If you follow this blog you might have noticed that we talk a lot about the history of the Old West; the history of it all is very important to us, since our game lore is based on it. Having said that, we also care a great deal about today and tomorrow: since we are developing a browser-based MMO with a lot of modern technologies, we are bound to face technological issues. So I thought it’s time to start sharing these issues with you.
“America is built on a tilt and everything loose slides to California” –Mark Twain
Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Clemens, one of America’s most renowned writers and humorists. Samuel Clemens wrote over 40 books—several of which were only published after his death—in addition to any number of newspaper columns and letters. Some of his works were fiction; some of them were non-fiction stories and travels diaries. And most of it was spiced with humor and wit, and still makes for a fun read today.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri inc 1835. When he was a child his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, near the Mississippi River. At the age of 12, after his father died, he dropped out of school and became an apprentice typesetter for local newspapers. Eventually he started working for his brother, Orion Clemens, who owned several newspapers.
No, I’m not planning to lay more lyrics on you. Owlist’s post just left me in a musical mood and the Beach Boys simply provided a title that kinda fits the topic of the day. What topic is that, you ask? Why, “maps!” I answer. That’s right; maps. Be it full map, minimap, scrolling or static, hex-based or square-based; almost every game has got one. Some games don’t, since a map would have no meaning in their context; what good would a map do you in Bejeweled, or Mafia Wars? Some games have maps that are merely a place to write things down; there are no distances in these games, but maps provide a convenient means of separating locations. On the opposite end of the spectrum we have games in which the maps have as much bearing as almost anything else, like most RTS games (e.g., the Command and Conquer series or the pre-WoW Warcraft games), strategy games like Civilization (or Travian, if you’re into browser-based games), and most client-based MMOs. Read the rest of this entry »
A song, named “Blood Money”1 starts with the following lines:
“Hey Patty Garret, that’s what I used to call you
They tell me you want me, But I hear they’ve got you
They made you a lawman with a badge made of silver,
They paid you some money to sell them my blood”
In this song Bon Jovi refers to Pat Garret, who turned against the Famous Billy “The Kid”, and was the one who shot him to death, on July 14 1881.
Way back then, a lawman’s life was dignified, but not easy. These men worked hard to maintain the security of their town. An outlaw’s life wasn’t easy either, but it held thrill, the chance for fast profit, and the glory of fame (or at the very least infamy). Read the rest of this entry »
