Online Game Pioneers at Work

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Online Game Pioneers at Work apress.com Morgan Ramsay Online Game Pioneers at Work Learn from the experiences of the founders of successful game companies. From taking risk to devoting their lives to their vision these founders recount their experiences in leading their companies to success in one of the world's most innovative and therefore brutal markets. In this groundbreaking collection of 15 interviews, successful founders of entertainment software companies reflect on their challenges and how they survived. You will learn of the strategies, the sacrifices, the long hours, the commitment, and the dedication to quality that led to their successes but also of the toll that this incredibly competitive market has on even its most brilliant minds. For the hundreds of thousands of game developers out there, this is a must read survival guide. For those who simply enjoy games and know of some of these founders, this will be a most interesting read. Sales of video games, hardware, and accessories reach upwards of $20 billion every year in the United States alone, and more than two-thirds 1st ed., XIV, 412 p. 17 illus. of American households include video games in their daily lives. In a world that seems to be overflowing with fortune and success, the vicious truth of this booming industry is easily Printed book forgotten: failure is tradition. Video games define a cultural crossroad where business, Softcover entertainment, and technology converge, where the risks are great, cutting edge technology is 18,95 € | £39.50 | $24.99 vitally important and competition is intense. Here are the stories of survival from many of the [1]20,28 € (D) | 20,85 € (A) | CHF industries luminaries who founded companies, created industries in their home countries, took 25,52 amazing risks, innovated technologies, and invented new ways to sell. Among this outstanding group of pioneers are Richard Garriott, founder of Origin, astronaut, and the producer of the eBook revolutionary Ultima Online, John Romero of Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake fame, and Victor 16,04 € | £30.99 | $19.99 Kislyi whose World of Tanks set the Guinness world record for the most people online at once [2]16,04 € (D) | 16,04 € (A) | CHF with over 1.1 million people playing). You will read their stories and you will gain an 20,00 understanding of how they managed in such a demanding business.There are a few game Available from your library or development companies that have withstood the test of time; most startups exit as quickly as springer.com/shop they enter the scene. MyCopy [3] Printed eBook for just € | $ 24.99 springer.com/mycopy Error[en_EN | Export.Bookseller. MediumType | SE] Order online at springer.com / or for the Americas call (toll free) 1-800-SPRINGER / or email us at: [email protected]. / For outside the Americas call +49 (0) 6221-345-4301 / or email us at: [email protected]. The first € price and the £ and $ price are net prices, subject to local VAT. Prices indicated with [1] include VAT for books; the €(D) includes 7% for Germany, the €(A) includes 10% for Austria. Prices indicated with [2] include VAT for electronic products; 19% for Germany, 20% for Austria. All prices exclusive of carriage charges. Prices and other details are subject to change without notice. All errors and omissions excepted. [3] No discount for MyCopy. Part of .
Recommended publications
  • Theescapist 055.Pdf
    in line and everything will be just fine. two articles I fired up Noctis to see the Which, frankly, is about how many of us insanity for myself. That is the loneliest think to this day. With the exception of a game I’ve ever played. For those of you who fell asleep during very brave few. the classical mythology portion of your In response to “Development in a - Danjo Olivaw higher education, the stories all go like In this issue of The Escapist, we take a Vacuum” from The Escapist Forum: this: Some guy decides he no longer look at the stories of a few, brave souls As for the fact that thier isolation has In response to “Footprints in needs the gods, sets off to prove as in the game industry who, for better or been a benefit to them rather than a Moondust” from The Escapist Forum: much and promptly gets smacked down. worse, decided that they, too, were hindrance, that’s what I discussed with I’d just like to say this was a fantastic destined to make their dreams a reality. Oveur (Nathan Richardsson) while in article. I think I’ll have to read Olaf Prometheus, Sisyphus, Icarus, Odysseus, Some actually succeeded, while others Vegas earlier this year at the EVE the stories are full of men who, for crashed and burned. We in the game Gathering. The fact that Iceland is such whatever reason, believed that they industry may not have jealous, angry small country, with a very unique culture were not bound by the normal gods against which to struggle, but and the fact that most of the early CCP constraints of mortality.
    [Show full text]
  • Quake Manual
    The Story QUAKE Background: You get the phone call at 4 a.m. By 5:30 you're in the secret installation. The commander explains tersely, "It's about the Slipgate device. Once we perfect these, we'll be able to use them to transport people and cargo from one place to another instantly. "An enemy codenamed Quake, is using his own slipgates to insert death squads inside our bases to kill, steal, and kidnap. "The hell of it is we have no idea where he's from. Our top scientists think Quake's not from Earth, but another dimension. They say Quake's preparing to unleash his real army, whatever that is. "You're our best man. This is Operation Counterstrike and you're in charge. Find Quake, and stop him ... or it ... You have full authority to requisition anything you need. If the eggheads are right, all our lives are expendable." Prelude to Destruction: While scouting the neighborhood, you hear shots back at the base. Damn, that Quake bastard works fast! He heard about Operation Counterstrike, and hit first. Racing back, you see the place is overrun. You are almost certainly the only survivor. Operation Counterstrike is over. Except for you. You know that the heart of the installation holds a slipgate. Since Quake's killers came through, it is still set to his dimension. You can use it to get loose in his hometown. Maybe you can get to the asshole personally. You pump a round into your shotgun, and get moving. System Requirements General Quake System Requirements IBM PC and Compatible Computers Pentium 75 MHz processor or better (absolutely must have a Math Co-Processor!) VGA Compatible Display or better Windows 95 Operation: 16MB RAM minimum, 24MB+ recommended CD-ROM drive required Hard Drive Space Needed: 80 MB Specialized Requirements For WinQuake (WINQUAKE.EXE): Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 For GLQuake (GLQUAKE.EXE): Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 Open GL Compatible Video Card GLQUAKE supports most 100% fully OpenGL compliant 3D accelerator cards.
    [Show full text]
  • High-Performance Play: the Making of Machinima
    High-Performance Play: The Making of Machinima Henry Lowood Stanford University <DRAFT. Do not cite or distribute. To appear in: Videogames and Art: Intersections and Interactions, Andy Clarke and Grethe Mitchell (eds.), Intellect Books (UK), 2005. Please contact author, [email protected], for permission.> Abstract: Machinima is the making of animated movies in real time through the use of computer game technology. The projects that launched machinima embedded gameplay in practices of performance, spectatorship, subversion, modification, and community. This article is concerned primarily with the earliest machinima projects. In this phase, DOOM and especially Quake movie makers created practices of game performance and high-performance technology that yielded a new medium for linear storytelling and artistic expression. My aim is not to answer the question, “are games art?”, but to suggest that game-based performance practices will influence work in artistic and narrative media. Biography: Henry Lowood is Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections at Stanford University and co-Principal Investigator for the How They Got Game Project in the Stanford Humanities Laboratory. A historian of science and technology, he teaches Stanford’s annual course on the history of computer game design. With the collaboration of the Internet Archive and the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences, he is currently working on a project to develop The Machinima Archive, a permanent repository to document the history of Machinima moviemaking. A body of research on the social and cultural impacts of interactive entertainment is gradually replacing the dismissal of computer games and videogames as mindless amusement for young boys. There are many good reasons for taking computer games1 seriously.
    [Show full text]
  • Masters of Doom How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner
    Masters of Doom How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner You're readind a preview Masters of Doom How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture book. To get able to download Masters of Doom How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture you need to fill in the form and provide your personal information. Book available on iOS, Android, PC & Mac. Unlimited ebooks*. Accessible on all your screens. *Please Note: We cannot guarantee that every ebook is in the library. But if You are still not sure with the service, you can choose FREE Trial service. Book File Details: Review: If you like Doom and/or Quake, you need to read this book. It details the lives and stories of John Carmack and John Romero, two guys who took a dominating stranglehold on the early PC game market and didnt let go. This book is incredibly detailed and you can tell that is was meticulously researched, with firsthand accounts from both Romero and Carmack,... Original title: Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture 368 pages Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (May 11, 2004) Language: English ISBN-10: 9780812972153 ISBN-13: 978-0812972153 ASIN: 0812972155 Product Dimensions:5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches File Format: PDF File Size: 16124 kB Book File Tags: john carmack pdf, masters of doom pdf, john romero pdf, video games pdf, doom and quake pdf, video game pdf, must read pdf, well written pdf, david kushner pdf, commander keen pdf, carmack and romero pdf, wolfenstein 3d and doom pdf, ion storm pdf, gaming industry pdf, highly recommend pdf, carmack and john pdf, great read pdf, behind the scenes pdf, game development pdf, person shooter Description: Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero.
    [Show full text]
  • 20년 간의 변천사: Scott Miller와 3D Realms (20 Years of Evolution
    ※ 본 아티클은 CMP MEDIA LLC와의 라이선스 계약에 의해 국문으로 제공됩 니다 20년 간의 변천사: Scott Miller와 3D Realms (20 Years Of Evolution Scott Miller And 3D) Benj Edwards 2009. 8. 21 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4169/kill_polygon_kill_violence_.php Scott Miller 는 PC 게임 업계의 역사에서 당대에 제대로 평가 받지 못한 인물이다. 그의 소프트웨어 출판에 대한 혁신적인 아이디어로 인해 셰어웨어 PC 게임 비즈니스가 장래성 없는 일에서 높은 수익을 올릴 수 있는 사업을 급격히 전환되었다. 이러한 와중에 그의 회사는 해당 분야에서 다양한 개혁을 추진했다. Scott Miller 는 아직까지 PC 게임의 선조 중의 하나로 거론되고 있지는 않으나 일반 대중들 사이에서는 가장 인기 있는 인물로 자리매김하고 있다. 1980 년 초반 새로운 부류의 게임 제작자가 등장했다. 그들은 제품을 셰어웨어로 무료로 유통시키며 전체 게임의 복사를 허용하고 그 대신 플레이 한 게임이 마음에 드는 경우 비용을 지불하도록 했다. 유감스럽게도, 이러한 용기 있는 제작자를 위하여 게임료를 지불하는 사람은 거의 없었다. Miller 는 이 시스템의 주요 결함을 발견했고 그의 셰어웨어 회사명에 따라 이름을 붙인 "Apogee Model"을 만들었다(게임을 다양한 부분으로 나눔). Apogee 는 각 게임의 첫 번째 에피소드를 무료 데모버전으로 배포하였으며, 게임이 마음에 드는 경우 회사에서 추가적으로 에피소드를 구입할 수 있도록 했다. 이 모델은 상당히 성공적인 것으로 입증되었고 Epic MegaGames(현재 Epic Games로 개칭)와 같은 유통업체는 이 모델을 자체 비즈니스에 적용하기 시작했다(자세한 내용은 Epic 설립자인 Tim Sweeney와의 초기 인터뷰에 나와 있음). 밀러는 인터넷이 주류를 이루기 전 디지털 유통 방식을 활용하여 성공적으로 게임을 배포하게 되었다. 일단 Miller 가 게임을 배포하면 Apogee 타이틀은 열광적인 팬이나 다름 없는 플레이어들의 성원에 힘입어 CompuServe 등의 온라인 서비스와 BBS 를 통해 바이러스처럼 급속히 퍼져 나갔다. 현재의 웹 중심 세계에서는 이러한 상황이 별로 대단해 보이지는 않겠지만 그 당시로서는 상당히 혁신적인 것이었다.
    [Show full text]
  • A Doom Legendája Hogyan Változtatta Meg John Carmack És John Romero a Világot
    A Doom legendája Hogyan változtatta meg John Carmack és John Romero a világot David Kushner 2012. szeptember 10. 2 Tartalomjegyzék I. A kezdet 5 1. A Rocksztár 9 2. A Rakétamérnök 19 3. Dangerous Dave minden szerzői jogot megsért 27 4. Pizzapénz 43 5. Jobb, mint a való élet 57 6. Zöld és dühös 65 7. Spear of Destiny 77 8. Démonidézés 89 9. A legkirályabb játék 101 II. Külön utakon 111 10.A doom-generáció 113 11.Rengések 129 12.Az Ítélet Napja 141 13.Deathmatch 159 14.Silicon Alamo 173 15.Egyenesen a pokolból 185 16.Virtuális világok 197 3 4 TARTALOMJEGYZÉK I. rész A kezdet 5 Bevezetés: A Két John Két játék létezett. Az egyiket az életben játszották, a másikat játszva élték. Alapvetően már a két szó sem fér meg egymással, ahogy a két John sem. Egy áprilisi délutánon történt 2000-ben, Dallas belvárosának legmélyén. Az összejö- vetel oka egy százezer dollár összdíjazású bajnokság volt a Quake 3 Aréna nevű számítógépes játékban. A versenyt a számítógépes rendezvények legnagyobb le- bonyolítójává vált Cyberatléták Profi Ligájának szervezésében rendezték meg, és HSG-alapú (Hozd a Saját Géped) összejövetel volt. Több száz számítógé- pet kötöttek össze hetvenkét órányi megállás nélküli játékra a Hyatt dallasi felhőkarcolójának alagsorában. Az érdeklődők hatalmas kivetítőn folyamatosan nyomon követhették az éppen zajló izgalmasabb mécseseket és az ide-oda szálló rakétákat. Szivart rágcsáló tengerészgyalogosok, hatalmas mellbőségű női har- cosok és elmebeteg, vértől mocskos bohócok irtották egymást rakétavetőkkel és plazmafegyverekkel. A cél egyszerű volt: a legtöbbet gyilkoló játékos győz! A versenyen résztvevő hardcore játékosokat a távolság sem riaszthatta el.
    [Show full text]
  • John Carmack Archive - Interviews
    John Carmack Archive - Interviews http://www.team5150.com/~andrew/carmack August 2, 2008 Contents 1 John Carmack Interview5 2 John Carmack - The Boot Interview 12 2.1 Page 1............................... 13 2.2 Page 2............................... 14 2.3 Page 3............................... 16 2.4 Page 4............................... 18 2.5 Page 5............................... 21 2.6 Page 6............................... 22 2.7 Page 7............................... 24 2.8 Page 8............................... 25 3 John Carmack - The Boot Interview (Outtakes) 28 4 John Carmack (of id Software) interview 48 5 Interview with John Carmack 59 6 Carmack Q&A on Q3A changes 67 1 John Carmack Archive 2 Interviews 7 Carmack responds to FS Suggestions 70 8 Slashdot asks, John Carmack Answers 74 9 John Carmack Interview 86 9.1 The Man Behind the Phenomenon.............. 87 9.2 Carmack on Money....................... 89 9.3 Focus and Inspiration...................... 90 9.4 Epiphanies............................ 92 9.5 On Open Source......................... 94 9.6 More on Linux.......................... 95 9.7 Carmack the Student...................... 97 9.8 Quake and Simplicity...................... 98 9.9 The Next id Game........................ 100 9.10 On the Gaming Industry.................... 101 9.11 id is not a publisher....................... 103 9.12 The Trinity Thing........................ 105 9.13 Voxels and Curves........................ 106 9.14 Looking at the Competition.................. 108 9.15 Carmack’s Research......................
    [Show full text]
  • Daikatana: John Romeros Official Strategies & Secrets Pdf Free
    DAIKATANA: JOHN ROMEROS OFFICIAL STRATEGIES & SECRETS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK John Romero | 192 pages | 30 Dec 1999 | John Wiley & Sons Inc | 9780782122060 | English | New York, United States Daikatana: John Romeros Official Strategies & Secrets PDF Book The options listed represent only a sampling of the dozens of choices managers might make. The top executives used to sit in a separate section, the physical space between them and the rest of the room fraught with symbolism. When Doom was still the talk of the town, and most publishers were trying to get into the first-person shooter game, Ion Storm's Daikatana was hyped up to be the next big thing for the genre. Private messages My forums Cheat book Go to control panel. This is where you come in. Their talent and expertise, including engineering, pricing, and manufacturing, were parceled out to the new business units, which could now design their own products, develop their own manufacturing processes and schedules, and set their own prices. Part of the reason he can do this at all is that Doom, remarkably, is still at the core of an active community of modders, speedrunners, and other fanatics. His quest to imbue the sword with the magicof time travel had led him to this cliff to this ultimate sacrifice. You are faced with dozens of levers you could conceivably pull if you had unlimited time and resources. Doom era Elizabeth Powers elizabeth. This page contains Daikatana cheats list for PC version. Move to existing folder. Popular Content. In August , in a Super Joystiq Podcast at Gamescom Romero announced that he was about to make a new shooter, stating that he was working with a concept artist and he had some cool imagery for the main character.
    [Show full text]
  • Paradigm Shift: How the Evolution of Two Generations of Home
    PARADIGM SHIFT: HOW THE EVOLUTION OF TWO GENERATIONS OF HOME CONSOLES, ARCADES, AND COMPUTERS INFLUENCED AMERICAN CULTURE, 1985-1995 By Jason Terence Wiley A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY University of Central Oklahoma Spring, 2016 iii Abstract Author: Jason Terence Wiley Thesis Chair: Dr. Patricia Loughlin Title of Thesis: Paradigm Shift: How the Evolution of Two Generations of Home Consoles, Arcades, and Computers Influenced American Culture, 1985-1995 Abstract: As of 2016, unlike many popular media forms found here in the United States, video games possess a unique influence, one that gained its own a large widespread appeal, but also its own distinct cultural identity created by millions of fans both here stateside and across the planet. Yet, despite its significant contributions, outside of the gaming’s arcade golden age of the early 1980s, the history of gaming post Atari shock goes rather unrepresented as many historians simply refuse to discuss the topic for trivial reasons thus leaving a rather noticeable gap within the overall history. One such important aspect not covered by the majority of the scholarship and the primary focus of thesis argues that the history of early modern video games in the North American market did not originate during the age of Atari in the 1970s and early 1980s. Instead, the real genesis of today’s market and popular gaming culture began with the creation and establishment of the third and fourth generation of video games, which firmly solidified gaming as both a multi-billion dollar industry and as an accepted form of entertainment in the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • © Copyright to This Document Belongs to Lam Game Engines: You Can Find
    © Copyright to this document belongs to Lam Game Engines: You can find alot of Mods from moddb.com, which uses these engines. Some of the games that you see there would be either completly different from what the engine was intended to do, whilst the others uses the templates that the engine have provided. Valve Source Engine The Valve Corporation was founded in 1994 and was based in Bellevue, Washington, U.S. and the Source SDK is one of the most popular choice for making mods so far (if you do no not believe me then you got to go to http://www.moddb.com/games/half-life-2/mods since there are loads of modded games created with Half life 2’s source software development kit) The engine ran a fast, reliable and flexible technology to render out intensive gaming using many of the following features: Direct3D (rendering on Windows 95 and above, Xbox and the Xbox 360) OpenGL (rendering on Mac OS X and the PS3) HDR (high dynamic rendering) the HDR was only introduced on Half Life’s add on of Lost Coast and not on the Half Life 2 single player game Facial animation system with a auto generate lip sync function (faceposer) Source codes for people who want to mod the game Blended Skeletal animation system A model viewer to see what you character would look like in different shaders A material system to put bump maps, textures etc. And a lot more. If you want to find all the information about the features for the Source Engine look at this page to see the full content of what it has to offer: © Copyright to this document belongs to Lam http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Source_Engine_Features Vindictus using valve’s Source engine: Vindictus is an online MMORPG that will be released really soon this year (2010) and is developed by Nexon who also create Maplestory and combat Arms.
    [Show full text]
  • Ebook Download Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire
    MASTERS OF DOOM: HOW TWO GUYS CREATED AN EMPIRE AND TRANSFORMED POP CULTURE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK David Kushner | 352 pages | 27 May 2004 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9780749924898 | English | London, United Kingdom Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture PDF Book More Fun Than Real Life. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to produce the most notoriously succ Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Romero apparently had a hard time committing to any one game for any length of time, preferring to chat to the press and wallow in the benefits of riches. Doom franchise. See 2 questions about Masters of Doom…. It also shows the ravages of arrogance on business and how letting ego come into play can destroy friendships and companies. Full Review Doom along with a few other games defined my childhood and shaped my future in a way than the Nintendo games I played before them never quite did. Other books like this one? This one for me was a real sentimental travel to the 90's and a story of people who developed the game of my youth - Quake. It's kind of stunning that even someone as sympathetic and breathlessly ready to take the Johns at their words in every situation as Kushner can't even begin to make John Romero and John Carmack appear remotely likeable. All they wanted was to create great games that they wish existed plus eating pizza and someday driving Ferrari's.
    [Show full text]
  • Id As Super-Ego: the Creation of Duke Nukem 3D
    id as Super-Ego: The Creation of Duke Nukem 3D “What do you think of Quake and its legacy in the history of the game industry?” Ken Silverman: “It’s a huge influence—especially to 3D Realms.” Rene Patnode March 22, 2001 Today’s Games Just Ain’t Right There is absolutely no doubt that id Software’s Doom is the most prominent game created during the period of the first generation of first-person shooters; it more or less defined the genre. There were precursors, of course—Origin’s Ultima Underworld was the first mass-market game to use a first-person three-dimensional perspective and id’s own Wolfenstein 3-D was very popular in its own right. However no other “FPS” game and, more generally, few games in the other genres have had the cultural impact of Doom, then or now. Every FPS game created today, no matter how technologically advanced it is, must bear the weight of being compared to Doom and few games measure up. Everybody looks upon his memories of Doom with nostalgia, and, much like the fact that today’s kids just ain’t right, today’s games just ain’t right. It is no surprise therefore that id Software enjoys a privileged position in the game industry. Every id game since Doom has been on the bestseller list. In fact, the talented few who are allowed to join the ranks of id become gods to the gaming world; in a very real way, they are worshipped. Indeed, id fans frequently refer to John Carmack, lead programmer and one of the founders of id, not as John or Mr.
    [Show full text]