I thought I better mention this here, rather than announcements, just before someone posts something that gets the wrong idea. There is a new web game by EA/maxis called SimSocial. If you go and play it, you will notice big similarities to Kudos 2. http://apps.new.facebook.com/simsocial/ This isn't a case of EA cloning Kudos, or of me cloning them (presumably with a time machine ). The game design was licensed from Positech by EA for them to build SimSocial on. Basically we agreed a deal, I'm happy with the deal, and no I'm not (able to be) saying what the terms are. I wish the game every success, and I think it was a natural partnership. Now back to making spaceships go zap... have I sold out?
Selling out does not mean (to me) that you sell things that you create. It means that you compromise your ideals. So, I'd say no, you didn't sell out, you just got paid for your work...
That's great and interesting news! It raises the respect i already have for the "new" EA that Riccitello has brought. Congratulations!
Agreed, congrats! It's decent of EA considering how easy it would have been for them to do a hybrid rip off and leave it at that.
It's soooooo inspiring My last post says "don't try to make original games"... I should change the title to "Don't do it unless you're cliffski" ;-) Congrats! Roman
Well done. Licensing your code/engine is such an awesome way to get more revenue from your hard work. You get a lump sum or (hopefully) on going revenue without having to do any work.... allowing you to focus on developing something new. Congrats.
"And it was all written in assembly, and it made the EA programmers cry a little inside" But really congrats! Are you able to say your opinions about their interpretation of the game itself? It seems like there's a bit of annoyance from their players over waiting periods and illnesses. People's virtual personas get more rest than the game developers! Though it seems like they are making adjustments to the game at the same time as people complain about its faults...
Out of curiosity, how did that work? I mean, SimSocial is a Flash app, but (I assume) your code is C/C++.
C++, but if you have access to the code you can see how its structured and how the algorithms are working, which presumably makes things way faster than just blindly trying to copy a design.
Cool, congraz on getting the deal. Hmm, Kudos 2 came out about 6+ months ago? It must have been a good deal If it was a good deal and you think it was natural partnership... then it's all good - right? After all, I'd say Facebook app isn't direct competitor, it perhaps could actually even help with Kudos sales when people discuss about the app and hint others that "there's this Kudos game" (shall all of we go there as a group to discuss how good Kudos is ) Well, even though you cannot say much more about the deal, keep us informed how it goes. (and if this affects your own sales)