foot of SNOW!!!. Tim actually became a fulltime employee last June 2006 and has continued to add to the success of the company.

Tim at his new Desk:

I don't want to forget to mention our long time team members and employees so here we go:

Logan Foster- my creative counterpart and good friend over the years. Couldn't do it without him.
Ed Gardner - though still working part time on Biz Dev stuff, Ed will soon be consumed by the dark side of game development :)
Sebastien Bourgon - Has come a long way, knows torque in and out and is working along with Judd on somethine special for our DH: Lore Invasion community.
Matt Mittman - about to make the long drive to Ohio for the summer, Matt was the lead artist on our first contract gig Desert Gunner (Coin-op) and did a fabulous job.

Special mention goes to Nauris Krause who isn't a offical MGT employee but without his great work on projects like Kachinko, Evolver and a couple I can't yet mention, we would not have gotten such great 2D art.

Going to break this post up into two, so I don't bog down this post with a bunch of pics. checkout the next post with pics of our new digs.

Click Here

Dark Horizons RPG Release

Adrian Wright — 2006-03-31T20:53:20+00:00

Before the GDC rush, I announced the Dark Horizons Universe was about to be released, well here are the final covers, which sandwich a final 172 pages of DHU goodness.

Front:

Back:

I think I know for sure the release date, and will post a followup with it, but looks like early next week through http://www.rpgnow.com , with miniatures available for order in the next 2 weeks.

A new Era in Sci-fi RPG

Adrian Wright — 2006-03-12T21:55:32+00:00

What seems to be a long time ago, in the basement of my first house, I started putting down some notes on a Sci-fi Universe that I wanted to build a MUD around (my calling back in those days).

Over the last 4 years MGT has not only been working on developing this universe as a electronic gaming universe, but also working on bringing the Universe to the traditional RPG channel. Well finally I am proud to say that the RPG team has brought together a solid core book for the Dark Horizons Universe Campaign setting.

Currently based on the D20 open gaming license, the core book brings my once 10 page outline to a new level of existence. I would like to thank the RPG project team lead by Brian Hammack and Ed Gardner for all the time and love they have put into this product.

Also special thanks to all the contributors, play testers and Artist whom have worked on this project over the last 4 years. Its truely taking our Dark Horizons IP to a new level.

The release date will be announced soon, starting with the electronically avialable download version, Print on Demand, and then the traditional retail channel. Look for annoucements in the next couple weeks...

The little things...

Adrian Wright — 2006-02-27T14:28:14+00:00

Its been awhile since my last post, as I am mostly really busy with working my 40 hour a week day job, and then leading development of multiple game projects in the evenings and weekends.

But every once and awhile something happens that I really would like to share with those of you in similar situations, cause I have found over the last few years that the little things that happen can have a big impact on me, and help refresh me from time to time.

So here is a little story :)

I have had the opportunity on several occasions now to see MGT's game Lore: Invasion played in person, and I thought there was no greater joy then seeing the mayhem and excitement on players faces when it came to game development. But I was wrong.

Currently, we are working on a couple casual games, something that is new to us as we are all diehard hardcore gamers, and it has been very difficult for me to guage what we are doing along the way. But last week, I think I realized that something was going right.

After a long day doing design work on a business application, I came home, sat down on the couch to relax. My wife, daughter and youngest son were there with me watching "Danny Phantom", yes I am 35 and still enjoy watching cartoons with my kids :). My oldest son (5) was upstairs, supposedly playing in his room.

The next thing I know I faintly start hearing one of my games playing in the background noise upstairs in my office, so I thought I must have left the dang menu screen running. Well i figured i might as well go up and get back to work, so up the stairs I went.

When I got to the door to my office, the lights were out, and there sitting in front of my computer was my 5 year old son playing a game that we have been working on since before IGC. He wasn't very good at the game, but he obviously was really enjoying the visuals, the sounds (as he kept giggling and laughing when certain things happened), and beleive it or not, he actually got the gameplay to a point that he knew he had to match thing, knew when he was about to loose.

I stood in the doorway for about a half an hour watching him play for a few minutes, loose, startover and just keep playing and really him just having fun playing something that I have made.

I have seen my wife play, seen other people play, and watched how they have enjoyed playing this game, enjoyed watching people at LoreCON 2005 play a game I have great passion for, and yet I don't think those events (though very important to me) have impacted me as much as seeing my son so enjoying something I have created.

I share this, cause sometimes we all need inspiration and sometimes without looking for inspiration it comes to us, even in the smallest packages :)

Friday Aug 26 14:01

Adrian Wright — 2005-08-26T14:01:52+00:00

I have been doing a lot of reflection this year as Max Gaming goes through some growing pains and we look at where we are going into the future. One of the things I think we all struggle with from time to time is how we measure success.

I didn't just want to start making games just to make money, I started on this journey because I wanted to make games that would be fun for people to play. Yes, at the end of it all, it is about how many units did you sell and how much revenue have you generated, can we make money off doing this full time, etc..., but is that solely how we measure success as a Indie starting out in the industry?.

Well, at one time this year I would have said yes to that question. With the pressures of paying bills, working a full time job during the day, where I manage a lLarge IT organization, and then the extra 40 hours or so a week I put into working on gaming projects, I started to wonder: is this really worth it? Will we ever make it over that hump like ours peers Bravetree and 21-6 have?

As I went down this path of questioning if I should continue this career path seeing the relatively steady income of DH: Lore being consumed by the costs of running all the servers and other costs of supporting the game, the players reminded me why Max Gaming is and will succeed as a game developer.

A few months ago, the players came to me with an idea for a gathering they wanted to have, asking for our support. At first it was going to be just a few friends getting together on a LAN to play Lore. Then it turned into what became LoreCON 2005, which was not just a gathering of local friends, but a event that involved core Lore fans and many others who have come to play the game.

www.quadrebelforce.com/ImprovedQRF/gallery/lorecon/IMG0017.jpg

As this built up, and as Max Gaming looked at going into the future of our gaming projects, it made me realize, that even though we haven't reach the point where we can all quit our "day" jobs, move into a office and just concentrate on putting out game products, we have started down the road to success.

Believe me, you know you have done something special, when the players whom your game has touched put up the funds, make all the plans for a gathering centered around your product. I know that what keeps me doing what I want to do with gaming, is not the money, its not seeing Lore in magazines and gaming sites getting good reviews (even though that is always a huge moral boost), it's the fans, plain and simple.

www.quadrebelforce.com/ImprovedQRF/gallery/lorecon/IMG0032.jpg

So with that said, look for myself and Max Gaming to be around as long as there are people who enjoy our products, cause there is no greater intrinsic value, then watching a room full of players enjoying your game. For me that is what it is all about.

While I am at it, I would like to thank the players who planned, setup and funded LoreCON 2005, it was a excellent event and one of the best rewards I think I will ever have as a developer.