I’m excited to introduce a new feature at the Roberts Space Industries website: “Game Changers!“. Informal discussions with well-known game developers to give everyone an insight into the developer perspective, the things that excite or challenge and to talk a little about what they are up to. An insider’s access to talented developers that have made games that both you and I love.
My sit down with Chris Taylor, located below, is the first of such pieces, and we shot it before Christmas before he launched his Wildman campaign. We talk about our shared history with Electronic Arts and Microsoft and Wildman. He’s made many great games, such as Total Annihilation, Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander and he never goes into something with less than 150% energy and enthusiasm.
So why Kickstarter for Chris and myself?
It really has to do with the publisher / developer relationship in today’s world. A publisher will say;
“Here’s $20M to make a game, I’ll own the intellectual property and you’ll have to pay me back that $20M from your royalties. Because I’m advancing you so much your royalty rate is going to be only 20% of the net revenue.”
What this means is that the publisher will be making money for a long time before a developer will ever see a penny of profit from their hard work. This model comes from the recording industry, where it works better because the recording cost of the album is a lot less than the cost of selling it. In the old days of game development, when games cost just your own time and could be made quickly the model worked. But as the cost of development has gone up the advantage has irrevocably shifted to the publisher. They still pay the same to market and publish the game as they always did, but the developer side of the cost equation has gone way up. Originally something like 80% of the cost of selling a game was in packaging, sales and marketing and only 20% or less was in development. But now the cost of development is more like 50-60% of the overall investment but the share the developer gets has not increased. So pretty much all independent developers end up being indentured servants to whichever publisher they are working for. They almost never make enough money from any game to become independent and so are completely dependent on development contracts. These development contracts tend to be so tight that there are not more than a few months of extra “burn” in the bank, so if you don’t land a new job pretty quickly, you are in trouble. Which is why you’ve seen so many developers close over the past few years, especially as publishers have cut back on their external development to focus more and more on in-house sequels to “franchises” like Call of Duty, FIFA or Battlefield.
This is why crowd funding and Kickstarter is so exciting for developers. Besides the awesomeness of connecting directly with people that love your games and engaging in a lot of fun conversations it allows you to free yourself from the shackles of working for a publisher. It takes the publisher out of the revenue chain, allowing the developer to keep more money, which in turn can be used to build a better game the way the community and the developer wants. No crazy notes from publishing executives that don’t play games, or marketing executives wanting to chase the fluffy unicorn of social. That’s why I love crowd funding. I’m immensely grateful to all of you in allowing me to build Star Citizen free from the interference of a publisher. I will build a better game, and I game better tailored to what YOU want. Its why I try to support any of my peers in entering the wild and woolly world of crowd funding. I think it’s a huge boost for the future of game making.
I’ve known Chris for a long time and he’s one of the most straight shooting, forthcoming and funny people you will meet. He’s a genuine pleasure to be around and incredibly talented. Wildman, is about as far from a Space Sim as you can get, but if you’re a fan of any of Chris Taylor’s games I would encourage you to check it out, either on Kickstarter or on their dedicated site. Like Star Citizen, Wildman will build on the DNA of Taylor’s previous games, including both real time strategy and role playing elements in ways never before combined!
I’m backing!
-Chris
Hey a new show, I like it !!
WM
The Winger has spoken.
Xane agrees.
WingMan is such a lad.
Hey Look its ANOTHER Chris!
And I backed the game. I like me some decent RTS.
I backed it and then took my money back. It won’t be RTS. It’ll be another DoTA clone with tiny bit more control over creeps. Thanks, but no thanks.
Hey Sky,
I am a backer of the Wildman Kick starter and I just saw your comment. Just thought I would clarify on what this game is (From my point of view). Chris Taylor has specifically said he is not making a MOBA or a DOTA Clone. He wants to make a Action RPG with RTS elements.
So what does this mean to me? Well like any RTS you can plant buildings down anywhere. For Example if you are having a hard time against a Dino man boss you can plant down a kennel for war dogs to pour out an help you in battle. This is not exclusive in the war zones.
But Most importantly this kickstarter is about the survival about the survival of Gas Powered Games.
Of Course if you do not like the core wild man experince you can Mod it to your hearts content with Project Mercury. I would encourage you to re pledge but in the end that is your choice.
2 of my favorite developers since I was a teen. I’ve also backed both projects.
And again Credits to you! Mr. Chris Roberts. Doing some PR for another Crowdfunding project.
Nice to see that people from different companies in Computergaming Industry are able to treat each other good!
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Its So good to see this level of support from within the game dev community. C.R. +1 rep LOL
Your production values are much higher, WM.
Liked the show and Wildman looks neat as well, they got another backer here!
Where’s the LAMP?
“The LAMP” should be on the table, it’s a RSI artifact from the pledge era.
pls bring the LAMP to next video.
Great video, btw.
/B
Heh looks good
I hope that Wildman will be funded. And I really like that Chris is supporting this.
Wildman looks good, I like the art style. Looking forward to more game changers.^^
Enlightening to say the least.
I’ve heard he had to layoff A LOT of his company due to financial woes. Is the company still viable enough to make and finish Wildman? The concept intrigues me and I would be interested in pledging for a company that is in decent shape. However, I’m afraid of pledging to a company that is on its last leg. They’re currently sitting at $400k of a $1.1 million goal. Is other funding or sources of money in place? Because $1.1 million is at best 10 developers for 1 year if you want to include benefits, etc.
tldr; I’d really like to see what kind of financial plan the company has to see if it’s viable before putting my money in, and I think a lot of other people would like to as well.
Hey, WildThing – From what I have read over the past few weeks (I am a wildman Backer) The company (Gas Powered Games) has no debt. This project is the project keeping them afloat other than the cash reserves that is available. I personally am backing wildman at 45 USD and planning to up it to 60 when the mod tool level is made available.
I have allot of faith in Chris Taylor. He is a very honest man and very genuine (Something I do not say much about a person.) However they need our help.
btw, i LOVED Total Annihilation!
same!
I loved both TA and Supcom!
Chris Taylor was my childhood hero, spent countless hours on TA and SC.
SC was a great game, just need much more optimization, balancing and bug fixes. I thought SC2 would fix all that when it was announced.
I felt betrayed when Supreme Commander 2 completely dumbed down the gameplay, lost all the grand scale and the essence of the SC series. I lost faith in CT quickily after that.
Please remember that the reasons Games are “dumbed down” are because Publishers put pressure on the developer to release it before it’s ready, or otherwise change the game play. Not because the developer suddenly thought making a crap game might be a nice idea.
The way I see it, both Chris R and Chris T are passionate people that like to make games because they like people to play them. If you don’t encourage them do to so by backing and therefore removing publishers from the picture, then well. . .you obviously don’t like playing good games.
@Adam: Games actually ARE dumbed down by request of the publisher. They have fancy words like “accessibility” and “casual-gaming” for that. They DON’T want to develop for a niche market of dedicated and experienced players. They want anyone able to pick up the product, start playing, and feel competitive right away. Some publisher owned developer even admitted that they intentionally wanted to make their customers feel a “little bit overpowered”. Accessible, casual, just ~4 hours a week of play to get the feeling you can compete with others or sense you’ll be “up there very soon”.
@Adam
I don’t agree fully. If CT truly loved his creation of SupCom and made a commitment to his fans, he wouldn’t let THQ change the design direction of what made SupCom what it was so easily. If I were him, I might as well postpone doing a sequel.
You can tell that the financial problem has been affecting them for a while, especially with the way DemiGod was released, horrible bugs and very poorly balanced. Its takes years for them the patch the game to the point where its “good”. Im sure if they had more staff it wouldve been “good” on release. For this reason, im holding my pledge.
Not a personal dislike of the game, just worried about their ability to deliver.
I personally do not know what happened with Demigod however that is something that you could ask Chris Taylor on Monday during the Live Chat @ http://www.twitch.tv/gaspoweredgames
Chris has a core team of around 10 working at GPG now. They can deliver the game if they close Kickstarter. Chris has thought and planned out the work (and has already invested time and $ to get this far – if you look at some of the tools they’ve demoed that’s the result of the past year or so of work). We discussed this when I interviewed him. Its also why he didn’t want to pitch Kings and Castles (his next full blown RTS) on Kickstarter as he didn’t think he would raise enough money to complete that the way he wants to, but as Wildman is single player and a slightly smaller focus he feels with $1.1M or above he can deliver. He’s a long time pro that has been in the industry almost as long as I have. Neither one of us would sign up for something we didn’t think we could deliver. That’s the difference between someone that has done this a lot and someone that is just starting out and is perhaps naive about the amount of work it takes to deliver a game.
Chris’s timing on the lay-offs were bad, but they were really because Microsoft canceled Age of Empires – you can’t keep a 60 person company running with no revenue. Its why Kickstarter is so good for breaking the cycle with publishers, who at times can be no better than a predatory loan shark.
Extremely honorable of you to support so many of your peers. Your confidence in Elite convinced me to pledge for them, and it will for Wildman as well. I suppose it’s good karma to support a game that I share a similar handle with
Agreed, Chris R. it’s so cool that you’re supporting your peeps out there. . .you are a paragon of the industry I salute you!
TA was one of the games that got me into gaming…so lucky to have been there when Chris T. made it! Definitely a game changer!!!
Also for me, it was your recommendation, Mr. Roberts, that caused me to pledge Elite Dangerous in the first place. And now I’ll be doing the same thing with Wildman, as it really looks like it will be a great game. Thanks for putting a spotlight on this; I’m sure it will really help Chris Taylor’s project.
Chris Taylor and GPG got my money the first week of the campaign.
So help out anyway you can to
And Chris Taylor said in video update nr 6 that if Wildman is successfuly funded they make “Kings And Castles” so what are you waiting for?
Wing Commander and Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander are my two favorite game series, so this is a trip to see these two guys together.
Supreme Commander is only game I know with proper support for secondary monitor.
Military RTS’ with a seamless transition between massive strategic level and in-the-weeds tactical level are extremely rare. SupCom 1 did it very well. It’s disappointing to see RTS go back to “zoomed in” tactical scale, but no one wants to break from Blizzard’s successful model.
Someone is! http://planetaryannihilation.com/
Planetary Annihilation, it is another spiritual successor to Total Annihilation but with an even larger scope. They had a very successful kickstarter campaign and are full bore in development now. It is being headed by quite a few of the vets from Gas Powered Games.
Wow, thanks for the link – I didn’t even know about that one and it looks fantastic!
Anyway thanks to C.R. for the piece on Chris Taylor – I also didn’t know about Wildman, which looks great, and has got my pledge!
Who here hasn’t dreamed of catching the fluffy unicorn of social?
Yea, I didn’t see what was wrong with that either. It’s not like you want to get ahold of an antisocial unicorn.
“Game Changers!” wow… thanks.
Yes…. you will making History !!
In the future.. the World will have a look.. back on this kind of RSI game development and the way you use… as the first.. to let participate the community so much and for the use of crowdfunding.. at this level.
Thank you Chris Roberts.
If i had a choice between a decent well thought out game of the past for 100$ and a sh*tty flu00f ball carebare game of the present for 59.99$ i’d pay 100*5 to get the experience i had growing up.
In retrospective there’s some gems in today’s games that i’ve deeply enjoyed. However, most of the crunk doesnt even make it worth my time. I shouldn’t have to go through hollywood hell to find a winner. I can remember back in the day where any old game i picked up was FREAKING AWESOME. Nowadays its “WTF did i pay this”.
I remember the good old days too, I might not of been a PC gamer early on, but the N64 had such an amazing library of innovating games that were consider you know fun and invigorating. It makes very sad that how the industry turned out. Instead of games sticking out from the bunch most try to recycle concepts and gameplay too often every year.
No Friday update again?
The plan is that Wingman’s hangar is the Friday update in video format http://robertsspaceindustries.com/wingmans-hangar-episode-6/
It will be live 9am PST, 11am CST every Friday, review events in the week, answer community questions and have a more in depth interview with the team member we feature on the Wednesday update. Occasionally it will also have some concept art or even game WIP footage. After the live show, an edited version will be on our YouTube and Vimeo channels and embedded in the post.
And we wouldn’t have it any other way Video\Live Stream > Wall of Text
Thanks!
I’m backing!
Is everyone in the game industry named Chris ?
Seriously, enjoyed the video. As an outsider it’s interesting to learn what makes the industry “tick”.
Wildman definetly looks interesting. And I like that new show.
Two legends in one room. Wow. CR the simulator and CT the RTS. Both legends.
Love to see game industries moving in new directions.
Viva la revolution! PC Gaming is alive!!!
I loved Total Annihilation. I’m backing.
I have to say that I love and still play the original Supreme Commander and FA, however, Supcom 2 made me lose all respect for Chris Taylor. He sold out all his fans with that trash, and for that reason I can’t support what he does. I do wish him luck however, may he find the roots that made him great again.
Why, after all that has been explained about nasty publishers pushing their agenda to people continue to blame the developer?
Interesting interview – another backer here!
Chris you have to put a ship in the game called The Chris. You have so many Chris’ at your company. Now you’re interviewing people named Chris. Make it an in-game joke!
Should rename Lamp to “Chris” as well… 8)
Great new segment, I look forward to more of these.
And people, we need to get behind Wildman, GPG has made some amazing games in the past (Supreme Commander FA I’m looking at you) and this game is looking really quite interesting I think. Well worth backing. Lets save this company.
Loved this segment…love both CR & CT. Great talents…and it’s great to see this type of interaction with your peers. Keep up the good work. Keep this segment going. Wildman has back in me.
Super nice. Great initiative Chris. ^^
Well, im watching the Wildman kickstarter since day one.
Chris Taylor made a few mistakes at the start that have driven alot of possible backers away + the lack of needed information how Wildman will turn out gameplay wise….
For me it looks like it will be compareable with Spellforce, a game i enjoyed very much.
Im not able to influence the kickstarter itself because i can only pledge through PayPal, same as for StarCitizen, but still i will support it.
Great new segment, I rely enjoyed it. And its great to see big names coming together, and sporting each other. as for wild man its looks quite interesting. so who know I might back it.
I love space combat and RTS so this was a great interview to watch. Thanks to both Chrises for all of your hard work!
Chris Roberts you are a gentleman sir.
Total Annihilation, supreme commander 1 and 2, such goods games i loved.
and i still hope to see one day a supreme commander 3 …
I’d love to see Chris Taylor working with Chris Roberts on Star Citizen. His Knowledge on real time strategy, managing could be uses as “mini games” into the Star Citizen univers !
Chris R. thats really nice that you support some good people like Chris Taylor with that interwiev. <3 RSI!!
This is almost an insurance. Pledging and supporting it with my powerful media contacts.
Awesome ! PC GAMING IS BACK !
Chris Roberts and his army of Chris’s
And another Chris … ok, i know this one has been stressed all over but i still couldn’t resist
Seriously now, i love the new show. When I pledged for Star Citizen, I was hoping to get some insights on the development process. Not just the fancy collectors art book stuff other games sell for a high price (artworks are still great though), but a deeper look at all aspects of game creation. While RSI certainly delivers the Star Citizen side, I would never have imagined they bring in other developers as well.
Keep up the good work Chris!
…What’s the plural of Chris by the way? Chris’s like in the post above? Looks weird to me, but i am from Germany so mayby that’s why
Great read and nice interview.
This is unfortunately the way things are in the media/arts industries.
I really hope Kickstarter and other similar sites have come to stay and that people are willing to become patrons of the projects they believe in.
In all honesty I know eventually I will be disappointed by the results of one or another project I support, but quite frankly I simply can’t accept going back to the publisher only route.
Big publishers make some great games a possibility. Their not entirely bad guys but they need to understand that ripping off customers only makes them look like one.
Features that get cut, DLC that should have been in the game in the first place and so on are just some small examples.
A man with a vision on a mission.
I love your effort of change the way games are made
and sold.
Good to see, that old-school developers stick together.
I am actually not a big action-RPG fan, but since I always liked Chris Taylor I pledged anyways. It would be a shame, if he’d have to close down GPG for good. In the worst case, he could always work for RSI.
I really don’t see what’s so gamechanging about Wildman. The thing about acquiring technology from other players by conquest is either not explained in depth or a failed feature.
Is technology a one-time-use for the next battle, or are we talking about maxing out tech rather fast in some sort of chainreaction/rippleeffect among players?
Maybe I’m missing something, but so far I’m far from impressed. Too little info.
Can’t say if it’s game-changing, but it sounds interesting to me. And backing at 20 USD isn’t that huge of an investment (even though I went for a slightly higher tier). So I’m willing to “gamble” a bit.
As to your technology question: did you have a look at the campaign? Specifically at Video Update #4: How to Fit an RTS Into an Action-RPG? That should answer your question. At least to the best possible extent at this point – the game is only in development for a few months after all.
Video has some weird blurred horizontal line effect for me. Have you used a different codec when encoding it?
I just get this: http://www.karmola-shipyards.co.uk/sc/GameChangersVid.png
WFM, but you could always try downloading it with cclive or something similar and play it back with a local media player like MPlayer or VLC.
Chris I thinks it’s great you’re supporting Chris in getting some exposure to his Wildman Kickstarter. I’m a backer and want to see this game made not only for the success of the project but for the future of Gas Powered Games.
Far too many game studios are being shuttered because Big Publishers are treating them and employee’s like disposable assets. When the game does well they survive and if a game misses the mark it’s been off with their heads. IMO the reason many games have not been doing well is the Big Pubs got too greedy and got too involved with the process. They drove the bus right off the cliff and it’s the studios that pay the price.
I agree, let’s help break the cycle, support the Devs who do what they do best…create great games!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gaspoweredgames/wildman-an-evolutionary-action-rpg?
I have an off topic question does anyone know if we will get to vote if the military will stay on Earth or will it be moved to Terra? I have been wondering about that since it came out last year does anyone know? thanks in advance
Backed it. Seeing a mix of Action-RPG with RTS is going to be interesting. Let’s see if it’s going to work. Hopefully the Linux stretch goal can be reached… at the moment, however, it doesn’t even “trend” towards its funding goal. Ah well, let’s see where this is going.
With regards to the shift in how games are funded: IMHO Kickstarter works best for established artists, because people naturally trust them more/easier. Hence I’m thinking, we need some kind of foundation with a mission to fund unique games (especially if they aim or need to be bigger). That entity could also provide easy access to legal counsel or advise on various managerial topics.
What about Greenlighting games in Steam?
I might be missing your point, but while Greenlight can be a great tool to raise awareness about a project, I don’t see how it solves the funding/initial trust problem for small/unknown artists/developers.
I love Sup Com. I’m backing !
Spread the word, Gas Powered Games is about to collapse if Wildman isn’t funded.
Hey it’s two of my favorite devs!
I’ve actually played Total Annihilation for many years and still fire it up every now and then. I’m also a pretty big fan of Dungeon Siege and have played the first one on PC and also have DS3 for Xbox 360. Chris Taylor is one of my all time favorite game makers. What’s it with all those dev’s called Chris anyway? Chris Roberts, Chris Taylor, Chris Sawyer……
Hey, here’s an idea for the next one
Sorry but DEMIGOD was one of the most completely botched releases in the history of releases. Such a promising game that was bugged into the ground. A completely non-existant single player experience combined with a utterly worthless match making system is just unacceptable. If you wonder why GPG flopped its because i refuse to ever touch another one of their games.
I’ll pass and pray to god Star Citizen doesnt go down the same path.
And to illustrate my point:
http://www.demigodthegame.com/opengames.asp
LOL. Dont touch wildman with a 1000 foot pole.
Sad to note that CT has cancelled the Wildman Kickstarter campaign 8-(