Last year, Bobby Kotick created the Activision Independent Games Competition, offering big money to small developers with big ideas. The $175,000 first prize and $75,000 second prize have been awarded — now it’s time to meet the winners and learn about their creations.
Ian has 75,000 reasons to smile
“When I was quite young I read an interview with Chris Roberts from the Wing Commander games and it struck me: I could make games too,” says Ian Slutz. “For the next 10 years I told anybody who asked that I wanted to make games.” After some valuable experience at Capcom, Ian co-founded Engient with Jason Earp, and together with Sang Han, they’ve created Rigonauts: Broadside – and taken home $75,000 in the inaugural Activision Independent Games Competition in the process.
Rigonauts: Broadside is the kind of game that tinkerers will likely love – first you build your war machine from a collection of parts, then load it up with “hobs” (as in hobgoblins) and march off to battle. If at first you don’t succeed, redesign and rebuild your craft and try again. “It’s got ramshackle vessels, little creatures, and cannon shells everywhere,” says Ian. “We think people will love it.”
"When people are building their vessel, pieces automatically snap together when overlapped," says Ian. "Finding a good place to put the joint was technically tricky and most people won’t notice it."
What’s more, the game received its inspiration from a very non-gaming source. “The idea started when Jason told me he wanted to make a game where you build something,” recalls Ian. “I was further inspired by the kinetic sculptures of Theo Jansen. I couldn’t help imagining little creatures riding his strange art.”
"We work out of an unheated warehouse in the Bay Area," reveals Ian. "So while 48 degrees might not sound that cold, it can be quite unpleasant when you're sitting at the computer for hours a day."
‘Those little creatures will battle against computer-generated foes…for now. “We view the game a primarily single player,” says Ian. “The player will face different enemy machines, create designs to defeat them, unlock new pieces and repeat. We think it might be nice to have a multi-player component, but that will depend on how the rest of development goes. As a small developer we need to be careful with our resources, but we definitely think pitting your machines against your friend would be fun.”
The hobs as they appeared in Engient's contest submission
When the Independent Games Competition was announced, Engient didn’t have all the playable pieces in place – but that was okay, since that wasn’t a requirement. “Since the Activision competition was about a concept and a plan of action it matched up well with where we were,” explains Ian. “Of course, we also wanted to enter the competition to help along our company. For us, starting a small studio sometimes feels like jumping off the high dive — and hoping there’s water in the pool when you reach the bottom. This Activision competition was an opportunity to get the pool filled.”
You can swim along with Rigonauts: Broadside and Engient on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or their website.
Rigonauts: Broadside wasn’t the only Independent Games Competition winner — check out Dstroyd too!
The next stage of the Activision Independent Games Competition will offer another $250,000 in prizes to aspiring developers. The start date is to be determined, so watch for the official announcement here.
