Designer Notes 52: Roger Keating

In this episode, Bruce Geryk interviews veteran game developer Roger Keating, co-founder of Strategic Studies Group (SSG). Roger is best known for his work on the Warlord series as well as many digital wargames. They discuss what it was like to do pathfinding before A*, how SSG worked from home before it was cool, and how to determine who is a game designer.

Games discussed: Conflict, Operation Apocalypse, Reach for the Stars, Carriers at War, Europe Ablaze, Gold of the Americas, the Warlords series, Ardennes Offensive

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/roger-keating

This Old World

My next game, Old World, releases on Early Access tomorrow (May 5th) on the Epic Games Store. This might come as a bit of a surprise to some as we have not been discussing the game very often, but that is changing quickly! Old World is a 4X strategy game set in the Mediterranean during Classical Antiquity. Each turn is a year, and your leader is mortal and will eventually die – passing on the crown to the next in line.

I discuss the major new features here on the Mohawk blog: https://www.mohawkgames.com/2020/04/14/old-world-first-post/

For example, here is a description of the Orders system:

Orders are a resource used to issue commands across your nation. Instead of moving every unit every turn, as is traditional in 4X games, each unit can be moved as many times as desired, until the player runs out of Orders. There are many other ways to spend this resource: Combat, Construction, Events, Diplomacy, and so on. 

You can find more information on the game in these interviews:

  • Rock, Paper, Shotgun: In the end, after a few more hours of “one more turn” (it’s taken that much from Civ, at least), I could only conclude that Old World is entirely its own thing. And I like it very much.
  • PolygonThe build I’ve been playing is certainly not the finished article, but it’s engrossing and fun, and I love its attempt to bring more story elements to grand strategy.
  • PC GamerBut once I started amassing soldiers I would run out of orders without moving half my units, and realized how much more tactical I was going to have to be.
  • I also discussed the game with Dirk Knemeyer and David Heron on the latest Game Design Round Table podcast

Check out our game webpage, mohawkgames.com/oldworld, for more info and important links, including our press kit and Discord server.

We will be streaming Old World from the official Mohawk Games Twitch channel on release day starting at 10AM ET. Hope to see you there!

Dev Game Club on Civilization 3

I was a guest on the Dev Game Club Podcast, with Brett Douville and Tim Longo Jr., talking about the history of Civilization 3, which took me back a long time to my first full-time job in the industry. (Indeed, I believe I started at Firaxis exactly 20 years ago this month!) It was a great conversation, and we had a little bit of discussion on my next game, which is the first time I’m returning to historical 4X gaming since Civilization 4. Thus, I have a lot of thoughts about what ideas in Civilization 3 are still worth pursuing and which ones are (or perhaps should be) dead ends.

http://www.devgameclub.com/blog/2020/3/4/dgc-ep-201-bonus-interview-with-soren-johnson

Designer Notes 51: Michał Drozdowski and Przemysław Marszał

In this episode, Soren and Leyla Johnson interview Creative Director Michał Drozdowski and Art Director Przemysław Marszał of 11 Bit Studios, best known for their work on This War Of Mine and Frostpunk. They discuss why This War of Mine does not judge the player and why Frostpunk does.

Games discussed: Anomaly, Anomaly: Korea, Anomaly 2, Funky Smugglers, Sleepwalker’s Journey, This War of Mine, Frostpunk

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/michal-drozdowski-and-przemyslaw-marszal

Designer Notes 50: Alex Hutchinson

In this episode, Soren interviews game designer Alex Hutchinson, Creative Director at Typhoon Studios and best known for his work on Spore, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Far Cry 4. They discuss how they both would have screwed up SimCity, how working at Ubisoft is like Brewster’s Millions, and what happened with Spore.

Games discussed: Pepper 2, Sensible Soccer, SimCity, The Urbz, The Sims 2, Spore, Army of Two: The 40th Day, Assassin’s Creed 3, Far Cry 4, Journey to the Savage Planet

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/designer-notes-50-alex-hutchinson

Designer Notes 49: Adam Saltsman – Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews game developer Adam Saltsman, who co-founded indie publisher Finji and is best known for his work on Gravity Hook, Canabalt, Hundreds, Capsule, and Overland. They discuss how Mario speed runs are the original infinite runners, why Canabalt is in 6 shades of grey, and when does Permadeath make sense for a game.

Games discussed: Canabalt, Captain Forever, Jetpack Joyride, Alone, Hundreds, Portico, Overland, 868-HACK, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/adam-saltsman-part-2

Designer Notes 48: Adam Saltsman – Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews game developer Adam Saltsman, who co-founded indie publisher Finji and is best known for his work on Gravity Hook, Canabalt, Hundreds, Capsule, and Overland. They discuss how Cave Story showed him that he could make games on his own, why he thought he worked with the guy who invented Boggle, and his many failed attempts to join the video games industry.

Games discussed: Super Mario Bros. 2, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Cave Story, Tower Blocks, Boggle, Gravity Hook, ThrustBurst

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/adam-saltsman-part-1

Designer Notes 47: Brendon Chung – Part 2

In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Brendon Chung, best known for his work on Atom Zombie Smasher, Thirty Flights of Loving, and Quadrilateral Cowboy. They discuss why Xbox Live Indie Games didn’t take off, what exactly happens at the end of Atom Zombie Smasher, and how streaming game development made him work harder than ever before.

Games discussed: Flotilla, Air Forte, Atom Zombie Smasher, XCOM, Thirty Flights of Loving, Quadrilateral Cowboy, Cursor 10

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/brendon-chung-part-2

Designer Notes 46: Brendon Chung – Part 1

In this episode, Soren interviews independent game developer Brendon Chung, best known for his work on Atom Zombie Smasher, Thirty Flights of Loving, and Quadrilateral Cowboy. They discuss how to make an adventure game inside of Doom, why he won’t read text popups but will read the back of cereal boxes, and what does the ending of Gravity Bone mean.

Games discussed: Sierra Adventure Games, Doom, XCOM, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Planescape: Torment, Hexen 2, Strife, Thief, Company of Heroes, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Gravity Bone

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/brendon-chung-part-1