All right, here we go.
Lists like this one are always going to be partial and subject to change, and there are some projects that I don’t want to announce yet, but here are some of the things I’m working on. 2011 will be a big year.
You Shall Know The Truth – My Wikileaks Stories game is finished and looking for a sponsor. It’s a game that’s likely to get some attention (already has, as a matter of fact), but also has a fairly controversial subject matter. I’m very happy with it and hoping that a sponsor who wants to support net neutrality and free speech will pick it up soon.
A Candle in the Dark – This is what I’m going to be working on in the next few weeks. It’s a prequel to Phenomenon 32, set on Earth in the years prior to the first game. It will be similar in many ways to Phenomenon 32, but it’s not a clone. The scope is somewhat smaller, though it won’t be tiny, and the mechanics are related but far from identical. Apart from telling a story I really want to tell, making this will also allow me to prepare for at some point remaking Phenomenon 32 in Multimedia Fusion (though not as a Flash game).
Follow Only Beauty – The game formerly called Between, and still set in a world called Between, has been pushed to the end of February. Don’t worry, there aren’t any problems; it’s just a scheduling issue. Since I really want Helen Trevillion to write the score for this one, I have to wait a few weeks. No big deal. I’m still not revealing anything about the game, because I really want people to approach it with an open mind.
Nexus City – Terry has done some really awesome work, and the last (private) demo was very cool. Like myself, Terry has other projects that also need working on, but Nexus City is going ahead, and will be a big thing for both of us.
The Troll Game – It’s late, but it hasn’t been forgotten. Quite the opposite. The Troll Game, whose name will not be The Troll Game, is also going to be a big thing. I will need to experiment a bit more, but it currently looks like it will simply be too big to release as a Flash game, so I might be doing the unthinkable and selling it. You may wonder why I would do such a thing when I prefer making my games accessible to everyone, and the answer is simple: it’s the only way I can afford to make that game right now, and I really want to make it. I don’t want to divide the game up into multiple parts, because that would ruin the story, and I simply don’t have the money to work for so long on a huge freeware game. (Note: if I go this way, everyone who donated will get a free copy.)
The Urthona Revolution – This is still a ways off, but I’m very seriously considering telling this story as a three-part Flash adventure.
The Last Stand – I’d love to do this as a three-part Flash game, but that’s probably impossible due to file sizes. We’ll see when we get there.
The Great Machine: A Fragment – At some point in the new few months I might put together a Flash version of my only text adventure. It’ll be a bit different in its presentation, and the old version will continue to exist, but it will basically be the same game.
The Great Machine: A Nightmare – My ridiculously unfinished film project will be finished. I’ve figured out the last snag, which was keeping it from working as I wanted to. The film might go to a few film festivals (if anyone’s crazy enough to take something so surrealistic), but after that I think it shall be put online.
The Secret Non-Game Project – Will be revealed in the course of the next few weeks.
The Novel – When it’s finished (I’m getting there) and you read it, you’ll understand why it took so long to write. I think it will be quite accessible, but underlying it is a design of extreme intricacy. And it’s good, even if I say so myself. Of all the things I’ve done so far, it’s the best.
Rise Like Lions – Oh yeah, did I mention I’ll be making a Flash RPG? Verena’s already working on graphics. It has a fairly unique levelling mechanic and a fantasy setting that is most definitely not Oblivionesque Generic.
The Museum of Broken Memories – I’ll be rebuilding this in Multimedia Fusion in my spare time. It’ll probably be too big for the Flash portals, and I don’t want a sponsor for it anyway, but I want to have a working version of the game out there.
Desert Bridge – Same here.
Screenwriting – I’m working on several screenplays as part of my Quest To Break Into The Movie Business And Do Some Stuff. The one I’m currently focusing on is about demons and the people fighting them. Not metaphorically, but literally. It’s an action/comedy/drama with sociopolitical undertones that I think is exactly the sort of thing Hollywood ought to be doing. It’s funny, it’s deeper than you think, and it has a new take on the concept of a demon-fighting organization that is both funny and relevant.
Filmmaking – There’s definitely a film waiting to be made this summer. There are still many details to work out, but it’s going to happen. This is the year. And it won’t be some surrealistic thing that will only interest a very small, partially insane audience. It will be big and exciting and cool and will stretch its minimal budget to the breaking point.
My New Year’s Resolution was to rock your fucking world.
