Conventions
The Indie Success Story Of Poly Bridge – PAX Aus 2015
The story of Poly Bridge is every indie developer’s dream. Entering Early Access back in June, it was a only matter of weeks before Poly Bridge went viral. For several months, it was impossible to log into a site like Reddit without stumbling upon a gif of a low-poly car stuttering across somebody’s cobbled-together planks. Patrick Corrieri, founder of Dry Cactus Games and creator of Poly Bridge, was in Melbourne to chat about the origins of the game at PAX Aus 2015.
“I did a bridge-building game for iPhone about five years ago,” Corrieri said. “It was very simple, but it worked quite well. I recently had a baby, so I thought it was a good time to try and do independent work again, before things get too crazy. And so I thought bridge-building is a genre that worked very well. I looked at the current kind of competitors on the market, and I thought there wasn’t anything that was super well-made. There were a couple of well-made games, but they didn’t allow for any user-generated content.”
Seeing a gap in the games that were currently available, Corrieri set to work on creating his own bridge-building game based on the simple iPhone game he’d created five years ago. Development on Poly Bridge started in April 2014. He’s hoping to finish it around March or April next year, which would mean a 2-year development time for the full release.
As for what he plans to change between now and the full release, Corrieri said his main focus will be on adding extra content. “The good thing about doing Early Access is that we’ve been very active in the player community. That means keeping an eye on the Steam Community boards and bug reports, but primarily we try to involve players as far as suggesting features for the game… I’m sure there’s hundreds of people that have a better idea than I do on how the game can be used.”
Corrieri said Early Access has been a great help in getting Poly Bridge to where he’d like it to be. “We now have 48 levels. The game shipped with 36 levels initially, which I designed myself… The last 12 levels were designed by community players which were contacted and invited into a private circle of level designers to push the game in a very different direction.”
Thanks to that community involvement, the focus of Poly Bridge actually shifted from a traditional bridge-building game to an emphasis on simply getting your vehicle from A to B in whatever way you can, no matter how inelegant that way may be. Corrieri says this shift is something he never would have thought of himself.
The huge success of Poly Bridge came as a surprise to Corrieri. “It’s been crazy. It’s been very nice of course, as an indie developer. I never would have expected it to do so well as it has. We just broke over a hundred thousand copies a couple of weeks ago, from the few thousand that I was hoping to gain personally… Generally the feedback has been very positive.”
But Corrieri is also conscious that too much fame isn’t always good. “There’s lots of people on Reddit getting annoyed because they keep seeing the same game, and they don’t really want to see it anymore. But that’s Reddit.”
Overall, the response to Poly Bridge has been very positive. Corrieri says the best thing about the game’s huge popularity has been the opportunity to build a huge community of players that can contribute their own content. “The nicest thing has been having a wide player base to allow lots of creativity, and us to see so many crazy builds that I would never have thought were even possible in the game. I see that, so now I can adjust the game to allow players to do that more easily.”
The success of Poly Bridge has also allowed Corrieri to focus full-time on improving the game. “It’s a full-on business now, rather than just a side-project that might make some money or might not.”
Corrieri says he has a ideas for a few new projects in mind, but will spend at least the next six months working solely on Poly Bridge until it’s out of Early Access. He’s also looking at creating console and mobile ports for the game.
Corrieri also has some advice for other indie developers looking at using Early Access to boost their games. “Early Access has been the best thing ever, I think, for indie games at the moment if done properly,” he says. “It definitely needs to be thought out. You need to ship something that is basically finished, but not finished. Finished, but with the possibility of adding something new to it, but not an unfinished game that’s going to break too easily and not going to work. Because you’re still charging money for an Early Access game so you have to do a good job.”
Corrieri’s example is certainly something that many indie developers will be looking to in the future. It will be exciting to see what he and Dry Cactus come up with next.
In exactly two weeks, an epic journey will start in the heart of Transylvania for all those who love comics, games, and movies. The Transylvania Comic Con starts on October 18 and invites all participants to enjoy a three-day event where they will get to unleash their imagination at the cosplay contest, meet their favorite actors at the photo ops and photographs sessions, or find out interesting things at the panels hosted by the event. Great fun is granted even for those who would just like to take a look at the ComicCon and do some shopping of really cool items or snap some pictures with famous props, such as the Iron Throne.
The Transylvania Comic Con will take place in the heart of Transylvania, at the BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca. The event starts on Friday, October 18 at 4 P.M and lasts until Sunday, October 20. The stage hosts’ roles will be filled by Maria Muller and Ken Huegel. Some of the celebrities invited to the event are ‘Vikings’ and ‘Hunger Games’ star Alexander Ludwig, Kevin McNally Pirate of the Caribbean, ‘Spartacus’, ‘Arrow’, and ‘Shanarra’ star Manu Bennet, Rick Cosnett, from ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘Stargate Atlantis’ star David Nykl, and Roger Ashton- Griffiths, who played Mace Tyrell in Game of Thrones. Cosplay enthusiasts will get to see Daisy Cosplay and Imriel Cosplay.
Transylvania Comic Con will also welcome three featured artists and a Cosplay Guest, who wasn’t announced yet. The schedule is not public yet, and the timetable is subject to change, however, on October 5 participants will get the first glimpse at the program, from where they will find out more about the guests of the event. What we already know is that Transylvania Comic Con will host cosplay competitions on Saturday and Sunday. The General Cosplay Competition hosted on Saturday targets solo cosplay enthusiasts only, while on Sunday groups will get the chance to show off their costumes. This is also the day of the qualifiers for the international cosplay competition Clara Cow Cosplay Cup.
Tickets for the Transylvania Comic Con are still available for purchase, except for the VIP 3 Days Tickets, which are all sold out. The rules for participants and the tickets can all be found on the event’s homepage, here. It will definitely be an epic event, so we hope to see you there!
The countdown has begun. There are less than three weeks until Transylvania ComicCon kicks off. The three-day event will take place in the heart of Transylvania, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, between 18 October and 20 October at the BT Arena. Those who will attend the event will get to meet some really cool guests and can participate in numerous activities, all of which are going to be amazingly fun. The schedule of the event won’t be available for another couple of days, however, the majority of guests are known.
Transylvania ComicCon will welcome some beloved actors, such as Alexander Ludwig, Kevin McNally, Manu Bennett, Rick Cosnett, David Nykl, and Roger Ashton- Griffiths. The event will be hosted by Maria Muller and Ken Huegel, and the YouTubers/ streamers of the Transylvania ComicCon will be Cluj-Napoca’s own Creative Monkeyz. It is not yet clear who the featured artists will be, but this should become known on October 5th, when the event’s schedule will become available on the website.
Besides having photo ops and autograph sessions with the aforementioned guests, participants will also be able to show off their imagination and skills at the cosplay contests. The solo General Cosplay Competition starts on October 19 from 13:00. The group competition starts on Sunday, also at 13:00. At the same time, the qualifiers for the international cosplay competition Clara Cow Cosplay Cup will start. Other activities participants can attend at the Transylvania ComicCon include panels, and props& booths. Naturally, there will be an artists’ alley, a gaming area, and a shopping area too.
The entry fee for the Transylvania ComicCon is really affordable. Those who want to have a photo op and get the autograph of Kevin McNally or Roger Ashton-Griffiths have to pay less than 15 Euros for the treat. The VIP three-day tickets cost less than 100 Euros, while one-day entry fees are as low as 10 Euros. These prices may be incredibly low but the level of fun will go incredibly high at the Transylvania ComicCon. Check out the event and all it has to offer here.
Let’s travel back to 2000s. Can you remember the time when MMORPG genre popped up out of nowhere? Early genre games such as Everquest, World of Warcraft or Guild Wars were considered to be the prophets of the new age of PC gaming. MMORPGs or Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Games have been considered the most gratifying, rewarding, immersive, and time-soaking games out there. However, as time went by, only a handful of MMORPGs managed to secure their communities and stay a little while longer.
So today we’re talking some time (and internet space), introducing the very best games of the MMORPG genre. Some of these games are old and can brag about their long history while some of them are fairly fresh inviting fans of the genre to explore seemingly unending content. Most importantly – all of these games are alive and will grant you hundreds of hours of joy.
- The Elder Scrolls Online
We begin our list with the youngest of the bunch. ZeniMax Online Studios creation, The Elder Scrolls Online is set in the magical continent of Tamriel which will be familiar to the fans of TES franchise. The game’s storyline is indirectly related to other games of the franchise; however, the game is set way far back before the events of Oblivion, or Skyrim. Currently the game has two expansions: The Morrowind and the Summerset, however, the developers have promised a third expansion The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr which is coming out on June 4, 2019.
- Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy XIV is developed and published by Square Enix. First released back in 2013 the game quickly became a hit among many MMORPG genre fans across PC and PlayStation communities. It has tons of great content which is keep on coming even to this day. Recently Square Enix has announced yet another game expansion titled Shadowbringers which will bring a variety of new dungeons and include yet another playable race: the rabbit-like Viera, already known to the fans of Final Fantasy XII. The game will also increase its level cap from 70 to 80 and introduce a number of new zones to explore.
- Guild Wars 2
This ArenaNet MMORPG game certainly deserves a spotlight in our list. Guild Wars 2 is an attractive piece because of its ever-living world structure which captivates players with multiple quests, continuing storyline, and rewarding gameplay mechanics. The game is also considered among the best MMORPGs because of its freedom and versatility when it comes to personalization. You can literally create, augment, and specialize your character in such a way that it would be exceptionally unique to your preferred playstyle.
- RuneScape
RuneScape is the oldest game on our list, however, it carries the very same explorer’s spirit within. It’s safe to assume that if you’re interested in MMORPG genre you’ve tried this game already at a certain point in time. We can still remember the wood chopping, fire making, and fishing activities which required hours upon hours of discipline, and we also remember how much joy did that provide. And it still does if you’re patient enough. That’s why it secured a spot on our list!
- World of Warcraft
No MMORPG games list would be complete without the king of the genre. It has been over 14 years since Blizzard released World of Warcraft. The game was a phenomenal success and became one of the most iconic titles of all time. World of Warcraft is even included in the video game Hall of Fame and there are plenty of reasons why. Even today the game is huge and has millions of players logging in to play it every month. Throughout its history World of Warcraft has seen 7 major game expansions with tons of great content to explore. Furthermore, Blizzard is planning to release a Classic version of the game sometime this summer which means that the king of MMORPGs can be entering its second lifecycle. If you’ve never played – we do recommend you give it a try.
While some of these games can be played for free, some will require you to purchase certain expansions (or game time). On Eneba Marketplace you’ll find everything you need in order to start your new MMORPG adventure!
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