Chess Heroes at iFEST Seattle

A wee bit blurry. Sort of how we felt after eight hours of talkin'!

This weekend, Corey and I brought Chess Heroes to iFEST, an independent game expo at its annual stop in Seattle. We hit the road out of Eugene at 5 AM, cruised into Seattle (blasting Paul's Boutique) at about 9:15, and drove to the address specified by the Seattle Center.

When we arrived, the navigator voice stated our destination was on the left. We looked to the left. It was a demolished building. Uh oh!

After a laugh and few choice words for modern computational touchtronic navigational assistance, we figured it all out and were set up not thirty minutes later.

The folks running the show were great (thanks for the help, Terry!), and Chess Heroes won a bunch of new fans. There was one hair-pulling incident, involving a special chess piece that would disappear and break the game. And it only happened on the Windows version! Ah well. Something to ponder before the demo goes live!

Corey noted that the people who "got it" the most were kids and other game designers who were at the show. For kids, the accessible nature of the game was a big plus, and the animations really made an impact (especially the Rook shooting the Pawn!).

The Rook's special move never failed to make a smile!

And then there were kids who really got into it, pushing their pieces around like tiny Caesars and jumping up in down in their chair as they captured pieces.

This young man raised his arms in victory and shouted "FOR NARNIA!"
We did not correct him. =) 

Meanwhile, game designers talked about their love of strategy games and the appeal of trying to inject something fresh into the game. Our line was "We're taking chess in a new direction, and we're trying to see if it leads to a cliff or a verdant forest." Or, as an A/B test, "We're taking chess in a new direction, and seeing how far we can go before we get pitchforked." Proper chess folks did not set our table on fire, thank goodness, so I think we escaped that sad fate.

Finally, there were the normal gamers who just got hooked and would not stop playing, even retrying certain scenarios over and over until they won.

It took him ten tries to beat this scenario.
Far from being frustrated, he voted us best in show!

At the end of the day, my beliefs about the game were reinforced.

• Kids and game designers will be our biggest fans.
• It's easy to dismiss the game until you play it (and then you can't stop).
• Therefore, I have a serious marketing problem on my hands!

I also heard  (from the fine folks at Zachtronics) that the name of the game might be a liability. It's chess, but not chess. There are no "heroes" with capes and swords. Sort of like how their game Spacechem was neither about a) Space or b) Chemistry, and that was not a good name for the (excellent, well-designed) game! Something to think about, surely.

Also from the Zachtronics camp was a suggestion to make a sequel in space. Little did she know... that was the plan!  =)  [but first, ship version one!]

Before I wrap up, I want to give a quick shout out to the lovely indie devs of Seattle I'm slowly getting to know, as I somehow end up there every other month or so:

• The whole crew from Zachtronics, creators of Spacechem and Ironclad Tactics [winner for best design]
• Jaime Fristrom of Happion Labs, creator of Energy Hook
• "Cash" [heh] and the crew at Stone Monkey Studios, creators of CityQuest
• The brothers behind Bullet Explosion
• Ty Taylor, one of the creators of The Bridge [winner for best art]
• The fine folks at Sunbreak Games, creators of Buddy & Me [winner: the People's Choice!]

Chess Heroes News: November 8, 2013

BAM! It's update time, sucka!

At this time tomorrow, Corey (the musician) and I will be driving back from iFEST in Seattle. That's three public showings in three months, and it's pretty amazing to be in the middle of it all.

I've also been extremely active in the local business community, working with local game developers and entrepreneurs. I'm sowing seeds, basically, and what will pop up? I don't know, but I believe it will be good!

These expos and outreach programs carry a heavy cost. Since we're in November and Act 1 isn't ready yet, you can tell just how much of a hit my schedule has taken. However, the upside is more time on foundations, and making the game as widely appealing as possible.

So when's the game coming out?

November is now the month the demo will be released. After that will come an IndieGogo campaign for pre-orders, then a full release of Act 1 in December or January.

Oh yeah. I ran the game on an iPhone this week. Want to see what it looks like?

Pretty much the same, minus the shadows!

The game looks and plays brilliantly, even on the tiny screen. Along with a very, very consistent request people have made ("I want to play this on a tablet!"), these results have cemented my decision to not only support Windows, OS X, and Linux, but iOS and Android as well. While it will ALSO have an impact on my schedule, I can't afford to "leave money on the table," as it were!

Big thanks to Unity for making that possible. =)

What's new this week?

Along with the iOS build, I added full support for Check and Checkmate (which was waaaay deeper than I thought it would be). This satisfies a consistent request from chess teachers. I included a toggle as well, so I'm not tied down as a designer.

I also added "victory stars" for your performance in each scenario. This is another feature people have asked for, and -- silly as it sounds -- it really brings home the idea that it's becoming more of a "real" game.

New website! New website. Soooo much better than the old website. Check it out!

Finally, I realize I haven't been doing a good job keeping this blog up to date. I now have a Friday newsletter I e-mail "shareholders" (aka indie game dev support group), and that will help me keep this site fresh as well.

The 2013 Captivate Conference

The 2013 Captivate Conference took place in Austin from October 4 to October 6, and Chess Heroes was one of ten finalists for their indie game competition. Since I also have a lot of family in that area, I flew down from Oregon for a taste of that Texas heat (which I adore) before digging in for a northwest winter chock full of game development.

Dylan, my brother-in-law, is a film producer. He kindly stepped up with the expo assist, which was awesome. 

Everything worked out in the end, and it was a good trip, but it was a pretty rocky start!

During a flight stop in Oakland, I discovered that the Steam Greenlight page I had set up was "live," not "waiting to go live." It had no screenshots and a bare minimum of descriptive text. Whoops! (and make no mistake, there were several other assorted expletives) Why was this a big deal? Well…

When you launch a game on Greenlight, it gets immediate exposure on Steam, and then the results determine how long it continues to get that exposure (measured in hits). The page needs to sell the idea to its maximum potential in order to build up enough… uh… steam to get to the top. And I had no screenshots and a video that started out with story instead of action (a common mistake I should have avoided). Only 33% of visitors were voting "yes," while the page helpfully informed me that games in the top 50 averaged 50% or more. And the early comments were 100% pure troll, e.g. "lol nope." I was not a happy camper!

The flight was boarding as I rapidly took screenshots from the latest build, uploaded them to the page, and apologized for a sloppy start. Then I spent the next couple of hours in the air, unaware of what was happening on the internet and unable to make changes. When I touched down, I was distracted and irritable: I couldn't alter the video (because my PC was in Oregon), my jump start on Greenlight was a dead fall, and the next day would be filled with family time, preventing me from sitting down and trying to hammer out a solution.

To be fair, the scenery was wonderful.

The conference started with a keynote by Warren Spector. It was odd to hear him say "I don't know anyone who is doing the art, the design, the programming, and sound effects by themselves these days, not since Richard Garriott" while Chess Heroes -- a direct counter to his statement -- was on display only 100 feet away. Ah well!

Thus began three days of standing on my feet and talking to people non-stop. Sure, it was tiring, but there is no better antidote to online trolls than seeing people sit down in front of the game -- sometimes skeptically -- and then stand up minutes later with a glowing smile and exuberant words. Another benefit is being forced to work the pitch over and over again until it was polished and smooth.

"Chess Heroes is a modern take on chess that draws a lot of inspiration from video games," became my opening line. If people said, "I don't know how to play chess," I'd respond: "Great! This is the game for you!" And if they said, "Ooh, I love chess," I'd reply… wait for it… "Great! This is the game for you!" Of course, the pitch would diverge after that point, but you get the idea: I was looking for feedback, and it was almost universally positive.

Chess with Friends. I wonder if Zynga is already doing that?

By the second day, I realized that recording some of their reactions would be a good idea. Here's what they had to say, straight from the show floor!

After the first conference day, I fixed the few bugs I found, caught up on business e-mails, and checked the Greenlight page. Lo and behold, it was 15% of the way to the top 100, in only a few days, after a disastrous start. It was way behind the pace of other popular games, but then again, Greenlight is over-populated with traditional video game material: shooters, platformers, strategy games, and the like, Given enough production value, they are probably (I'm guessing) guaranteed a decent "yes" rate. Chess Heroes is not only visually divergent (in a lo-fi relaxing way), but sits in a crowd of "traditional games with a twist" titles that are easy to dismiss.

It's been almost a week since the Greenlight page launched -- with no advertising and only a handful of links on community forums -- and it's sitting at 21% of the way to the top 100. I'd prefer to skate to success, of course, but I'm prepped for a marathon, and I know that when people play the game, they like it. Validation and marketing plan, all in one!

I've uploaded a shorter video to the Greenlight page, and I have a task list nearly three pages long. There's plenty to do until I show the game at iFest in Seattle on November 9. If you're in the area, you should come by: it's a free show!

Now then: back to work! Woo hoo!

Dev Notes: Private Pre-Alpha Demo!

This is it! Chess Heroes has taken its first steps into the wild!

I compiled a list of 60 people whose opinion I trust and respect, and sent them links to the game today. This is a big step for me. It's sort of like the first time you leave your child at someone's house. If they get back in one piece and everybody's smiling when it's over, I'll call that a success. Until then, I'll be in a corner, gnawing on a frozen towel for comfort.

And reading this tweet, over and over:

@Oreganik Wow, Chess Heroes is so similar to a dream game of mine that exists only on notebook paper. Looking awesome!
— Christer Kaitila (@McFunkypants) September 17, 2013

Christer "McFunkypants" Kaitila is a bad-ass indie developer who consistently crushes it with game jam entries, and hosts a few of his own, including #onegameamonth. (Which I totally signed up for then immediately bailed on, due to hurricane levels of WTF in my life) His support means a lot to me, and he sent back some excellent feedback that -- no joke -- deeply altered some of the core level design concepts of Chess Heroes.

I also got help this week from Jon and Jon (Jon Rush of Battlecry Studios and Jon Heiner of Realta Entertainment), who helped me solve a texture problem that was bugging me.

All I can say is, developing a game by yourself just means you get the biggest credit on the box. There's no way I'd ever be able to do this alone.

Dev Notes: Demo Development!

Wither: A spell cast by the Scarecrow King.

Restricts movement to a single square.

The past week has seen the game transformed from a mostly-stable, silent, hands-on demo to a rock-solid downloadable demo that's alive with sound!

I wanted to be able to send the game to interested bloggers (like the fine folks at Geekenstein) without a full page of stuff "that should be there." I also entered the indie game competition at the Captivate Conference. The game must represent itself well, without me holding its hand, and I think I'm getting pretty close.

After a thorough round of testing, I'll be posting it live to the internet. 

Hoo boy.

Major additions this week (September 8 to September 14)

• Music Manager to handle transitions, fades, etc.
• Audio Manager to handle sound effect calls
• Integrated 18 sound effects. A mix of custom recording, remixes of base sounds, and direct downloads from freesound.org. (note: all sounds will be original on game's release)
• "Quit Chess Heroes" menu now available on all screens (before that was created, you had to kill the process to exit. heh heh)
• Revised cinematic for Upgrade spell to show Pawn transforming
• New cinematic treatment for boss abilities Wither and Riptide
• Revised logo graphic and added "Pre Alpha Demo" to title screen
• Keyboard input to acknowledge instructions, open menus, etc.

Bug Fixes of Note

• Fixed "Unlock All"
• New users no longer get the "Continue" option
• Title screen buttons now sit at screen percentage, instead of fixed height
• Various interface issues cleaned up
• No longer possible to "soft lock" the game using Enrage on a piece with no valid moves
• Indicator arrows match camera rotation
• Camera rotation does not snap back to default after each move
• Cleaned up various issues with spell interface

Chess Heroes FAQ

GAMEPLAY

What is Chess Heroes about?
You are a chess King who's pieces have mysteriously disappeared, just as your kingdom is invaded! You must take back your pieces and rebuild your army, then travel abroad to learn new skills and ancient spells that will help you overcome a sinister foe.

What is a Tactical Puzzle game?
You fight the enemy in a variety of scenarios that are short and fun. The board can be any size, and there are no rules on the number of pieces on the board. This means you'll encounter a new challenge each time you play! The tactical puzzles are designed to reward skill and experience, while new players will get a sense of accomplishment as they "unlock" the secret of the puzzle after a handful of tries.


How is it like chess?
Each chess piece moves like it should, so players with only a passing experience of the game will be right at home. And the King earns new pieces one at a time, giving totally new players a chance to learn how to play, by playing!


How is it different than chess?
In Act 2 and Act 3, players will earn Special Abilities and Battle Magic, which put incredible power in players' hands. They'll need it as they face down bigger and bigger groups of enemies, and to beat the unique bosses at each location!


What are Special Abilities?
Special Abilities alter the player's view of the battlefield by turning Pawns into a resource. For example, the King can sacrifice a nearby Pawn to move as a Queen for one turn, while the Rook can launch a Pawn across the board to capture an enemy piece, destroying the Pawn in the process! Each piece has their own Special Ability, and as the campaign to take back the kingdom goes on, Pawns will become more and more valuable!


What is Battle Magic?
Every time a piece is captured, magical energy is released onto the battlefield. The player can use this energy to accomplish wondrous feats, like moving a piece twice, upgrading a Pawn, freezing an enemy piece, and more!

How long will it take to play?
The demo features twelve scenarios across three locations, and it takes most people about 40 minutes to an hour. The final game will have eighteen locations across three acts, as well bonus challenge levels! I'm also considering a scenario editor, cosmetic unlocks, achievements, and other stuff that's fun to play around with.

PRODUCTION

When is Chess Heroes coming out, and what platforms are supported?
Chess Heroes will be released in three acts on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms, starting in the Fall of 2013. (I'm aiming for early November) Those who buy earlier acts will get the later acts for free, which is a bargain, since the price will go up each time! It will start at $6, go to $8, then stop at $10.

Is Chess Heroes coming to mobile?
A lot of people expressed interest in playing the game on a tablet, and I really want to make that happen! On the sunny side, I'm using Unity, and the game will be a snap to port. On the cloudy side, releasing a new title with little to no publisher support on a mobile platform is … dicey. At best. So, hopefully, by starting on PC platforms I can build an audience and some awareness of the project, and work towards an eventual mobile release. It's a business decision at the end of the day.

Will Chess Heroes be released on a console?
I have a background in console development, and I would absolutely love to put this on a console. Once again, Unity and a simple interface save the day, and once again it comes down to a business decision. I wish I could just smash a bottle on the wall, wail away on a guitar in a thunderstorm, and raise a middle finger to mature fiduciary practices, but a mortgage and kids really change the calculus on things, amirite? But seriously, it can happen, and hopefully will.

How many people are working on the game?
If you count the musician, then two. I mean, I count the musician. Like a one, a two, a one two three? Er. Sorry.

What?
It's just me, Ted Brown, working on the game. Corey Jackson is creating the music.

Seattle SIX Roundup

Chess Heroes had its first public showing at SIX, the Seattle Independent Expo, on September 2. And the reception was incredible! It was almost unbelievable how positive people were when they saw and played the game. Nobody walked up, played it, and tried to sneak away, for example. Nobody gave half-hearted praise as they scooted away from the table. It was all good! In many cases, it was extremely enthusiastic! To say that this was a "tremendous boost" really doesn't do it justice, but I'm technically on vacation right now and capturing emotions with highly specific poetical nuance is not high on the list. =)

I want to give huge thanks to everyone who skipped a bit of the Penny Arcade Expo to see us at SIX, and to everyone who spent some time with Chess Heroes. Another huge round of applause goes to my wife, without whom it could not have gone as smoothly!

That's us. Now you know what we look like! (but when you read this, I hope I still sound like Morgan Freeman in your head, instead of one of those singing chipmunks)

According to my wife, this was a typical crowd watching Chess Heroes on the big screen we had in the corner. Other times, the station looked like this:

People sat down to try the game, and often played through several levels. Other people liked to sit back and watch the animation, comment on tactics, and sometimes heckle friends who made silly errors that let their King be toppled!

Without a doubt, this was a worthwhile trip. I know I'm supposed to be on vacation after working every day for a month, but I'm so stoked right now that I can't stop thinking about it! (which is why I'm sort of straddling the line with e-mails and blog posts, heh)

I'll post a FAQ later today, but to answer a common question: Chess Heroes will be out, in some form or another, by November of this year. It will be released in three waves, once for each act, and those who buy it early (and cheap!) will get the later releases for free.

Thanks again! And like us on Facebook if you want a chance at winning $20 on Steam on September 5th!