http://www.smallworlds.com/?target=/2010/05/18/behind-scenes-swhq/Behind the Scenes at SWHQMay 18, 2010 9:36 AM
Hello citizens. I'm pleased to bring you this "Peek behind the Scenes" where I will lift the veil on the workings here at SWHQ and show you some of what the SmallWorlds team do to create the game we all love.
The team here at SWHQ is filled with very clever people and recently we've begun to 'mine' that brilliance some more. Each team member now has the opportunity to work on their own personal SmallWorlds project one day a week. Let's see what they've been getting up to.
The 80 / 20 ProjectsOnce a week, we have a meeting in which developers and artists get to present their own ideas for fun things that they'd personally love to see in-world. If the rest of the team like their idea, they are given the green light to go ahead and create what they would like. One work day is allocated to these personal projects and the remainder of the working week is spent on all the other tasks needed to keep SmallWorlds growing and developing.
Message Boards - First 80/20 Project In-world Release
The very first item we rolled out from the 80/20 projects was the really popular Electronic Message Boards which are available for purchase in Modern Living. Immediately recognized as a great idea, developer Ricky and artist Vincent got straight to work as a team, and now lots of them are in use!
Ricky: It was me who came up with the initial idea for the Message Boards - I thought the signs we have in world at the moment didn't give people enough space to express what they had to say to visitors to their space.
Honesty: What did it feel like to be the first-out-the-door in terms of an 80/20 projects release?
Ricky: I was quite nervous at first, but I felt great after seeing that so many citizens really seem to be loving them! I see them popping up in all sorts of places in world and they really bring a lot of life into a space.
Vincent: I'd just like to remind you all that this item is just one of the smaller projects the team are working on - citizens will also be really excited about the much larger projects going on here at SWHQ! With regards to the message boards, Ricky and I are really happy with how positive the reviews have been.
New Items: Music Widget & Frameless Flickr Frame
There are some incredibly creative new items in the pipeline coming out of the 80/20 Project initiative. I've only been able to secure permission to tell you about two more that are currently in development that we'll be seeing in-world in the near future, but there are many exciting projects underway.
We'll talk now with developer Dan and artist Andy who are working together on a really fun item, currently known as the Music Widget. Then it's back to Vincent and Ricky with another little something they've got in the pipeline, the "Frameless Flickr Photo Frame", which comes in lots of really interesting shapes. Here's a picture of me after the lovely chat I had with Vincent and Ricky.
Music Widget
Description: Compose and play a solo piece, or collaborate your musical talents with your friends! Initially we'll be releasing a Drum Set and a Guitar, but Keyboards will be coming soon, as will other instruments.
Set up a simple beat on the drums and a riff on the guitar; the items are designed to synchronize together - even if you're a novice musician, you'll sound great. Here's an image of the drum kit.
Release Date: Approx 6 - 8 weeks
Honesty: Where did this great idea come from?
Dan: It's an idea I've had brewing for a couple of years; when the 80/20 Projects started up I knew its time had arrived! I wanted to create a way where it was easy for people to be musical in-world. I think lots of us have a fantasy about being a Rock Star... I probably created this as a way to for me live out some of mine!
Honesty: Any major challenges so far? And what do you enjoy about working together?
Dan: Yes, we're currently having a few issues getting the instruments to play in time with each other - I'm not a musician myself so it's probably just my sense of timing! Luckily Andy is a guitarist so he'll see us right in the end. Andy is great to work with; he's so relaxed and funny.. never stresses about anything. I really enjoy working with him!
Honesty: How has your being a musician helped with development?
Andy: First I'd just like to say that Dan is really great to work with as he is just full of ideas. He takes some of my ideas and expands on them, guided by his awesome programming skills!
In terms of my own musicianship - I guess a little bit of music knowledge helps when creating different instruments and setting them up so that it will be easy for people to interact with individual widgets. For instance the chords on the guitar: since we are not making an exact identical copy of the guitar when minimizing it, you have to understand the basis of the chords and notes.
Thanks to you both, If you look at the photo of Dan and Andy above, you might recognize Andy's alter ego - Charlie SmallWorlds!
Now we'll take a look at another item from Vincent and Ricky that's due for release soon.
Frameless Flickr Widget
Description: This item is a configurable Flickr Poster with quite a few options for you to customize the shape. From a picture of your friends inside a heart, to cracked walls, rounded corners, flower shapes, clouds and even stars!
Release Date: Approximately 5 - 6 weeks
Honesty: How do you two work together as a team?
Ricky: Well Vincent's responsible for making the object look good (which he is really great at!), and I make the object work like it's supposed to. We keep bouncing ideas off each other and we review the item we're currently working on once or twice a week.
Vincent: Ricky is a push-over, I like that. Ha ha! But seriously, Ricky and I have thought about our items thoroughly. We've had ideas in our heads & pictures sketched on paper with what we wanted before asking each other for help. I think both of us are quite open to each others' ideas.
Honesty: What do you both enjoy about working at SWHQ? Do you hang out in-world much?
Ricky: Working in SWHQ is awesome! I love hearing all the fun, crazy ideas that our team come up with during design meetings about what we can do to make SmallWorlds even better! Usually I love to hang around in shops to see what users have to say about our new items.
Vincent: To be honest, I'm usually hidden away in my secret lab, creating and testing flashy new items. I'm constantly reading the forums though, especially after new items are released so I can better understand what our users like. The great thing is, the shapes for this new item are not set in stone quite yet, so I'd love to hear what citizens would like. I'll be watching the forums closely.
Configurable Flickr Frame & Rock Star Dreams
I don't know about you, but I think I may have some rock star dreams of my own lurking around. Gosh, it's going to be such fun playing around on the music widget when it's released in-world! I do love the sound of those shaped Flickr frames, and I'll be certain to grab a few to display my favorite photographs.
Thanks to these four talented members of the SmallWorlds team. I'm so looking forward to seeing what's next from the 80/20 Projects initiative.
~ Honesty Blaize
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Topic: 5/17/2010 Behind the Scenes at SWHQ (Read 4319 times)