For some time now I’ve been working on a project called Namatjira. It’s a game that Melissa Avery-Weir and I have been designing and working on for years now, but we’ve only recently gotten serious about it. The following shots are pre-alpha; the final product may look different.
Namatjira is a game where you survey an alien planet and lie about what you find there. It’s a game where you uncover relics of a lost alien civilization and try to learn from their mistakes. It’s a game about making a new home in a place where nothing is familiar. It’s a game about never looking back over your shoulder at what can no longer be changed.
Namatjira is a game about exploration and discovery in a procedurally-generated world. You will have to communicate with your superiors back on Earth and decide how much to tell them about what you found. The mysteries you encounter are selected for each game from a varied list so that each time you play you don’t know exactly what you will find.
I really like the sound of it – it seems like just the sort of game I’d like. :) I hope you get an artist on the project, though. Let me know if you want any recommendations… ;)
Yay! You’re not dead! It had been a long time since you had posted anything, I was seriously concerned.
This seems really interesting. It’s good to see you blogging again!
The Weir is alive! This looks promising.
I wonder what sort of effect the miscommunication will have. Will it result in points for optimal decisions; alternating storylines; the thrill of seeing a civilization grow under one’s abstract direction; a secondary game which is based on the fallout from the first; or continue the game by producing events which help or hinder the player’s ongoing goals.
(He’s even posting on twitter now! We’ll see if Project Wonderful starts producing extravagant revenues.)
Sounds good.
Looks nice so far! In what program do you work?
I’m coding in AS3 with the Flixel framework using the FlashDevelop IDE. The art is done in the GIMP.
I thought you had disappeared, so excited that another project is on the line. Gregory Weir games are the best
Ooh, I’ve been so busy I didn’t notice this! It sounds excellent! (…and a lot like something I’ve been planning myself. Which is cool, because I doubt the two games will be too similar, but it means I can play the kind of game I often imagine without already knowing everything about it.)
Yay! You’re not dead!