Game Developer Magazine
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>> INSIDE: 2007 AUSTIN GDC SHOW PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 2007 THE LEADING GAME INDUSTRY MAGAZINE >>SAVE EARLY, SAVE OFTEN >>THE WILL TO FIGHT >>EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MAKING SAVE SYSTEMS FOR CHANGING GAME STATES HARVEY SMITH ON PLAYERS, NOT DESIGNERS IN PANDEMIC’S SABOTEUR POLITICS IN GAMES POSTMORTEM: PUZZLEINFINITE INTERACTIVE’S QUEST DISPLAY UNTIL OCTOBER 11, 2007 Using Autodeskodesk® HumanIK® middle-middle- Autodesk® ware, Ubisoftoft MotionBuilder™ grounded ththee software enabled assassin inn his In Assassin’s Creed, th the assassin to 12 centuryy boots Ubisoft used and his run-time-time ® ® fl uidly jump Autodesk 3ds Max environment.nt. software to create from rooftops to a hero character so cobblestone real you can almost streets with ease. feel the coarseness of his tunic. HOW UBISOFT GAVE AN ASSASSIN HIS SOUL. autodesk.com/Games IImmagge cocouru tteesyy of Ubiisofft Autodesk, MotionBuilder, HumanIK and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. []CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2007 VOLUME 14, NUMBER 8 FEATURES 7 SAVING THE DAY: SAVE SYSTEMS IN GAMES Games are designed by designers, naturally, but they’re not designed for designers. Save systems that intentionally limit the pick up and drop enjoyment of a game unnecessarily mar the player’s experience. This case study of save systems sheds some light on what could be done better. By David Sirlin 13 SABOTEUR: THE WILL TO FIGHT 7 Pandemic’s upcoming title SABOTEUR uses dynamic color changes—from vibrant and full, to black and white film noir—to indicate the state of allied resistance in-game. It’s art as gameplay feature in this unique look at the design and technical challenges of an in- 42 progress high profile title. 13 By Christopher M. Hunt and Thomas French 33 THE SUBVERSION GAME: AN POSTMORTEM INTERVIEW WITH HARVEY SMITH BLACKSITE: AREA 51 began life as a rather 42 INFINITE INTERACTIVE’S PUZZLE QUEST: CHALLENGE OF THE straightforward first person shooter with WARLORDS aliens—then Midway Austin creative director Harvey Smith threw all that on its ear, adding Infinite Interactive took a leap into the console market with PUZZLE QUEST, a deeper story with a decidedly left-leaning after years of dedicated PC focus. The much more casual title tore up the political bent. In this interview, we discuss charts, due to the incredibly long period of time the company took to how to infuse political views into games polish it. CEO and lead designer Steve Fawkner takes us down the path without being heavy handed—while still 33 that led these hardcore veterans to casual glory. making the game fun to play. By Steve Fawkner By Brandon Sheffield DEPARTMENTS COLUMNS 2 GAME PLAN By Simon Carless 55 THE INNER PRODUCT By Mick West [PROGRAMMING] Social Gaming Hits Target Programming Responsiveness 4 HEADS UP DISPLAY 72 BUSINESS LEVEL By David Lee [BUSINESS] Emerging technologies at Siggraph, NPD hardware study, and more. Successful Outsourcing 52 SKUNK WORKS By Bijan Forutanpour 58 PIXEL PUSHER By Steve Theodore [ART] Siggraph 2007: Best In Show and product news. Sumotori Dreams 61 AURAL FIXATION By Jesse Harlin [SOUND] Audio Accessibility 50 GAME SHUI By Noah Falstein [DESIGN] Status Symbols COVER ART: SUSAN LUO WWW.GDMAG.COM 1 GAME PLAN [] www.gdmag.com CMP Media, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 CMP Media, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl., SanSUBSCRIPTION Francisco, SERVICES CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 t:FOR415.947.6000 INFORMATION, f: ORDER415.947.6090 QUESTIONS, AND ADDRESS CHANGES t: 800.250.2429 f: 847.763.9606 e: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONt: 800.250.2429 SERVICESSERVICES f: 847.763.9606 e: [email protected] FOREDITORIAL INFORMATION, ORDERORDER QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, AND AND ADDRESS ADDRESS CHANGES CHANGES EDITOR-IN-CHIEFt: 800.250.2429 f:f:847.763.9606847.763.9606e:e:[email protected]@halldata.com Simon Carless [email protected] EDITORIAL SOCIAL GAMING MANAGINGEDITORIAL EDITOR PUBLISHERJill Duffy [email protected] Simon Carless [email protected]@gdmag.com FEATURESSimon Carless [email protected]@gdmag.com MANAGINGBrandon Sheffield EDITOR [email protected] Jill Duffy [email protected]@gdmag.com HITS TARGET ARTJill DIRECTOR Duffy [email protected] SENIORCliff Scorso EDITOR [email protected] Brandon Sheffield [email protected]@gdmag.com CONTRIBUTINGBrandon Sheffield EDITORS [email protected] ARTJesse DIRECTOR Harlin [email protected] JesseCliff Scorso Harlin [email protected]@gdmag.com NoahCliff Scorso Falstein [email protected]@gdmag.com [email protected] WELCOME TO THE SEPTEMBER 2007 ISSUE OF purchased at twenty cents a piece. Players can CONTRIBUTINGASSISTANTSteve Theodore PRODUCTION EDITORSEDITORS [email protected] EDITOR JesseJeff Fleming Harlin [email protected] [email protected] Game Developer magazine. Firstly, let me explain also trade credits and furni among themselves. MickJesse West Harlin [email protected] [email protected] ADVISORYCONTRIBUTINGNoah Falstein BOARD EDITORS [email protected]@gdmag.com ADVISORYSteve Theodore BOARD [email protected] the Austin GDC-related content that you can see Credits also can be used to pay the monthly cost HalJesseSteve Barwood HarlinTheodore [email protected] Designer-at-Large [email protected] HalNoahMick Barwood West Falstein [email protected] Designer-at-Large [email protected] nestled within this issue. This is the first year that of optional membership (30 a month) to the EllenMick GuonWest Beeman [email protected] Microsoft ADVISORYBradSteve Bulkley Theodore BOARD Neversoft [email protected] BradMick BulkleyWest [email protected] Neversoft the CMP Game Group (which operates Game Habbo Club, which allows access to even more ClintonHal Barwood Keith High Designer-at-LargeDesigner-at-Large Moon Studios ADVISORYRyanEllen LesserGuon BOARD Beeman Harmonix MicrosoftMicrosoft Developer magazine and Gamasutra.com, as well exclusive items and VIP chat rooms. Members RyanBrad BulkleyLesser Harmonix Neversoft MarkHalBrad Barwood DeLouraBulkley Designer-at-LargeNeversoftUbisoft as the Game Developers Conference series) is earn badges of honor for subscribing to the club EllenClinton Guon Keith Beeman HighHigh Moon Moon Microsoft Studios Studios ABBO ADVERTISINGBradRyan Bulkley Lesser SALES HarmonixNeversoftHarmonix running the show in Austin, after taking it over in for various lengths of time. H also earns ADVERTISINGMark DeLoura SALES Ubisoft DIRECTORClintonMark DeLoura Keith OF SALES High Ubisoft Moon Studios late 2006. revenue through sponsors, like Sunkist Orange, Ryan Lesser Harmonix Steve McGill e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6217 ADVERTISINGMark DeLoura SALES Ubisoft So the show organizers and this magazine’s who advertise in-world.” GLOBALADVERTISING SALES SALESMANAGER, RECRUITMENT & EDUCATION DIRECTOR OF SALES DIRECTORAaron Murawski OF SALES e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6227 editors wanted to combine forces to inform both Now, to be fair, this isn’t really that different ADVERTISINGDIRECTORSteve McGill OF SALES e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6217 SR.Steve EVENTS McGill ACCOUNT e: [email protected] MANAGER, SOUTHWESTt: 415.947.6217 those attending the show and those who normally from what many MMOs are doing. But what I get DIRECTOR OF SALES GLOBALJasmin SALESDavé e: MANAGER,MANAGER,[email protected] RECRUITMENT RECRUITMENTt: 415.947.6226 & & EDUCATION EDUCATION GLOBALAaronSteve McGillMurawski SALES e: MANAGER,[email protected] e: [email protected] RECRUITMENTt: 415.947.6217 & t:EDUCATION415.947.6227 read Game Developer but weren’t able to make it most excited about is the dip-in, dip-out nature of SR.Aaron ACCOUNT Murawski MANAGER, e: [email protected] EAST COAST, EUROPE &t: EASTERN415.947.6227 CANADA SR.MEDIACecily EVENTS ACCOUNT Herbst ACCOUNTe: [email protected] MANAGER, SOUTHWEST t: 415.947.6215 to the show in 2007. Thus, the special Austin- these types of titles. Again, I may be preaching to SR.JasminJohn EVENTS Watson Davé ACCOUNT e:e:[email protected]@cmp.com MANAGER, SOUTHWESTt: 415.947.6226t: 415.947.224 MEDIAJasmin ACCOUNT Davé e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6226 specific version of the magazine, which is given to the converted, but I think a perfect length for SR.GLOBALJohn ACCOUNT Watson SALES MANAGER,e: MANAGER,[email protected] EAST RECRUITMENT COAST, t:EUROPE415.947.224 & EDUCATION & EASTERN CANADA SR.CecilyAaron ACCOUNT Murawski Herbst MANAGER,e: [email protected]: [email protected] EAST COAST, t: EUROPE415.947.6215t: 415.947.6227 & EASTERN CANADA all Austin GDC show attendees, has a special game sessions has been found, with the swift rise Cecily Herbst e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6215 ACCOUNTSR.ADVERTISING EVENTS MANAGER, ACCOUNT PRODUCTION WESTERN MANAGER, CANADA, SOUTHWEST INDIA, AUSTRALIA, & ASIA ‘deluxe’ version of the show guide bound into it. In of ‘casual gaming’, and it’s significantly shorter ADVERTISINGMEDIAAmandaJasmin ACCOUNT Davé Mae PRODUCTION Millere: [email protected] e: [email protected] MANAGERt: 415.947.6226Kevin Chanelt: 785.838.7523 addition, all subscription copies of this month’s than most people reading this magazine are used SR.John ACCOUNT Watson MANAGER,e: [email protected] EAST COAST, EUROPEt: 415.947.224 & EASTERN CANADA REPRINTSSALES REPRESENTATIVE, EDUCATION & RECRUITMENT ADVERTISINGGinaCecily Gross Herbst e: PRODUCTION [email protected]: [email protected]: