zaphod

one more: "Hypno Glasses"

All of the customization stuff is purely cosmetic, otherwise things would get out of hand pretty quickly (we have a LOT of them).

well, I would buy L4D in a heartbeat if there was a restriction like only paid players could play as Zombies. I am mostly worried that there won't be enough of a user base to support a vibrant multi-player experience. So many multiplayer games get released and die because there are only 200-300 players trying to play at once. If there was a free component then at least there would always be people playing. If we attract people that are only playing it because it is free, and don't care about all the other cool stuff you could do with the paid version - were they really going to buy the game in the first place? I'm not sure that is really a lost sale. Those people would still be a value to the game though because it is someone to fill up a server slot. also, another quick accessory: "Eye Poppers"

I would be open to any price between 10-20 USD, I think a lot of what it will come down to will be getting people's reaction towards what we plan to release + what advice the steam guys have to give us based on what they have experienced. What do you think specifically about having a free version of the game running along with the paid version specifically?

That also means a 12% rise in the opportunity to go indie!

Here is a blog post I wrote up the other day extolling how awesome an Apple TV game platform would be. I wanted to get Mapcore's take on it so I copy/pasta it here for joo. http://www.nimblebit.com/2009/05/turnin ... -platform/ There have been a lot of rumors floating around out on the inter-tubes with speculation that Apple might be jumping into the console space. Here is a great article by Appy Entertainment with some reasons why something which might seem absurd on the face of things might actually be vital for Apple to pursue. I could write a long article about all the reasons why it would be good for Apple to support an app store on the Apple TV, but I would pretty much just be re-writing the article quoted above. Instead, lets think of what an app-enabled Apple TV would mean for the people we really care about, game developers! Here are a few general assumptions we might make about an Apple TV console that would be important to developers: -digital distribution only ( iTunes / App Store) -720p resolution -dedicated graphics chipset (mac minis currently pack a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M) -core duo or core2 duo processor -at least 1 gig of ram -at least 80 gig HD -internet connectivity -some kind of controller -open developer program If all these things came together into this device, it would mean a big opportunity for developers: Lowest barrier to entry of any home console platform ever built. The iPhone app store completely blew the doors off platform accessibility for developers. While there has been some growing pains associated with that leap, there is no question it was a milestone event in the history of commercial game development that has spurred the imaginations of over 50,000 developers across the globe. Bringing a similar creative explosion to a home console platform would trigger a similar shift in console games as a fresh wave (probably more of a tsunami) of developers and games that were previously relegated to other very low barrier platforms (the PC and web) completely engulf a fresh audience of couch-bound gamers. Familiar and accessible development environment. It seems like with every “next generation” game console that emerges, developers encounter some new technical configuration to re-learn. It would be almost guaranteed that a games-enabled Apple TV would run some form of OS X, a platform that many Mac and iPhone developers have already become very intimate with. It has proven to be a stable, robust and easy platform to develop on. If Apple’s app development strategy continued the trends of the iPhone and iPod, then the Apple TV would also serve as a dev-kit - something that is very costly and difficult to obtain from other game console manufacturers. Not just games, but applications too. Consoles have dabbled a bit in the areas of applications, the Nintendo Wii has things like weather and news, and some consoles provide access to the web which can have app-like usefulness. You only need to take a glance at the iPhone to see the enormous potential for 3rd party applications for a TV device. While there has been markets for digitally distributed games on consoles for the past few years - there has never been the opportunity to make non-game applications, which is an entirely new frontier in it’s own right. Developers could create applications that let users check the weather, use twitter, email, read news, use facebook, instant message, access all kinds of media, or decide where to go out to dinner, all from the comfort of your couch. Bringing games to a new audience Another trick of Apple’s with the iPhone / iPod has been to introduce mobile gaming to a large audience of people that would never have invested in a mobile game console such as the Nintendo DS or PSP. Many gamers on these platforms bought an iDevice to make phone calls or listen to music before discovering the treasure trove of games and apps available to run on their platform. It was not billed solely as a games platform, games are merely one of the entertaining things it is capable of, and the same would be true of the Apple TV. There would be the opportunity to introduce games to an entire segment of non-console owners who would be using the Apple TV for movies and television who suddenly find themselves with the ability to use games on their TV for entertainment. Will it ever happen? We here at NimbleBit love open game distribution channels, we think it inspires creativity and provides many developers opportunity. While it is unknown if Apple has any sort of plans like this, it is fun to fuel the flames of speculation and fantasize about a new open game distribution channel opening up. If it ever does, you can be sure you will be able to find some NimbleBit games on it.

We are not really that jazzed about the mirco-payment part of a free to play game, I have yet to see a western game that has been successful using that kind of setup. In fact Kart Rider has pulled it's western release presumably for the reason they found people here would not support that model. So the biggest reason we would have a free to play element in the game would be to boost players, it would essentially be a risk free and constantly running demo - with the added benefit for paying users that they have a bigger set of games and players to interact with. The biggest question would be what you could limit in the free version that would actually inspire people to pay for the game to unlock those features, without doing things that make the free players experience feel shitty, and turn them off from the game.

11 characters 12 karts 14 wheels 25 hats 11 accessories 11 maps we don't know for sure about the cost, we will probably have to consult with some people who are more knowledgeable than us before we know for sure. It will not be more than 20 dollars at least. since the game is primarily multiplayer, we really want to get as many people online playing at once as possible. One way we have considered achieving that is to release the game for free, and then lock certain elements and functions in the game unless you purchase a zero gear license. Things like the garage might be available in the free version so you can deck out your awesome character, but then when you go to save or exit it tells you that you can only customize your character with a license, etc. what do you guys think?

made some kanye west-ish glasses

of course

pretty much ASAP once we have the new networking up and running

still barging ahead full steam on the physics prediction / networking. You can read what we are working on every week on our blog - we post a little summary called "I Know What You Did Last Week". I just posted last weeks a few minutes ago actually: http://www.nimblebit.com/2009/05/i-know ... st-week-8/

That is part of the video I edited out, but basically there is a .TGA file for each texture - it can define up to four distinct color areas for the texture, one in each channel of the TGA.

I created a time-lapse video of the process of creating this kart:

It's actually Unity, not flash.

new blog post about the weapon dynamics in ZG http://www.nimblebit.com/2009/05/weapon ... zero-gear/

I wrote a little blog post about ZG's art style since we needed something to post about http://www.nimblebit.com/2009/04/the-ar ... zero-gear/

I got some good feedback that the lack of shadows was more jarring on this map because of the large scale - I spent yesterday rendering out some lightmaps for the floor and bar surface in order to give all the objects sitting around some added realism. Here is a before and after shot.

wow, that Smashing Toys game is a broken pile of shit.

anybody heard of Broken Toys or played it before? It just came out on steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/26700/

Really long time with no post, my sincerest apologies! I know everyone is just waiting for the game to come out, but we still have road ahead of us to get to that point. Instead, I will tease you with more media! HaHa! This is a new level I have been working on for the last few weeks - it's inspired by the old "rats" style maps for various FPS games where the environment is giant and all the players appear to be very tiny. You can see that this one takes place in a game room. I know a lot of people are going to ask when the next beta is going to be open, all I can say is a very nebulous "soon". *click to supersize*

no, no, no. Zaphod = God

we are working on it! Really! in the mean time be hypnotized by the wonderful colors: http://nimblebit.com

no, just walking around the IGS and going to parties rocking my NimbleBit t-shirt.

I'll be there with my partner Brian, repping NimbleBit