The Future of Indie RPGs - Indies of the Round Table #2
Last month, we introduced the "Indies of the Round Table." This consists of a panel of indie computer Role-Playing Game (RPG) developers who emerge from their dungeons and secret laboratories where they are laboring on their latest projects so that they can discuss various topics concerning their craft. They range from experienced vets with years of experience doing what they do, to new developers making a splash with their freshman projects; hardcore to casual; freeware to commercial; single-player to massively multiplayer game makers; and hardcore to casual.

Last month, they hammered away at the question, "Why Indie RPGs?" This month, they gazed into the future.

I remember too clearly the "golden age of shareware" in the early 90's, where companies like id Software, Apogee, Epic Megagames, and others transformed the face of gaming. And I have seen how casual games have risen from being just another niche indie game category to becoming practically an industry unto itself. I've seen web-based gaming grow, and broadband and torrents change the definition of a "small download." And as a gamer, I have seen some of my favorite game genres vanish, and then sometimes re-appear. And do I even need to mention how much better the graphics are today from fifteen years ago?

Things change. Rapidly. So this made me wonder - what does the future hold for indie games, and specifically for indie RPGs?

What Does the Future Hold?
Question: When asked about their expectations of future games, many mainstream developers reply with stock answers about ever more realistic graphics and rarely-realized promises of more believable AI. Indie RPG developers, on the other hand, have to make advances in different areas and small innovations. In the past, this has included capturing the attention of new audiences, creating wild hybrid games (such as found in Dwarf Fortress, or ... some titles by these panelists!), and revisiting older, classic ideas with modern technology and design sensibilities.

Assuming it won't expose any of your secrets for world domination, could you peek into the crystal ball that was issued to you with your license to make RPGs, and tell me what you think the future holds for indie RPGs in, say, five to eight years? What, if anything, might be different from the landscape today, both in the games themselves and how we obtain and play them?

The developers respond:

Thomas Riegsecker, Basilisk Games ("Eschalon: Book 1"):
I think the biggest challenge to indie developers is in expanding our customer base which has been shrinking for the past 20 years. A large portion of my customers are older- those who used to play Ultima on their parent's computer in the 80's. As an indie I can't afford a team of artists and a CryENGINE license for my games, so it is very hard to attract younger players who are looking for that type of experience. Along those lines, many younger players don't fully appreciate traditional role-playing because they've only been exposed to Action RPGs and MMOs. The good news is that I think indie RPGs have made great steps forward in terms of visual presentation and game play, and as our mainstream coverage expands we are likely to see our customer base grow. Here at Basilisk Games we are very excited about our plans for the next five years and despite the challenges, the future looks good for indie RPGs.

Jeff Vogel, Spiderweb Software ("Avernum V," "Geneforge 4," etc.):
It is beyond the capacity of an Indie to compete in the graphics area, and it is beyond the limits of our technology to create more than the barest improvements in AI. Where Indies can compete is in the area of storytelling and design.

For example, I am just starting the fifth and final part of our epic Geneforge series. I think that these are truly innovative games. They take place in a unique world ruled by a secretive sect of wizards (called Shapers) who create new forms of life to serve them.

They are completely wide open games. You can choose which side you fight for, even joining forces with the so-called "bad guys," and find interesting and satisfying endings. You can advance using combat, or never attack anything directly and instead use stealth, trickery, and diplomacy. You can play a solitary character or make a horde of fanatically loyal monsters to serve you. Fans of the series really appreciate the many meaningful choices available to them.

You can do this sort of thing on a low budget. I don't dream about a fancy graphics budget anymore. I look for the areas where I can excel, and I focus on those.

Steven Peeler, Soldak Entertainment ("Depths of Peril"):
Well much of the next few years will be the same as usual. The retail market will create games with better and better graphics with possibly some small innovations, but will essentially turn out clone after clone. Whereas indies on the other hand as a group will try out lots of new ideas. The past has shown that indies will explore the possibilities much more. We will blur the lines of the genres (Depths of Peril), create old school games that the retail market has abandoned (Eschalon/Avernum), create very unique heroes (Mr. Robot), create more casual RPGs (Fate), create games that you have many short play throughs instead of one long play through (Fast Crawl/Cute Knight), and on and on. These are just a few past examples. I see indies continuing like this and innovating in and exploring areas the retail market won’t go, well until an indie proves that it can make lots of money and then the retail market will gladly follow.

The big difference I see than in the past is that indies will start getting on more consoles through things like Xbox Live Arcade. This should be great for both indie companies and gamers. Indies will get a larger audience and more gamers will discover that there is a lot more out there than what sits on store shelves.

Amanda Fitch, Amaranth Games ("Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest"):
I think we are going to see lots of innocent-looking games that are serious games in disguise. Maybe Brain Age meets Guitar Hero? Wii Fit is a good example of what I'm talking about. Okay, I'll be honest... I am dying to get Wii Fit, and it can't get to the USA fast enough. I hate working out in front of other people. Gyms are the worst. I love the idea that I can get a workout and play a game at the same time. I want to play a game that keeps track of my physical stats and lets me log on to the Internet so that I can compare my stats to others and compete for awards. Weird huh? I WANT IT!!!! :-)

As for what's coming for RPGs? At GDC two years ago, I got to put on some video glasses that actually put me into the game. I looked up, I saw the sky, I looked down, I saw boxes that were flawlessly 3D. The world was Real and it was amazing. If my dreams come true, these glasses and games will be affordable and main stream. I still love 2D RPGs, but I dream of the day when I can walk around in fantasy world, not view it on a TV screen.

Georgina Bensley, Hanako Games ("Cute Knight Deluxe"):
Hmm... I think 'community' is going to become a bigger thing.

A general survey of geeks will show that many of them really want to make an RPG, but don't have the time or resources or patience. And with Neverwinter Nights we saw outpourings of people releasing mods, given tools. So far indie RPGs haven't gone too much for community content, that I know of. I expect there to be more games that allow players to create their own monsters, quests, and dungeons, and share them through the official site, both to engage players and as an anti-piracy mechanism. With NWN, if you wanted to plug your great new module on the Bioware forums, you needed to be a registered game owner.

There may also be developments in small-scale multiplayer, the sort of thing that the big companies aren't interested in. They want massive, worldwide games. 'Host your own multiplayer dungeon for your friends' is something indies could offer.

Josh Engebretson, Prairie Games ("Minions of Mirth"):
I think product deployment and compatibility are major improvement areas for the future. The focus will be the web which is slowly becoming a viable deployment platform. There are a number of cross browser/cross platform tools such as Silverlight, Java, Flash, and the new Director 11 that will play a major part in allowing customers to easily stream games. This will avoid the download, install, and compatibility issues that especially plague indie game companies.

There are already some great examples of browser games. The line between "browser games" and "desktop games" will be completely blurred. This is already happening and we're seeing major investment from companies like EA into web deployment. As most indie game companies depend solely on web based sales, I think this is an important place for indies to be as well.

Mike Hommel, Hamumu Games ("Loonyland 2: Winter Woods"):
I think the biggest thing to see for indie RPGs in the future, as opposed to mainstream ones, is going to be the variety. Which is to say we'll see lots more of the same from indies - Spiderweb will release Geneforge 11 (Woops! Not according to Jeff, up above -- Jay ), there will still be a dozen new games that look like Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy 2, a bunch more low-quality 3D ones, and a handful of ASCII things.

That's not to say there will be nothing new - there will be tons. And those above games will include innovations and unique features. It's just that, unlike in the mainstream, indies don't drop technology and style because it's "old". A Final Fantasy style can still be fun and engrossing and tell a story. In the mainstream, you won't find a single game that isn't a perfectly ordinary full 3D world, and that's a shame.

The other thing will be even more crossover. More things like Puzzle Quest, or games like Sorcerian (a very old game - a side-scrolling platformer that was also a full party RPG with all the trappings), or Depths Of Peril. Mixing RPG with every other type of game. Mmm, remember Autoduel? There's already enough argument over what constitutes an RPG, and that will only get more blurry. I mean, think of God Of War - pure action game, but the RPG elements are all there, with the different skills/weapons you level up, and very much focused on a storyline. About the only difference between that and a recent Final Fantasy game is the interface for smashing the enemies. Maybe every game will be an RPG in the future!

I'm not much of a business guy, so I will leave the Steam/iTunes discussions to others. I will say that downloads are the future in every field (I see nothing but pronouncements of doom for Bluray, saying downloads are going to supersede it in a few years), they just happen to already be the norm in gaming.

I just hope real broadband makes it out into the desert here by then.

Jason Compton, Planewalker Games ("The Broken Hourglass"):
I'm sure things will be different in some way, but I don't see any major breakthroughs on the horizon which would make things "easier" or "better". In my view, the amount of reach a true independent developer has into the increasingly preferred gaming platforms is tiny and shrinking. You may know friends whose faces are always glued to Final Fantasy or Golden Sun on their DS, but there's also never going to be an independent market on mainstream handhelds. (Yes, I said "never." I used to think that the industry was due for an early 80s-style crash which would flush out the excess and open things up again, but I think they've managed to dodge that.) Control over the downloadable content markets on consoles is only going to get tighter. And never mind the mobile phone market you'll never get a sniff of as an indie, either.

On the desktop, I expect library aggregators like GameTap to continue building loyalty and depressing prices with vast catalogs of paid-for content (the downside, from the perspective of contemporary creators, of the "long tail" phenomenon.) And even for hardcore desktop gamers, AAA titles on the high end and "hey, look at this funky Flash game I found today!" on the low end will continue to cover most of what's left.

So, no, I don't suggest banking your money now and waiting for the technology to change.

Labels: Biz, Indie Evangelism, Roleplaying Games

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