Highest call volume

Hello!

Today is the highest call volume of the year.  The new company @Dormousegames gets created in a couple days.  Which means signing paperwork to form the company and collecting a check.

Regular blog posts will resume soon.  In the mean time check out Daniel Cooks thoughts on Randomness as a mastery element of game design.

Artist(s) wanted

Happy Holidays everyone,

As announced at December Boston Post Mortem, Dormouse Games is starting up this coming year.  We have angel funding and the paper work gets signed in January.  To get a jump on building the business we need artists portfolios and resumes.  2d, or 3d artists (who want to output to 2d) for platformer, puzzle games and possibly card games down the line.  We're willing to look at talented first timers, or experienced folks looking for a start-up indie company.

We have contract work available, with the potential to become full time.  Two games need art and a company logo.  So send us resumes if you are interested, or connect us with worthy folks who want a shot at breaking in.  contact@dormousegames.com

Thanks!

Eric and Jeremy

Dormouse Games

War for the Overworld

You would not be mistaken to think that War for the Overworld sounds kind of familiar.  Particularly if you had played Dungeon Keeper II.  Some fans realized that a DK 3 was never coming along, and went ahead and started their own version.  They have been working on this game for years, and getting some traction.  Especially over on Kickstarter. It's a UK project, so if your based in the U.S. you have to jump through some hoops to contribute.

Peter Molyneux backs their effort.  I am super excited to see this project get funded.  So please back it if you can.  And if not tweet, or share the kickstarter with someone who can.  Thanks!

Violence is a game design cliche.

Starting a game development company during times when the industry is being accused of selling violence to minors may seem like a silly idea.  Despite all the hype, 'we' already know the answer.  There is no correlation between video games and real world violence.  By 'we' I mean 'our industries lobby' the Entertainment Software Association.

That being said try and make a game that is not about violence.  At this point it is simply more creative to make a game that is not about guns, violence, and killing then it is to go back to those tired tropes yet again.  Of the few hundred games released in 2012 how many were first person shooters, or based on killing things?  All of the ones I played...  Xcom, Orcs Must Die 2, Torchlight 2.

"Normality is a lack of creativity".  FPS is pretty well done these days.  Lets demonstrate some creativity and come up with games that don't rely so heavily on violence to solve problems.

A Fieldrunners 2 key found its way into my possession about a week ago.  So after writing a post about creating fewer violent video games, it's time to go shoot some clones with turrets.

Happy Holidays

Welcome back.  I hope your holidays were fun!
Tomorrow we're going to talk about Violence in Video Games.

The best place to incorporate...

Have you considered where the best location to Incorporate is?  Lowest cost, most benefits?  Where do most other companies incorporate.  The answer might surprise you.  Its Delaware!  Wait, what?  Really?  

Yup.  Of all the places you could create a company one of the most popular is Delaware.  Anyone starting a new LLC should seriously consider incorporating in that state.  If for no other reason than all the 'services' in the state which do nothing but register companies.  It’s the local cottage industry.  

Don’t believe me?  Planet Money Podcast recently was talking about creating shell companies to learn how certain people can create tax shelters.  The podcast is an interesting look at the darker side of incorporation and worth checking out if you're curious.  Don't forget to follow up with "What can we do with our shell companies?" and "How to hide money from your spouse."

What Underwear reveals about kickstarter.

Here is a great article on Business Insider.  Anyone considering a kickstarter campaign should give it a read.  It’s about underwear.  Also the problems that success brings.  But it also highlights one reason why game development works better on crowd funding than other products.  


In the case of Flint and Tinder, they have to produce 23,000 pairs of underwear, when they intended to make 3000.  In the case of Scrumble Ship Dirkson has to produce a single game (which gets copied many times).  Software is extremely easy to copy.  Physical goods are not.  Granted the manufacturing process makes it easier for fewer people to do more work, but even the most advanced manufacturing techniques can’t beat Ctrl C, Ctrl V.

Kickstarter can be a dangerous thing whether the project succeeds or fails.  Failing to plan for success can be as detrimental as failing to plan for failure. But know that as long as your swag is digital you have it better then Flint and Tinder.