EPTA friend and I have formed a video game development company here in New Zealand. We're working on a game called Broken Planet using the Unreal Development Kit.
We're trying something a little bit different, in that we're undertaking an open development. We'll be openly discussing our concept and our development right from the start, but even more than that we'll be writing grass roots easy to understand tutorials about how you too can get involved in video game development.
We'd love you to come visit our new website. It's early days and we don't have tonnes of content yet, but we'll be trying to update this with a new article every day:
http://www.brokenplanet.co.nz
What is Broken Planet
Broken Planet is the name of our company, and just to be confusing, the name of our flagship game which we are in the early stages of developing as well. Although on paper we are a company, in reality we’re two amateurs (possibly like you) full of hope and good intentions aiming to produce something great.
Who are "we"?
There are just two of us:
- Stephen Townshend: The smart one; in charge of all things technical, handling code, delivery and anything requiring technical know-how.
- Hamish Woodman: The artistic one; in charge of everything visual, as well as the development of models, images, and animation.
What sort of game is it?
Our game is set in the future on a distant planet, bombarded with intense, unyielding sunlight, a dry desert planet. At least on the surface. Life on this planet evolved underground. Entire ecosystems existing entirely below the surface, without the energy of the sun but instead from mineral sources. Over time one species became the dominant power on the planet. We refer to this species as the “Creators”. These creatures built up a rich culture and were deeply intelligent, building enormous cities and monuments. Realising the potential of the sun’s energy, the Creators built new cities above ground, protected from the intense heat and brightness by giant domes and cooling systems.
![[image loading]](http://brokenplanet.co.nz/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Tourism-Poster-004.png)
At some point in their history, a great famine occurred. The availability of the life-giving minerals came under threat. This drove the Creators to the brink of extinction; civil war, rioting, chaos. During this time of mayhem a small group of scientists saved their world from extinction. They built a fortified city to safely research an alternative way of providing nourishment to their race. With rioting and madness all around them they had to protect themselves, and to do so they built The Architect. The Architect was a unique, intelligent robotic being who was intrinsically linked with the city around him. He was designed for the sole purpose of protecting the scientists as they worked to find a solution to the famine.
Now, thousands of years in the future, the entire planet is covered in ruins and rubble. There are no signs of the Creator race, nothing lives. Human kind has discovered and embraced space travel, and as part of this new phenomenon has embarked on several space tourism ventures. One such venture involves a tour of this Broken Planet.
...
That's where our game starts. From a mechanics point of view we're still figuring out how we want to do it but the general idea is a third person puzzle solving / clue based investigation game. You play a small boy who is left behind on the Broken Planet by a tourism ship, and your goal is to find a way to make contact so you can return home.
Here's some concept art, some of it is very old (dating back over 12 months):
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/dCFth.jpg)
The Architect.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/CUwWX.jpg)
Another look at The Architect
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2d4Xf.jpg)
The "hub" which powers the city.
If you're interested in game development with UDK, Android, or you like the look of our game take a look at our website and subscribe if you'd like regular updates:
http://www.brokenplanet.co.nz
Stephen
