Podcast Interview: Developing the browser-based MMO Horse Isle

Joe, from Horse Isle, talks about the challenges and opportunities of developing a casual browser-based MMO. Joe discusses developing a flash-based MMO.

You can download the podcast here…
http://www.indiegamepod.com/podcasts/horseisle-podcast.mp3

or listen to it here…
http://www.indiegamepod.com/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://www.indiegamepod.com/podcasts/horseisle-podcast.mp3

Show Notes:
0:00 – 5:00 — Introduction and description of the browser-based game called Horse Isle

5:00 – 10:00 — Development needed and testing process to release the game

10:00 – 15:00 — Description of how the world works and the underlying technical design of the game including PHP architecture

15:00 – 20:00 — Benefits of rolling own backend server vs. commercial backend server. Future development and enhancements to the game. Techniques for marketing the game.

20:00 – 25:00 — Game/Community limitations based on targeting an under-13 audience. Issues with updating a game that is always live….and having a test server to ensure stable releases. Time spent on technical vs. business issues related to the game.

25:00 – 30:00 — Social elements of running a game. Lessons learned from developing a browser-based MMO. Suggestions for other indie game developers out there.

Take care,
Action

Casual Golf MMO: PangYa

Hey folks,

Here’s another casual MMO idea…a casual MMO golf game.

The one mentioned here is 3D…but consider doing something 2D in Flash.

Single-player indie golf games have sold well. Maybe a community around a casual golf MMO could work well too.

You can read more about PangYa here…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PangYa

Take care,
Action

Browser Based Games…

Check out this list of browser based games mentioned on Wikipedia. It’s not complete, but it’s a good start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_browser_games

There are some interesting casual games mentioned there including…
a game where you have to build your music career (Popomundo) …
and a web-based Risk game.

Take care,
Action

Casual Dance MMO: Audition…

Audition is an MMO out there focused on dancing. Players have to perform dance moves to earn points. To perform dance moves, they use their keyboard to press the arrow keys at the right time. They can compete with other folks…you can also create dance routines with other folks too.

The game is free and their business model is the “virtual items” model.

You can see videos of the game here…

Here is the wikipedia entry for the game…

Here is Raph Koster’s good description of the Audition Game…

They started out in Asia and recently (about a month ago)..released in the USA.

There are other Dance MMOs popping up in Korea and other places. Acclaim recently released its entry into the market here…
http://dance.acclaim.com/index.htm

Take care,
Action