Legacy Games Blog

Summer Vacation Day!

Hello All,

Ah, summertime! Summertime brings warm weather, sandals, swimming and best of all VACATION DAYS! In honor of the long 4th of July weekend, I will be writing a little about vacation days.

Vacation days do more than revitalize employees; they also affect game development schedules. In the US, we have ten federal holidays; however most employers only observe 8 or 9 of them. Also, most employers offer two weeks paid vacation (for salaried employers) plus a smaller numbers of sick days (usually 2 – 6). In all, this adds up to 26 days off a year at the most for the average American worker. However, this time will always be dispersed throughout the year where the longest stretch of downtime would be 10 workdays for vacation.  I know it may not sound like a lot when you think about how many work days there are in a year, but in a project with a three month schedule, a few days could really negatively affect schedule timing.

For example, say that my project is scheduled so that this week we planned to add in a couple features to meet beta next Friday. Let's also say that I forgot to factor in the 4th of July holiday when putting together the schedule. In this hypothetical project, my main programmer is scheduled to finish a “Task List” feature and get together a working prototype of a minigame by the end of the week.  So, what if my programmer is sick on Thursday and takes a vacation day on Monday? That would mean that I lost two days of her work which would equal sixteen man hours!  Not to mention the scheduled 4th of July holiday that she will not be able to work. That means, to get back on track, someone or a group of people would have to work those extra 24 hours! Just imagine how this number can balloon out when you are working with a large development house with many employees, that's pure nightmare stuff for you.

This type of thing happens a lot more when you work with European companies because they get SIGNIFICANTLY more vacation time. In the UK, businesses are mandated to give employees at least 24 days off a year. In France, I am sure it is more and the employees are not allowed to waive their vacation days. Also, these vacation days are just that, these do not include Bank Holidays which are sort of like UK federal holidays. So, when you are working with a developer in Europe, it is very important to schedule in Bank Holidays and employee vacation time so that there are no nasty surprises.  When I was working with a British developer at my previous company (it was a one year scheduled project), I could have sworn that they closed down for some holiday about once a month. It really felt like that! I learned from that situation to try and keep a watchful eye on holidays in my developer’s country. Fortunately, I never had a liaison in a European country that took their 3-4 week vacation in the middle of a project, so that's a plus.

Sometimes it feels a little weird knowing that people in other countries get so many more vacation days than we do here in the US. Since I found out about the vacation time difference, I have made an effort to enjoy my time off of work to the fullest. I hope you all do the same this weekend.

Cheers,

Natascha Thomas

Mah Jong Quest III: Balance of Life

Sometimes, I just want to unwind with a good game and a cup of tea. The biggest challenge is finding the right type for those days. Time management games are some of my favorite, but they can be too “peppy” for downtime. Hidden object games require some imagination to get into the story. Adventure games are too involved! No, for really stressful days, the best are probably card, board, or mah jong solitaire games...so I was really happy to find a new one to add to my collection, Mah Jong Quest III: Balance of Life.

Mah Jong Quest III follows the same storyline as earlier games, and in story mode you will play 72 mah jong layouts, one for each year of Kwazi's life. The basic concept is the same as most other mah jong solitaire games. You must match up free tiles of the same type. The main goal is to match the golden Yin and Yang tiles in as few matches as possible.

What's neat about this one is that you must choose between different options after each board, and this affects the balance in Kwazi's life along with the story. There are also a ton of extra boards if you just want free play, including all of the boards from games 1 and 2! Now, that was a generous addition, I thought.

The boards themselves have depth, too, and there are lots of special tiles with power-up abilities. For example, butterfly tiles can lift and free another tile on the board. Typhoon tiles clear away all tiles of the selected type. There's plenty of others too, but they are added slowly, so it's not overwhelming to learn how to use them.

If you want a peaceful and relaxing game that's still mentally stimulating, this is a really nice one to try.

Lisa

DOWNLOAD THIS MAH JONG GAME ATE LEGACY GAMES>>

Free Trial of the popular Zoo Vet Endangered Animals available now!

Hi Friends!

       

Wow, is it really the end of June already? Summer has officially started. Here at Legacy Games we want to make summer as enjoyable as possible for you and to do that one of our fantastic Producers, Natascha, has created a new version of our award winning game,  Zoo  Vet: Endangered  Animals, so that it can be easily downloaded and enjoyed.  She managed to squeeze over one GIGABYTE and 30 exciting medical cases into 50 MB so that everybody can see if they have what it takes to be the top vet at the zoo!  This makes me think of that saying “Good things come in small packages”. With Zoo  Vet: Endangered Animals it could not be  more true!

       

Did you know that Legacy donates 3% of all proceeds from Zoo  Vet: Endangered Animals to the African Wildlife Foundation! That means when you play Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals you are saving the animals at your home and their home too! I think that’s pretty special.

       

Guess what this week’s game recommendation is?
          Zoo  Vet: Endangered Animals

       

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a real-life veterinarian? Here's your chance! You're responsible for treating endangered animals, including elephants, lions, zebras, crocodiles, polar bears and many more! You need a steady hand as you use realistic medical tools to treat broken bones, cuts, diseases and even perform surgeries!

       

Producer Blog from Don:
          In this week’s producer blog,  Don talks about his three games that are in Beta! Here is a quick clip: Beta? What’s this beta, you ask?  Aha!  I think I may have stumbled across the subject of this week’s blog entry:  <trumpet fanfare> The stages of video game development, as seen through the eyes of a producer! Check it out to find  out about what goes on behind the scenes of your favorite games.

       

Other portal discounts for Legacy Games members:

       

iWin: 25% off  all downloadable games for Legacy Games members. Just enter “LEGACY” at check  out.

       

Until Next Time,

       

Have  Fun!        

       

       

Sophia,  aka Sofun
          CFO* Chief Fun Officer
          Legacy Games
          Sofun@legacyinteractive.com
          Start  Here for Fun and Friends

 

Beta

Hi everybody!  This blog’s likely to be a little strange and giddy because I’ve got 3, count ‘em, 3 games trying to go beta as we speak!

Beta?  What’s this beta, you ask?  Aha!  I think I may have stumbled across the subject of this week’s blog entry:  <trumpet fanfare> The stages of video game development, as seen through the eyes of a producer!

Conceptual:  The “conceptual” stage isn’t really an official industry term, but it sums up the place where all games start: an idea.  At this point, game designers are coming up with character concepts, ideas for game play mechanics and all the nuts and bolts that will make the game the final product without actually doing the nuts and bolts design work.  It’s at this stage that the game tries to get investors interested.
• Stress level: Delightful.  All expense paid trip to Disneyland. 
• Time intensity: All consuming, not that you’d notice.  I love this part of a project.
• Essential materials:  Caffeine, paper, pencils, aerodynamic squeezy toys, other co-workers to throw squeezy toys at, a boss who appreciates a  creative idea about goats flying rocketships.
• Number of projects at this stage currently at Legacy:  A lot.

Design:  It’s at this phase where the game has gotten approval from the powers that be and the nuts and bolts design work begins.  Game characters start being sketched out, scripts are written, levels are planned, maps and environments are drawn, enemies and puzzles are invented.
• Stress level:  Light.  House training an adorable but mentally handicapped puppy.
• Time intensity:  Normal. 
• Essential materials:  Paper, pencils, caffeine, co-workers who won’t judge you for staring at the ceiling and drawing imaginary mountains while  speaking out loud to no one in particular about the “rocket goat challenge”.
• Number of projects at this stage currently at Legacy:  9.

Pre-Alpha:  Pre-Alpha is the stage where all the design is done (supposedly) and has been handed off to the programmers and artists to make it all a reality.  Work is in progress, but it can be difficult to actually see the game through all the half-done art and partial programming.  Producers have less to do directly with the game at this point, honestly, other than checking the progress of the programmers and making sure their work stays on time and on track.  Most of our time is spent setting up all the things that follow at later stages, like approvals from third parties (like Nintendo or the movie company that owns the license), testing or acquiring music.
• Stress level:  Surprisingly high considering it’s a lot of waiting for the producers.  Think a young father-to-be pacing outside the delivery  room.
• Time intensity: Normal.  This is the stage closest to having a normal 9 to 5 job we get.
• Essential materials:  Caffeine, patience, a comfortable chair, reference materials and pictures of how a goat might comfortably stand on a rocket  at mach 3 for the artists.
• Number of projects at this stage currently at Legacy:  5

Alpha:  Alpha is where the game is mostly together and mostly playable, but definitely unfinished.  A lot of things in the game may still be “placeholder”, which means having a substitute for art, music or voiceovers that will appear in the final version of the game.  It can be a little strange playing the alpha version of you hidden object game with Metallica placeholder music playing, but it proves that the game can support music and fulfils the alpha requirement.
Stress level:  Medium. 
• Time intensity:  Large.  This is the point when testing begins, and producers spend a lot of time test playing the game, directing communication  between the different groups working on the game, and making sure everyone has what they need.
• Essential materials:  Caffeine, optimism, co-workers who don’t mind you asking “does that look like a goat on a rocket to you?” at least twice a  day.
• Number of projects at this stage currently at Legacy:  6

Beta:  Beta is it!  The double or nothing, the point you find out if all your work paid off or not.  The game should be completely finished at this point except for finding bugs and fixing them.  Around this point you start “localization work”, or translating the game into other languages, usually  “FIGS” – French, Italian, German and Spanish.
• Stress level:  High.  Imagine keeping multiple plates spinning balanced on little poles, each with a kitten sitting on it staring at you adorably  hoping you don’t let it fall.
• Time intensity:   High.  Kiss your spouse and pets good bye for a little while and hope they remember who you are when you finally get home.
• Essential materials:  Caffeine, caffeine, caffeine, and understanding co-workers who will turn a blind eye whenever you start sobbing  uncontrollably whenever you see a goat and/or a rocketship.
• Number of projects at this stage currently at Legacy:  3

Code-Release Candidate:  Code release means you have a game where you believe you’re done.  All bugs have been found and fixed, it’s got all the languages in it it needs, and it’s ready to be manufactured and shipped out to the customers.  But just because you think it’s ready doesn’t mean it is.  The Code Release candidate needs to be approved by many different groups.  First off, the Quality Assurance department of the publisher needs to declare it “Gold” – that means the testers are satisfied that all bugs are fixed.  If it’s a Playstation or Nintendo game, it needs to be approved by those companies, a nerve wracking challenge that has broken some of the hardiest producers.  If it’s based on a licensed title, like our upcoming Igor titles, they need approval from whoever owns the name.  Only after everyone who has anything to do with the game has approved it can it go to the manufacturer.
• Stress level:  Ridiculous.  Lucy working at the conveyor belt in the chocolate shop.
• Time intensity:  Ridiculous.  Sleep is a thing of the past, personal hygiene consists of glasses of water thrown on yourself by the water cooler.
• Essential materials:  Caffeine, deadline extensions, co-workers who won’t set up a stuffed goat on a rocket in your cubicle and laugh as you hide  under the desk and throw pencils at it in raw terror.  You bastards.
• Number of projects at this stage currently at Legacy:  0, but 4 within the next month.

Code-Release isn’t the end either – just when you think the project is over, there’s always a little more to do with marketing, localization or getting rid of the inflatable goats people keep leaving in your car.

Until next time!

Donald E. Marshall

Fishdom

People are usually polarized on the topic of seafood. Either you love it or hate it. I'm crazy about the stuff, but don't usually give much thought to fish as pets. Personally, my experience is mostly limited to sea monkeys and sushi, so I can't claim much knowledge on fish-rearing. I guess it's a whole different ballpark... Despite this, I still thought the Fishdom was cute and fun to play.

If you like match 3, or just enjoy pet fish and aquariums, you might want to check it out. It blends a simple building simulation with a match three game, kind of like Cradle of Rome and Cradle of Persia, only instead of building ancient hamlets you're building...fish tanks. You can buy all kinds of rare fish, including seahorses, and then upgrade their tanks to include décor items like plants and shells, plus comfort items like lights and water filters.

If you're more of a simulation fan, you might prefer Fish Tycoon. It's part of the whole “tycoon” series, including Fairy Godmother Tycoon and Plant Tycoon. It's done in real time, so it's one of those games that requires some patience, but it's also very rewarding.
For time management, Pet Shop Hop is a better bet. It's not solely about fish (lol – get it – sole-ly, as in sole?). But, you do a fair amount of pet fish raising and selling. Very cute.

Now I've strayed off topic...I was talking about Fishdom! What's also neat is that Fishdom doubles as a screen saver, so you can use one of your tanks to protect your screen. It's kind of a neat conversation piece at the office. Shhhh, but we shouldn't be playing games at the office, should we? Wink wink.

Lisa

Download these simulation fish games at Legacy Games>>

Out of the Frying Pan...

So here we are again. The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes is out and I am ecstatic to say it has been a success. There is no better feeling than to see your game, that you have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into, sitting at the number one position against all its peers.  I was looking forward to this time to relax and reflect on the production process for Sherlock before I was fully immersed in the next production.  I guess I was mistaken. As a wise man once said; “out of the frying pan, into another frying pan.”

With the wonderful reception of Sherlock we now have lots of interest in localizing the game for other languages. I am now looking at 8 to possibly 10 different languages to localize to. This is quite an effort. I have worked in localization before on many games, some that have over 200 hours of gameplay but none of them appear as challenging as this. The previous games I worked on for localization were fantasy role-playing games and although long, fairly straight forward. The stories were all pretty self-contained and translating “Potion” and “Earth magic” was all simple interpretations. Sherlock offers us puns, proverbs and word puzzles which is infinitely more difficult to translate across languages and cultures. It will be interesting, but not easy, to see how it all turns out. I would love to see Sherlock speaking Japanese though.

Incredibly, we have also been getting requests already for a sequel! So much for a rest. I’ll have to think about that one. It may be difficult to get that going seeing as the industry just like the movie industry really favors fresh original ideas and not sequels or remakes that already have a fan base. I mean just look at the upcoming movie releases: The incredible Hulk (didn’t they just make one of those), Hellboy 2, Get Smart, Transformers 2, Transporter 3, Jurassic Park 4, Harry Potter 6! Ok, enough sarcasm.

Sherlock has been (and still proves to be) a fun ride. I would like to officially thank all the fans out there who enjoyed the game. To me, if my work reaches, inspires and/or positively influences one person, it is a success. I think this is what all artists want, whether they are making a video game, a movie, writing or painting a picture. I may have to take a long break from blogging about Sherlock but I promise I have plenty of other projects to write about coming up.

Until then, watch the skies!

Coops

Wise Man.

(Coincidentally this actor also played Inspector Hopkins in an episode of the 1994 series “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes”)
(Ok, I swear I won’t talk about Sherlock Holmes any more.)

Farm Games

Sooooo, I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the English translation for Wii's "Harvest Moon: Tree of Peace." Anxiously is an understatment...I'm constantly looking for the release! While I've been waiting, I've been busying myself with an assortment of "Farm Games." Yup, farm games. Perhaps that sounds funny, since I'm a city girl through and through, but there's something relaxing about imagining a simpler life (without actually doing all the hard work needed on a real farm).

For crowing crops, the best is probably Virtual Farm. It's a simple game, but really addictive. You plant different crops, by seeds, keep the plants watered and harvest them when ripe. With your harvest earnings, you can also buy special buildings, like a cowshed where you can begin producing milk. What's also neat is that the game is one continuous level. There's also Magic Seeds, which is another cute time management plant growing game.

If you are more partial to the care and raising of animals then crops, and prefer time management, there's always Dairy Dash, Magic Farm, Sheep's Quest, or Farm Frenzy. Dairy Dash is part of the "dash" series, with cameos from Flo, and it lives up to the series standard. You care for the animals by feeding, watering, and milking them or gathering eggs. You can get special orders from restaurants (like Flo's diner), too. There's lots of opportunities to make combos, which is also lots of fun.

And, for a good medical simulation, don't forget about Farm Vet, which is probably the most realistic farm veterinarian simulation game I've ever played. You get to treat, feed, and groom horses, cows, rabbits, ducks, sheep, chickens and more. There's lots of educational material involved, so it's also a learning tool.

Hope y'all have fun on your gaming farms! Say, do you think they'll be releasing any more soon?

Lisa

DOWNLOAD THESE FARM GAMES AT LEGACY GAMES>>

Part 3 of "The Curse of Anan-Thetop" Just Released and New Viral Video

Hi Friends,

  It’s official.  Part 3 of “The Curse of Anan Thetop” has just been released! In this latest puzzle, you will enter Dr. Carstairs’ office and play a hidden object game which will lead you one step closer to figuring out the suspect and revealing the secret code that will unlock the EXTRA GAME in The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes.
 
  Are you reading this and thinking to yourself, ‘What is Sofun  talking about?” If so, you need to head straight over to Legacy Games and play Part 1  of “The Curse of Anan Thetop”, the online flash Sherlock Holmes game, and get started on solving the case and unveiling the secret code.  Remember the SECRET CODE TO UNLOCK THE EXTRA GAME in The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes will only be available  for a limited time AND ONLY AVAILABLE ON LEGACY GAMES. After the 4th part of the series is released, you will have one week to finish each part before the secret code disappears forever. So make sure to play each level as soon as they come out before time gets the best of you!
 
        We love to joke around and have a lot of fun over here at  Legacy Games, so we decided to make a video to show everybody a glimpse of our sense of humor. Jon, the fantastic Producer who brought you The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, pokes fun at Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games in A Frank and Ernest  Discussion About Video Games: The MMORPG posted now on the Legacy Games channel on  YouTube. Watch the video, have a laugh, and if you really like it, let me know.
       
        We have 4 really great Producers here at Legacy Interactive working hard to bring you the games you love. Every week, one of them writes a blog about what they’re working on and provides sneak peeks of new games in development on the Legacy  Games Blog. This week Ryan wrote about the upcoming Zoo Vet Endangered Animals game for Nintendo DS. Check it out to get a behind-the-scenes look at Legacy Games.   You can catch all the producer blogs here, on our Message Board.   
       
Wow! There sure is a lot of great new stuff to check out. Just wanted to remind everyone that I always like to receive email from you, the members of Legacy Games. Really, anything you want to tell me, I am ready to listen.  Together we can make Legacy Games the most fun  game portal on the web!
       
        Until Next Time,

       

Have Fun!               

       

Hey Legacy Blog types

This is Ryan again, with an update for you on the things we’re working on here at Legacy.

To me, summer used to mean vacations and warm afternoons on the beach. Well, nowadays summer represents long hours, short lunch breaks and the sinking feeling that an ulcer might be coming on. You might not know this, but to make sure a game is ready to be on the shelves for the holidays the production of the game almost always has to be finished by the end of the summer. And if you’re making a game for Nintendo, you have to submit it to them by July if you want to have it approved in time.

To me, that means the pressure is on to get games like Zoo Vet DS finished as quickly as possible. In times like these it’s not uncommon for producers, programmers, artists and game testers to work long hours and even over the weekends. They never said the life of a game producer was glamorous! Luckily, Zoo Vet DS hasn’t driven us to sleepless nights yet, but we’re working hard to make sure you can have the perfect Nintendo DS stocking stuffer.

Looking back over some old postings here and I saw that I had put up some preliminary screen shots for Zoo Vet DS with the promise of more for comparison. Well, look how far we’ve come!

We’ve streamlined and customized our traditional PC Vet games to work perfectly with the Nintendo DS. The art turned out incredibly well, especially for the DS platform and we were able to make fun minigames out of each tool you use to cure the zoo animals. We were also able to finish six new mini-games and even added an animal feeding feature.

No wonder I’m tired!

--Ryan

Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet

Oh my goodness...this is such a cool hidden object mystery. It's made by the same group that did Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile and Peril at End House, so my expectations were high, but they delivered. I'm trying to think about what to say without giving away any plot elements! I will keep quiet. Suffice to say there's plenty of twists, subtle foreshadowing, and you'll do lots of speculating. It really keeps true to James Patterson's "Women's Murder Club" novels, and doesn't seem influenced by the tv show.

The characters look like their fictional counterparts and not the tv actresses. You play as three of the women, alternately – homicide detective Lindsay Boxer, forensic analyst Claire Washburn, and crime reporter Cindy Thomas (no need for a lawyer on this case). During your investigation, you get to do all kinds of cool things, like examine the crime scene with black light, examine the bodies, interrogate suspects, and generally snoop.

If you enjoy mystery games like Law & Order or CSI, this is one you won't want to miss. Most of the tasks are hidden object style, though there are some adventure game elements in the mini-games (which can be skipped if you choose). There is so much realism (yet not much gore, happily), so you get that real detective feeling. I played straight through without stopping!

Lisa

DOWNLOAD THESE GAMES AT LEGACY GAMES>>