| 10 most recent newsposts related to this person: View ALL newsposts about this person | Jeff Vogel Supports Piracy ( Editorial )
posted by Jason on Thu 29 July 2010, 18:02:07
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Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software doesn't hate you if you pirate his games.
These days, some people are legitimately poor. Many people, through a mix of poor fiscal choices and ill fortune, are in bad shape. Foreclosed on, or facing foreclosure. Trying to pay down a mountain of credit card debt. Unemployed for a long time. Lacking health insurance. Some people brush this growing population off, saying, "Oh, they brought it on themselves." And sometimes that is true. They made mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. I make mistakes. It's just that some people are unlucky enough to be savagely punished for their mistakes.
Someone who is facing long-term unemployment and bankruptcy probably should not pay for my game. And, in that case, if stealing my game gives them a temporary reprieve from their misery (and there's a lot of misery out there right now), I'm cool with that. I'm happy to help. These are my fellow citizens, and I want to help out how I can.
Now here is what I am NOT saying. If some kid has to actually save his allowance for a few weeks to buy the game, stealing it is instead of paying is not cool. I'm not OK with that. If you can pay, you should pay. But I understand that some people can't. It's reality. As for whether someone can truly pay or not, I have to trust them to be able to tell the difference. It's probably unwise to trust so many strangers so much with my livelihood on the line. But it's not like I have a choice.
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Avadon: The Black Fortress Revealed ( Game news )
posted by VentilatorOfDoom on Fri 28 May 2010, 10:01:59
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Spiderweb Software reveals details about their new RPG.
Spiderweb Software brings you Avadon: The Black Fortress, the first chapter in a new, epic fantasy saga. You will serve the keep of Avadon, working as a spy and warrior to fight the enemies of your homeland. As a servant of the Black Fortress, your word is law. Experience an exciting fantasy role-playing adventure and battle a conspiracy to destroy your people.
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More of Uncle Jeff's Important Lessons for Lonely Children ( Editorial )
posted by Jason on Fri 14 May 2010, 06:13:37
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Jeff Vogel continues to dish out tips for aspiring indie developers.
When you find resources online, be sure that you have the rights to use them in a game. This can save you a lot of hassle. When I was writing Exile 2: Crystal Souls in 1998, a friend gave me some awesome sword effects he found online. They were great, so I used them. Then I got the Cease & Desist letter from Blizzard. Turns out, they were from some obscure title called WarCraft 2. Ouch. Learn from my errors.
Eh, the Limbo of the Lost developers didn't worry about rights and such and that turned out just dandy.
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The Awesome of Jeff Vogel ( Interview )
posted by VentilatorOfDoom on Thu 06 May 2010, 10:58:34
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Jeff talks to MacGamer:
So tell us something about the future. Avernum has come to a glorious end after so many years, but I know you're not done. Give us some teasers.
Right now, we are working on an all-new RPG series. We've heavily revamped our basic engine. We're making a new game system, new world, new storyline, new graphics. It will play very differently from our previous games, but it will still have much of that old Spiderweb flavor.
The fundamental sort of game will be the same. A RPG, a class-based system, turn-based combat. And it'll be low-budget and retro like everything else we've ever done. But we're going the extra mile to make it the most attractive game Spiderweb has ever made.
Spotted at: GBThere are 18 comments on this article. Click here to comment.
Spiderweb Software Interview ( Interview )
posted by VentilatorOfDoom on Wed 05 May 2010, 15:33:58
More info on Avernum 6 - More info on Spiderweb Software - More info on Jeff Vogel
Gamebanshee had a chat with Indie RPG Guru Jeff Vogel, Topics include Avernum 6 and his next franchise.
Following the Mac release, you mentioned in a post-release blog post that Avernum 6 was outselling its predecessors. Given its success, how do you feel about your decision to end a franchise that's climbing in sales?
There are always regrets attached to ending a successful series, and Avernum has done very well for us. However, there is a fundamental limit to the process: If I can't write it, it doesn't happen. Seven games (Avernum 1-6 plus Blades of Avernum) is a huge amount of time working on one world, and at a certain point you get squeezed kind of dry. I've already gone too long without writing something all-new.
It's a big risk making something new, and I'm pretty terrified about it. But it's also really exciting to make a new world. I've having a lot of fun with it.
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Jeff Vogel on How to be Smart & Cool & Awesome ( Editorial )
posted by Jason on Thu 22 April 2010, 06:24:39
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Responding to the Mother of All RPG of the Decade Articles, Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel explains how the game industry can be saved from certain doom if studios would embrace his frugal, engine/asset recycling ways.
But it's gotten to the point where a company is expected to be ashamed for using the same engine for more than one title and a few DLC packs. The Gold Box games and the Infinity Engine are rare exceptions.
This is such an astonishing waste of resources. When I start a new game, I spend 3-4 months rewriting the worst or most dated part of my engine, and then I take that old (but solid) engine and make the coolest story I can with it. It's a small company. Our resources are desperately limited. Thus, I don't spend time remaking things that already work. If my wolf icon looks good, why make a new wolf icon just for the sake of making a new one? Instead, I focus on the story, the one thing that truly needs to be all new and excellent.
And the big companies, who make AAA games with these amazing awesome big-budget engines? They should re-use more of them! The Dragon Age engine is very cool. Make ten games with it! And not just piddly Dragon Age DLC either. Make games that are cyberpunk, horror, science fiction, fantasy in a new setting. The budgets will be much lower, and that makes it easier to take risks. And use the same dragon model. It looks really sweet. And, once the engine is a drained husk (in, say, five years), then spend a lot of money making a new one.
I'm not too proud to admit experiencing semi-arousal at the thought of a string of "cyberpunk, horror, science fiction, fantasy" games on the Silent Storm engine, only to have it wither away when the reality of Jagged Alliance 3 intruded. Erectile dysfunction aside, while I agree that re-using engines is generally better for studios and gamers (particularly fans of niche genres), it's a bit hard to swallow that AAA publishers would see it as a chance to take more risks instead of pumping out more Sims expansion packs.There are 44 comments on this article. Click here to comment.
Jeff Vogel's Dos & Don'ts ( Editorial )
posted by Jason on Fri 26 March 2010, 06:35:36
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Jeff Vogel presents: The Outgoing Goblin's Guide to Gaming Etiquette
Remember, we are trying to imagine ourselves in a fantasy environment here! Were the middle ages sterile and clean? No! They were pretty stinky, actually. So, before your players come over, you must provide a fantasy-like gaming environment:
* Pens. Pencils. Paper.
* Spare dice and rulebooks.
* Tortilla chips.
* Comfortable chairs.
* A fair amount of grime, lint, and dirt.
* Open flames.
* Live snakes.
* Ethereal, fantasy-themed music on the stereo. I recommend Rush. Or Jethro Tull, in a pinch.
* Numerous copies of Dragon magazine. We can't stress this one enough.
* Mysterious "blood stains" on the floor. If you can't figure out a way to create realistic looking blood stains, I recommend using blood.
* A large pot of suet, organ meat, or other appropriate medieval food.
* A rich, musty, dungeon-like odor.
And remember ... science has shown that if something is good, ten times as much of it is ten times better, at least. Thus, you should strive to provide everything on this list. That way, if the screams caused by the presence of snakes distracts you, you can always just turn up the stereo. There are 4 comments on this article. Click here to comment.
Jeff Vogel reviews Dragon Age ( Review )
posted by Jason on Wed 30 December 2009, 07:15:02
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Jeff Vogel's mission to play only the "best and most innovative games" has led him to Dragon Age.
But what impressed me is the number of situations where there are a lot of options, none of them are very good, and you just have to muddle through. For example, in one part of Dragon Age, a young, magically skilled boy has been taken over by a demon. He's been merrily trashing the countryside. It's a crappy situation, and you have to help them out of it. You can off the boy. Or let the mother sacrifice herself to enable you to challenge the demon. Or travel to the wizards' tower to maybe get a way to expel the demon, losing valuable time. And, should you challenge the demon, you can kill it or, in return for one of several lavish rewards, let it stay in the kid, hidden.
When I reached this point, I didn't see a perfect option. I had my own, "OhgodohgodwhatdoIdo?" moment. And my choice was, in retrospect, not a great one. But there is little I love more in an RPG then when I'm forced to stop, gobsmacked, and go, "Wow. I'm really on my own here. I'd better think about this ..."
Read his review at The Bottom Feeder.There are 55 comments on this article. Click here to comment.
Spiderweb Puts Out The Entire Geneforge Saga On One Disc ( Game news )
posted by Edward_R_Murrow on Tue 04 August 2009, 06:10:42
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That's right. Jeff Vogel is now selling the entire Geneforge series on one CD for the bulk discount price of $75. Get the full games: Geneforge, Geneforge 2, Geneforge 3, Geneforge 4: Rebellion and Geneforge 5: Overthrow on one CD. I suppose now is as good as any time to get into the series if you haven't.
Spotted at: GamebansheeThere are 36 comments on this article. Click here to comment.
Avernum 6 details ( Game news )
posted by Monolith on Thu 09 July 2009, 22:06:55
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Jeff Vogel has revealed some details about Avernum 6, the last installment in the series.
System Requirements:
PC Running Windows 2000 or later or Macintosh running System 10.3.9 or later.
800 MhZ processor. Minimum 1.6 GhZ processor recommended.
Video card or processor with OpenGL support and 32 MB video RAM (64 MB recommended).
512 MB RAM.
200 MB hard disk space.
1024x600 screen resolution with 32 bit color.
Avernum 6 will run natively on Intel Macintoshes.
Here are 5 screenshots. If you look closely you might notice the clever use of normal mapping.
Thanks, Tranny Luv...There are 43 comments on this article. Click here to comment.
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