Demiurge Studios - Blog

Field Trip!!

2009-06-30T13:21:00.003-04:00

Last week, some kids from the East End House came to visit the studio. We showed off the more exciting aspects of game development through workshops, brainstorms, and demonstrations. We showed models in an editor, and then what they look like in game. They got some hands-on experience with art tablets - and some of them might have a future in that field!

During the game design brainstorm, the kids came up with the idea for a zombie game where chairs push you out of windows. And the only way a zombie can be cured is to be bitten by a baby (the only logical solution).

More pictures after the jump!

Up Close With Tom Lin

2009-06-15T16:14:00.002-04:00

Game Focus has yet another installment of Up Close With... and this time, it's Tom! This will be the last Up Close interview we have with GF (at least for now), but I think we've spilled enough beans to temporarily satisfy the masses.
Up Close With Tom Lin

Website Borked!

2009-06-12T14:03:00.010-04:00

Yesterday we discovered that our website was down for the count. Maybe Dan's German fanbase decided to all visit at the same time. The blog also apparently got swine flu. But it's all better now! Read More for our nice little chat with Earthlink tech support... Okay!!

[email addresses removed... sorry robots]

Welcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly. Feel free to begin typing your question.

'Kim M' says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?
Al: Out website has stopped working

Al: our website.

Kim M: Hello, I will assist you.

Kim M: Let me know the domain name.

Al: demiurgestudios.com

Kim M: Are you getting any error message while accessing web site?

Al: We are not, our pages all turned to blank white pages. For example, you can view http://www.demiurgestudios.com/

Al: and see it is just a blank page.

Kim M: Do you have the Index.html file for the Home page?

Al: It's index.php4

Al: But other pages aren't working either. For example: http://www.demiurgestudios.com/?allgames/

Al: that used to work

Al: and we didn't change anything.

Kim M: Okay.

Al: Okay!

[many minutes pass]

Al: Hello?

Kim M: Yes, I am with you.

Kim M: I see that the issue is at the server end.

Kim M: Let me provide you the direct number who can access the servers and fix the issue.

Kim M: 800-955-0186

Kim M: I am sure, once you contact the phone number, the issue will be fixed.

Al: We already tried calling that number and they were not able to help us.

Kim M: Okay.

Kim M: Not to worry, I will escalate the issue to our engineers.

Kim M: Please let me know your domain password and contact email address.

Al: my email address is XXXX

Al: I'm not sure what our "domain password" is. Which one is that?

Kim M: The password for Control Center.

Al: I think it is XXXX

Kim M: Thank you for the information.

Kim M: I have escalated the issue to our engineers.

Kim M: You will be contacted through your email address.

Kim M: I am sure, the issue will be fixed as soon as possible.

Al: This is very urgent. When will they be contacting us?

Kim M: I understand, I have set the high priority.

Kim M: Not to worry, the issue will be fixed.

Kim M: Is there anything else I may assist you with today?

Al: Okay!

Kim M: Thank you for understanding.

Kim M: I appreciate your patience.

Kim M: You're welcome and thank you for using EarthLink LiveChat. Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.

Kim M: Have a great day!!

Chat session has been ended by the agent.

Borderlands Announcement

2009-06-08T10:30:00.003-04:00

Tons of new Borderlands info was announced at E3 and in the June issue of PC Gamer magazine. Along with the new look, they announced the multiplayer versus portion of the game. Demiurge was responsible for initially developing this mode, creating a competitive experience within the Borderlands world.

Adding new features was a relatively fast process (we had a functional PvP mode within a week of starting the project!), but the biggest challenge was in the iterative and extremely nebulous process of "finding the fun." This consisted mostly of weapon and player balance and creating finely tuned greybox maps. Then, we played the hell out of them, gathered tons of feedback, and produced two polished arena maps. We even created a transition sequence from the co-op/single player game into the arena, with an elevator, an interactive lobby, and flashy mechanized weapon racks.

It was a great project to work on, and as fans of the game ourselves, we're eagerly anticipating the release!

We're Big In Japan

2009-05-29T11:29:00.002-04:00

The Japanese version of Mass Effect that we've been working on has finally hit the shelves!

Rest assured that Shepard is just as foxy in Japanese as (s)he was in English - and Japanese gamers seem to agree. It reached the number 3 spot in sales in Japan this week! Not to mention, Famitsu gave it a very respectable 34/40 review score. "うわっ！"

Official Site (if you can read it)
Kotaku (sales ranking)

Up Close With Chris Linder...

2009-05-28T10:31:00.003-04:00

GameFocus has an "Up Close" interview with another Demiurge-er. This time it's Chris who's spotlighted on the main page. Check out the interview to get more insight into another co-founder of Demiurge: Up Close with Chris Linder

Demi-Barber Shop

2009-05-26T15:39:00.004-04:00

It's Friday, about to be a three-day weekend. What do you do? Give your boss a mohawk, duh. This might be the start of a new tradition. We already have our annual Grow Your Christmoustache over winter break.

I wonder if his Xbox avatar reflects his new hairdo...

Click the "Read More" for more pictures of the metamorphosis.

Up Close With Albert Reed...

2009-05-15T10:24:00.008-04:00

GameFocus has been interviewing industry leaders in their "Up Close" features. Al's interview is spotlighted this week on the main page. He's got some sage advice for people breaking into the industry, as well as who to take if you're going on a space trip and can only take one video game character. There may even be a little teaser for a game we're cooking up.

Check it out! Up Close with Albert Reed

HADOUKEN!!!

2009-05-06T15:06:00.002-04:00

We got a Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike arcade machine! This classic game is a favorite among many demi-residents, but none speak its name with reverence quite like Tom. If you visit the studio, there's an extremely high chance you'll be challenged to a match.

Al Reed @ MIT BiG Conference

2009-05-04T10:31:00.009-04:00

This Friday, May 8, Al will be speaking at the 1st Annual MIT Sloan BiG (Business in Gaming) Conference. He'll be joined by industry leaders on the Digital Distribution Panel to discuss the recent push towards digitally distributed games and content. An excerpt from the official website explains the theme of this year's event:

"Marketing and Distribution in the Digital Age" explores the current evolution of the gaming industry as it is set to exceed those of both the music and movie industries. Now especially, when the economy is slowing down, we will examine innovative ways to market and distribute games cheaply but effectively through the digital media. - MIT BiG

A ___ of Zombies

2009-04-14T13:31:00.002-04:00

There's been an ongoing discussion as to what a group of zombies is called. The following sentence mysteriously appeared on a whiteboard: "A Flock of Birds, A ___ of Zombies?" Here's a little taste of what appeared below over the next week:

Horde
Gaggle
Shamble
Murder
Mob
Aargh
Fiesta
Boy Band
House of Representatives
Vin Diesel
Bridal Suite

...and the list gets more ridiculous. Click the picture to zoom in on the full brainstorm... no pun intended.

I challenge your honor!

2009-04-03T16:52:00.005-04:00

WordFu 1.1 update is live!

- Choose how many seconds a game lasts! Choose 30, 45, 60, 90 or 120 seconds in the Options screen.

- Challenge your friends to beat your scores via e-mail.

- Listen to your own music while playing.

We're listening to your feedback, and making changes to improve the game. Thanks for the support!

Pranked

2009-04-02T12:33:00.004-04:00

We've got a little tradition here at Demiurge - when you go away people mess with your stuff. Simple, annoying, fun for most. I came back from GDC to find my office re-decorated with old build burns from our latest project. Awesome.

WordFu Part 3 - Earning Your Black Belt

2009-03-30T14:20:00.001-04:00

Even in early stages WordFu was fun enough that people wanted to play it and talk about it. One of the most fun moments in the development process was during one of our weekly game nights, when we had six people all playing multiplayer WordFu at the same time. Folks were frantically shaking the devices, spelling, shouting and yelping, and the sound effects were going off constantly. It was Kung-Fu-alicious!

In addition to all of the fun we had, we also got a lot of good feedback about what worked, what didn't, and what people really liked about the experience. That's when we knew we had a gem on our hands.

WordFu has come a long way from our original discussions with ngmoco, improving every step of the way. It started life as a simple concept - "A game starts by prompting the player to shake their phone" – and has become ever so much more now for us. It's those little details, like Kung Fu sound effects, multiplayer madness and Shaolin Style that engage and challenge players and really made the game a memorable experience for us.

We hope you enjoy playing the game as much as we enjoyed making it. Now, go get started on your black belt, or even shoot for the title of WordFu Grand Master. Good luck!

Al Reed: Gamer Husband

2009-03-27T10:16:00.003-04:00

This week, Al Reed was a guest on the Gamer Husbands Radio podcast Episode 60.5. He talks about some of our past projects, and hints at some of the projects we've got up our sleeves at the moment. Appropriately, the Gamer Husbands also delve into Al's marital life, where Al talks about the types of games he and his wife play.

WordFu Part 2 – And With a Karate Chop…

2009-03-23T13:06:00.002-04:00

Usually, everyone agreed on a feature to add to the game. But sometimes, the process wasn't so smooth. In particular, one feature caused a debate to run for weeks. Apparently, some people feel very passionately about whether you should allow a player to use the same die twice in creating a word. For example, if you roll the dice and get the letters E, W, T, R, A, L, should you be able to use T twice and create the word 'rattle?'

Tempers ran high and compelling cases were made on both sides of the Great Duplicate Divide, so we ended up implementing a new option in the game entitled "Shaolin Style." In Shaolin Style, you can only use each die once per word. Everyone won – we settled the debate (at long last!) and you get the bonus feature of playing the game whichever way you want.

WordFu Part 1 – You Have Much to Learn, Grasshopper

2009-03-16T12:01:00.002-04:00

Welcome, to the first blog entry in a three-part series on WordFu!

Working on an iPhone game was a great, new opportunity for us, with some unexpected twists and turns. There we so many things we learned (and fun we had) that we decided to share some of the experience with you. Here goes…

We’d been talking with ngmoco, the master of awesome iPhone games, looking at a couple of different design ideas, when the idea for Word Fu crossed our collective desks. We said "This is the one!" and the project launched.

One of the features that we spent the most time on was the sound effects. How could we possibly call it "Word Fu" without that well-known "Heeee-ya!" sound and all of the other audio you associate with martial arts?! At Demiurge, we use an iterative approach to game design, allowing various employees to try out games in development and give new ideas that come from the experience (imagine something like internal focus groups). In addition to the hours put into audio, how words were scored, how time worked and the game’s tutorial were heavily influenced by this collaborative process.

Half the rank, twice as good

2009-03-05T12:13:00.001-05:00

We're closing the gap on world (well, iPod) domination. Word Fu is at #6.

#12!

2009-03-04T10:38:00.002-05:00

We're officially outselling all games involving the slaughter of kittens on the iTunes App Store. Having been out for less than a week, Word Fu hit #12 on the "Top Paid Apps" l ist.

Tom Lin "Semi-Featured" in Game Developer Mag

2009-03-02T11:57:00.005-05:00

Our very own Tom Lin has been semi-featured in Game Developer Magazine. Check out the February issue, page 12 to see him in all his glory. That's him in the front row on the right, sporting the professional-yet-casual Hawaiian shirt. We already know that Tom is an excellent listener, but now his attentive hands-in-lap pose is public knowledge.

We tried contacting Mr. Lin, but could only reach his representative, who had this to say: "Tom is proud to be semi-featured in such a reputable publication. I am sure he thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and paid attention to all of it, as evidenced by the photograph in question."

The article is a preview for GDC '09, which I should remind you will actually feature our own Al and Bill Reed when they give their presentation on "Stability in Stormy Weather." The session has been given an official time, on Wednesday, March 25, at 12PM.

WordFu Release!

2009-02-27T15:56:00.005-05:00

HIYAH! WordFu, for the iPhone and iPod touch has been released!

WordFu is a dice-based word game with some spicy Kung Fu action. Demiurge partnered with ngmoco to make WordFu. It isn't your standard word game - it has special power-up dice, high score leaderboards, WordFu Belts for achievements, and competitive WiFi multiplayer.

It was a blast to make, and is a blast to play! WordFu is now available in the Apple App Store, and for a limited time it’s only $0.99! It's already getting great reviews from critics, and currently has a 4.5 star rating in the App Store.

WordFu Official Site

Video in full post.

Demiurge is Hiring QA

2009-02-10T15:48:00.003-05:00

We're currently hiring for QA contractors. We've got a lot of slots open, so if you're a seasoned tester or just looking for a foot in the door to the industry, send us your resume. Please send your resume to jobs[at]demiurgestudios[dot]com

Mass Effect PC Awards

2009-01-02T16:41:00.004-05:00

2008 has been a great year in gaming, and we are happy to see that we helped make an impact with Mass Effect for the PC. Here's a list of awards Mass Effect PC received:

Metacritic - 6th Highest-Rated PC Game in 2008
GameSpy - 2008 Top 10 PC Games
G4 - 2008 Best Role-Playing Game
IGN - Best PC Story, Best PC Voice Acting, and nominations for Best PC Voice Acting and Best PC RPG
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences - Computer Game of the Year nomination (award to be announced February 19th)
Worth Playing - Top 5 PC Games

Happy New Year!

Emotiv's Inc. Magazine Cover Story

2009-01-02T14:03:00.005-05:00

Speaking of magazine mentions, Inc. Magazine's cover story for December 2008 features Emotiv. We are working with Emotiv to create a game that uses their EEG headset.

See the full article, Reality Bites, on the Inc. website.

Demiurge's GDC Session

2009-01-02T13:54:00.005-05:00

Bill and Al Reed will be giving a presentation at the Game Developers Conference, titled "Stability in Stormy Weather." It has been featured as a highlighted session in the Business and Management track. The session will discuss the strategies we use to help our studio remain stable while the industry around us is in a volatile state.

GDC is at the end of March, so be sure to check back for an update on the talk.