Regular readers, or anyone who knows me, has probably figured out about me, I love a good game. Whether it's board games, consoles, facebook apps, or anything else, I adore emersing myself in many forms of time wasting virtual adventures or contests. Bearing this in mind, it should come as little surprise to anyone that when, some time ago, a friend of mine in SL gave me a game HUD trial of a game called Tiny Empires, I became engrossed in it, and soon got my friends playing too, spending a good deal of my time inworld on the scroll in the corner of my secondlife screen, keeping an eye out for land for sale, any potential subjects I could try to recruit, or trying to solve the puzzles that would hopefully reward me with more gold, so I could increase my land holdings, and hopefully move up to the next level in the monarchistic hierarchy.

Tiny Empires is a medieval-themed game, the full version retailing inworld at L$799, with the aim being to get more and more land and gold, and recruit other sl residents to be your loyal subjects whose land then contributes to your own count, helping boost your way up the social ladder. Having spent so much time, and had so much fun, with the game, I decided to hunt the creator, Ultralite Soleil, to have a chat with him about how the game came about:


Voodoo Buwan: So, how long have you been in SL, and what originally drew you inworld?
Ultralite Soleil: Let's see, I started in August 2006 because I read about SL on some techie website. Slashdot, perhaps. I didn't care about the shopping or the so-called adult activities, but I was fascinated to learn that you could build and script things, and retain ownership rights. I used to play MUDs where you could create things, and the idea of SL reminded me of that.I made a few things in sandboxes but nothing too interesting :)
Voodoo Buwan: So, how did Tiny Empires come into being?
Ultralite Soleil: Well, I was looking for something to do, and I noticed that the games in SL at the time were mostly like checkers, or bingo. I sort of wanted a game that I could play with other people, but I didn't want to have to be in the same sim with them. And I also have a background as a RL game developer (my former career). So I just started with a basic idea of a hierarchy game, and it sort of went from there. I got out of game development several years back, because it's a ridiculously insane industry, but the urge to make games is still strong.
Voodoo Buwan: How much of the project was your own baby, and how much help did you have from others inworld with the development?
Ultralite Soleil: Well, as my most loyal players would tell you, I'm a control freak :) I didn't have any help :)
Voodoo Buwan: So kept it all very much to your own vision?
Ultralite Soleil: Yes. Well, in the earliest part of development, I knew I wanted a hierarchical game that 1) could be played anywhere, 2) took advantage of all the people in SL, and 3) was extremely simple to play. But the specifics of the game environment took a while to settle. Of course it was launched as a medieval, feudalism style game, but early on I considered making it a corporate management, ladder-climbing simulation :) I had just left a company in RL that was a bureaucratic nightmare on the order of Brazil, so perhaps it was the hatred of that seeping out :) (Brazil the movie, heh)
Voodoo Buwan: How easy was getting word out in SL regarding the game, as it's definitely one of those that benefits from having a lot of people playing?
Ultralite Soleil: It was quite tough, which is true for any new product in SL. I advertised quite a bit, in-world and in the various websites. But after a few weeks there were just a few dozen players. Then I think it reached some kind of tipping point. The fishing community started to play, and that's when it really took off.They'd fish, and play Tiny Empires at the same time :) But in those first few weeks I almost packed it in, thinking I'd try a different game approach. This was in July 2007, btw
Voodoo Buwan: So perseverance and luck ruled the day?
Ultralite Soleil: More the latter, I'd say :)
Voodoo Buwan: You mentioned about advertising Tiny Empires. How difficult was funding for this, bearing in mind that, once you have the game, it's not exactly a money spinner in the same way games like Zyngo are?
Ultralite Soleil: Funding wasn't really an issue. I spent only my spare time developing it. And after launch, I deposited 10k lindens (I think) as my advertising budget. I don't think I used it up before the game finally took off. But personally, I don't like games with subscription models, so I didn't want to inflict that on my customers. Pay once, play forever. Of course, the add-ons aren't free :D Tiny Empires has one add-on, called Tiny Empires: Federation. It could be called an expansion pack. Basically it lets you do more things in the game.
Voodoo Buwan: How much of a factor is financial success in your assessment of the success of Tiny Empires?
Ultralite Soleil: For me, I'm just blown away by how INTO it people are. That's the biggest factor for me. There are websites about the game, entire sims devoted to the TE theme. There have been RL marriages between people who met through playing the game. For some reason, it seems to bring people together into big families, which is much more fulfilling to me than the L$ it brings in.
Voodoo Buwan: So, what should the residents of SL be expecting from you next? Any upcoming projects you can let us in on?
Ultralite Soleil: Well, I recently (March 10) released Tiny Empires 3000, which is a sort of sequel to Tiny Empires. You play as a space-based merchant, 1000 years in the future, building your spacefleet, and cultivating colonies after a devastating galactic rebellion. It is a game similar in structure to Tiny Empires, but has quite a different feel, as its players will tell you. I'm currently working on an add-on to Tiny Empires 3000, as well as constant improvements to both TE and TE:Federation.
Voodoo Buwan: And finally, do you have any advice you would give to developers thinking about following in your footsteps?
Ultralite Soleil: Hmm, I'd say, start simple. Many new games I see are complicated, over-architected frameworks that are daunting to a new player. Make a basic, simple game, and then introduce complexities as the player advances. One last thing: Tiny Empires is really a simple game, even for high level players. The thing that makes it complex (and interesting) is the people. So a game developer should keep in mind the human element when designing social games. That's it, really.