Darwinia+

The Prologue update added a new tutorial and controls based around old-fashioned icons and hotkeys rather than mouse gestures. The evolution continued, and the Darwinia bundled in Darwinia+ is yet another step on from the latest Vista version, already modified to accommodate the 360’s pad controls. Thanks to Darwinia’s simple design, which places only a few units under your command, it’s the first strategy game to feel at home on a two-stick controller.

“We’ve worked hard with Darwinia+ to ensure that it’s simple to pick up and play” says Mark. “I think that really good game design should be playable without reference to the manual. Often game designers are lazy and expect the player to understand a concept by explaining it in words or having boring tutorial missions. We’ve made those mistakes and we corrected them with Prologue.” The initial design showed faith in the player’s ability to learn, but asked too much of newbies. The Introversion of today isn’t trying to be so clever nor obtuse, offering simpler controls to console gamers without treating them like idiots. “Are console players stupid?” asks Mark. “I don’t think so, but I do think that Microsoft wants every game to be played by every 360 owner and so they ensure that your game is totally accessible. Some people may see this as dragging the game to the lowest common denominator, but I just see it as a usability design challenge.”

Plug a 360 pad into your PC right now and you’ll be able to play Darwinia almost as it’ll arrive on Live Arcade later this year, streamlined and easy to play - the result of a three-year iterative process and at last a game the teamis happy with. The lessons learned in fixing Darwinia are the same lessons which have gone into Multiwinia, and the team isn’t going at it half-arsed again. “The original concept for Darwinia was of a multiplayer war game where you controlled enormous armies of Darwinians. Most of the networking code was in place and the original plan was to knock up a couple of quick multiplayer missions to keep Microsoft happy, but it wasn’t long before the Curse of Darwinia struck us again,” says Mark. “The original game had taken three years to develop and we had run out of cash in the process. Despite our efforts for that not to be the case again, we just couldn’t stuff in some (easy) multiplayer mode.

"After many headaches, (Lead Designer) Chris decided that we needed to do a full multiplayer treatment and this would become Introversion’s fourth game. So we stayed up late, hired new staff, filed more paperwork and finally finished the game.” All that remains for the team is Microsoft’s notoriously difficult certification process and the big autumn release. It’s an important moment for Introversion and indeed an important moment for Xbox Live Arcade - the first game on the service born in the past which feels like a game from the future...

May 30, 2008