A baby buccaneer no more, Pirate101 is now two! To celebrate this milestone, we asked some of the beloved game developers, Blind Mew and Ratbeard, what their favorite thing about working on Pirate101.
Ratbeard
I get to work on pretty much all of the “systems” of Pirate101, so it’s really unfair to ask me which is my favorite– that’s like asking a parent which kid is their favorite! I’m always the most excited about whatever the latest thing is, and we’ve had a lot of really BIG releases in a row: the expansive story update from Marleybone and Aquila, then a massive UI overhaul, followed by a large pet update, and most recently the Tower of Moo Manchu and the Grizzly Beast Pack. When I think about what excites me the most about any of these updates in particular, it is getting to work on them every day, feeling the excitement building up behind the scenes, trying my hardest not to let any spoilers slip and then the great fun of seeing the feedback from all of the fans. I spend a good chunk of every day reading and replying on our forums, processing the praise and the criticism. Our fans are very passionate one way or another with their feedback. No matter what, that level of energy players have is very infectious. So my favorite thing about Pirate101 is definitely our fans!
Blind Mew
I’d have to say my favorite part of the development process in Pirate101 has been watching unexpected things emerge out of nowhere and become not only important, but essential. That’s always part of writing – when you’re in the groove suddenly a line will come out of nowhere that you never planned or even imagined, but there are other things too. Companions were the biggest, I think. We’d never thought of them as that big of a deal in the beginning, and then one day we decided to make them talk during quests – we’d use them instead of a narrator. And they did so much more: they let us have dead ends in quests so they could point you where you needed to go. They also got to be funny – they were characters we could build over 50 levels instead of a single quest. SO much of the joy in writing for Pirate comes from inventing the quips from the peanut gallery: El Toro, Bonnie Anne, Hawkules, and the rest of them. Once we saw how much fun it was to have them talk, we invented promotion quests – and they exploded. They’re a lot of effort to write, but so worth it because they let us take the characters even farther. The Marleybone promo quests (Bonnie Anne and Ratbeard) are some of my favorite writing in the game – and as the game was originally conceived, they never would have happened.
The other thing I dearly love is to sprinkle in references. Yes, we do lots of movies and books and songs and the rest – those are great fun – but my favorites are the historical ones. Saving Nelson at Trafalgar. Getting to do a homage to the Illiad and the Odyssey, that kind of thing. There’s lots of history lurking under the surface, they we do put our own spin on it. Before I ever got into games I was going to be a history teacher – so sneaking this stuff in is second nature. I’ve said it several times – if I can get one player to read one more book than they otherwise would have, or get interested in some tidbit of history or literature that’s the highest achievement I can do – it takes this job beyond fun or rewarding – doing something like that makes this job truly matter.
Thanks to Ratbeard and Blind Mew for this look into Pirate101 development! What has your favorite thing been in the last year of Pirate101?
Ahoy, mateys! Want to sail the seas as Captain Avery from Pirate101 this Halloween? Turns out, his garb is easier to create than you think – and you can do so for less than $10 by using stuff you have around the house, borrowing accessories from a friend, or making a visit to your local thrift shop.
First things first: You’ve gotta have a cockatoo of your own. Head into your sister’s room to see if she has a stuffed bird you can borrow. If you can’t find one, have your parents take you to a local thrift store. You can find all kinds of loot at these stores for only a couple of gold pieces.
For the captain’s coat, visit your dad’s closet for a long, over-sized jacket or shirt that he’s willing to get rid of. Have your parents pick up up gold trim at a hobby or fabric store and ask them to stitch or hot glue the trim along the edges of the coat.
To cover your peg leg and get Captain Avery’s unique sailing pants, you can wear a pair of pant that are too short or cut the bottoms off some old ones you don’t wear.
To make your captain’s hat, take an old hat and have your parents help you fit some pieces of felt around it to make that unique shape. If you live near a Halloween store, take a look at its selection of Pirate hats that have the same look and feel as Captain Avery’s for a discounted price.
Whether you’re swabbing the deck or counting your booty, the captain’s accessories are the most important part of the outfit. Find a large belt and cut a square out of cardboard, color it gold, and weave the belt through it. Take brown work or winter gloves and tuck them under your sleeves for Captain Avery’s signature look. You should be able to find an inexpensive, plastic sword at a local discount store. To make your own cutlass at home, have your parents help you cut the shape of a sword out of cardboard and cover it with aluminum foil.
Remember, you don’t have to spend a lot to be just like one of the most successful Pirate who ever lived. The important part of Halloween is having fun, celebrating, and sharing with your crew. Enjoy your Halloween as Captain Avery and have a safe, fun night.
Today KingsIsle Community manager Leala aka Professor Greyrose gives us a look into the recent Austin Wizard World Comic Con.
Last weekend, some of the KingsIsle developers and I got the opportunity to present two panels at Wizard World Comic Con in Austin, Texas. I love comic conventions, with all the costumes, shopping and great artists to be seen. I’d never been to Wizard World before, but I was quite impressed by the variety of presenters and exhibitors at the event. It was also my first time ever participating in a panel, so I was super nervous! But, with the help of my very knowledgeable coworkers, I think it turned out great.
KingsIsle “How to get into the Games Industry” Panel
Our first panel was titled “How to get into the Games Industry,” featuring KingsIsle representatives from Art, Sound, Writing, Programming, Community, Animation and Design. There was something for everyone! Lots of people in the audience had questions about where they should focus when starting out, and we were all happy to provide stories of what we have learned from our own experiences. Though the art and programming paths seemed to be the most popular with attendees, I tried to do my best to share what a fun (and important) role community management plays in the game industry. Happy players are a game’s greatest asset, I say!
Gary Smith represented the programming side of game development with some great advice for new programmers. We also got to learn about a very popular path in game development from Valerie Head. She started in Quality Assurance and took extra time out of her days to learn the game design tools, eventually leading to her current role as Game Designer. For those interested in sound, Associate Producer Kat Wenske shared her extensive knowledge of music and audio recording tools.
Animation demonstration with Kiko
Senior Animator, Kiko Buyo also did a great job in representing his department. Not many people understood how animation works, so he showed them using volunteers from the audience to create key frames and animate the actions in between.
Our second panel was about Wizard101 and Pirate101, so we took the opportunity to share some of the behind-the-scenes information about how the games were created. Principal Artist, Jeff Toney walked us through the process of the design of Bartleby from initial concept to the final, textured model that ended up in game (Missing eye included!). Associate Creative Designer, Beau Paul, shared how the story of the games are written, and treated us all to a taste of voice acting, as a character you may recognize, Boochbeard in Pirate101. And finally, I was excited to tell our audience (that included some big Doctor Who fans) about the new B.O.X.E.S. event happening in Wizard101.
Kirsten and attendees of the Cosability Panel at Wizard World
The highlight of the convention for me, however, was getting to meet Kirsten from Cosability, an advocacy group for cosplayers with disabilities. Kirsten started the group to encourage others to find fun and creative ways to work with their disability while costuming. Doctor Who fans will recognize her costume as Davros, the Emperor Dalek, from Doctor Who. Kirsten is also a new player of Pirate101, so we all wish her a warm welcome to the Skyway!
-Leala aka Professor Greyrose
A few members of KingsIsle will be attending a couple of local conventions here in Texas this week, and we thought we’d give you a heads up as to where you can find us!
Austin Comic Con will be happening October 2-4th at the Austin Convention Center, and KingsIsle will be hosting a couple of panels on Saturday, October 3rd.
From 1:00pm -1:45pm, KingsIsle will be hosting a panel on How to get into the Video Game Industry:
“A discussion about getting into the game industry. Texas has a lot of great video game companies and many of them are hiring. They want to hire the right people with the right skills. Find out what skills you should have to excel in art production, game design, programming, or even sound! Whether you want to design your own game or work for a large game company, this panel will have something for you.”
Panelists will include Jeff Toney, Gary Smith, Valerie Kromas, T.J. O’Leary, Kiko Buyo, and Leala Ulrich.
From 5:00 – 5:45 pm, KingsIsle will be hosting a panel on Wizard101 and Pirate101:
“KingsIsle Entertainment develops and publishes high-quality online family games that appeal to a wide audience. We have released two titles: Wizard101 and Pirate101. Both are multiplayer online adventure games that are fun for all ages and playable on a personal computer. Developers from both titles will be at the panel discussing everything you want to know about both games and the video game industry in general.”
Panelists will include Jeff Toney, Gary Smith, Valerie Kromas, T.J. O’Leary, Kiko Buyo, and Leala Ulrich.
For a full list of what’s happening at the Austin Comic Con, please see this link.
We’ll also be attending Realmscon in beautiful Corpus Christi, Texas if you’re down that direction with similar panels on Saturday and Sunday. Be sure to join Jeff Wand and Nathan Sumison as they talk about Wizard101, Pirate101, and how to get into the games industry. More information can be found here.
All good things must come to an end, and today we have our final Blog Contest entry! Thanks everyone for submitting so many lovely posts… it’s a shame we can’t publish them all! We end with David GoldenSword, level 50 Death Wizard, telling us about his favorite year of Wizard101 – 2009.
It’s been 6 years since I first defeated Malistaire’s evil minions during the tutorial at Golem Court and began my journey to stop his sinister plan, I was so young and so inexperienced to the game but luckily I made a friend that day, one that helped me throughout the game, a friend that I will keep and cherish for the rest of my life, Zachary. That is why my favorite year in wizard101 was 2009 when I met my best friend Zachary.
Zachary and I battled our way through the Spiral saving world after world, each one more challenging than the last and brought us one step closer to defeating the evil Malistaire. After our triumphant defeat of Meowiarty and the end of the most frustrating world, Marlybone (which reminds me of home) we ventured off to the next world, Mooshu. This world was stunningly beautiful and its scenery took you back in time to the old Chinese era of monks, samurai’s, emperors and of course ninjas! It was easy to see that the developers at KingsIsle put in some extra time and effort in order to make this world and I am very grateful for that.
After weeks of questing Zachary and I were finally at Malistaire’s door step. The battle was intense and very difficult at the time but we managed to survive and put a stop to Malistaire’s plan once and for all. At first we couldn’t believe that we did it but we did and Zachary and I had saved the Spiral and rid it of evil, for now at least.
I would just like to say happy birthday KingsIsle and thank you for making my favorite game, it is truly something my friend and I love and appreciate. We wish you many more years in the gaming industry and hope you continue to create many more successful games such as Wizard101.
KingsIsle Blog 