Last week Theron (These Dice Look Funny) asked the question of what it took to run his own game company. One of the first pieces of advice I offered was that if you weren’t interested in running your own business go freelance. Viz (White Haired Man) chimed in with a response article musing on why he needed a game company instead of releasing his adventures for free, citing Greg Christopher (whom I’ve now just discovered) as an excellent free RPG resource. As a side note, it’s worth pointing out that Christopher is doing some really neat things with RPG Maps. So why do we do this as a business instead of just doing it for the love of the game?
Looking for game advice? Want to know our thoughts on something? Shoot us an e-mail at devteam@apathygames.com and it may become one the subject of our Dear Apathy column.
Dear Apathy Games,
Let’s say I’m an eager young man with a head full of ideas and a passion for game design. How do I join the ranks of the elite and start a game company? I have a list of things I know that I need including: Product, art, a website, a layout editor, a copy editor, a means of distribution, and capital, and it would be within the realm of possibility for me to find these things, but how do I combine all those elements to actually create a company?
In the war on our attention, what are we doing to truly innovate in our community? Not only bring new people to the table, but new ideas?
“Innovate or Die.” I read this poster almost daily at a client’s offices; it features some dead animal carcasses in the middle of a desert road. I think the constant exposure to the image makes it less gruesome then it sounds, but the words are burned into my skull none the less. I see innovation everywhere, the internet makes seeing the new trends as easy as turning on my computer. Every industry is experiencing a revolution, newspapers are making way to blogs, big R&D firms are turning to the masses to solve problems, and Twitter birthed a political revolution.
After gushing lovingly about the Savage Mushroom Kingdom, Theron “SlasherEpoch” Seckington of These Dice Look Funny, invited me to partake in a game over Google Wave. Not being one to pass up an opportunity to play the game with the designer himself, and looking for other ways to branch into online play, I began excitedly communicating with him about character ideas. After [...]
There are loads of settings out there for every game, but some of the best ones are labors of love by fans. The next time you’re looking to start a game with Savage Worlds, consider some of these to change up your game.