After a successful beta launch in April, persistent mutable world and “permadeath” MMO game maker Paradox Interactive is poised with Seatribe to fully unveil its crafting MMO marketplace entry SALEM in Q3-2012. This F2P (Free-To-Play) charming, but Herman Melville-ish/Tim Burton-esque “goth game” is set in fantastical 17th Century New England homesteads (first stop Boston) and the adjacent, ominous wild lands. MMORPG players assume the roles of New World colonists who are building up their communities, tradeable goods, and earned skills.
Agni Interactive collaborated with the Creative team at Seatribe and Paradox in setting the visual direction of the game, bring the unique crafting, farming and building systems inspired by 17th century alchemy and delivering the 3D assets and animation to bring the game to life. The art style features light-hearted, charming, gothic settings juxtaposed with nearby, foreboding forests and uncivilized dark lands.
Game Designer Björn “Brother Bean” Johannessen, Creative Director of Seatribe, stated: “Working with Agni Interactive has been an integral part of our development process for SALEM. From the production of highly relevant concept art, to the timely delivery of in-game assets and resources, with an attentive ear to technical specifications provided by us, Agni Interactive has taken on a thorough responsibility for our 2D and 3D art pipelines from start to finish. Agni’s work throughout has conformed to the letter of our aesthetic vision for SALEM, and the flexibility and smoothness of their work process has been an excellent match for our own iterative and organic style and pace of development.”
SALEM provides its players with an economic system to govern gameplay but also with a decisive risk feature called “permanent death” that could prove a true challenge to players via witchcraft or lethal Player Versus Player (PvP) murderous actions. “Permadeath” is a rare MMORPG feature with a “no-extra-lives system that emphasizes critical decision-making and player persistence through goods rather than through characters.” Other hazards that are at the players’ disposal and include vandalism, thievery, and raids, but they can be very time-consuming with the risk again being permanent death even to the evil-doer player.
Sachin Gangupantula, CEO of Agni Interactive highlights the importance of creative quotient and project transparency in creating a successful collaboration with Paradox and SeaTribe:
“SeaTribe and its team had a definite clarity on the creative direction they wanted to see in the game. Through our proprietary “Outsourcing Plus” methodology, we were able to combine Agni’s creative direction from the U.S. with our transparent project engagement process for a timely delivery of concepts and the production assets. We greatly appreciate the opportunity from Paradox for providing a platform to build a creative partnership to bring SALEM to life”.
Paradox ‘s Gordon Van Dyke, Senior Producer of SALEM, concluded: “As a creative partner, Agni Interactive was able to closely work with us across various creative aspects of the game, including creating detailed, rich, and textured matte paintings which were quintessential to our creation of early HP-Lovecraft inspired cinematic trailers for SALEM.”
Agni Interactive’s Creative Director, Harish Rao added: “Working with Paradox and Seatribe was another very good collaborative and learning experience for our team. To be able to create content for this unique MMORPG has been a refreshing and rewarding experience. It is a testament to our creative process and efficiency that execution can happen across three continents while maintaining a high level of quality and consistency to meet the vision of the game.”
For more on SALEM, go to www.paradoxplaza.com/games/salem.
About AGNI INTERACTIVE
Agni Interactive is a global creative content development and transmedia company focused on stories, ideas, and experiences. Delivering passion, creativity and within budget parameters, Agni Interactive is a commercial arthouse studio for video games, film and TV animation, graphic novels and motion comics, as well as a transmedia boutique and interactive entertainment design shop with operational offices in California (San Francisco and Los Angeles) and India (Hyderabad).
Agni Interactive partners with other dynamic content creators and storytellers and also produces its own digital comics, interactive storybooks on traditional web and mobile platforms (iPad, iPhone and Android). Agni’s professional team of game industry veterans, producers, creative directors, illustrators, as well as 2D and 3D animators develop high-resolution, uniquely textured, and optimally-layered commercial art. Agni crafts sale-able original content and further enhances interactivity in storytelling, gameplay, and for online / mobile / social arenas to augment engaging learning and entertainment experiences.
Using a proprietary delivery methodology, OUTSOURCING PLUS™, that focuses on the overall management and delivery of client’s creative initiatives, Agni Interactive brings proven quality, level-up gameplay design and understanding, affordable creative content development, artwork creation (from concept stage to completion), and outsourcing solutions for developers, clients, filmmakers, and partners. Combining a collaborative project management process with an admirable work ethic, Agni Interactive personifies the next level of creative partnership for the transmedia entertainment industry. To learn more about Agni Interactive services, skill, and expertise, visit: www.agniinteractive.com.
