Legacy Games Blog

Exclusive Sherlock Codes and More!

Hi Friends,

The end of May is here and as I look over the past month I can not do anything, but smile. What a month it has been! First off Sherlock Holmes is a huge hit thanks to all of you so go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back; 10 lucky Tuttles Madcap Misadventures fans won a Sony DSC N-2 Digital Camera worth $450 a piece on Facebook, gee wiz; and Legacy Games launched the Online section of the portal where you go and play tons of free online games, that means no more waiting for downloads or needing any space to store them, just games at the click of a mouse. I’m going to let you all in on another secret, next month will be super fun too, as with every month at Legacy Games, because the fun just doesn’t stop here!

Have not gotten enough Sherlock yet? Neither have we! And in response to all the encouragement for more Sherlock Holmes we have launched a case from The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes as a Flash game. This is not an ordinary Flash game; this game is a 4 part series that will ultimately lead you to a secret word that will unlock a special extra game in the downloaded version of The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes exclusive to Legacy Games. After each part of the series we will unveil a part of the secret code. Every week we will be releasing the next part of the series. Make sure to play all them in order because only after you have completed all four parts will the entire secret code be revealed. We have released the first part of the series already in Legacy Game’s Online Section click here to play now and begin your adventure.

The Hidden Object Sherlock Holmes Contest ends today. So this is your last chance to enter if you have not already. Go to The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes official site to learn how to enter. For everyone that has already entered you only have to wait a little bit longer to find out if you have won your free copy of the best new hidden object adventure game out there! The winners will be posted on Monday June 2^nd so make sure to check “The Board” on the Community Page at Legacy Games.

In the spirit of Adventure and with the timely release of the new Indy flick, this week I will be featured a review for the top downloaded Laura Jones and the Gates of Good and Evil.

When her mentor Professor Adams ends up in a coma, Laura discovers that an ancient talisman in her possession is one of the keys to the Mystical Gates, preserving the source of sacred powers of Art, Love, Strength, Will, Talent and Knowledge. She must protect them from the evil that desires them, or the disruption for the planet could be disastrous! In this thrilling hidden object adventure game, you must search for clues, solve challenging puzzles and riddles, and solve the mystery of the keys before it's too late. If you've played other Laura Jones games, you will be surprised by this one, since its by far the best yet. There are so many mini-puzzles along the way (like catching fish, figuring out how to start a fire, etc.), but the main focus is hidden object. The story is well written, and the graphics are superb photo realism.

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Until next time,

Have Fun!

Sophia, aka Sofun

The Challenge of "Challenge"

Hi there blog readers,

All of us here at Legacy want to thank everyone who has given us such positive feedback on our Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes game. Of course nice feedback is gratifying to receive after a game has been released, getting feedback from play testers during the beta phase of the game was a significant contributing factor in the game’s success. Play tester feedback allowed us to make modifications to some features and "fine tune" certain aspects of the game, including the level of challenge in some areas.

"Challenge" is a key component to every game. Without it, players are not motivated to engage in the game, since some level of challenge is needed for a game to be considered "fun." Imagine a game where you were guaranteed to win every single time, even if the choices you made were always purely random. Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? On the other end of the spectrum, imagine a game where there was no possible way to win, no matter what you did. Most people wouldn’t consider that much fun either. Now imagine a game in which you find that you can win most of the time when you give a good effort, but sometimes lose when you don’t do your best. That’s the "zone of optimal challenge" that every game designer tries to achieve.

In our Sherlock Holmes game, we received feedback from some play testers during the beta phase who pointed out particular items in some scenes which players found too difficult to locate. Usually it involved items that were made too small or obstructed too much by other objects. We were able to address those issues usually by adjusting the graphics and moving the small items to be positioned more prominently in the foreground, and less covered by other things. If you have played many hidden object games before, I’m sure you have encountered trying to find hard-to-locate items that, even after receiving a hint, you still didn’t recognize that thing as the item you were looking for. That’s really frustrating as a player, since the game seems unfairly difficult at that point.

Another area where we were able to address the issue of challenge in our Sherlock game was in some of the puzzles. In the second case, you may recall that you encounter a locked box in Orsino’s carnival wagon. In the version the beta testers played, you needed to solve a slider puzzle to open the box. In case you’re not familiar with them, a slider puzzle is typically a grid of square tiles (each with a portion of the larger picture) that must be rearranged by sliding the tiles into the open square. We received a lot of negative feedback on that puzzle, where many players felt it was too hard to arrange the tiles into the correct configuration, and simply gave up on the game at that point. The feedback was loud and clear. So, in the final version of the game, we modified that puzzle to be one in which each tile just needed to be rotated in place in order to complete the picture. That change made the puzzle difficulty at a more reasonable challenge level (and hopefully averted the curse that one of the testers threatened to cast upon us if we if we kept the slider puzzle in the game).

Another example of us modifying a puzzle’s challenge level was the cat collar puzzle in the first case in the game. In that puzzle, you encounter a cat collar with gems that must be placed back in the collar based on the gem shapes. Since the six gems to replace were all simple shapes, completing the puzzle was very easy and usually took just a few seconds. We thought that was OK since we wanted everyone to succeed at the first puzzle in the game. Interestingly, we received feedback that people thought it was "kindergarten easy" and were assuming the whole game was filled with ridiculously easy puzzles which were not challenging enough. In response to that feedback, we decided to break the gems up into two or three pieces each, meaning that there were many more smaller gem pieces to put back on the collar, making it harder to identify their correct positions.

Those are just a few of the examples of how we did our best to listen to play tester feedback to adjust the level of challenge. Finding that optimal level is certainly not an exact science, as what is too difficult for some people, may be perfectly acceptable for some users, and may even be too easy for others. In a perfect scenario, you’d want to continue the cycle of testing, receiving feedback and making adjustments as often as possible. As a game designer with the realities of limited time and resources, you just have to do your best to find that middle ground challenge level that will be close to optimal for most of the players who are likely to play the game. And doing that, as my examples hopefully highlighted, can indeed be quite a challenge.

Craig

Who-done it? Best Mysteries

Looking for a good mystery? Something interesting and twisty (with or without the macabre details)? I relate. I've been bored out of skull lately, and definitely looking for games with great stories, especially good mysteries! Luckily, there are lots of fun games out that fit the bill.

If you are one of the few people on the planet who hasn't played The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, it's probably the best hidden object mystery to come out this year. And I'm not just saying that because it's a Legacy game – it has a lot of depth that other hidden object games have been recently. Plus, the artwork is very cool, and you get 16 mysteries to solve in just one game. Mysteryville 2 is another popular choice...hey, doesn't that game hunk look like Brad Pitt? That's reason enough to give it a go. Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate and Agatha Christie: Peril at End House are two big names you've probably heard, also with some excellent writing and atmosphere. Cate West - The Vanishing Files is also pretty unique, allowing users to add items back into a scene, as well as finding missing objects. It's something different.

For adventure game fans, there's the Law & Order series, like Law and Order: Criminal Intent - The Vengeful Heart and Law and Order Criminal Intent 2 - Dark Obsession. These are dark and creepy, like the CSI games, but if you're a fan of the show you will not want to miss them. Hidden Secrets: The Nightmare is definitely darker still, made for adults who aren't too nervous to play a thriller.

Remedy is also a clever one, and very old school, made by a husband and wife team. For some family-oriented, but still spooky titles, try Nancy Drew: Danger by Design or Nancy Drew: The Haunted Carousel.

Good luck, Gumshoe. You'll need it. Hey, were does that "gumshoe" expression come from anyway?

Lisa

DOWNLOAD THE BEST MYSTERY GAMES AT LEGACY GAMES>>

Memorial Day

Somehow it always seems to be my turn to write the blogs before the three day weekend. I don’t plan it this way, but there you go. Usually, I try and pick a theme that fits the upcoming holiday, and with Memorial Day happening on Monday I was thinking "what sort of experience do I have in the video game industry that might honor our fallen soldiers?"

At my last job one of the main titles I worked on was the extremely popular Call of Duty series of first person shooters. In this game, you take on the role of American, British and Russian soldiers in World War II. Even though the games I produced focused on the combat that they lived through and not the goals the Allies were fighting for in World War II, it did start me on a path where I started thinking a lot more about our men and women in our armed forces. When I watch portrayals like Saving Private Ryan, Call of Duty, Letters from Iwo Jima, or any of the dozens of movies portraying more modern wars, I question if I’d have the courage that these people had, and wonder what the world would be like if it were me on the Beach at Normandy, too afraid to set foot off that boat.

At Legacy we have a different focus on our games. Rather than blowing up bridges and shooting Nazis, the games I work on now try to teach medicine (Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals), have fun with the principles of capitalism (The Apprentice: Los Angeles), glorify family (The Tuttles) or the freedom to choose your own paths in life (Igor). From the educational to the entertaining, the games I make now are usually about creation, or the struggle to preserve life and make a better tomorrow.

I love that.

How does this tie together? Where once I made games that honored the actual deeds that our fallen soldiers performed, now my games try to hold up the principles they died for: family, freedom, and the right to create your own future and not have one imposed on you.

No, I don’t pretend any of our soldiers gave their lives so that I could make an educational veterinary simulator. I’m not that deluded. But the games we make are built on the idea that anyone can do anything they put their mind to; become anyone they want to be, with the work and effort to get there. We at Legacy like to think that we make games that celebrate these principles that have been gifted to us by these fallen heroes.

We wish you all a safe and memorable Memorial Day, however you choose to observe it!

We are Number One!

Hi  Friends!

Yippie!  The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes is the NUMBER  ONE downloaded game at Legacy Games and at Big Fish Games! I want to thank everyone for their support. And If you’re one of three people in the universe who still have not checked out Legacy’s latest hidden object adventure game - The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes - click here to  download it now!        

We also want to give you, our uber fantastic Legacy Games customers, some exclusive Sherlock action. We will be launching the online version of case #8 “The Curse of Anan-Thetop”. In this Flash game, you will play 4 puzzles over the period of 4 weeks. (One puzzle will be released every week.) Part of the secret code will be revealed to you each time you successfully complete a puzzle. Once you have finished the final scene, the entire secret code will be revealed. You can then use it to unlock the EXTRA  CASE in the downloadable version of The Lost Cases  of Sherlock Holmes, available on Legacy Games. Pretty awesome!

Moving on, this week I am featuring a review from one of our Legacy Games ultra awesome members, Ejreiss, on the very popular and much loved Nancy Drew's Curse of  Blackmoore Manorgame:        

For all you thrill seekers out there, you have to try it.  This game includes mystery, excitement, and suspense combined with lots of mini puzzles and games that really test your mind.  The characters are awesome, and all have a personality of their own.  It takes place in Blackmoore Manor, a big spooky family owned mansion, that has hidden excitement around every corner, and is filled with dark family secrets, even a  funny talking parrot named Lulu.  The story line is incredible.  I recommend this  to everyone, and it makes a great "family time" game, my boys and I loved all of them.  So if you dare to take on the challenge, my first piece of advice is, have a lot of paper for notes and have fun!!!

       

       

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Until  next time,        

Have fun,

       

       

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

What's Cooking?

So, I've mentioned before that one of my hobbies is cooking. Well, my husband Len wanted an apology after my last cooking blog. I mentioned that I wasn't impressed with his eggplant parmigiana-alla-feta cheese, and he thought it wasn't quite fair unless I mentioned the time I tried to cook him liver (one of his favorites and on my no-eat list). And I thought liver was inedible AFTER it was cooked....well it's even worse when somebody fails to defrost it properly, and then attempts to fry the whole thing in a block....double yuck. It's kind of funny, because just a week later, one of my friends was also in the dog house for criticizing her hubby's curry. Is this a common problem?

Well, if dinner isn't turning out right, at least you can pretend to be a good chef on the computer. You've all heard me talk about some of my favorites -- Hot Dish, Family Restaurant, and Cooking Academy. Well, there's a new blended genre of hidden object games and cooking simulation, and it really works.

Go-Go Gourmet has you finding ingredients hidden around the kitchen, and whipping up fancy dishes for customers in a variety of exotic kitchens. It's a ton of fun, and fast paced and challenging too.

Cooking Quest has you competing to be Foodville's best chef. For each recipe, you have to put together tools and ingredients to cook with, though you also find lots of funny hidden object stuff too, like lizards and phones, which doesn't fit with the story. I liked working within the budget for meals though, which made things more challenging. I also liked selecting wines, because that's another one of my favorite hobbies. The biggest problem is that it's over just when it starts getting good, since you can beat it in 3 hours or less.

Hope your dinners turn out better than ours!

Lisa

DOWNLOAD THESE COOKING GAMES AT LEGACY GAMES>>

Interactive Game Development?

Hello all, now that The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes is out and I have returned to a somewhat semblance of sanity, I am here to blog once more.

To achieve an even greater sense of closure with this project I would like to let you in on a phenomenal new level of game development that I have experienced with this project. I like to call it Interactive Game Development.

Until now my closest experience to truly interactive game development was found only in the patches of MMORPGs. What I mean by this is that the user, or player, could give feedback to the developer that might be considered and actually implemented later in the game through a downloadable patch to the game. I always loved MMORPGs for this feature because it kept the game from being trapped by certain design flaws, especially ones that couldn’t really be predicted until the game was actually out and being played. But, this was a feature that only existed for those live online games and could not be accomplished for retail stand-alone, single-player games, until now.

During the Beta phase of Sherlock we were able to do a public Beta test in which hundreds of people could play-test the game and give us direct feedback on it. The amazing thing is we were able to listen and actually implement a lot a changes and features into the game at a relatively late time in the development cycle. Part of the power of this is that it was a PC based game which makes the implementation and turn-around time of fixes fairly instantaneous in game development terms. Another aspect that helps is that the game is first distributed as an online downloadable game, which means we can still test and make fixes if necessary up to the last minute since we don’t need to worry (as much) about manufacturing times (and the monetary implication of possible delays or hiccups). The result was that we could listen and try to incorporate the reactions and suggestions of the players as much as possible. And we did.

I am so happy with the results of this, as I think it has made the game extremely more customizable to the player expanding its potential in gameplay experience tremendously. And it didn’t stop once the game was released! In a specific example we were contacted by a customer who experienced an unusual (and rare) problem with the game the day after it was released. She told us of her issue and within a day or two we were able to pinpoint the issue, fix it, and update the version on our website. She could then reinstall the game (using the purchase code she had already received) and her problem would go away. This was a truly unique experience for me that I can only say would be possible (so far) with downloadable content. This is why I have dubbed it Interactive Game Development.

Now you may be saying "but patches for games are nothing new" but from my point of view patches in the past have still taken time to develop and distribute. This incident was reported, fixed and distributed in 2 days time, with no further investment or hassle to the customer, outside a download of a couple minutes, which is pretty amazing in my book. Now I have another reason why I love the Internet. It really is a wonderful place…

See you later! (Virtually speaking),

Jon

Just in Time for the Weekend!

                     

Hi  friends!

       

First  off, I wanna say WOW! I was hoping that you would enjoy The Hidden Object Sherlock Holmes Contest, but it turns out everybody loved it! I could not be happier. If you haven’t yet entered the contest, be sure to go to the official Sherlock Holmes  website to find out how to enter, then send your answers to Sofun@legacygames.com by May 30th  for your chance to win a free copy of The Lost Cases  of Sherlock Holmes.

       

By  the way, my favorite game review site, Gamezebo, just posted a fabulous review  of our Sherlock Holmes game here.

       

“While the casual game market is flooded with hidden-object games, very few actually tie in an intriguing story, memorable characters and relevant items to find…The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes does a terrific job with delivering a cohesive interactive detective experience worth investigating.“

       

I  also wanted to remind everybody that The Tuttles  Sweepstakes on Facebook is ending on May 20th so you only have a  few more days to enter for the chance to win 1 of 10 Sony cyber-shot DSC-N2  Digital Cameras worth $450 bucks!  All you have to do to enter is  answer a question about the Tuttles Madcap  Misadventures (and don’t worry if you get it wrong; you have plenty of chances to get it right). So hurry over to Facebook to enter, because you definitely don’t want to miss this awesome contest.

       

Now, let’s get back to the basics and remember why we all love Legacy Games so much – THE GAMES! If you can squeeze in any time between your hunt for the culprit in The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, then I would recommend playing Pet Shop Hop.

       

You play as Cassie, a zoology major who is trying to save her Grandfather's family pet shop business. With the advice of her friend Flo (of Diner Dash fame), she heads out to rebuild her business one puppy at a time. Your job is to care for fish, rabbits, hedgehogs, puppies, and kittens. It's a fun time management and service game, with a fast pace and a whole bunch of tasks to complete. You can also try the challenge mode, where you serve a steady stream of customers to see how much cash you can earn in one go. In story mode, there are 50 levels, so there’s lots to do.

       

If this game doesn’t suit your fancy, then pop over to Legacy Games to find your favorite game. And if you want to share your favorite game with all of our members, just send me an email at Sofun@leagcygames.com and tell me why the  game should be featured. It might just end up in next week’s legacy  tattler. 

       

Until  next time.

       

Have Fun!

       

       

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

Sofun talks gaming on Fox morning news, Las Vegas!

Hi friends!

I just got back from Las Vegas, where I was interviewed about Legacy Games on the morning Fox News program. It was really fun and I wanted to share my experience with everyone. Check out Fox News 5, Las Vegas to watch the clip.

In addition I wanted to let you know how pleased I am that I received so many responses so far for The Hidden Object Sherlock Holmes Contest. I hope that everybody enjoys finding the hidden objects as much as I did coming up with the clues! Just to remind everybody, all 10 clues have been posted and you can find them on The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes website.

Until next time,

Have Fun!

Sophia, aka Sofun

Good News and Bad News

Hey Blog-readers,

This is Ryan again, here with another Legacy Games blog. Now, I know some of you are saying, "Ryan, last time you said you'd tell us what big name crime/drama TV show game you're working on. Now finally, four weeks later, you're back so spill it already!" Well, I've got some good news and some bad news for you.

The good news is that we've just finished the prototype of the new game and I have to tell you, it's looking really good. For those who don't know, most games go through a prototype stage before real full speed production begins. A prototype is a small slice of a game that shows how all of the major features of the game work. It gives the designers and programmers a chance to try out new ideas, see what works, what doesn't and explore the potential of new technology or design innovations. We see if our budget and timetables look realistic and adjust accordingly. All the teams get together, work out some of the early kinks and see what shakes out. In this case, it looks like something really exciting is on the horizon.

Now for the bad news. you guys are going to have to wait just a little longer to find out what title I'm working on. we just need a couple more weeks before we can make it 100% official.

See you guys in a couple weeks!

Ryan

Games for Mystery Fans

I rediscovered Project Gutenberg, and have been thrilled with the huge amount of classic novels at my fingertips. If you haven't heard of it before, Project Gutenberg is the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks). The only criteria are that all of the books are in public domain and their copyright has expired. There are even audio books and recorded music files. I happen to be a new fan of mysteries, having just "discovered" Ruth Rendell a few months back, and so now I've got a lot of catch up reading to do in the entire mystery genre. Wow, and there are lots.

On the same train of thought, it’s really turned me on to games based on books, especially mysteries. I was thrilled to see the release of The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, a hidden object game which has you playing Sherlock and solving 16 different crimes. It is the only Sherlock game to be officially licensed by the Conan Doyle Estate, and it features all of the character's you'll find in the novels.

Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile, and the sequel Agatha Christie: Peril at End House, are both interesting variations of Agatha Christie novels. While there is some creative license to be had, you find the same great character development as in the books. Both of these are also hidden object mysteries. Rumor has it that the developers are working on another game based on James Patterson's "Women's Murder Club" series. The Count of Monte Cristo is another strong hidden object game, with some knock out background art and great atmosphere. I haven't read the book yet, but I've seen the movie does that count?

If you're looking for a family game, Nancy Drew: The Haunted Carousel is a new release that delivers lots of fun, adventure game style. It's creepy, but not TOO creepy, so it’s suitable for older girls and teens alike. My girls are still a bit too young, but I look forward to introducing them to the Nancy Drew series when they reach that teeny-booper stage.

Perhaps the best part of games based on books is the ability to really get immersed in the story. It's exciting to get to walk in the shoes of your favorite protagonists, no matter what your favorite genre. Now we just need some interactive Jane Austen novels, hmmm.

Lisa

DOWNLOAD THESE MYSTERY GAMES AT LEGACY GAMES>>

Play The Hidden Object Sherlock Holmes Contest

Hi  friends!

       

My  motto at Legacy Games is to have fun, so I’m always trying to think of new and creative ways for our Legacy members to enjoy themselves. What do you think about this idea - play a game while you look for a game to play and the prize is a free game? Is this ingenious or what? (Well…at least I think so!) This whole idea started while I was brainstorming about how to get everybody as excited as I was about the release of The Lost Cases of Sherlock  Holmes, which is simply unlike any casual game available. The game consists of 16 totally unique cases and 100+ different puzzles all woven together with great stories and characters…awesome I know! By the way I am not the only person who thinks this game is great. It is also the first game officially licensed by the Conan Doyle Estate and let me tell you those Sherlockians know their stuff.

       

So here’s my brilliant idea - “The Hidden Object  Sherlock Holmes Contest”. (Okay, the title  could use some work, but the contest and prizes make up for it!)

       

Contest  Description:

               

         

1. Find Sherlock Holmes related icons hidden through out existing Legacy Game pages. I will give you clues about where on the website you can find Sherlock icons, e.g., Sherlock's deer stalker cap. 
2. You find the website page and the Sherlock clue.
3. You email me where you found the Sherlock clue.

       

       

Prize:  Whoever finds all 10 game pages with the hidden object will be entered to win a  FREE copy of The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes!

       

I have posted two clues to start you off, and everyday I will be posting two more on the white board in the community page for the next week. Figure out where all 10 hidden objects/Sherlock icons are on Legacy Games and send  your answers to me, Sofun at Sofun@legacyinteractive.com. I will draw 5 winners that will receive a free copy of The  Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes from the pool of correct answers at the  end of the month on May 30th!

       

Here’s an  example so we’re all on the same track:

          Hidden  Object: Tea Pot
          Game  Page Clue: A hit show on ABC that features celebrities dancing to win.

        If  you can decipher this clue you will end up on the Dancing with Stars game info page and you will see the hidden Object in  the image below as confirmation that you guessed correctly.

       

       

       

So here are your first two clues:

       

#1
  Hidden  Object: Sherlock’s hat
          Game  Page Clue: Operate on exotic animals that you would find on Safari.

       

 

       

#2
  Hidden  Object: Red Rose
          Game  Page Clue: A form of public transportation that shares the road with cars.

       

 

       

#3
  Hidden  Object: Sherlock’s Pipe
        Game  Page Clue: A doctor game where you cure outrageous diseases.

       

 

       

#4
  Hidden  Object: Tea Cup
        Game  Page Clue: A game that is based on the epic war between the North and South.

       

 

       

#5
  Hidden  Object: Playing Card
        Game  Page Clue: Based on a TV show that is famous for the quote, "You're Fired!".

       

 

       

#6
  Hidden  Object: Glasses
        Game  Page Clue: A place where you learn to become a culinary mastermind.

       

 

       

#7
  Hidden  Object: Leather Glove
        Game  Page Clue: A young girl detective looking for a jeweled skeleton.

       

 

       

#8
  Hidden  Object: Book
        Game  Page Clue: The place you go when you need help to book a trip.

       

 

       

#9
  Hidden  Object: Key
        Game  Page Clue: An equestrian's bestfriend.

       

 

       

#10
  Hidden  Object: Violin
        Game  Page Clue: You are the doctor at your neighborhood veterinarian clinic.

       

 

         
          Just a reminder…you can always check The  Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes’ website, to see all the  clues that have been posted so far.

       

The  game’s afoot! Join me on Legacy Games to start  playing now!

       

       

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

         

Game Show Glamour

Gosh, I know we've done this before, but I was just looking over the list of featured games on Legacy Games and was surprised that there are so many game show games out recently! I remember the best part of getting sick as a kid (or pretending to be sick, hmmmm) was staying home and watching game shows with my Mom while eating fresh blueberry muffins and ginger ale. :) I don't have much time to stay in bed these days, but I've got a nasty cold, and so I've been spending a nice amount of time revisiting these game show games.

If you're a feud fan, there's Family Feud III: Dream Home. The “family feud” component is fun. I haven't hit a repeat survey yet, and I've played for hours. Sometimes the game's dictionary isn't so great, so you will type in a synonym and it won't accept it. Or, you might get an answer wrong, and it gives you credit anyway. That happens, but its still playable. The “dream home” part is a bit disconnected. You basically just buy items and put them in the house. Family Feud Online Party is also a good one if you'd rather play against human opponents. It's almost exactly like the game show. There's a ton of questions, so it doesn't get repetitive. The downside is that there's no single player component, and sometimes its slow to find and join games.

Then there's “The Price is Right.” Well, maybe its right in the game, but food prices have been through the roof at the supermarkets lately! But as for the game -- the 3D animation is wonderful, and the game play is just like the game show. You guess at prices, and try to get closer than your competition. The objects are unusual and not your usual supermarket items, so expect things like patio heaters and wendy houses. This is a plus, since the prices are more likely to be consistent than for local grocery store items, plus it makes things so much more challenging. The only downside is that it does have some bugs at the time of this writing.

Of course, if reality television is more your thing, there's always Dancing with the Stars (think Dance Dance Revolution), or The Apprentice Los Angeles. The latter is one of my favorite time management games, and the addictive value is high. You compete against the other players to see if you have what it takes to be the next apprentice. Your tasks include working at a sushi bar, selling beach gear, and pleasing customers in a posh boutique. Very cool spin on the television program.

I'm always looking out for other cool games to play, so if any of you readers have a good recommendation, please drop me a comment. Cheers!

Lisa

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Localization Kits for Everyone!!

Hello everyone! Things have been a little crazy for me around the office in the past two weeks and for once, my busyness had nothing to do with gameplay ideas or tracking build changes. Right now I am working on the localization for Pet Pals Animal Rescue. Now, I am sure some of you know about localization, but for those of you that don’t, read up!

To put it in a nutshell, localization is sort of the translation of a multimedia product so that it can be sold in other countries. I say it is sort of the translation of a product because there is more that goes into localization than simple translation. When you localize a product, you are effectively getting it ready for sale in other countries, which can mean that more than the language must change because different countries have different ratings boards and censorship laws. Luckily, Legacy Interactive does not make violent games, so this is a whole other level of localization pain that we don’t have to worry about too much.

When localizing, companies must first decide what level of localization they want to do for their products. Companies can choose to localize their product partially or fully where a partial localization is when all game assets have not been translated.  Companies make the decision on which kind of localization to do base on a cost/proposed income analysis. Basically, if they believe that their projected game sales are not high enough to justify a full localization for a region or country, then a partial one is done.  A partial localization is a game with translated text and non-translated voiceovers. When this is done, subtitles are added for all voiceovers so that foreign consumers can read what the characters are saying. Partial localizations aren’t horrible; it’s just that when you buy a game that has a partial localization, you know that it was not made for you. You can’t understand the characters as they speak and that may disrupt the immersion factor. Since most mainstream games are made and bought in the US (last time I checked), Americans should not see many partial game localizations unless they purposely buy obscure imports.

Now that we have the basics of what localization is, I can begin to talk about what a producer does with regards to localization. Well, as you know, a producer is part manager, part middleman and part bulldog (in my case). We are charged with making sure that everything is running on schedule and we ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO WRITE UP DOCUMENTATION! Producers document everything and I think this is why we always get stuck with preparing the localization kit. The localization kit is a collection of documents, assets and files that contain every piece of text, art or sound that needs to be localized. Can you imagine having to track down every little tiny scrap of anything English within a game? Believe me, it is NOT easy. Along with the text that you normally see in the game, there is the text that maybe you don’t see, like error messages and hidden or secret text. Also, you can’t forget about art! Notice how in some games you can see stuff in the background of the gameworld like posters or street signs? Well those have to change too! Oh and what about the readme, installer and menu text, can’t forget those. When we have all the text and art, there is also the sound. Oh sound!

The reason why so many companies do partial localization is because localizing voiceovers is expensive and time costly. First a sound studio must be rented out, a sound designer must be hired and believe me, these guys do NOT come cheap. Then the sound designer has to cast, then hire actors to record the lines in the localization languages; actor’s time is also expensive. Once the lines are all recorded, the sound designer has to edit them (for lots of money). The last part is tricky. If the voiceovers are part of a video, then the video is dubbed. If the game publisher wants a higher level of localization, they can even sync the new localized voiceovers to the characters facial movements. Mostly people use dubbing. Have you ever seen one of those old Kung Fu movies from the 1970’s that look so funny because the actor’s mouth keeps moving long after the line finishes playing? That is an example of bad dubbing, it really is a tricky thing to get right because the actual length of text increases when translated from English to other languages. Because of this, the sound designer may have to reword or shorten translations lines so that they mean pretty much the same thing as the original version but are closer to the same length.

Length is a big issue when it comes to localization. A good producer will keep her mind on localization needs long before the kit is due. During the game design process, the producer should flag any unnecessary text embedded in art, any buttons that barely holds its text and the game development folder structure.

Embedded art is bad because just like sound designers, artists are skilled, specialized workers and generally charge a lot for their time. To localize art assets, the artist must remake that digital art asset once for every language. Now imagine if you had 1,000 art assets that needed localization and you are localizing for French, Italian, German and Spanish (commonly called FIGS), that’s a lot of art assets and a lot of money!

Buttons packed with text should be flagged because localization generally increases the length of text by 20%, so you need at least 20% more space to be able to get text to fit without abbreviating.

Lastly, the development environment folder/file structure is very important for integration which happens when you get your translated localization kit back. If the folder structure is set up to accommodate making multiple language builds, then you are ready for localization. If it is not, then integration could slow you down and mixed files can lead to bad builds and everyone’s time wasted.

Speaking of time wasted…I need to get back to this localization kit, it's due too soon for comfort!

More inside producer information on the way!

Cheers,
Natascha
(Legacy Producer)