Quo Vadis 2008

16/05/08

I don't know whether it was the sun or the isotonic drinks, at any rate the Quo Vadis 2008 was a lively event with many, albeit not too many, lively and cheerful industry players. Pleasant acquaintances and a casual atmosphere - at least on the side of the visitors - welcomed the inclined prospective customer. Over a space of two and a half days everyone was able to gain an insight into development processes, current projects or foreign marketing strategies. Just for you we have listened carefully, kept our ear to the ground and put the hotel notepad to the test.

The gentlemen Patrick Streppel of Gamigo and Christian Sauer, CEO of Xybris Interactive gave a very interesting lecture. In the space of an hour we learned, under the motto "Make Love not Warcraft", where the MMOG genre is going and the current status of contemporary WoW clones. The outlook is bleak if the speakers are to be believed. Different examples showed that the problem often lies in the approach and the payment system used by the publisher. Since WoW continues to be the measure of all things in matters of MMORPG, imitators have great difficulties, especially those who implement their games sloppily or are not up-to-date. The WoW clone "World of Qin" with the Asiatic touch, for example, was simply too similar to the original, both the game and the graphics. So why change? The technically strong and aesthetically-pleasing "Last Chaos" works better. Not just because of its own character. So there have been increasing efforts to explore and offer other genres thereby reaching different target groups. Good, browser-based examples for this are “Shot / Smash Online”, or “Fame4U”. “Shot Online” is a MMO golf game, whereby ”Smash Online” offers great tennis. The golf version currently boasts 105,000 users. The game is available for everyone and easily played. Here the focus is on "item selling", the sale of game items. The speakers pointed out that many developers don't think about creating payment systems or the possibility of making money through a game. Although it is a good idea to offer things free of charge to the customer, one should not overdo it. Too many free elements can be damaging for a game, they are convinced of that. Of course, it is wise to offer a game free of charge to a certain degree, thereby giving everyone the possibility to try it out. However, weapons, objects or items to buy are what gamers yearn for and what keep a game alive. Towards the end of the lecture, we were shown what happens if a game has a payment system for adults yet aims at a target group well below 18 years old by looking at the example of the superstar simulation “Fame4U”. Despite these problems, the title finally reached a solid 100,000 users.

In the meantime, there are a multitude of browser games and some of them are surprisingly well made. The PC as a game platform will never cease to exist, as long as there are games like this. Developments made in the past few years have shown how much potential there is in browser games. Current projects such as Big Point's "Fragoria" or the recent "Gladiators 2" caused open mouths. How is it going to continue? Many developers have to face problems which demand market analysis and direct surveys. It is occasional players against hardcore gamers, sports game versus MMORPGs and the quality of the game is often secondary; the main thing being that the target group is satisfied and pays. As long as you aim for a small number of users and keep costs low this is acceptable. If you want to follow in the footsteps of WoW, one has to deliver a game "without borders", where there is always something to do. The player continuously needs new incentives, resulting in him remaining faithful to the game for longer. Theseincentives can be new missions or simple things such as rankings and the challenge of competition between the players or high-level content - that is content available only to advanced players. In the end it’s like this: one wants the most decorative and best armour, another simply wants first place in the rankings and then there is the one who just wants to play the role of the hero... You can't please everybody.

Next we treat ourselves to a lecture by the company Crytek. Chief designer Bernd Diemer goes into fascinating detail on how the game "Crysis" was created, what could have been done better and which obstacles had to be overcome during development. Diemer candidly clarified that the characters and storyline of "Crysis" closely resemble a B-movie. The developers are satisfied with the graphics, technology and artificial intelligence of the disgruntled Koreans in the game. As far as the saving options (in the beginning there was no quicksave!) and the artificial intelligence of the not-so-human creatures in the game go, a better job could definitely have been done, according to Diemer. The developers tried not to convey a linear gaming experience. That is the reason why one transparent, predictable horde of opponents in the jungle of "Crysis" is not eliminated and quickly followed by the next. Alertness is high on the list. During the development phase changes were continually made, new elements added and others removed. Again and again it became apparent that 1000 pages of source material on paper do not even come close to visual references, which made a trip to Haiti inevitable. There, every blade of grass was photographed, a great template for the standard hut of corrugated iron in "Crysis" was found and impressions, inputs and ideas could be collected on site and first hand. Personal experience replaced “imitation”.

The creation of the alien ship got really hairy. Where do you get your references from, how to proceed, where to start and what does an alien ship look like in the imagination of the producer, the publisher and the end customer? The developers had three short films from a well known – and expensive – Hollywood studio. One of them takes place in the jungle, one had a frozen island as a theme and finally the problem child of the three videos, the bluish shimmering inside of the alien ship. The rendered samples peppered with effects looked so good that I actually felt sorry for the developers. In 2 years they have created a real masterpiece. The nanosuit, which was integrated later, works brilliantly to convey a sci-fi flair and tempts the player to try it out. The game and the events, enemy action and the reaction of the surroundings to your actions are comprehensible and meaningful. Repeatedly analysing the weak points and intensive testing phases helped to eliminate errors in details and to make "Crysis" a top title. Crytek delivered an incomparable first person shooter experience without forcing innovation, which is groundbreaking in many aspects. And that requires more than the option to flatten trees...

After a bit of Wii-Fit, a fairly special energy drink and a warm meal, "Sacred 2: Fallen Angel" was on the agenda. For this you better read the report by my colleague who has dealt with the game extensively.

The plan for the evening was to party. In the "Ballhaus Ost" in Berlin, we and our honoured colleagues disturbed the slumber of certain local residents, and that while whispering. Inside, the visitor was met by dim lights, poker chips and tense faces. There were nice ladies with feather trimmings, chandeliers, inviting seating areas, female DJs, snacks and plenty to drink. Instead of a wild party, it was a cosy get-together.