>> PRODUCT REVIEW MUDBOX 1.0.7 JUNE/JULY 2008 THE LEADING GAME INDUSTRY MAGAZINE >> MASSIVELY MINI >> INTERVIEW >> THE GOOD FIGHT FREE-TO-PLAY EATS GRASSHOPPER'S COMBAT AI LESSONS YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS MASAFUMI TAKADA FROM 3D BRAWLERS POSTMORTEM: SQUARE ENIX'S: FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES MY LIFE AS A KING 00806gd_cover_vIjf_tomski.indd806gd_cover_vIjf_tomski.indd 1 55/21/08/21/08 111:30:271:30:27 AAMM B:8 in T:7.75 in S:6.75 in 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. B:10.75 in T:10.5 in T:10.5 S:9.5 in 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. Job # 07.M&E.131 - Mech A Description 3ds Max ad Last Modifi ed 7/11/07 5:09 PM User/Prev. User Chad Kukahiko / Noel Espiritu Fonts Location Client Autodesk Art Director D. Lee Kievit (Medium, Regular, Italic; Type 1), Helvetica (Me- WD | Chad Bleed 8 in x 10.75 in Studio Artist N. Espiritu dium; Type 1) DocuColor 240 Trim 7.75 in x 10.5 in Copy Writer S. Saunders Placed Graphics Inks L1_HaloonWire.tif (CMYK; 340 ppi; 79.4MB; 88%), Live 6.75 in x 9.5 in Account Mgr A. Gould Cyan, Magenta, L4_ADSK.eps (387KB), L1_UCMA_AssassinWireframe. SETUP Yellow, Black PERSONNEL Gutter None Traffi c S. Sherwin CONTENT psd (CMYK; 458 ppi; 1.2MB; 21.79%), L1_Skeleton_ thicker.psd (CMYK; 805 ppi; 1.0MB; 8.94%), L1_HIK. Publication Game Developer Bonus Sigraph Issue (Jul 11) Production V. Speiser psd (CMYK; 554 ppi; 4.4MB; 12.97%), L1_Assassin.psd Print Scale 100% ROUND 12 / FINAL (CMYK; 754 ppi; 117.3MB; 19.87%), L2_Ubisoft_2.eps Southern 8432 Culver City FILE NAME: Ind01B_07.M&E.131A_3dsMax.indd Californa California JOB NO CLIENT DESCRIPTION IMAGESETTER SCREEN PROOF # DATE TIME OPERATOR Steller 707147 Wong Doody Autodesk 3ds Max Ad Fuji 133 3 07-12-07 7:25 PM jbg Graphics Drive 90232 BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW []CONTENTS JUNE/JULY 2008 VOLUME 15, NUMBER 6 FEATURES 7 LAND OF THE FREE Smaller, non-subscription MMOs have been slowly but surely making their way into the hearts and minds of the game community. But now, they're getting too big to ignore. Are tiny MMOs eating away at your subscribers? Michael Zenke here discusses the scope and influence of these new arrivals. By Michael Zenke 15 INTELLIGENT BRAWLING 7 Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and with that in mind, Tom Smith dissected the enemy AI of several competing 3D brawlers in order to discern what makes for intelligent looking enemies. The results are intriguing, at the least, and show what there is to gain by putting a 34 magnifying glass to the work of others. 15 By Tom Smith POSTMORTEM 42 INTERVIEW: MASAFUMI TAKADA Masafumi Takada is the director of sound for Grasshopper Manufacture (KILLER7, N O MORE 34 SQUARE ENIX'S FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: HEROES), and has worked for several other MY LIFE AS A KING companies, including Sandlot (EARTH DEFENSE 42 FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: MY LIFE AS A KING was a WiiWare FORCE series) and Clover Studios (GOD HAND). launch title in Japan, and sits somewhere between a strategy game and Here, Takada reveals the rather conventional a god game. In this technical-oriented postmortem, lead programmer origins of his unconventional audio. Fumiaki Shiraishi shares the ups and downs of implementing scripting for By Brandon Sheffield designers, the benefits of small file sizes, and the trouble with overblown AI. By Fumiaki Shiraishi DEPARTMENTS COLUMNS 2 GAME PLAN By Brandon Sheffield 47 THE INNER PRODUCT By Noel Llopis [PROGRAMMING] The Hardcore Niche Implementing Deterministic Playback Systems: Part 2 4 HEADS UP DISPLAY 51 PIXEL PUSHER By Steve Theodore [ART] Developer first-persons, Mars terraforming with Henk Rogers, Renaissance Fair MMO NPD data, and more. 55 DESIGN OF THE TIMES By Soren Johnson [DESIGN] 44 TOOL BOX By Tom Carroll 2D vs 3D Autodesk's Mudbox 1.0.7 58 AURAL FIXATION By Jesse Harlin [SOUND] The Power of the Sung Word 64 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT By Karsden Mörderhäschen [HUMOR] Beating Them at Their Own Game COVER ART: SQUARE ENIX ART TEAM WWW.GDMAG.COM 1 00806gd_toc_vIjf.indd806gd_toc_vIjf.indd 1 55/20/08/20/08 44:04:06:04:06 PPMM []GAME PLAN www.gdmag.com CMP Media, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 CMPThink Media, Services, 600 600 Harrison Harrison St., St.,6th 6thFl., Fl., SanSUBSCRIPTION Francisco, SERVICES CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 t:FOR 415.947.6000 INFORMATION, f: ORDER415.947.6090 QUESTIONS, AND ADDRESS CHANGES t: 800.250.2429 f: 847.763.9606 e: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESSERVICES FOREDITORIAL INFORMATION, ORDERORDER QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, AND AND ADDRESS ADDRESS CHANGES CHANGES EDITOR-IN-CHIEFt: 800.250.2429 f:f: 847.763.9606847.763.9606 e: e: [email protected] [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONSimon Carless SERVICES [email protected] FORMANAGINGEDITORIAL INFORMATION, EDITOR ORDER QUESTIONS, AND ADDRESS CHANGES THE HARDCORE PUBLISHERt:Jill 800.250.2429 Duffy [email protected] f: 847.763.9606 e: [email protected] Simon Carless [email protected]@gdmag.com EDITORIALFEATURES EDITOR MANAGINGBrandon Sheffield EDITOR [email protected] PUBLISHERJill Duffy [email protected]@gdmag.com ARTSimon DIRECTOR Carless [email protected] SENIORCliff Scorso EDITOR [email protected] NICHE SENIORCliff Scorso EDITOR [email protected] Brandon Sheffield [email protected]@gdmag.com CONTRIBUTINGBrandon Sheffield EDITORS [email protected] ARTJesse DIRECTOR Harlin [email protected] SENIORCliff Scorso CONTRIBUTING [email protected]@gdmag.com EDITOR JillNoah Duffy Falstein [email protected] [email protected] THE VIDEOGAME MARKET IS CHANGING INCREDIBLY stigma to them, and that most mass-market CONTRIBUTINGSteve Theodore EDITORSEDITORS [email protected] ART DIRECTOR JesseMick West Harlin [email protected] [email protected]@gdmag.com quickly right now, probably the fastest it has consumers consider games to be either a waste CliffNoah Scorso Falstein [email protected] [email protected] ADVISORYNoah Falstein BOARD [email protected] since the big crash of the mid-1980s. Not only of time, or actively detrimental. These can all be PRODUCTIONSteve Theodore EDITOR [email protected]@gdmag.com JeffreyMickHal Barwood West Fleming [email protected] Designer-at-Large [email protected] is the market expanding to include women debated until the end of time, but the perception EllenMick GuonWest Beeman [email protected] Microsoft CONTRIBUTINGADVISORY BOARD EDITORS and casual gamers once again, the definition exists, and either that has to change (Nintendo ADVISORYBrad Bulkley BOARD Neversoft JesseHalClinton Barwood Harlin Keith [email protected] High Designer-at-LargeDesigner-at-Large Moon Studios of what constitutes a "game" is expanding. It’s is doing good work there), or we have to change. SteveRyanEllen LesserGuon Theodore Beeman Harmonix [email protected] MicrosoftMicrosoft MickBradRyan WestBulkleyLesser [email protected] Harmonix Neversoft not really expanding within the minds of game Otherwise we’ll end up with a comparatively small MarkBrad DeLouraBulkley NeversoftUbisoft ADVISORYClinton Keith BOARD HighHigh MoonMoon Studios Studios developers, I wouldn’t say, but it is in the context fraction of a growing market. HalRyan Barwood Lesser HarmonixDesigner-at-LargeHarmonix ADVERTISINGMark DeLoura SALES Ubisoft of the mass media and mass consumers, and Will it be possible to make a game like ASSASSIN’S DIRECTOREllenMark GuonDeLoura OF Beeman SALES Ubisoft Microsoft BradSteve Bulkley McGill e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6217 REED IOSHOCK Steve McGill e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6217 that’s who drives the market in the first place. C or B in 2015? It’s already becoming ADVERTISINGClinton Keith SALES SALES Scrum Instructor GLOBALADVERTISINGRyan Lesser SALES SALES MANAGER, Harmonix RECRUITMENT & EDUCATION As sick to death as we all are of talking about difficult to justify large budgets for single-player DIRECTORAaron Murawski OF SALESSALES e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6227 DIRECTORMarkSteve DeLoura McGill OF SALESe: [email protected] t: 415.947.6217 microtransactions, free-to-play MMOs, and casual experiences, and it stands to reason that it will SR.Steve EVENTS McGill ACCOUNT e: [email protected] MANAGER, SOUTHWEST t: 415.947.6217 GLOBALJasmin SALESDavé e: MANAGER, [email protected] RECRUITMENT t: 415.947.6226 & EDUCATION online spaces, the advent of these things is get more difficult as time goes on. What does ADVERTISINGGLOBALAaron Murawski SALES SALES MANAGER, e: [email protected] RECRUITMENT & t:EDUCATION 415.947.6227 SR.Aaron ACCOUNT Murawski MANAGER, e: [email protected] EAST COAST, EUROPE & t: EASTERN 415.947.6227 CANADA changing the game landscape for good, whether that mean for developers of these games? MEDIASR.Cecily EVENTS ACCOUNT Herbst ACCOUNT e: [email protected] MANAGER, SOUTHWEST t: 415.947.6215 SR.JohnJasmin EVENTS