New World Notes

Sinespace Has an Official Discord for Developers & Social Gamers

Click here to join the official Discord server of NWN partner Sinespace, with channels for both developers and social gamers into fashion, housewares, mini-games, etc. My favorite channel is "Show Off Your Work", where developers give sneak peeks of what they're creating and soon planning to launch. So for example, it's where I noticed someone is creating a pet game for Sinespace -- more on that soon (hopefully).

Sinespace Gets User-Created, Add-On Streamable Radio for Furniture Objects

Alianaberry posted this YouTube demo of what looks to be the first user-created, add-on streaming radio for furniture objects in Sinespace (a proud NWN media parter). In other words, rather than set a land parcel to stream music, you can attach this radio to furniture like a lamp or a table or indeed even an old timey radio object. (It's listed in the Store under the Furniture tab as "381 / TWI Attachable" from TW Innovations.) Includes a whitelisting feature so only select users can adjust the music stream, because there's nothing more annoying that someone just randomly changing your radio. The Sinespace team tells me that a future update to the viewer will include spatial audio, so the streaming music will be louder or softer based on your avatar's physical location in relation to the radio. That could become a great way for easily adding sound effects and ambient music into a scene.

Watch: Warren Spector Talks Game Design, Underworld Ascendant & System Shock 3, Developing in Unity 3D & Much More

In case you missed it over the holidays, here's game design luminary Warren Spector interviewed recently before a live audience in Sinespace. Among the topics touched, we discuss the new game he worked on, Underworld Ascendant, his much-anticipated upcoming game System Shock 3, developing in Unity 3D, and his skepticism with VR. Here's some highlights with timecodes:

• 4:30: Warren talks about the relationship between Underworld Ascendant and the groundbreaking PC game Ultima Underworld, which he produced in 1992, and discusses the influence of that game on the simulation genre in general.
• 12:05: Russ and Warren talk about how high-end graphics in AAA games are becoming a limit on development — and how Otherside is dealing with this challenge, including the highly stylized look of UA which is inspired by miniatures gaming. 
• 15:20: Warren and Will from his team discuss the advantages of creating immersive worlds in Unity 3D.
• 22:26: Warren talks about Otherside’s development of System Shock 3, how the studio got the license to make the sequel, and what we can expect from the game.
• 25:00: Why Warren is skeptical about VR, which he predicted three years ago had deep “cultural and social problems”. Warren then goes on to talk about VR hype, its future and uses, his own experiences working on VR games back in the 90s — and worrying about your wife coming up from behind you with a baseball bat when you’re in virtual reality.

More highlights (and credits) after the break:

Watch: Warren Spector Visits Sinespace to Talk Underworld Ascendant, System Shock 3, and a Legendary Career in Games

Thanks to The Escapist and game video production studio Down Right Epic, here's an edited version of my recent interview with game design luminary Warren Spector, interviewed before a live audience in Sinespace. I'm joined by Russ Pitts of the Escapist (with the cowboy hat and scarf), and Adam Frisby, lead developer of Sinespace (wearing the Deus Ex-style business suit) and by dial-in Will Teixeira, Warren’s Lead Engineer at OtherSide Entertainment. (I also had to do the interview via dial-in, so my avatar isn't featured.)

Our conversation touches on many topics, including the new game he worked on, Underworld Ascendant (on sale on Steam right now), his upcoming game System Shock 3, developing in Unity, his skepticism with VR, and much more. Here's highpoints of our near-hour long conversation annotated by timecode:

• 45 seconds: Warren on getting OtherSide Entertainment out of startup mode and launching Underworld Ascendant as its first game. (Which was the #1 game on Steam on launch day!)
• 1:27: Warren reflects on a series of articles he wrote in 2006 for Escapist (“Gaming in the Margins”) predicting that indie games, not AAA, would be the future of games, and how that came to pass through platforms like Steam and Unity, and the growth of education programs for game developers.
• 4:30: Warren talks about the relationship between Underworld Ascendant and the groundbreaking PC game Ultima Underworld, which he produced in 1992, and discusses the influence of that game on the simulation genre in general.
• 8:02: Warren discusses the Underworld Ascendant characters which were imported into Sinespace to join Warren on the show, and the role they play in his game.
• 9:40: Warren discusses emergent problem-solving in UA. “I tell my team the word ‘puzzle’ is not allowed in this studio… We create challenges, we create problems, then we give the player tools to solve those problems and overcome those challenges.”
• 12:05: Russ and Warren talk about how high-end graphics in AAA games are becoming a limit on development — and how Otherside is dealing with this challenge, including the highly stylized look of UA which is inspired by miniatures gaming. 
• 15:20: Warren and Will from his team discuss the advantages of creating immersive worlds in Unity.
• 18:04: Warren discusses the development cycle of UA.
• 19:10: What’s next for Warren after such a long and storied career, most recently after the end of his stint at Junction Point and Disney, and the founding of OtherSide Entertainment. Russ and Wagner ask what brings him back? And will he get back to creating more Deus Ex games? 
• 22:26: Warren talks about Otherside’s development of System Shock 3, how the studio got the license to make the sequel, and what we can expect from the game.
• 25:00: Why Warren is skeptical about VR, which he predicted three years ago had deep “cultural and social problems”. Warren then goes on to talk about VR hype, its future and uses, his own experiences working on VR games back in the 90s — and worrying about your wife coming up from behind you with a baseball bat when you’re in virtual reality.

Much more notes below!

Sinespace Winter Sale: Hundreds of Items on Sale Up to 50% Off Every Day

NWN partner Sinespace has a massive sale of fashion and other fun content, running from now until the early new year, with hundreds of items discounted from 15 to 50 percent off. Part of the fun is finding out which item is for sale an any given day, because the discounts are changed daily:

We will be running a series of time limited store-wide discounts on selected content from today until January 3rd. Each day we'll be changing what's for sale - so check back every day for new items on sale, each item will only be on sale for only 24hrs before being replaced with a new item. 

More details on the Sinespace blog!

Contest: Create a Winter-Themed Region in Unity 3D for Sinespace, Win Prizes -- And Sell Your Entry in the Store!

Sinespace photo by RAMB0 Joel

 New contest for Unity 3D-savvy designers and artists from NWN partner Sinespace:

Create a Winter Region and enter the Winter Wonderland Contest

• Create a region in Unity to pass the Sinespace Review process
• Should have some of your own models or textures (more substantial originality for selling as a template)**
• Judging will be on the balance of the following criteria: Overall look, download weight, ease of movement, and expression of winter beauty
• Deadline to enter the contest: December 20th
• Deadline to upload your region and open it to the public: December 29.
• We will be touring and judging beginning Sunday, December 30.
• Two winners! First Prize: 2500 Gold; Second Prize; 1500 Gold

More details here. In Sinespace, whole regions can be sold as templates in the in-world store, so even if you don't win the contest, you can still sell what you created. For inspiration, here's some other Winter scenes that are already in Sinespace:

Sinespace Black Friday Offers: 30% Off Gold & 33% Off Annual Subscriptions

NWN partner Sinespace has some special Black Friday discount specials for virtual world shoppers: From now until next Tuesday, a discount on an annual subscription, normally costing $119.40, discounted to $79.95. Annual subscribers get these bonuses over twelve months:

• 150 Gold in your account every Wednesday.
• A bigger home region with 512mb space and 25 concurrent users.
• Unique Title and Achievement.
• Premium support.
• Name tag colors.
• Special launch discount.

And there's another Black Friday Sinespace offer:  A 30% discount on all Gold purchases of USD $20. To get it, be sure to download the latest viewer (2018.11.b2), click the "+" button on the top bar, which brings up a Gold purchasing window -- scroll down for the 30% offer. 

Questions about these offers or anything else Sinespace related? Post in Comments for Adam and his team below!

Watch Live: Acclaimed Game Designer Warren Spector in Sinespace

Fantasy & Sci-Fi Avatars & Accessories in Sinespace for Cosplay Fun

NWN partner Sinespace has a ton of fantasy and science fiction-themed avatars and accessories available in its in-game store -for instance, this amazingly detailed, surprisingly buff "full body" zombie avatar, by Gorgelay. (I'm posing here in the BlakOpal region foyer.) So it's the perfect place to search for cosplay options if you feel like dressing up (and you totally should) for Warren Spector's Sinespace event next week.

Creator who wants to customize your own avatar's skin, tattoos, or makeup? Watch this Sinespace tutorial:

Meet Warren Spector in the Virtual World: Sinespace and Escapist Host an Hour With the Influential Game Designer, Nov 17 at 3pm (PST) - RSVP Now!

Click here to RSVP for a very unique Sinespace event I'm proud to co-host November 17 at 3pm (PST): An hour with renowned game designer Warren Spector (Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Deus Ex, Epic Mickey) who'll discuss his latest game, Underworld Ascendant, the future of game design, getting started in games, developing in Unity 3D, and whatever else our virtual audience of avatars cares to ask him. The event (and live video stream) is being co-hosted by The Escapist magazine, with editor-in-chief Russ Pitts interviewing Warren alongside me.

The acclaimed titles Warren has helped lead development on have been incredibly influential on the art of games, helping pioneer a new genre of immersive simulation which rewards player creativity and choice. Its heirs include the Thief, Dishonored, and BioShock franchises, among many, many others. His new game, Underworld Ascendant, is very much part of that tradition, and is a spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss.

Created way back in 1992, Ultima Underworld game is not only a landmark in 3D simulation games -- it helped inspire the development of virtual worlds. As I wrote in The Making of Second Life, it was a key reference for Philip Rosedale, as he started formulating the framework that would eventually become Second Life: