New World Notes

Sinespace's $5000 FPS Map-Making Contest Deadline Extended to May 31st!

Update on the first-person shooter game design contest from Sinespace (a proud NWN partner) being judged by Valve veteran Erik Wolpaw  (Psychonauts, Portal 1/2, Team Fortress 2): The deadline has been extended to May 31st.

The contest challenge is to create customized FPS maps for Sinespace using its new Unity SDK and its open source combat system (read all about that on Unity's blog). Erik will choose the submission with the most unique gameplay, impressive level design, and inventive use of Sinespace features, with the winner getting $5000 and a bunch of other benefits. (All the details here.)

Today on Reddit: Ask Adam Frisby Anything About Sinespace, VR, Unity, Etc.

Adam Frisby, lead developer of Sinespace (a proud NWN partner!) is on Reddit's /Unity3D hosting an Ask Me Anything thread today, fielding questions about his virtual world, other virtual worlds, developing in Unity, developing games and VR, virtual currency, Sinespace's new partnership with Unity, his eyebrow piercing, or whatever else comes to mind. The AMA is running this morning and then later this afternoon, but if he doesn't get to your question then, I'll ping him to make sure he replies.

Sinespace's First-Person Shooter Construction Tutorial Featured on Unity Blog

Unity's official blog has an in-depth tutorial for creating and publishing and FPS on Sinespace (an NWN media partner) using its open source Build Kill Repeat combat system. Sinespace is also hosting a BKR level design contest, with $5000 awarded to the most creative map — winner selected by game developer veteran Erik Wolpaw (Half-Life 2, Portal 1 & 2, Team Fortress 2).

Questions about the post or video? Put them in Comments below or join Sinespace's official Discord server! 

VentureBeat Features Sinespace's New All-in-One Virtual World SDK Now in Unity Asset Store

VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi has an in-depth post on the launch of the Sinespace SDK as an official Unity Asset Store Partner, which the proud NWN sponsoring partner is announcing this week. Key grafs:

The Sinespace SDK includes key features for rapidly creating AAA-quality games, including Build Kill Repeat, an open source, fully modifiable combat system, and content from top Unity vendors and Sinespace partners Dexsoft-Games (3D Models-Textures), Gaia, and Archimatix.

The Sinespace SDK instantly optimizes 3D experiences for play on PC, Mac, Linux, Oculus, Vive, Android and WebGL. (Support for iOS and consoles coming soon.) Unlike other open game worlds, Sinespace is architected to fully update all content with every Unity update.

Developers can upload and sell assets from their existing single-player games — or use them in new multiplayer titles. For instance, when Warren Spector made a special guest appearance in Sinespace, his team uploaded 3D models from his latest Unity game into Sinespace.

“I’ve been developing virtual worlds since I was 12,” Frisby said. “Twenty years later, I believe this is finally the start of a metaverse worthy of the name.”

Read the rest here. Here's a video tutorial for customizing the Build Kill Repeat combat system:

You're Invited: Sinespace BKR Launch Party & FPS Map Contest at Unity HQ!

If you can be in the Bay Area next week Thursday night and you're reading this on New World Notes, lead dev Adam Frisby and his team at Sinespace (a proud sponsoring partner of this blog), you are cordially invited to their BKR Launch Party at Unity HQ one block from GDC.

BKR (for Build Kill Repeat) is Sinespace's new open source, completely customizable combat system, so Adam is unveiling an FPS map design contest with a celebrity game developer judge to be announced there.

Go to Sinespace's blog for the RSVP link and more info on Sinespace at GDC.

Game, Virtual World & VR Developers: Want to Meet Sinespace During GDC?

Sinespace, the upcoming Unity-based virtual world platform (and proud NWN partner!), is attending GDC this year, with co-founder Adam Frisby and crew in San Francisco for several big announcements and events. And if you are a --

• 3D game developer (especially for PC and Oculus/Vive)
• Professionally develop VR/virtual worlds/MMOs/3D experiences for  education or enterprise

-- they'd love to meet you in the Bay Area. To request a meeting e-mail [email protected] with "GDC meeting" in the header, or join Sinespace's Discord and connect with Sinespace team member ZareShadows#0001.

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!