03 Jan A New Year, A New Game (and an asset – and projects)

Happy New Year everyone!

2010 was an amazing year in many ways. We launched our first-ever self-published game, Jimmy Pataya, and got the best kick in the world when it hit the App Store. We did several “serious” projects as well, and although I can’t say too much about them yet, they challenged us like nothing we’ve seen before.

For example, we combined Silverlight with Unity to make a urban development toolkit, which is nothing short of a fully featured software suite for hardcore professionals dealing with urban development. Another big project deals with interior design, and it is about to be launched on one of the Netherland’s biggest real estate marketplaces.

Yet, still, we got the itch. Having one game out there is great, but once you have that done, it’s simply not enough. Which is why we have been working on our idea pool, filtering the bad ones from the good ones, brainstorming, having discussions, and generally disagreeing with eachother forcefully. This was part of the process affectionately called “The Pipeline”. It is not just a pipeline – it is the pipeline for our upcoming games. And, at least in our minds, it is filled with pure awesomeness.

Today we have finished the Design phase, in which we developed 10 ideas. This phase took about three months, but it was worth it. Because today we have selected the three concepts for the next phase. Meaning that we will start prototyping this week! If you would like to be on the testing panel, please let us know in the comments.

Oh – and I almost forgot! For the Unity users out there, we are currently working very hard on our first extension for the Asset Store. It’s something we have developed to improve our art workflow, and could not live without ever since. It has something to do with Prefabs and we will submit it to the Asset Store as soon as this week.

All in all, this is what a first workday of the year should look like. Very promising, but without spoiling the fun of the year to come. So thanks for sticking with me in this post, and stay tuned for more! 🙂