A Current and Future Theory Concerning Spring's Development
Posted: 11 Aug 2008, 07:31
While embarking on any non-trivial endeavor, it becomes easy to be bogged down in day-to-day activities and short-term goals and milestones, and lose sight of the larger vision. Every large project is at danger of losing focus in such a manner, but this is a problem especially prevalent in the development of large games. Every day, a contributor should remember that game development concerns one thing: fun for the gamer.
Artists, programmers, marketing folk, and everyone in between are constantly in danger of forgetting that the the end-user is what ultimately matters. There is no harm in making something for personal elucidation. It is admirable if a programmer wishes to test a newly-discovered algorithm, or if an artist decides to experiment with a new freehand style. But as soon as the end-user is forgotten, then it is no longer for a game. What happens, then, when the end-user, the consumer, the gamer, is never in the developer's mind at all? I feel that such is the case with Spring. I contend that the success of Spring is coincidental, and that this wider success was not a primary goal of the project at all. I contend that the primary goals of the Spring project were to improve the Yankspankers' programming abilities, and boost their resumes.
Spring, in its early stages, was a learning experiment for the Yankspankers. They have mentioned several times that Spring was created, in part, to advance their own knowledge of game engine development and design. Let us bear in mind that Spring began its life as a run-of-the-mill WWII era RTS simulator. Yet, the Yankspankers weren't happy. They wanted something bigger and better; something that would boost their abilities even further, and show future employers what they were truly capable. What is this "fun" you speak of?
And so, in the dark depths of their Swedish hell-cavern, the Spankers of Yanks built Spring as we now know it. They based it upon Total Annihilation because that was the RTS with which the bulk of them had the most experience, and because it was more robustly deconstructed than Starcraft at that particular point in time.
Yet, after development continued for some time, the Swedes realized that they could not effectively show a totally bug-ridden engine to future employers. Indeed, the engine would need content, and being already stretched thin, the Swedes could not effectively complete their engine, raid Norway, and make content for the very same engine. They turned to the last possible option, one neglected until now: build a community.
It was at this point the Swedes unleashed this game upon the remnants of the Total Annihilation community. It was at this point that the denizens and those lovers of pedarsty, of tauniverse.com, of planetannihilation, and of tadesigners.com, who had been awaiting the siren call of TA 2.0, eagerly gobbled up the news of Spring like a hungry babe suckles at his mother's sweet, sweet teat.
Recall the previous discussion concerning the nature of a game. Recall, as it were, the nature of Spring. And realize, that Spring did not begin as a game. It was made a game partway through its lifecycle by throngs of well-wishers craving something that did not exist, does not exist, and will not ever exist.
Suddenly, mods begin to crop up. Suddenly maps were made, fansites began to form, and the crumbling of the TA community experienced an acceleration, as more and more flocked to what was now called TA-Spring. Even the most prized fans of all - the software developers - joined. Suddenly, T&A-Spring reached a critical mass, and the community came into its own, hoodwinked, and unaware of the deception wrought by the Yankspankers. Their empire secure, anuses reamed, and resumes thoroughly padded the Yankspankers found the first set of jobs they could imagine, and left us.
Let me leave you, the assiduous reader, with the conclusion to this essay: Spring is not a game. It is merely a vehicle by which the Yankspankers could improve their skills and boost their resumes. Modmakers, mapmakers, modelers, players, idiots all: You are playing a lie.
Farewell.
-Dragon45
Artists, programmers, marketing folk, and everyone in between are constantly in danger of forgetting that the the end-user is what ultimately matters. There is no harm in making something for personal elucidation. It is admirable if a programmer wishes to test a newly-discovered algorithm, or if an artist decides to experiment with a new freehand style. But as soon as the end-user is forgotten, then it is no longer for a game. What happens, then, when the end-user, the consumer, the gamer, is never in the developer's mind at all? I feel that such is the case with Spring. I contend that the success of Spring is coincidental, and that this wider success was not a primary goal of the project at all. I contend that the primary goals of the Spring project were to improve the Yankspankers' programming abilities, and boost their resumes.
Spring, in its early stages, was a learning experiment for the Yankspankers. They have mentioned several times that Spring was created, in part, to advance their own knowledge of game engine development and design. Let us bear in mind that Spring began its life as a run-of-the-mill WWII era RTS simulator. Yet, the Yankspankers weren't happy. They wanted something bigger and better; something that would boost their abilities even further, and show future employers what they were truly capable. What is this "fun" you speak of?
And so, in the dark depths of their Swedish hell-cavern, the Spankers of Yanks built Spring as we now know it. They based it upon Total Annihilation because that was the RTS with which the bulk of them had the most experience, and because it was more robustly deconstructed than Starcraft at that particular point in time.
Yet, after development continued for some time, the Swedes realized that they could not effectively show a totally bug-ridden engine to future employers. Indeed, the engine would need content, and being already stretched thin, the Swedes could not effectively complete their engine, raid Norway, and make content for the very same engine. They turned to the last possible option, one neglected until now: build a community.
It was at this point the Swedes unleashed this game upon the remnants of the Total Annihilation community. It was at this point that the denizens and those lovers of pedarsty, of tauniverse.com, of planetannihilation, and of tadesigners.com, who had been awaiting the siren call of TA 2.0, eagerly gobbled up the news of Spring like a hungry babe suckles at his mother's sweet, sweet teat.
Recall the previous discussion concerning the nature of a game. Recall, as it were, the nature of Spring. And realize, that Spring did not begin as a game. It was made a game partway through its lifecycle by throngs of well-wishers craving something that did not exist, does not exist, and will not ever exist.
Suddenly, mods begin to crop up. Suddenly maps were made, fansites began to form, and the crumbling of the TA community experienced an acceleration, as more and more flocked to what was now called TA-Spring. Even the most prized fans of all - the software developers - joined. Suddenly, T&A-Spring reached a critical mass, and the community came into its own, hoodwinked, and unaware of the deception wrought by the Yankspankers. Their empire secure, anuses reamed, and resumes thoroughly padded the Yankspankers found the first set of jobs they could imagine, and left us.
Let me leave you, the assiduous reader, with the conclusion to this essay: Spring is not a game. It is merely a vehicle by which the Yankspankers could improve their skills and boost their resumes. Modmakers, mapmakers, modelers, players, idiots all: You are playing a lie.
Farewell.
-Dragon45
