Textfyre - April Update
ChicagoDave
As mentioned previously, Textfyre, Inc was incorporated on March 8th,
2007. Payroll has been established. There are two full-time employees
and two contractors. The employees are me and my wife.
The contractors include:
Michael Gentry has agreed to write the first three games for Textfyre.
We've been diligently working on the first game, but Mike has also
been instrumental in helping to define repeatable and reusable
processes for developing IF content using a team of people. There are
several IF authors I consider "Top 5" and without ranking them, I
would honestly say that I believe Mike is definitely in that group. I
think Anchorhead is one of the best IF games ever written and I
believe Mike's talents will be instrumental in the success of
Textfyre's first world and its first three games.
Erika Richardson is a very talented artist and she's been contracted
to do nearly everything art-related for Textfyre. Her first task has
been to take the first chapter of our first game and turn it into an 8-
page DVD case-sized comic book. The sketched panels have already been
approved and she's in the process of finalizing them and putting them
into full color. This comic book will accompany all hardcopy versions
of the first game. Each subsequent game will also come with a comic
book. Erika is also doing the packaging and other marketing materials
for Textfyre. Textfyre is very lucky to have landed the assistance of
such a talented artist. You can view Erika's work at http://www.simplyerika.com.
The first three games Textfyre will publish are going to be titled:
The Chronicles of Toresal: Episode I - Orphan
The Chronicles of Toresal: Episode II - Princess
The Chronicles of Toresal: Episode III - Queen
Orphan is tentatively scheduled to be released in July or August.
As mentioned in another post, Textfyre is open to friends joining the
ownership of the company. If interested, please contact me directly.
Currently, Textfyre is working on a potential partnership with Jeff
Panici of WorkerBee.Com to help with hosting, web design, as well as
the development of the UI. Jeff has already started working on the VM,
which will be developed in cross-platform C++ and will allow Textfyre
to publish games for all platforms. Jeff is also going to implement
the Mac OS X UI on top of his VM work and assist in getting a client
working for Windows XP and Vista. The Windows version is currently
planned to be developed using the latest UI tools, known as Windows
Presentation Foundation. The OS X version will be developed in Cocoa
3.0.
Textfyre games will push to have an official ESRB rating, an XP/Vista
certified logo, and a Mac OS X certified logo.
Textfyre has also started working with DePaul University on a formal
business plan, specifically to identify competition and marketing
strategies.
Textfyre is still looking for more designers, writers, programmers,
testers, and editors. If you're interested in any of this work, please
contact me directly.
Sincerely,
David C.
rgrassi
Rob
ChicagoDave
> Dave, I wrote you about two weeks ago and got no feedback.
> Rob
My apologies Rob. I meant to get back to you after thinking about your
original e-mail. I will respond now.
David C.
David Whyld
download or snail mail or both?
(Sorry if the above has been answered elsewhere but I don't tend to
frequent RAIF that often.)
ChicagoDave
The price has not been set yet. I'm going to be doing some market
research and the pricing should fall out of that.
The first game should be available for download or harcopy purchase in
late summer. I might even implement online play.
David C.
Marc Pryde
out. Erika's work is simply slick.
Marc Pryde
(Start of my Opinion) Despite what you've said in the past Davidw
about how much you'd spend, I'd shell out up to $24.99 for one of
these games if it turned out the quality of writing and gameplay was
good. If not, and I made the purchase, then I'd probably not make
another until one is reviewed really well (and there is the
appropriate online buzz).
My sweet spot would probably be $14.99-19.99; however, having an adult
purchasing power allows me more flexibility. That statement reminded
me that these games may not be targeted at my age range. (End of my
opinion)
Marc
David Whyld
Um...? I wasn't actually saying one way or the other what I would pay
for the games, just asking if a price had been agreed on yet.
Victor Gijsbers
> Currently, Textfyre is working on a potential partnership with Jeff
> Panici of WorkerBee.Com to help with hosting, web design, as well as
> the development of the UI. Jeff has already started working on the VM,
> which will be developed in cross-platform C++ and will allow Textfyre
> to publish games for all platforms. Jeff is also going to implement
> the Mac OS X UI on top of his VM work and assist in getting a client
> working for Windows XP and Vista. The Windows version is currently
> planned to be developed using the latest UI tools, known as Windows
> Presentation Foundation. The OS X version will be developed in Cocoa
> 3.0.
>
> Textfyre games will push to have an official ESRB rating, an XP/Vista
> certified logo, and a Mac OS X certified logo.
When you say 'all platforms', will that mean Linux as well? (Since you
mention two versions of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X specifically.)
Regards,
Victor
Marc Pryde
>
http://www.adrift.org.uk/cgi/iB/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=3974;hl=commercial+and+pay
>"A game sold for £5 or thereabouts would certainly be a reasonable amount."