Magic Mushrooms and Background Crickets

Hosts: Shannon, Steve, Todd

Guest: “Danger” Dave Young

DangerLands: http://www.dangerlands.com/
Play the LiveDev: http://www.daveyounggames.com/dangerlands/dangerlandsWIP.php
Monster TouchArcade thread: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=26394
DangerLands Twitter: http://twitter.com/DangerLands
Dave’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/the_davey
Todd’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/WininBard
Aiine’s Global Agenda Videos (a.k.a. Spankin’ Tak): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R-m1tAuq2k

Hear the episode here: http://multiplaying.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=571793

Is it just me, or are these clothes on backwards?

I’m a behind the scenes kinda guy. I love the making of specials on DVDs. I read books where writers talk about how they created their works. And I beta test games. The earlier I can get in, the better. I’ve been designing my own games for a few years now, and early testing really let’s you see how a game comes into being.

Many players get into beta to play an eagerly anticipated title before the masses. Some to play for free. Those folks don’t really contribute so much to the process. Real testing is not for the feint of heart. Real testing involves spending your game time doing things that aren’t always fun.

In the early days of Vanguard, I spent nights trying over and over to break a starter quest line. Make a character, do the same freaking story again and again, knowing it would fail, but trying one change at a time and writing down how it failed. I kept a notepad at my desk and wrote down every bug I found, then I tried to recreate the bug over and over to pin it down. Then to top off the night, I would write up my results. Boring in a lot of ways, but it was worth it to see the world go from a blank page to a finished product. To experience a combat system that sounded awesome on paper but which lacked fun. And the see it get ripped out and replaced. I felt like I was a particular that game, not just a player.

Why do I write about this? Well, if you are interested in how mmo’s develop, if you want to help shape a new world, you can get in on the ground floor of DangerLands. Our beta is open to anyone, and we know that most folks will just be tourists who pop in, say hmmm, andnthrn never look back, but some folks will join us and have a stake in seeing the game grow to release and beyond. Join the community.

Do you beta? If so, why? If not, why not?

You can find out more about the game at http://www.dangerlands.com/ or here under the DangerLands tag.

The cleverly named "Danger Forest Dungeon" begins to take shape...

I’m at the point in DangerLands where I’m starting to create the first dungeon, and it got me thinking about what players like in a dungeon. What do you like? Do you like hunting in dungeons? Do you hate it? What are some of your favorite dungeons?

For me, I’ll always remember Befallen in EverQuest. It was my first dungeon, and yes, I got stuck on the wrong side of the locked door and died to a ghoul. I like the danger in dungeons, because if the shit hits the fan, you can’t run away. You have to play well to survive. Higher risk > better play > more rewarding for me. Also the dungeons (in EverQuest at least) were very interesting. They brought to life what I had always imagined when playing D&D.

Now is your chance to contribute to DangerLands. Let me know what you like/dislike about dungeons, and I’ll try to incorporate what I can as I make mine. Thanks!

Winin makes the first attack in DangerLands.

As many of you may know, I’m a creative writer. I’ve written a few short stories and novels in my day. I even sold a short story to a horror anthology, and you can download the novel that I almost sold and read some short stories at my website. But when all is said and done, probably not many people have read my masterpieces. Sad but true. And I have many more that will probably never be read by anyone outside of my critique group.

But don’t cry for me Argentina. I have now turned my massive writing talent towards DangerLands. Much like when writing a novel, the world building is only the first step. Now I need to draw people in with interesting characters and plot. And, let’s be realistic, we are never going to have a fancy CGI intro movie. Instead, I’m going to write a series of short chapters that tell the story of how people found themselves in the Land of Danger. Hopefully it will be entertaining and people will want to read more. It will also set the stage for the quests and stories that will be found in-game.

So what is my point? Well, the game playing audience is much, much larger than the genre reading audience, so by writing for a game, I’ll probably reach a lot more people than I ever would with novels and short stories. Sad, but true. Thank goodness that mmorpg players are reasonably literate.

Anyhoo, for the first installment, check out the DangerLands Lore section.

The map of the known world

Now that DangerLands has a starting zone and is in testing, I’m turning my thoughts towards the bigger picture; specifically the world. I had a hazy notion of what the world was like, but now is the time when I needed to lay it all out.

You see, I got promoted in the DangerLands family. I’m now in charge of World Building. That means I oversee how the world is laid out, the history of the world and all the people, zone design, and zone connectivity. And I’m sure more things I haven’t discovered yet. I even have a minion now. Tom has been doing a lot to create the indigenous people that inhabit DangerLands (humans, you see, are just visiting). He already had a lot of language and culture done, so I created a world map to help him out. He’ll now be able to figure out where the people lived, built cities, and then let them crumble. Those will be the ruins and dungeons that I’ll get to build and you’ll get to explore.

Also, the map will be used as a screen for traveling around the world. Enjoy!

PS We are going to make this into a Facebook app as well. All your coffeebreaks are belong to us.

PPS To help test the game, check out the DangerLands forum and the LIVEDev (beta) test site. When it asks for an account, just make up a new one.

Winin makes the first attack in DangerLands.

Sorta. Early beta testing has begun! Or is it alpha testing? Whatever. We are a small indie team, so these sorts of details don’t bother us. What is important is that you can now create an account and a character and then log in to see the world and chat with the other people. There is only one zone so far, but it is pretty much done. Dave is currently working to hook up everything we need for combat. The next big hurdle will be for people to be able to attack each other.

Meanwhile, on the world team, I am working on the world map, and my first team member is working on the back history of the native people. I’m also starting to sketch out and build the other zones we want to have in at release.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we now have the basics. It was very exciting to chat with people as they ran around in the forest for the first time. If you want to test it out, detail can be found at the DangerLand forums.

And don’t be shy. You play it through your browser for now, so no need to download and install anything more than a plugin. Post your feedback!

Hosts : Jason, Kurt, Shannon & Todd

Use the embedded player, or subscribe on iTunes.

Links to Look at:

• www.dangerlands.com
• forums.toucharcade.com
• www.multiplaying.net/dangerlands/

• SITE OF THE WEEK : http://aionicthoughts.wordpress.com/

TF2

Next MPTF2 Night : Monday, October 26, 2009! http://steamcommunity.com/groups/multiplayingnet

Music : by The Triptones : www.thetriptones.com

Contact Info : Questions, comments, feedback, errors, voice messages in mp3 or wav format, etc. can be sent to multiplaying@gmail.com. We invite you to write a review on iTunes and visit our website at http://www.multiplaying.net. We’re a part of the Dead Workers Party Network. Find great podcasts at http://deadworkers.com/network/

Hosts : Brian, Jason, John, Shannon, & Steve

Links to Look at:

• Love
• Uncharted 2 & Slurms Initial Review
• Bejeweled Blitz
• Demon’s Souls
• Torchlight
• Aion

• SITE OF THE WEEK :

TF2

Next MPTF2 Night : Monday, October 19, 2009! http://steamcommunity.com/groups/multiplayingnet

Music : by The Triptones : http://www.thetriptones.com : used with permission. Thanks Snocone!

Contact Info : Questions, comments, feedback, errors, voice messages in mp3 or wav format, etc. can be sent to multiplaying@gmail.com. We invite you to write a review on iTunes and visit our website at http://www.multiplaying.net. We’re a part of the Dead Workers Party Network. Find more great podcasts at http://deadworkers.com/network/