From dbahlman at xblitz.com Mon Nov 3 14:13:04 2008 From: dbahlman at xblitz.com (Donald) Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2008 13:13:04 -0600 Subject: [casual_games] VGXPO Message-ID: <90DC9D7C2F064F20829348882BC4A5BE@xBlitzGames> Anyone ever attend VGXPO? And the East Coast Games Summit. http://www.videogame.net/ What's the word, is it worth going? Thanks! Don xBlitz Entertainment -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From paul_steven at btinternet.com Tue Nov 4 10:43:43 2008 From: paul_steven at btinternet.com (Paul Steven) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 15:43:43 -0000 Subject: [casual_games] Dummy voice over In-Reply-To: <3129a3da0810270446o50b9fed5j3b7ac7cb677998ac@mail.gmail.com> References: <8B7CC26A-8CAA-445C-84FC-199D9968814B@mofactor.com> <002a01c93815$2c638c80$852aa580$@com> <3129a3da0810270446o50b9fed5j3b7ac7cb677998ac@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <022d01c93e94$1e509810$5af1c830$@com> Sorry for the late reply - I just wanted to say thanks Aaron for the link to the text to speech online tool. It has been extremely helpful playing the games with the dummy audio and has lead to quite a few changes in the voice over script. Perhaps one day these text to speech things will be good enough to prevent me having to spend so much on the voice overJ Cheers Paul From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Aaron Murray Sent: 27 October 2008 11:46 To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List Subject: Re: [casual_games] Dummy voice over Hi Paul, Personally I like placeholder audio, but I've been advised against it by some audio people because sometimes it gets left in, or even worse, the developers get used to it and they want the real sound/tracks/voice to be familiar, which can cause problems. That said, I use placeholder audio when possible. As for a tool, I've used this web tool before: http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php Surely there are some windows tools available, I just haven't used any. -Aaron On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 4:19 AM, Paul Steven wrote: I am developing a series of games that have a considerable amount of voice over. Ideally I would like to record the voice over as late as possible so I can be sure I have considered all eventualities. However I really need to have some voice over to enable me to program and test the games. One possibility is for me to just record a rough version myself however I wondered if there is any other alternatives? Perhaps there is a program that I can type into and it will output a wav of text to speech? Any advice much appreciated! Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Casual_Games mailing list Casual_Games at igda.org http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ -- Aaron Murray Technical Director, Co-founder Tandem Games www.TandemGames.com www.DomainOfHeroes.com "Fun for All. All for Fun." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mwegner at flashbangstudios.com Tue Nov 4 10:50:40 2008 From: mwegner at flashbangstudios.com (Matthew Wegner) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:50:40 -0700 Subject: [casual_games] Dummy voice over In-Reply-To: <022d01c93e94$1e509810$5af1c830$@com> References: <8B7CC26A-8CAA-445C-84FC-199D9968814B@mofactor.com> <002a01c93815$2c638c80$852aa580$@com> <3129a3da0810270446o50b9fed5j3b7ac7cb677998ac@mail.gmail.com> <022d01c93e94$1e509810$5af1c830$@com> Message-ID: PTTS is a command-line tool for using SAPI4/5 voices for text-to-speech. You could easily automate some kind of WAV file creation with this: http://jampal.sourceforge.net/ptts.html We have a scrolling LED sign in the office that lists events, and use this for the speech part of it. Best, Matthew On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 8:43 AM, Paul Steven wrote: > Sorry for the late reply ? I just wanted to say thanks Aaron for the link > to the text to speech online tool. It has been extremely helpful playing the > games with the dummy audio and has lead to quite a few changes in the voice > over script. Perhaps one day these text to speech things will be good enough > to prevent me having to spend so much on the voice overJ > > > > Cheers > > > > Paul > > > > *From:* casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto: > casual_games-bounces at igda.org] *On Behalf Of *Aaron Murray > *Sent:* 27 October 2008 11:46 > *To:* IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List > *Subject:* Re: [casual_games] Dummy voice over > > > > Hi Paul, > > > > Personally I like placeholder audio, but I've been advised against it by > some audio people because sometimes it gets left in, or even worse, the > developers get used to it and they want the real sound/tracks/voice to be > familiar, which can cause problems. That said, I use placeholder audio when > possible. > > > > As for a tool, I've used this web tool before: > http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php > > > > Surely there are some windows tools available, I just haven't used any. > > > > -Aaron > > On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 4:19 AM, Paul Steven > wrote: > > I am developing a series of games that have a considerable amount of voice > over. Ideally I would like to record the voice over as late as possible so > I > can be sure I have considered all eventualities. However I really need to > have some voice over to enable me to program and test the games. One > possibility is for me to just record a rough version myself however I > wondered if there is any other alternatives? Perhaps there is a program > that > I can type into and it will output a wav of text to speech? > > Any advice much appreciated! > > Thanks > > Paul > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > > > > -- > Aaron Murray > Technical Director, Co-founder > Tandem Games > www.TandemGames.com > www.DomainOfHeroes.com > "Fun for All. All for Fun." > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From universedave at gmail.com Tue Nov 4 12:12:38 2008 From: universedave at gmail.com (Dave Rohrl) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 09:12:38 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] URGENT: Monthly call happening now Message-ID: <91a814620811040912u2c153c57n44905e48244b6a7c@mail.gmail.com> US/Canada 1-866-500-6738 Outside N.A. 1-203-480-8000 Passcode 8842192 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From universedave at gmail.com Tue Nov 4 12:43:17 2008 From: universedave at gmail.com (Dave Rohrl) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 09:43:17 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] URGENT: Monthly call happening now In-Reply-To: <91a814620811040912u2c153c57n44905e48244b6a7c@mail.gmail.com> References: <91a814620811040912u2c153c57n44905e48244b6a7c@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <91a814620811040943wf49bde1wdc049e827728de79@mail.gmail.com> Sorry, all, this is for the Steering Committee, not for the full SIG. Although SIG members are welcome to join if they like 2008/11/4 Dave Rohrl > US/Canada 1-866-500-6738 > > Outside N.A. 1-203-480-8000 > > Passcode 8842192 > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From cglist at fantazm.com Wed Nov 5 04:01:05 2008 From: cglist at fantazm.com (Gert-Jan Brok) Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:01:05 +0100 Subject: [casual_games] game flowchart /timeline examples Message-ID: <491160D1.6010702@fantazm.com> Besided developing games in my own studio I also work as a game design teacher at the Fontys University of Applied Science in the Netherlands. And I want to show my students various examples of game flowcharts and timeline designs. I hope some of you are willing to share yours so my students can see the different ways these can be created and presented in. Thanks you all for participating. Gert-Jan Brok Fantazm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From paul_steven at btinternet.com Tue Nov 4 10:59:03 2008 From: paul_steven at btinternet.com (Paul Steven) Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 15:59:03 -0000 Subject: [casual_games] Dummy voice over In-Reply-To: References: <8B7CC26A-8CAA-445C-84FC-199D9968814B@mofactor.com> <002a01c93815$2c638c80$852aa580$@com> <3129a3da0810270446o50b9fed5j3b7ac7cb677998ac@mail.gmail.com> <022d01c93e94$1e509810$5af1c830$@com> Message-ID: <027001c93e96$43467fc0$c9d37f40$@com> Thanks Matthew - I will have a look at that link From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Wegner Sent: 04 November 2008 15:51 To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List Subject: Re: [casual_games] Dummy voice over PTTS is a command-line tool for using SAPI4/5 voices for text-to-speech. You could easily automate some kind of WAV file creation with this: http://jampal.sourceforge.net/ptts.html We have a scrolling LED sign in the office that lists events, and use this for the speech part of it. Best, Matthew On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 8:43 AM, Paul Steven wrote: Sorry for the late reply - I just wanted to say thanks Aaron for the link to the text to speech online tool. It has been extremely helpful playing the games with the dummy audio and has lead to quite a few changes in the voice over script. Perhaps one day these text to speech things will be good enough to prevent me having to spend so much on the voice overJ Cheers Paul From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Aaron Murray Sent: 27 October 2008 11:46 To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List Subject: Re: [casual_games] Dummy voice over Hi Paul, Personally I like placeholder audio, but I've been advised against it by some audio people because sometimes it gets left in, or even worse, the developers get used to it and they want the real sound/tracks/voice to be familiar, which can cause problems. That said, I use placeholder audio when possible. As for a tool, I've used this web tool before: http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php Surely there are some windows tools available, I just haven't used any. -Aaron On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 4:19 AM, Paul Steven wrote: I am developing a series of games that have a considerable amount of voice over. Ideally I would like to record the voice over as late as possible so I can be sure I have considered all eventualities. However I really need to have some voice over to enable me to program and test the games. One possibility is for me to just record a rough version myself however I wondered if there is any other alternatives? Perhaps there is a program that I can type into and it will output a wav of text to speech? Any advice much appreciated! Thanks Paul _______________________________________________ Casual_Games mailing list Casual_Games at igda.org http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ -- Aaron Murray Technical Director, Co-founder Tandem Games www.TandemGames.com www.DomainOfHeroes.com "Fun for All. All for Fun." _______________________________________________ Casual_Games mailing list Casual_Games at igda.org http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From rcarroll23 at hotmail.com Sun Nov 9 17:55:21 2008 From: rcarroll23 at hotmail.com (Rob C) Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2008 22:55:21 +0000 Subject: [casual_games] Tips for a (very) small starting company In-Reply-To: <201367.89965.qm@web36702.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <201367.89965.qm@web36702.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hey folks, Sorry this is a bit late in going out, I spoke with a couple of people off-line and there is some interest in alterative distribution options. While there are not a lot of options for getting funding for development other than the traditional publisher funding model or the VC road for the lucky few, there are ways for getting a completed game distributed. There is a new option for developers that have finished their game and are looking for distribution. The game distribution portal Greenhouse (http://www.playgreenhouse.com/) is interested in looking at new independent games. I?ve worked with the guys who are running the site and they are very interested in promoting and building the independent game development community. These guys are associated with the web comic penny-arcade, so they have a very good idea of what makes a good game. They are not in the business of funding game development but they do a great job of selling and promoting new games. If you have a completed game that you would like to show them, contact Jeff Kalles with greenhouse at Jkalles at penny-arcade.com Hopefully they will be able to get some of these great independent game out there. Good luck, Rob Rob Carroll Producer, Hive7 rob at hive7.com www.Hive7.com > Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:56:02 -0700 > From: jose_marin2 at yahoo.com.br > To: casual_games at igda.org > Subject: [casual_games] Tips for a (very) small starting company > > Hi. > > I and a friend will open a casual game development company soon, and would like to know your experiences about distribution. > > What kind of channel would be good for such small company? > > Also, what platforms (PC, palmtops, cell phones, etc) could be a good start for a small company? > > We want to make very good games, but still don?t know how so sell them... > > Thank you! > > Jose > > __________________________________________________ > Fale com seus amigos de gra?a com o novo Yahoo! Messenger > http://br.messenger.yahoo.com/ > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ _________________________________________________________________ Get 5 GB of storage with Windows Live Hotmail. http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_5gb_112008 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From martine at kezos.com Mon Nov 10 10:10:09 2008 From: martine at kezos.com (Martine Parry) Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:10:09 -0000 Subject: [casual_games] Funding & Investment Summit 5th Dec, London In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <002a01c94346$6d22aad0$0200a8c0@Desktop> Hi Guys - Sign up for the Funding & Investment Summit on 5th December in London before this Friday and get the Early Bird price of only ?250 + vat More info here www.fundingsummit.co.uk This site is being continously up-dated and we have only a few places left. Hope to see you Martine APPLY GROUP Martine Parry Commercial Director martine at applygroup.com tel: 0845 838 1989 mobile: 07788 191252 Skype:MarketingGuru From game4kay at gmail.com Wed Nov 12 13:53:26 2008 From: game4kay at gmail.com (=?EUC-KR?B?S2F5IEtpbSix6LHiv/Up?=) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:53:26 +0900 Subject: [casual_games] REAL Simple Agile Adoption Survey for Gaming Industry In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear all of my fellow developers, This is Kay Kim, a game project manager in Korea. I was wondering if you could respond to "REAL Simple Agile Adoption Survey for Gaming Industry ." The purposes of this survey are to provide: 1. background information for "World Cafe on Agile Adoption in Gaming Industry" at Korea Game Conference 2008. 2. a reference for a upcoming Agile Adoption Survey for Gaming Industry. I'll share the result of this survey through my bloglater. I appreciate your participation. Lastly, I apology if this email violates the regulation of this mailing list. I could find any other mailing list in IGDA. Best regards, Kay Kim ====================================================================== ???(Kay Kim) Production Coordinator, Next Technology Group, Ntreev Co., Ltd. ( http://www.ntreev.com) "??? ???? ???? ????." (Stagnation comes from lack of imagination.) ====================================================================== -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From matthew at fordfam.com Thu Nov 13 00:39:05 2008 From: matthew at fordfam.com (Matthew Ford) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:39:05 +1000 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game Message-ID: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> Hello, I am consulting a new company which is keen to make an online game much like NeoPets, Habbo Hotel, or Club Penguin: a 2D, low-footprint, preferably in-browser, cartoony online game for kids. Make an avatar, decorate yourself and your room, chat, play mini-games, and the like. It will draw from a compelling popular IP. Though the company is capable of rolling its own solution, I have a feeling there are good engines / platforms out there which can be adapted for this purpose and save a lot of work. I had the impression that Habbo licensed its engine to other companies; I dimly recall that My-Coke.com did just this. But I may be totally wrong. The Habbo site does not reveal this option, though perhaps I need to ski into Sulake's office in person. Road trip! :) Does anyone have any leads on premade solutions which can be licensed, adapted, and turned into the kind of game I describe? Many thanks, Matthew Ford -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chriscow at bakedon.com Thu Nov 13 11:39:14 2008 From: chriscow at bakedon.com (Chris Cowherd) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:39:14 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> Message-ID: <7f9be3b10811130839r4edc45e3h3d027f542affaf8e@mail.gmail.com> You might have a look at the Eletrotank Universe Platform (also at http://www.eupsite.com/) I can't vouch for it as I haven't used it. We were in the same boat as you but we needed some significant features that were missing from the options available at the time so we are rolling our own. Our background is in server side development so its our cup of tea. Chris Cowherd BakedOn Entertainment On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 9:39 PM, Matthew Ford wrote: > Hello, > > I am consulting a new company which is keen to make an online game much > like NeoPets, Habbo Hotel, or Club Penguin: a 2D, low-footprint, preferably > in-browser, cartoony online game for kids. Make an avatar, decorate yourself > and your room, chat, play mini-games, and the like. It will draw from a > compelling popular IP. > > Though the company is capable of rolling its own solution, I have a feeling > there are good engines / platforms out there which can be adapted for this > purpose and save a lot of work. I had the impression that Habbo licensed its > engine to other companies; I dimly recall that My-Coke.com did just this. > But I may be totally wrong. The Habbo site does not reveal this option, > though perhaps I need to ski into Sulake's office in person. Road trip! :) > > Does anyone have any leads on premade solutions which can be licensed, > adapted, and turned into the kind of game I describe? > > Many thanks, > Matthew Ford > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hal at finitearts.com Thu Nov 13 12:11:37 2008 From: hal at finitearts.com (Hal Barwood) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:11:37 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: <7f9be3b10811130839r4edc45e3h3d027f542affaf8e@mail.gmail.com> References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> <7f9be3b10811130839r4edc45e3h3d027f542affaf8e@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <491C5FC9.6020200@finitearts.com> Doesn't Club Penguin use Flash and SmartFox? Chris Cowherd wrote: > You might have a look at the Eletrotank Universe Platform > (also at http://www.eupsite.com/) > > > I can't vouch for it as I haven't used it. We were in the same boat as > you but we needed some significant features that were missing from the > options available at the time so we are rolling our own. Our background > is in server side development so its our cup of tea. > > Chris Cowherd > BakedOn Entertainment > > > On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 9:39 PM, Matthew Ford > wrote: > > Hello, > > I am consulting a new company which is keen to make an online game > much like NeoPets, Habbo Hotel, or Club Penguin: a 2D, > low-footprint, preferably in-browser, cartoony online game for kids. > Make an avatar, decorate yourself and your room, chat, play > mini-games, and the like. It will draw from a compelling popular IP. > > Though the company is capable of rolling its own solution, I have a > feeling there are good engines / platforms out there which can be > adapted for this purpose and save a lot of work. I had the > impression that Habbo licensed its engine to other companies; I > dimly recall that My-Coke.com did just this. But I may be totally > wrong. The Habbo site does not reveal this option, though perhaps I > need to ski into Sulake's office in person. Road trip! :) > > Does anyone have any leads on premade solutions which can be > licensed, adapted, and turned into the kind of game I describe? > > Many thanks, > Matthew Ford > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ From medi.belkadi at gmail.com Thu Nov 13 12:23:10 2008 From: medi.belkadi at gmail.com (Medi BELKADI) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:23:10 +0100 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: <491C5FC9.6020200@finitearts.com> References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> <7f9be3b10811130839r4edc45e3h3d027f542affaf8e@mail.gmail.com> <491C5FC9.6020200@finitearts.com> Message-ID: Habbo Hotel use the Shockwave Player -> Adobe Director. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chris at kongregate.com Thu Nov 13 12:34:44 2008 From: chris at kongregate.com (Chris Pasley) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:34:44 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> <7f9be3b10811130839r4edc45e3h3d027f542affaf8e@mail.gmail.com> <491C5FC9.6020200@finitearts.com> Message-ID: <7dcf2fb70811130934g5da3ac98xdda82debff556c1a@mail.gmail.com> http://www.openspace-engine.com/ Here's an open game engine from Smartfox. On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 9:23 AM, Medi BELKADI wrote: > Habbo Hotel use the Shockwave Player -> Adobe Director. > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chriscow at bakedon.com Thu Nov 13 12:53:25 2008 From: chriscow at bakedon.com (Chris Cowherd) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:53:25 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: <491C5FC9.6020200@finitearts.com> References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> <7f9be3b10811130839r4edc45e3h3d027f542affaf8e@mail.gmail.com> <491C5FC9.6020200@finitearts.com> Message-ID: <7f9be3b10811130953n2e3579ccnf081732fd13d1e2b@mail.gmail.com> Yes, at least the last time I heard Club Penguin uses SmartFox. Looks like they just released OpenSpace which appears to be another alternative. I wasn't aware that they released it. On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 9:11 AM, Hal Barwood wrote: > Doesn't Club Penguin use Flash and SmartFox? > > Chris Cowherd wrote: > >> You might have a look at the Eletrotank Universe Platform < >> http://www.electro-server.com/> (also at http://www.eupsite.com/) < >> http://www.eupsite.com/> >> >> I can't vouch for it as I haven't used it. We were in the same boat as >> you but we needed some significant features that were missing from the >> options available at the time so we are rolling our own. Our background is >> in server side development so its our cup of tea. >> >> Chris Cowherd >> BakedOn Entertainment >> >> On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 9:39 PM, Matthew Ford > matthew at fordfam.com>> wrote: >> >> Hello, >> I am consulting a new company which is keen to make an online game >> much like NeoPets, Habbo Hotel, or Club Penguin: a 2D, >> low-footprint, preferably in-browser, cartoony online game for kids. >> Make an avatar, decorate yourself and your room, chat, play >> mini-games, and the like. It will draw from a compelling popular IP. >> Though the company is capable of rolling its own solution, I have a >> feeling there are good engines / platforms out there which can be >> adapted for this purpose and save a lot of work. I had the >> impression that Habbo licensed its engine to other companies; I >> dimly recall that My-Coke.com did just this. But I may be totally >> wrong. The Habbo site does not reveal this option, though perhaps I >> need to ski into Sulake's office in person. Road trip! :) >> Does anyone have any leads on premade solutions which can be >> licensed, adapted, and turned into the kind of game I describe? >> Many thanks, >> Matthew Ford >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Casual_Games mailing list >> Casual_Games at igda.org >> http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe >> Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe >> Archive Search: >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 >> List FAQ: >> >> http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Casual_Games mailing list >> Casual_Games at igda.org >> http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe >> Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe >> Archive Search: >> http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 >> List FAQ: >> http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ >> > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From derrick at flowplay.com Thu Nov 13 12:59:04 2008 From: derrick at flowplay.com (Derrick Morton) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:59:04 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> Message-ID: <8a0408c50811130959u3e321449r95532acde8b38945@mail.gmail.com> Not one to toot my own horn here but since you asked! FlowPlay has produced a casual MMO platform that we are doing selective licensing deals with. The first product developed on it is ourWorld.com. Key features include: Shardless environment -- rather than have users pick a server on the way in we assign them to servers according to their relationships and move people dynamically according to their play patterns. IT's completely invisible to the user and they have visibility of everyone else that's online. Flash playback of real 3D data -- all of our character animations (over 200 of them today and more being created everyday) are produced in Maya. This data is exported and played back in Flash. Our characters are all vectors and read back this data and perform these animations in 3D inside of Flash. The characters can spin 360 degrees, stand on their hands, dance, basically any character animation you can produce in Maya can be performed by our characters and any items in our 10,000 item catalog automatically inherit any animations produced. Resolution Agnostic -- our platform can run at any screen resolution and can be served to any website through an iFrame. It's completely self-contained. Simple Game API -- we've integrated over 100 popular games into our platform from over 50 different developers. It's a very simple integration that takes a developer less than 30 minutes to complete. InWorld Camera System - players can click the camera button and pull up an interface that will take a picture of whatever they are doing, collect it in their photo album and email the image to themselves or friends. Simple World Creation -- Any JPG of almost any size can be used as a background. The world can scroll horizontally, vertically or both at the same time. Flexible Economy -- the platform is set up for three currencies -- activity (rewards for completing quests or anything you want to assign), prizes (random prizes based on events) and cash. Meta Game -- the platform has a 100 level RPG style leveling system. There's much more but that's the highlights. Contact me if you're interested. Derrick Morton CEO FlowPlay creators of ourWorld.com 206-953-8253 On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 9:39 PM, Matthew Ford wrote: > Hello, > > I am consulting a new company which is keen to make an online game much > like NeoPets, Habbo Hotel, or Club Penguin: a 2D, low-footprint, preferably > in-browser, cartoony online game for kids. Make an avatar, decorate yourself > and your room, chat, play mini-games, and the like. It will draw from a > compelling popular IP. > > Though the company is capable of rolling its own solution, I have a feeling > there are good engines / platforms out there which can be adapted for this > purpose and save a lot of work. I had the impression that Habbo licensed its > engine to other companies; I dimly recall that My-Coke.com did just this. > But I may be totally wrong. The Habbo site does not reveal this option, > though perhaps I need to ski into Sulake's office in person. Road trip! :) > > Does anyone have any leads on premade solutions which can be licensed, > adapted, and turned into the kind of game I describe? > > Many thanks, > Matthew Ford > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > -- Derrick Morton CEO, FlowPlay Creators of ourWorld.com -- Make it Yours! 206-219-0537 Office 206-953-8253 Mobile -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spocilujko at gmail.com Thu Nov 13 13:04:26 2008 From: spocilujko at gmail.com (Sheri Pocilujko) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:04:26 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: <8a0408c50811130959u3e321449r95532acde8b38945@mail.gmail.com> References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> <8a0408c50811130959u3e321449r95532acde8b38945@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <5ed2f03e0811131004j13fd3d5l9d5da708f200456f@mail.gmail.com> Quick Question.... On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 9:59 AM, Derrick Morton wrote: > Key features include: > > Shardless environment -- rather than have users pick a server on the way in > we assign them to servers according to their relationships and move people > dynamically according to their play patterns. IT's completely invisible to > the user and they have visibility of everyone else that's online. How does that affect players who want to play with each other at a certain time if they have no control over which server to enter? Thanks, Sheri Design, Direct, Deliver spocilujko at gmail.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/spocilujko -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From derrick at flowplay.com Thu Nov 13 13:15:03 2008 From: derrick at flowplay.com (Derrick Morton) Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:15:03 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbo style game In-Reply-To: <5ed2f03e0811131004j13fd3d5l9d5da708f200456f@mail.gmail.com> References: <0E44FE8B03C94D89B355248C9A3C5267@KIRA> <8a0408c50811130959u3e321449r95532acde8b38945@mail.gmail.com> <5ed2f03e0811131004j13fd3d5l9d5da708f200456f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <3D30C401-8BA8-4DF9-BBB9-947F408DB821@flowplay.com> All players have a list of everyone who's online without regard as to what server they are on. If you want to play with someone you simply cliick on them and select "group" and you are put on the same box together. Of course this is invisible to the user. D On Nov 13, 2008, at 10:04 AM, "Sheri Pocilujko" wrote: > Quick Question.... > > On Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 9:59 AM, Derrick Morton > wrote: > Key features include: > > Shardless environment -- rather than have users pick a server on the > way in we assign them to servers according to their relationships > and move people dynamically according to their play patterns. IT's > completely invisible to the user and they have visibility of > everyone else that's online. > How does that affect players who want to play with each other at a > certain time if they have no control over which server to enter? > > Thanks, > Sheri > > Design, Direct, Deliver > spocilujko at gmail.com > http://www.linkedin.com/in/spocilujko > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From james at popcap.com Fri Nov 14 06:11:33 2008 From: james at popcap.com (James Gwertzman) Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:11:33 +0800 Subject: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbostyle game Message-ID: <086a01c94649$7a3d9c24$5064a8c0@internal.popcap.com> This is something we never really discused together... I wonder if any of your infrastructure is usable for our platform we're building in shanghai. Would LOVE to "buy" vs. "build" if the features fit and the price was right :) What do you think - can your login server, or chat server, for example, be pulled out and used with a client-based platform vs. A flash-based splution? Is this something you might be interested in discussing? James Gwertzman Vice President, Asia/Pacific PopCap Games, Inc. Mobile: +86 13641892319 -----Original Message----- From: Derrick Morton Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 1:58 AM To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List Subject: Re: [casual_games] Licensable engines for Club Penguin / Habbostyle game Not one to toot my own horn here but since you asked! FlowPlay has produced a casual MMO platform that we are doing selective licensing deals with. The first product developed on it is ourWorld.com. Key features include: Shardless environment -- rather than have users pick a server on the way in we assign them to servers according to their relationships and move people dynamically according to their play patterns. IT's completely invisible to the user and they have visibility of everyone else that's online. Flash playback of real 3D data -- all of our character animations (over 200 of them today and more being created everyday) are produced in Maya. This data is exported and played back in Flash. Our characters are all vectors and read back this data and perform these animations in 3D inside of Flash. The characters can spin 360 degrees, stand on their hands, dance, basically any character animation you can produce in Maya can be performed by our characters and any items in our 10,000 item catalog automatically inherit any animations produced. Resolution Agnostic -- our platform can run at any screen resolution and can be served to any website through an iFrame. It's completely self-contained. Simple Game API -- we've integrated over 100 popular games into our platform from over 50 different developers. It's a very simple integration that takes a developer less than 30 minutes to complete. InWorld Camera System - players can click the camera button and pull up an interface that will take a picture of whatever they are doing, collect it in their photo album and email the image to themselves or friends. Simple World Creation -- Any JPG of almost any size can be used as a background. The world can scroll horizontally, vertically or both at the same time. Flexible Economy -- the platform is set up for three currencies -- activity (rewards for completing quests or anything you want to assign), prizes (random prizes based on events) and cash. Meta Game -- the platform has a 100 level RPG style leveling system. There's much more but that's the highlights. Contact me if you're interested. Derrick Morton CEO FlowPlay creators of ourWorld.com 206-953-8253 On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 9:39 PM, Matthew Ford wrote: > Hello, > > I am consulting a new company which is keen to make an online game much > like NeoPets, Habbo Hotel, or Club Penguin: a 2D, low-footprint, preferably > in-browser, cartoony online game for kids. Make an avatar, decorate yourself > and your room, chat, play mini-games, and the like. It will draw from a > compelling popular IP. > > Though the company is capable of rolling its own solution, I have a feeling > there are good engines / platforms out there which can be adapted for this > purpose and save a lot of work. I had the impression that Habbo licensed its > engine to other companies; I dimly recall that My-Coke.com did just this. > But I may be totally wrong. The Habbo site does not reveal this option, > though perhaps I need to ski into Sulake's office in person. Road trip! :) > > Does anyone have any leads on premade solutions which can be licensed, > adapted, and turned into the kind of game I describe? > > Many thanks, > Matthew Ford > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > -- Derrick Morton CEO, FlowPlay Creators of ourWorld.com -- Make it Yours! 206-219-0537 Office 206-953-8253 Mobile From martine at kezos.com Fri Nov 14 08:44:49 2008 From: martine at kezos.com (Martine Parry) Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:44:49 -0000 Subject: [casual_games] Funding & Investment Summit 5th Dec In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <00c301c9465f$2ace7260$0200a8c0@Desktop> Hi Guys, You may be aware of the Funding & Investment Summit focused on Casual Online Games, Virtual Worlds & MMOs that is happening on 5th December. www.fundingsummit.co.uk If you'd like to attend then we still have some places left. Please click through registration and share the invite with your colleagues. Please let me know if you have stories to tell and share or insight providing ideas of where the market will go for F2P with advertising. Will advertising bring the casual games market down with the recession generally or make it even more successful because of the spend on advertising moving from TV etc to online (although the overall spend on advertising will be down compared to last year) - or maybe you think there is a better model out there for recessionary times. Look forward to hearing Best martine From nvinacur at fibertel.com.ar Fri Nov 14 18:36:40 2008 From: nvinacur at fibertel.com.ar (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Nicol=E1s_Vinacur?=) Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:36:40 -0300 Subject: [casual_games] Funding & Investment Summit 5th Dec In-Reply-To: <00c301c9465f$2ace7260$0200a8c0@Desktop> References: <00c301c9465f$2ace7260$0200a8c0@Desktop> Message-ID: <491E0B88.7070009@fibertel.com.ar> I would really appreciate if anyone attending could write a summary of the conference because I am very interested but I live very far away :( Martine Parry escribi?: > Hi Guys, You may be aware of the Funding & Investment Summit focused on > Casual Online Games, Virtual Worlds & MMOs that is happening on 5th > December. > > www.fundingsummit.co.uk > > If you'd like to attend then we still have some places left. Please click > through registration and share the invite with your colleagues. > > Please let me know if you have stories to tell and share or insight > providing ideas of where the market will go for F2P with advertising. > > Will advertising bring the casual games market down with the recession > generally or make it even more successful because of the spend on > advertising moving from TV etc to online (although the overall spend on > advertising will be down compared to last year) - or maybe you think there > is a better model out there for recessionary times. > > Look forward to hearing > Best > martine > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > From james at reflexive.net Fri Nov 21 19:05:57 2008 From: james at reflexive.net (James C. Smith) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:05:57 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] New Casual Games Quarterly is live! Message-ID: <003c01c94c36$1899d710$49cd8530$@net> The new fall 2008 issue of the Casual Games Quarterly is now live. Special thanks to the co-editors Michael Wyman and Alfredo Chavez, and to all the folks who contributed to this issue. Check it out: http://www.igda.org/wiki/Casual_Games_SIG#IGDA_Casual_Games_Quarterly Inside volume 3 issue 2 you will find: Social is the New Casual Eight Things Casual Game Developers Should Know about Social Games By Wade Tinney, Large Animal Games The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes Post Mortem By Jonathan Cooper, Legacy Interactive Top 10 Data Review for Q1-Q3 of 2008 By James C. Smith, CasualCharts.com From martine at kezos.com Sun Nov 23 19:51:33 2008 From: martine at kezos.com (Martine Parry) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:51:33 -0000 Subject: [casual_games] Invite - Funding & Investment Summit - 5th Dec Message-ID: <000001c94dce$cd853270$0200a8c0@Desktop> Hi Guys, please join us for the Summit on 5th Dec Last few places. www.fundingsummit.co.uk Best wishes Martine -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kirstend at microsoft.com Sun Nov 30 21:48:15 2008 From: kirstend at microsoft.com (Kirsten Duvall) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:48:15 -0800 Subject: [casual_games] Casual MMOs - white paper contributors needed Message-ID: <7B1908F718F2FA40A459EB6C9F6E8EBC8F38ECE3F7@NA-EXMSG-C125.redmond.corp.microsoft.com> Do you have knowledge of and insights into Casual MMOs that you'd love to share with others?? If so, we're looking for volunteers to assist in the writing of the Casual MMO section of the 2009 Casual Games White Paper for the IGDA's Casual Games SIG. Specifically, we're in need of writers for the following topics: * Business Models * Market & Audience * Overview of Casual MMOs If you'd like to contribute anything to this project, I'd love to hear from you. Please contact me directly and we can discuss how you can contribute. Thanks, Kirsten Duvall Casual Games SIG kirstend at microsoft.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron at tandemgames.com Sun Nov 30 22:39:07 2008 From: aaron at tandemgames.com (Aaron Murray) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:39:07 -0600 Subject: [casual_games] Casual MMOs - white paper contributors needed In-Reply-To: <7B1908F718F2FA40A459EB6C9F6E8EBC8F38ECE3F7@NA-EXMSG-C125.redmond.corp.microsoft.com> References: <7B1908F718F2FA40A459EB6C9F6E8EBC8F38ECE3F7@NA-EXMSG-C125.redmond.corp.microsoft.com> Message-ID: <3129a3da0811301939j6de0dadbs44745d8280c9f10a@mail.gmail.com> Hi Kirsten, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by Casual MMO. We run a browser-based MMORPG (DomainOfHeroes.com), and we use a variant of the Asian-inspired Free-To-Play model w/micro-transactions, but instead of selling items, we sell Convenience and Customization upgrades. The game has been in beta since late spring/early summer, but just launched about 5 weeks ago. As such we only have about 4,000 players. So far the sales numbers are positive and I'm happy with how everything is going. If that sounds at all interesting to you, I'd be happy to contribute. Thanks, Aaron 530.570.4622 -- Aaron Murray Technical Director, Founder Tandem Games www.TandemGames.com www.DomainOfHeroes.com "Fun for All. All for Fun." On Sun, Nov 30, 2008 at 8:48 PM, Kirsten Duvall wrote: > Do you have knowledge of and insights into Casual MMOs that you'd love to > share with others?? If so, we're looking for volunteers to assist in the > writing of the Casual MMO section of the 2009 Casual Games White Paper for > the IGDA's Casual Games SIG. Specifically, we're in need of writers for the > following topics: > > > > ? Business Models > > ? Market & Audience > > ? Overview of Casual MMOs > > > > If you'd like to contribute anything to this project, I'd love to hear from > you. Please contact me directly and we can discuss how you can contribute. > > > > Thanks, > > Kirsten Duvall > > Casual Games SIG > > kirstend at microsoft.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: > http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: > http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From adam.m.s.martin at googlemail.com Sun Nov 30 23:16:15 2008 From: adam.m.s.martin at googlemail.com (Adam Martin) Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 04:16:15 +0000 Subject: [casual_games] Casual MMOs - white paper contributors needed In-Reply-To: <7B1908F718F2FA40A459EB6C9F6E8EBC8F38ECE3F7@NA-EXMSG-C125.redmond.corp.microsoft.com> References: <7B1908F718F2FA40A459EB6C9F6E8EBC8F38ECE3F7@NA-EXMSG-C125.redmond.corp.microsoft.com> Message-ID: <83E9EFFD-AB5B-40E9-AB8D-49140F52EFBD@gmail.com> Casual SIG not Online SIG? A section that should be duplicated and appear on both whitepapers? (assuming the normal online one is going ahead - I haven't checked). Just interested to know how this all fits in - anything that leads to more exposure for this intersection is better IMHO. On 1 Dec 2008, at 02:48, Kirsten Duvall wrote: > Do you have knowledge of and insights into Casual MMOs that you?d lo > ve to share with others?? If so, we?re looking for volunteers to as > sist in the writing of the Casual MMO section of the 2009 Casual Gam > es White Paper for the IGDA?s Casual Games SIG. Specifically, > we?re in need of writers for the following topics: > > > > ? Business Models > > ? Market & Audience > > ? Overview of Casual MMOs > > > > If you?d like to contribute anything to this project, I?d love to > hear from you. Please contact me directly and we can discuss how yo > u can contribute. > > > > Thanks, > > Kirsten Duvall > > Casual Games SIG > > kirstend at microsoft.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > Casual_Games mailing list > Casual_Games at igda.org > http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive: http://www.igda.org/casual-subscribe > Archive Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=010373383720242846960%3Az3tdwggxil8 > List FAQ: http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Casual_Games_List_FAQ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: