Coray Seifert, associate producer at Kaos Studios, started an online game design jam. The goal is the design of a game featuring alien-vampire zombies. Raph and I tossed some ideas around.

Vicious creatures from beyond the realms of the known universe have invaded Earth. Fortunately, these monsters are not the brightest bulbs in the shed and contact with light is fatal due to their thin, rotting flesh. These otherworldly beasts are a threat to humanity as their thirst is satiated only by the blood in the human brain.

As the leader of the Global Alliance, you are charged with resisting the enemy at any cost. Scientists in your employ devised a method of raising the dead, which provided a safety net for the living, but these resources have run “dry”—pardon the pun! The beasts are returning in increasing numbers from the caverns they tunneled beneath the Earth.

In response, your scientists have reversed the method to transform the living into the undead. Will you pave the way to victory with the blood of the innocent? Or will you sacrifice only those who are necessary to the cause?

Goal

Survive the invasion at any cost.

Objectives

1. Destroy enemies by drawing them into daylight.
2. Spare as many living humans from transformation as possible.

Scoring

Points earned for each enemy destroyed and for each human saved.

Conditions

Win: All enemies are destroyed.
Lose: All living humans are killed or drained.

Tonight I attended an event, The Truth About Non-Fiction Filmmaking, organized by the San Diego Filmmakers. While I attended on IGDA business, I became intrigued with the filmmaking process.

On the panel were speakers Nick Nordquist, Wolfgang Hastert, and Paul Detwiler. Nick has won multiple Emmy awards and owns Industrial Strength Television. Wolfgang Hastert is a prominent and award-winning documentary filmmaker who lectures at University of California, San Diego. Paul Detwiler works as a marine biologist and creates documentary films for nonprofit organizations.

Since there was no agenda, the discussions ranged from their approaches to finding topics, to producing documentaries without preaching to the choir, to their preferences regarding film and video, and eventually to the topic I found most interesting: financing and distribution.

• Nick Nordquist said that ventures such as YouTube aren’t particularly encouraging; however, he expressed positive thoughts about local San Diego company Veoh.
• Wolfgang Hastert said that his films usually cost around US$3,000 per minute with the total budget being around US$120–130,000. His financing for documentaries is usually derived from a single major production company. He also shared a story that emphasizes why entrepreneurs should be prepared with their thirty-second elevator pitch.
• Paul Detwiler described his approach to filming documentaries as directed by a cause whereas Nordquist described his approach as one of chance. There needs to be a reason, a purpose, for creating a documentary.

Basically, it’s all doom and gloom for documentarians. The traditional distribution model is dead, and digital distribution has yet to take off. They are caught in the middle of a transition, the eye of a storm, where earning a living as a documentarian is difficult. All of the speakers work in other fields, such as education and general video production, to support themselves.

Of recent news is the 2007 Slamdance Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition currently suffering from the aftermath of a decision to withdraw controversial game Super Columbine Massacre RPG from the roster of finalists. A number of finalists have seized the opportunity to voluntarily pull out from the competition citing concerns about artistic merit…

• Braid is an action-puzzle game that involves manipulating the flow of time to progress through the various worlds. The title was the 2006 Winner at the Independent Games Festival in the Innovation in Game Design category.
• flOw “is a game about piloting an aquatic organism through a surreal biosphere where players consume other organisms, evolve, and advance their organisms to the abyss.” The title was designed by Jenova Chen who works with Will Wright at Electronic Arts Maxis.
• Everyday Shooter is, according to an interview with developer Jonathon Mak, “like a compilation album, made up of different shooters”.
• Toblo is “a free, fast-paced capture the flag game that has two teams using the world as weaponry, throwing bombs, and generally destroying things.” The titled was developed by five students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology.
• Once Upon A Time is a game of capture where players either focus on capturing another player or avoid being captured while collecting items. The title was developed by a trio of former students at the Art Institute of Vancouver.

While most of these games are freeware, their decisions to voluntarily withdraw are consistent with the irony of a competition for guerillas. A guerilla is a “a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment”. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this competition was rigged — from the beginning — as a publicity stunt!

Nevertheless, pulling out of the competition was an excellent, and perhaps accidentally executed, marketing tactic for these developers as their actions cobrand themselves as defenders of artistic freedom and games as art.