I wanted to make a social game last year, so my girlfriend Brenda told her employers (Lolapps, Inc., a social game developer in San Francisco, California) that I was interested. I started consulting in August 2010, designed the game in a few days, and got the team working on what I decided to call Ravenwood Fair. At the beginning, I did art direction toward a painterly style until the lead artist, Christine MacTernan, totally got the look and took over from there. I created and coded all the sound effects, and worked with a great composer named Aaron Walz from Game Audio Alliance on the game’s looping soundtrack. He did an excellent job, as the song can be played infinitely without annoyance – the true test of a great composition.

The team was very small: four programmers, two concept artists, two animators, a UI artist, a producer, Brenda and me. That’s only 12 people. In addition, the game launched on October 19, which means it took 2.5 months to go from concept to ship. This causes many a social game publisher to gasp, but there’s a good reason for it: the team worked very hard, and they had already been working on several game concepts for 7 months before I showed up, so they were already “at speed” and no ramp-up time was needed.

When I arrived at Lolapps, the owners told me I could create whatever, as long as the game would make money and launch by September 30. That was less than 2 months by the time I started working on it. I knew I had to hurry up and come up with a concept, so I quickly identified the best game on Facebook at the time, FrontierVille, and played it for three days so I could understand its design patterns and monetization model (I had been following the social game space since 2009). Then, I got the scoop on the engine we were using and found out it was really fast and could draw a ton of graphics on the screen quickly. I learned from the lead coder how much code had been written for the previous game prototypes, so I needed to use as much as possible to keep moving forward and not go backward much.

The idea for the game appeared very quickly. The setting was going to be a fairytale/storybook/magical place that floated in the air and was occupied by a slightly scary forest. Since the biggest games on Facebook were business sims, I needed to have the player build their own little business, and I wanted it to be like nothing else on Facebook. I thought a Fair would be a really nice obvious positive goal for the player to build, and there wasn’t a carnival/circus/fair sim on Facebook……yet. My thought was this: when you’re building a place for visitors to come and occupy, why wouldn’t you want them to be doing something really fun while they’re there? What’s more fun than Disneyland? I imagined what it must be like at a high-level point-of-view to actually RUN DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida – to have to carve out a bunch of wilderness packed with alligators and other denizens, and then have to build a fun place in the middle of that – and KEEP it happy and fun, all the while the alligators and beasts want their place back. I figured that would be a fun game to play – as I cut back a scary forest, I build a Fair, visitors come and use all the things I’m building, and I get to interact with them in a light fashion. That was the basis of my design, so we had our first meeting, and the producer and leads wrote down the long list of things that we needed to start working on immediately.

After August, we were still working on the foundations of the game systems and entire art overhaul, when Brenda joined the team from Critter Island (it had been shut down by Facebook). Brenda immediately started working on the quests, the map layout, and the tutorial parts of the game. She had to basically try to get all the final parts of the game together while I was still working on the foundational stuff, and we had to make sure that they would meet in the middle and the game would be complete by September 30.

Near the end of September, to make the launch date, the game had been re-scoped and re-prioritized so much that it wasn’t going to be anything I’d want to play if we shipped it in that state. Facebook games are well-known to ship incomplete and get fixed post-launch. I’m not from that world – I’m from the world of “You only launch once” and the first impression is extremely important. There were game systems missing that absolutely needed to be included in the game for the design to harmonize, and it got very tense at the end of September with the execs pressing for launch and me holding the game back to make it great. Every day in October was a “Can it ship?” day. It took 19 more 12pm-to-4am days to get the game in a state that I’d launch. In fact, I held back on doing interviews about the game until I knew it was going to be something I’d put my name on. Finally, around October 15, the game was quality enough for me to do the Dean Takahashi interview in VentureBeat.

The game launched, but the team kept working. We had lots of holes to fill, and obscure bugs to fix. The launch on Facebook went as good as a launch could possibly go: millions of people played the game and hundreds of thousands still join every week. Brenda and I ended our consulting with Lolapps on February 25, 2011 so we could concentrate full-time on our new startup, Loot Drop, Inc.

Just recently at the beginning of March, Ravenwood Fair made the #15 slot on the AppData Top 15 Applications list – this list is of ALL applications on Facebook, not just games (over 125,000 apps are on Facebook). Ravenwood Fair is the #1 non-Zynga game, and that’s quite an accomplishment. Currently, over 25 million people play Ravenwood Fair every month on all social platforms (over 11 million on Facebook alone), and over 1 million play every day on Facebook only. I never thought I’d see the day that I would make a game that doubled World of Warcraft, player count-wise. I’d like to thank Brenda and Lolapps for giving me the opportunity, and the Ravenwood Fair launch team that worked so hard on the game.

Ravenwood Fair Trivia Time!

                          

I listen to game music. A lot. This is a recent trend circa 1995 with Chrono Trigger on the Super Nintendo. Well, it’s even earlier if you count the one time I finished Karateka in 1985 and let the music at the end of the game (scored by Jordan’s Dad, Francis) loop for hours as I recorded it on a tape player. But CD quality audio-wise, Chrono Trigger was the first game that demanded more attention. It was Yasunori Mitsuda’s first game composing job and it was pure magic. I still listen to that soundtrack today, interspersed with the thousands of other game songs I’ve collected.

When you play a game you are experiencing a combination of story/design, interaction and audio. The audio is a very important part of the gaming experience and I always listen to the music and sound effects because it was carefully designed into the game and frames the entire piece. After the game is over and you listen to the music outside the game, if you bother to get the soundtrack, you will remember what was happening during the game as you listen to the songs.

This is what I like about game music: it lets me remember playing the game without me having to actually pull out my SNES and find the cartridge and spend time replaying it. Listening to the full soundtrack lets you remember the whole game, not just one part of it. With a library of thousands of songs, I’m reliving many of the games I’ve played.

Seiken Densetsu 3: Whiz Kid

I also have a lot of music from games I’ve never played and after listening to them for so long, I feel as if I know the games without having played them. For example, I’ve played Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2) and listen to all its music and remember the parts I played and it’s great. I also have the soundtrack to Seiken Densetsu 3, never released in the USA, and the music is similar in a way, but very different. And through the music I get a very good sense of the kind of game that it is.

Remixes take game music to a whole new level. The Zelda, Super Mario, Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger series have some of the most remixed songs. The styles these songs are remixed in vary from 70′s disco to jazz to orchestral to just plain crazy and creative. Best of all, you can get most game remixes for free from OCREMIX.ORG. Remixers have gotten so good at remaking these songs that they also create their own originals and recently have been scoring the soundtracks to new games such as Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD. The industry is waking up to a whole new world of talent – game music remixers. Back in 2005 when I started working on my MMO, I wanted to have remixers as composers for my game. Quinn Fox has already delivered some great stuff.
Illinois Afterglow – Quinn Fox

It’s true, game music doesn’t sound like anything you would hear on the radio or MTV and most people don’t recognize it when they hear it. They think it’s electronic music usually. But it’s not – it’s a special musical form that not only sounds great, but helps you to remember.

I like remembering.

                          

I never saw this vid on MTV back in the day so this was new to me. If you want to check out more BOC vids check out “I Love The Night”.

                          

Their 3rd album, Frengers (2003), was their first big hit album (check out the songs: 156, Am I Wry and Snow Brigade on YouTube) and their latest, “Mew. and the Glass-Handed Kites” is amazing. Check out the video of their single from this album, Special.

                          

Talking about cool music, I just discovered some really great groups last week that I’m currently O.D.ing on. If you like metal you should really check this stuff out if you haven’t heard it yet. They’re all available on iTunes to listen to.

Porcupine Tree – “Shallow” (Deadwing), “Way Out Of Here” (Fear of a Blank Planet)

Primal Fear – “Chainbreaker” (Primal Fear), “Revolution” (Black Sun), “Tears of Rage” (Primal Fear). You will totally think you’re listening to Judas Priest!

Dream Evil – “Chasing the Dragon” (Dragon Slayer)

Nocturnal Rites – “The Iron Force” (The Sacred Talisman)

Kamelot – “Solitaire/Rule the World” (Ghost Opera). Metal meets Classical the way it should be!

Firewind – “Falling to Pieces” (Allegiance)

And here are some not so new metal groups that are still rocking:

Blind Guardian – “Otherland” (A Twist in the Myth)

Saxon – “Beyond the Grave” (Lionheart)

One big reason why I love all these songs is because they remind me of classic metal but are completely new and updated. Also, wow, the cover art for these albums is just awesome. And if you’re wondering how I found all this stuff, you can thank Pandora – an eerily kickass internet radio site that actually learns what you like and soon enough pretty much plays all the stuff you like even though you’ve never heard it before. Try it out.

Now just watch George Lynch shred Mr. Scary!

                          

There’s a reason these weren’t released – they’re not very good, at least not as great as the music we actually shipped with the game. Some of the songs are just repetitive riffs. All the songs are named unXX.mid where XX is a number.

Some of the standout tracks are:

opening: this was an idea for the original Doom title screen song.
un17: Would have actually fit in the game.
un30: I like it’s funkiness. Reminds me of Wolfy.
un36: I hated this song. I assigned it to e3m6 originally and everytime I ran that level I just cringed. I eventually removed it.
un39: Would have been a cool intermission screen.
un52: A better version of this song was in the game.

I think a few of the songs are early versions of some that were in the game. So for any of your Bobby Prince fans out there, here’s more of the man’s work.

Get it here

                          

Imagine my disappointment (and many of you out there as well) when I read the initial tracklist and found jokes such as Flock of Seagulls, Police, Bow Wow Wow, Asia, Billy Squier, etc. I was actually really pissed. Here was a golden opportunity to showcase what I really believe should have been on the original Guitar Hero game in the first place. What happened? They played a big joke on me.

First of all, the press release mentioned “from the classic era”. Uh, guys, that was in the 70′s. All of which I very much respect given that I’m a huge Sabbath, Priest, Santana, Scorpions, Rainbow, etc. fan myself. Second, they list 7 initially confirmed songs that are supposed to allow me to “experience the ultimate rock star fantasy”. Sorry guys, but pretending to be the guitarist of The Police (whoever the hell he was) or Faster Pussycat (and who is he? Barely anyone knows. Or cares.) just isn’t anywhere in the solar system of guitarists I’d like to be. Red Octane already gave me some of those guys in the original Guitar Hero with Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, Dimebag Darrell, Tom Scholz and Jake E. Lee. Hell, even Dimebag contributed to a video game in his own special way (see if any of you can track that one down). But with Activision involved it’s like someone brought a strap up against the nuts of the franchise.

Also, many of the songs listed thus far just are not what I’d call songs that I want to play on a guitar that make me feel cool. I will say that “Holy Diver” and “Round And Round” *are* songs I’m very happy with on that list. But that’s only 2 out of the 14 known so far (wikipedia has a more extensive list than the press release). There’s supposed to be 30 ass-kicking songs. So half of them produce only 2 that I like. I was expecting this “Rocks the 80′s” to be badass metal, mostly melodic and not thrashy because that’s just not fun to play. Okay, Nuno Bettencourt is in there, which adds a little cred.

If I was putting together an 80′s Metal version of Guitar Hero here’s what I’d put together. I thought about these a lot, they’re not the typical songs you’d expect (for example, no damn Paranoid, War Pigs, Iron Man from Black Sabbath) and they’re really kickass and definitely songs that I wish I could play on a stage in front of millions. Okay, not all of these songs are 80′s Metal but most of them are. The ones that aren’t are just awesome and should have been on Guitar Hero 1:

EASY:

Accept – Up To The Limit (great riff)
Black Sabbath – Nightwing
Crimson Glory – Heart of Steel
David Lee Roth – Big Trouble (Steve Vai!)
Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers
Def Leppard – Foolin
Dio – When A Woman Cries
Dokken – Unchain The Night
Firehouse – All She Wrote
Great White – Shot In The Dark
Helix – Heavy Metal Love
Judas Priest – A Touch Of Evil
Judas Priest – Turning Circles (70′s classic)
Kingdom Come – Who Do You Love?
Kingdom Come – Perfect O
Kingdom Come – Living Out Of Touch (great riff)
Kiss – Love Gun (70′s classic)
Motley Crue – Looks That Kill
Ozzy Osbourne – Hellraiser
Queensryche – The Lady Wore Black
Rainbow – Stone Cold (70′s classic)
Scorpions – Hold Me Tight
Scorpions – In Trance
Slaughter – Up All Night
Van Halen – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love (70′s classic)
W.A.S.P. – Restless Gypsy
Winger – Spell I’m Under

MEDIUM:

Accept – Teach Us To Survive
Alice Cooper – Step On You
Black Label Society – S.D.M.F.
Black Sabbath – Headless Cross
Bulletboys – Hard As A Rock
Cinderella – Long Cold Winter
Crimson Glory – Dragon Lady
Def Leppard – Photograph
Dio – Dream Evil
Dokken – Seven Thunders
Firehouse – Reach For The Sky
Great White – House Of Broken Love
Great White – Lady Red Light
Great White – Step On You
Iron Maiden – Flight Of Icarus
Judas Priest – Nightcrawler
Loudness – Crazy Nights
Motley Crue – Knock Em Dead Kid
Ozzy Osbourne – Flying High Again
Psychotic Waltz – Into The Everflow
REO Speedwagon – Roll With The Changes (70′s classic)
Savatage – Sirens
Saxon – Beyond The Grave
Saxon – Lionheart
Scorpions – You Give Me All I Need
Scorpions – Don’t Believe Her
Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane
Steelheart – Can’t Stop Me Lovin’ You
Steelheart – Everybody Loves Eileen
TNT – Everyone’s A Star
Vinnie Vincent – Ashes To Ashes
W.A.S.P. – Charisma
Warrant – Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Whitesnake – Fool For Your Lovin’
Winger – Hangin’ On
Winger – Hungry
Yngwie Malmsteen – Queen In Love

HARD:

Black Label Society – Funeral Bell
Black Sabbath – Digital Bitch
Bulletboys – Hell Yeah!
Crimson Glory – In Dark Places
Dokken – Kiss Of Death
Dokken – Sleepless Night
Dokken – Mr. Scary
Dokken – Sunless Days
Dokken – Don’t Close Your Eyes
Eric Johnson – Cliffs Of Dover (pure guitar mastery)
Gary Moore – Oh Pretty Woman
Iron Maiden – Powerslave
Joe Satriani – Devil’s Slide
Joe Satriani – Flying In A Blue Dream
Joe Satriani – If I Could Fly
Judas Priest – Demonizer
Judas Priest – Painkiller
Judas Priest – Hellrider
Judas Priest – Metal Meltdown
Lynch Mob – River Of Love
Lynch Mob – She’s Evil But She’s Mine
Ozzy Osbourne – Desire
Ozzy Osbourne – Fool Like You
Psychotic Waltz – Haze One
Queensryche – Eyes Of A Stranger
Racer X – Superheroes
Racer X – Viking Kong
Ratt – You’re In Love
Ratt – Lay It Down
Savatage – Conversation Piece
Savatage – Strange Wings
Savatage – 24 Hours Ago
Saxon – Searching For Atlantis
Scorpions – Make It Real
Solitude Aeturnus – Spiral Descent
Steve Vai – Erotic Nightmares
TNT – Sapphire
White Lion – Hungry
White Lion – Lonely Nights
White Lion – Lady Of The Valley
Winger – Blind Revolution Mad
Yngwie Malmsteen – Enemy
Yngwie Malmsteen – Leviathan

Okay, that’s a massive list but I pared my huge list of songs I love down to this. So I expect several 80′s Metal compilations. Or just choose any of these from each section, group them as you like and just put it out so I can finally play these “for real”!

But please don’t release the lame thing you call 80′s guitar.

                          

I use iTunes, Napster and Virgin Digital to get a lot of my music and I like putting that stuff on my portable mp3 player but all songs bought from the iTunes Music Store are protected and so are the songs from Napster and Virgin Digital. Well, now I just drag those songs into tunebite and it converts the entire list at 4x speed for WMA files and 2x speed for iTunes files – soooooooo nice!

The latest version is now supporting VIDEO conversion as well! Any videos you get that are protected can be unprotected with tunebite platinum. Try it today – it does what it says with a minimum of hassle.

                          

CLOUD was made by students, paid for by an Electronic Arts grant. I’m still figuring out how to consume the clouds! Make sure you use the right & left mouse buttons and press F1 for scant help.

Kill Time is a crazy Japanese game where you have to keep your cursor from being captured by the little guy. Move it all over the place, just don’t go off the screen or touch the blue walls on the side or your score restarts at zero!

BLIX comes courtesy of the talented Eric Zimmerman and his gameLab – it’s very addictive!

You may have noticed some changes to the site, namely the coolass music player on the right side. The Game Music section also has the player so you can just listen to the music without downloading the songs. So now maybe it’ll be easier for you to check out video game music and see what you’ve been missing. One of my fave remixers, Quinn Fox, just released some new original compositions on his site. Click on the green icon on the left side to get to them.

                          

Oh, that’s because Dio really likes about 20 different words. And i’ve heard them over and over and over through the years and i think it’s just time to STOP. Put down the rainbow in the dark and back away. Lock up your FOOLS and EVIL and WITCHES in the DARK and let them be.

I truly love Dio’s work, but fella, there’s a limit to the number of times you can talk about LIGHT and DREAMS and GYPSIES. Good NIGHT!

By the way, if you haven’t heard the song “When A Woman Cries” off Dream Evil, check it out! It r0x0rs!