Digital distribution systems seem to be a boon for independent studios, how hard is it to get your game on a system like Steam or Impulse (Did you approach them or did they approach you?)
For us (and many others before us) it was all about the IGF nominations. In this respect, we are deeply indebted to the IGF and the judges for nominating our game in three categories! We had initially approached them (Steam and some others), and there was some interest. But things really got rolling relatively shortly after the IGF nominations. I can wholeheartedly suggest that budding indie developers make great, small (and most importantly playable) games, and submit them to IGF, PAX, Indiecade, and other competitions. Game jams such as TIGJam and the recent Global Game Jam are great too.
What was the hardest part of the game to get working right? What were the lessons learned from the development of the game?
From my point of view, physics and user interface tweaking. The basic prototype of the game was essentially done towards the end of 2006 (!). Then we needed to sit down and do the hard work of making what we thought would be a great game playable for others who had never played it before. As it turns out, tweaking the audio, visuals and controls to work in harmony, such that the player is always aware of what is going on, and not left guessing, is hard, if not the hardest (and imho most important) part of game development. That said, tweaking the first fifteen minutes of the game, which is essential to get the player interested, also took much longer than we had initially anticipated. Lessons learned? Hm. Everything takes 5-10x as long to develop as one thinks, I guess. But this is also where one of the strengths of independent development lies: being able to polish the game mechanics to a shine, and not prematurely release the game. I'm very happy with Osmos in its final state.
All is possible. We're thinking Mac/Linux first, but let's see after that. Console, as well as iPhone would be not as straightforward as one might think. Osmos relies heavily on the use of the mouse, and this would need to be mapped to a dual thumb-stick controller, which, while doable, will require some significant play testing. Yes, we are very interested in the iPhone, and the touchscreen would allow us to naturally map the controls, but there we have the added constraint of a significantly lower screen resolution, which will present a challenge when displaying thousands of motes at a time. To be continued...
From your perspective what are the biggest things wrong with the game industry and conversely, what's the best part about working in the industry right now?
I am very positive about where large parts of the game industry are moving. It's a slow process, but I was very impressed with the new IPs introduced by EA in 2008, specifically Mirror's Edge and Dead Space. Yes, these games have their issues, but I enjoyed them, and EA seems willing to take some creative risks. Sure, there's always the curse of the sequels, but if they are as polished as, for example, the Call of Duty franchise, that's fine by me. Of course, I say this wearing my "player" hat. As a developer, I like to have the creative freedom of being indie, for reasons named above, but also for so many others. The most obvious being that we can do whatever we like, model any human condition we like, and at least attempt to think as far outside of the box as possible. I should mention though, that I am in a somewhat luxurious position, being a faculty member with a salary. But both Eddy and Dave are currently full-time indies, so we need to make this financially feasible, if we want to continue along these lines (which we do).
Osmos is now available from our
website but also from Steam and D2D for $9.99. The game offers 4-8 hours of unique game-play and enjoyment, and significant replayability, which is how we reached the suggested price point. To quote a recent tweet from David Jaffe: "15-20 dollar games, designed to last 1-10 days=magic to me". With this kind of game as an optional branch to the standard AAA, $60 games, we're looking at a bright, creative and compelling future. I see great potential, and I can't wait to see what's next!
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