A new direction

So originally I was going to post another entry about reflection and cloning. While I’m sure it would be interesting to other programmers and game developers I realized that they aren’t really the audience I’m trying to reach. In reality I’d like to reach potential customers and give them insight into my company and the game I’m working on. So here it goes!

If you are a regular reader then you know I’ve always been vague about the projects I’m working on. In my last post I gave you some insight into the churn of projects and technology I have gone through. The fear of causing disappointment has prevented me from being more specific about the work I’m doing or when it is going to be done. Now that I’ve concluded that focusing on my dreams is the smart way to go I’m going to start talking about my game more openly.

Bluntly put I’m making a 4X game. I’ve always loved strategy games. My list of all time favorite games are Star Craft, Medieval: Total War, Total Annihilation, Masters of Orion, Railroad Tycoon, Civilization, Homeworld, Alpha Centauri, Axis & Allies and Chess. Besides the theme of strategy in these games you’ll also notice a tendency towards Science Fiction. Some of my favorite movies are scifi: Star Wars, The 5th Element, Mad Max, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Enemy Mine, Close Encounters of a Third Kind, Blade Runner, Black Hole and Alien. Not to mention I’m a fan of the Star Trek shows. I can read too! I love William Gibson’s Neuromancer, John Varley’s Steel Beach, Douglas Adam’s Hitcher’s Guide to the Galaxy (can’t wait for the movie) and C. J. Cherryh’s The Chanur Saga.

So in some ways it would seem that I was kind of meant to make this game. I have lots of ideas that I want to incorporate into the game, but most of all I want it to be fun to play for hours and hours and hours. I have a title picked out that I like but I’m going to keep it a secret for now. In fact, I think it’ll be one of the last things I announce. I also am not going to commit to a release date right now. I still have a lot of work ahead of me and the last thing I need is a bunch of pressure to hurry it up. Wish me luck.

-Mr.Phil

When I am not writing about making games, procrastinating or watching movies I'm working on a science fiction strategy game (sometimes called 4X or empire builder.) Email me questions, ideas and jokes at mrphil (at) mrphilgames . com