A TALK ON GAME DESIGNING FOR THE COMMON MASS.
-with Sailesh Prabhu.
When : 13th December 2013. 17:30 to 19:00
Where : AJC Bose Auditorium, Presidency College, Kolkata.
A brief about the Lecturer : Sailesh Prabhu, is a name rapidly gaining fame amongst the game developers in India and abroad along with his founded company, Yellow Monkey Studios Pvt LTD. His game 'HUEBRIX' just won him an award at the 2013 NASSCOM game developers conference in Pune.
So, what is Indie?
Prabhu talks about the advent of the term and about how it is abused in this day and age. 'Basically, Indie is a term that was first used to denote game developers who did not have a sponsor or were not funded.' Today, 'Every start up company are calling themselves indie, so the original ones are trying to shy away from the stigma.' Then he laughs and goes on to explain that 'indie-game' is so much more than just about that. 'It is always about doing something new and original.' He also talks about the need of indie-games. About how main stream game development is about either Bollywood or Sports which have very little scope for innovation. In his presentation, he mentions the following :
Indie is
JOURNEY : Journey is an indie game developed by Thatgamecompany for the PlayStation 3. It was released on March 13, 2012, via the PlayStation network. In Journey, the player controls a robed figure in a vast desert, travelling towards a mountain in the distance. What is brilliant about this game is it is also an Online Multi player. The unique thing about it is that there are no chatbox system in this game. you do not talk to the other player. 'While you are playing this game,' says Prabhu 'You form a kind of an inexplicable bond. No movie or book or anything else can make you feel what a game can.' Below is a trailer from Journey.
-with Sailesh Prabhu.
When : 13th December 2013. 17:30 to 19:00
Where : AJC Bose Auditorium, Presidency College, Kolkata.
[Sailesh Prabhu talking about indie games]
A brief about the Lecturer : Sailesh Prabhu, is a name rapidly gaining fame amongst the game developers in India and abroad along with his founded company, Yellow Monkey Studios Pvt LTD. His game 'HUEBRIX' just won him an award at the 2013 NASSCOM game developers conference in Pune.
So, what is Indie?
Prabhu talks about the advent of the term and about how it is abused in this day and age. 'Basically, Indie is a term that was first used to denote game developers who did not have a sponsor or were not funded.' Today, 'Every start up company are calling themselves indie, so the original ones are trying to shy away from the stigma.' Then he laughs and goes on to explain that 'indie-game' is so much more than just about that. 'It is always about doing something new and original.' He also talks about the need of indie-games. About how main stream game development is about either Bollywood or Sports which have very little scope for innovation. In his presentation, he mentions the following :
Indie is
- NOT a genre
- NOT a type
- It is a culture and movement
He also explains that even though indie games tend to have more retro art and 8 bit music, it has more to do with the developer's temperament and love of old 8-bit games than anything else.
A few noteworthy Indie games worth checking out.
Prabhu then talks about some of the new indie games string up a storm in recent times.
- THE STANLEY PARABLE : The Stanley Parable is an interactive fiction modification (mod) built on the Source game engine, developed by Davey Wreden and released in July 2011. A high-definition remastered stand-alone version, including new story elements, was developed by Wreden and Source modeler William Pugh under the Galactic Cafe development team name. The remake was announced and approved via the Steam Greenlight process in 2012, and released in October 2013 for Microsoft Windows. Following is a trailer.
DEVICE 6 : A surreal thriller in which the written word is your map, as well as your narrator. DEVICE 6 plays with the conventions of games and literature, entwines story with geography and blends puzzle and novella, to draw players into an intriguing mystery of technology and neuroscience. Following is a Trailer for Device 6.
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF YELLOW MONKEY STUDIO
Prabhu talks about his and Yellow Monkey Studio's journey through the ups and downs over the years. He tells the audience about how they started out with two members and how it became a group of three, then fourteen and how they reduced down to a group of two.
Mortley - A stitch in time, is a game which never saw the daylight of production due to the lack of funding. He calls it 'being over ambitious' and speaks about how he learnt the hard way that dependence on funds or sponsors are futile. Following is a link to the trailer. (I couldn't figure out how to embed it. >__< )
Finger Footie, Launched in 2010 for android and Apple, it is a touch tap and tilt game for mobile devices. Prabhu talks about the problems faced during the making of the game and what he learnt from it post release:
- Limited Budget and time : not enough Research and Development.
- Few members in team
- Wrong timing : The game was released during Football World cup when all major names like Konami and Fifa launched their games.
It's Just a Thought, is an Illustrative interactive experience which plays on mood of colour and music. Following is a trailer link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C36Jw0jKvXI
Six months were given in research and development of this game. This was awarded Best Original idea at Hoplay 2011. Appreciated for it's music, this game had Facebook integration.
Huebrix, is a pathway puzzler that sounds easy on the surface, but the levels become increasingly more difficult as objectives are added to the game play. it has won a NASSCOM award and has a 75/100 Metacritic rating. Following is a trailer link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTbQ8uctZx8
'Fourteen months were given in R&D' says Prabhu.
So, How does one begin?
His advice to everyone on how to become an indie game developer was simple : 'Make games, make relations in the community and don't be afraid of a long Journey.' He says that the Indian Game Developer's community is one of the few communities were people just don't make contacts, they make friends. 'Friends who'd go out of their way to help you out in your journey.' He further advises to go out and get noticed, attend Conferences and join Forums and Developer communities. Most importantly, he advises to be unique.
SEDION's Thoughts : Sailesh Prabhu is a talented guy with a good sense of humour. He Kept it short, Kept it concise and it was awesome!I really hope that more of such events and seminars are held in Kolkata as this town and it's people needs more exposure to clue them in on what is going on in the gaming and animation industry.
Here's wishing Yellow Monkey Studio Pvt.LTD the very best for future.
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