Tag: Adeladie Game Developer

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Remaster VS Remakes: What actually is the difference?

Remaster VS Remakes: What actually is the difference?

SubTitle

With the Internet often interchanging words it can be difficult to actually understand what 2 similar words actually mean, especially when their definitions are so close to begin with. To help differentiate between a Remaster and a Remake we will look at a few examples and explore why they’re labelled differently.

To start this conversation we need to understand the differences between a Remake and Remaster.

A Remaster is where the studio focuses on enhancing the game’s visuals and removing bugs, but otherwise keeping the mechanics, story and features the same throughout, Remasters focus heavily on giving the player a sense of Nostalgia. The idea is to ensure the game is visually understandable and mechanically playable, whilst still keeping it as close to the original version as possible.

Whereas a Remake is answering the question of what would you do differently if you were to create the game again. Remakes often come with visual, mechanical and a narrative upgrade, which sometimes changes the characters and plot points throughout the game.

Most developers and publishers will choose one or the other, however some do choose to create both a Remaster and Remake of the game. Although the original developer of SystemShock, Looking Glass Studio, no longer existed at this point the IP still held value and eventually made its way into the hands of Night Dive Studios. In order to keep the game playable they initially released an update to enable the game to be played on newer consoles; called SystemShock: Enhanced Edition, on the 22nd of September, 2015. This release also increased many of the original technical aspects and mechanics; such as increasing the resolution from the original 320 × 200, to an improved 1024 × 768. The Enhanced Edition also comes with the original renamed to SystemShock: Classic so players can replay the original if they desire to. This Remaster got quite a positive reception with many saying it was a great way to experience the series if players hadn’t tried a SystemShock game yet.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhRp4HT40PE

Classic Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4i5CqIddlg&list=PLaxNnb3i_nS4cTdf_1H09g7gtzAaOpsM4

Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/410710/System_Shock_Enhanced_Edition/

SystemShock Enhanced Edition

In 2015 Night Dive Studios started on a different version; after quite a few set-backs and restarts an official Remake of SystemShock was released in 2023 – 5 years after its original release date. This Remake received mixed, but mostly positive reviews; with most critics viewing it the same way the devs did: a faithful Remake of the original. Some critics have said that the mechanics seem a little too faithful; claiming that they could’ve modernised them to help the Remake appeal to newcomers as opposed to the existing fans.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDAppJ8HuIM

Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/482400/System_Shock/

As we have demonstrated above the differences between a Remake and Remaster are drastic, with SystemShock: Enhanced Edition keeping the same pixel art style feel to the game. A player familiar with the series would automatically be able to look at gameplay and trailers and understand what franchise it belongs to. Whereas with the drastic change to 3D, in depth lighting and a more grungy vibe it would take some people by surprise that it is another addition to the series. Though this isn’t the first time such a dramatic change happened, with the new DOOM games doing the same 3D grungy feel. Thankfully when playing the games it can still feel like the original, especially if you still have big guns to mow down your enemies!

Just remember if Nostalgia is the main focus, it’s a Remaster; if it isn’t then it’s a Remake!

If you want to have a more indepth look into some other Remakes or Remasters here is a great list of the more memorable games:

The reasons why a developer may choose either one is entirely dependent on their vision for the game and its franchise as well as the target audience they’re aiming for. To reiterate the differences between the 2;

A Remake is

  • Redesigning the game from the ground up
  • New visuals
  • New game mechanics
  • Often have a changed narrative

A Remaster is

  • Refurbishing the original game
  • Updating the visuals to work with current technology
  • Removing bugs and small quality of life changes
  • Allows people to experience nostalgia and to replay the game from their childhood without the “downsides” of an older game

When looking at creating a Remake or a Remaster of a game there is no right decision, it is up to those developing the game and what they believe they and their audience want from this experience.

Whilst this is just one example of developers wanting to honour a videogame in more than one way, it is certainly still a bit of an outlier. Many developers and publishers will generally just choose to either a Remake or Remaster instead of both. Furthermore it is more likely to be fans of the game or series that will create a mix of Remakes and Remasters that fit their expectations and beliefs.

With Metroid: Samus Returns and Another Metroid 2 Remake being the main comparison and centre of this conversation, it is only fair that we take into consideration what people actually want when an older game/series gets brought back. Using MSR and AM2R is great because overall they’re both considered great games in their own right, despite being quite different from the other.

To start off with a brief introduction to the original Metroid 2 game:

A sequel to the original Metroid game released in 1986; Metroid II: Return of Samus released in 1991 as an action-adventure game, continuing to follow the bounty hunter Samus Aran. Players control her as she hunts and attempts to eradicate the Metroids from their home planet of SR388, before the Space Pirates can obtain them. The Space Pirates are the primary enemy from the original Metroid game, with them creating the Metroids and then weaponising them due to their new abilities to evolve into different and far deadlier forms of themselves. This was also the first of the Metroid games to be developed for and released on the Game Boy.

The game introduced new mechanics and was praised for its story, setting and gameplay; but was criticised for its graphics and audio quality.

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF1C0xZxBOw

Metroid: Samus Returns is a 2017 action-adventure game and is a Remake of the original 1991 GameBoy game Metroid II: Return of Samus. The remake follows the same story and structure of the original, however it features updated graphics, controls and user interface, with some new gameplay mechanics that had not yet been seen in any previous 2D Metroid titles.

Metroid: Samus Returns received positive reviews upon its release, many complimenting it on its visuals and mechanical improvements over the original, as well as being considered a solid return to form for the Metroid series. It received multiple awards and accolades including “Best Handheld Game” at the Game Awards 2017 and “Handheld Game of the Year” at the 21st D.I.C.E Awards. With the success of the Remake developers MercurySteam went on to make the next well-loved Metroid game- Metroid Dread for the Nintendo Switch.

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fw1pDgbQ8I

Another Metroid 2 Remake or AM2R is also an action-adventure game developed by an Argentinian programmer named Milton Guasti (DoctorM64) and released in 2016 for Metroid’s 30th birthday. AM2R is a fan-made/unofficial Remake of the original 1991 game Metroid II: Return of Samus using the visual style of Metroid: Zero Mission (2004).

Like the original, players play as Samus Aran hunting down and eradicating the parasitic Metroids. Unlike the original though, AM2R adds in several features such as new graphics, music, areas, bosses, a map system and alters some of the controls. AM2R takes a lot of inspiration and mechanics from newer 2D Metroid games to enhance and update the original.

Another Metroid 2 Remake saw a positive reception upon its release and many journalists called it a standout among the many other fan-made Metroid games. Due to AM2R releasing well before the official Remake, Jonathan Holmes from Destructoid said that AM2R does a good job at filling the “void” left by Nintendo’s lack of new 2D Metroid games.

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCMeKM1w1UM

As you can see the official and unofficial Remakes of Metroid II: Return of Samus are 2 very different takes on a Remake of the same game with many fans enjoying both as well. If you want to look into more of a comparison between the unofficial and official Remakes take a look at this great read/video by Game Maker’s Toolkit.

https://youtu.be/8WkEoYvlUF0?si=ni1bldqTSG5-N-fv

Though; I will like to mention that due to AM2R’s success Nintendo felt threatened enough by it that it sent a DMCA to the developer, Milton Guasti, which was quite a controversial move and made many fans feel unwelcome to create fan works of the Metroid series or other Nintendo IP. They were also very quick to send notices to websites hosting the game and to the developer as well, only giving the game 1 day of full release. Although many fans continue to allow the game through “pirating” software such as Torrent, it is still easily accessible through the right means. Although a disappointment, it isn’t surprising with Nintendo being one of the strictest (alongside Disney) for any fan-made works/art or even YouTubers and Streamers playing their games live, especially if that’s their full-time job.

On a slightly different note, Modding is quite similar in this vein; where a player often feels something could be improved – with this often being small changes. Or they add additional content to increase options for the player or add whole new cities or overhaul story elements. Whilst not being a full Remake or Remaster of the game, they have definitely helped to keep some old games feel lively with ensuring that the game is able to keep up with modern technology. However, because players can mix and match as many or as little Mods as they want it doesn’t really count as either a Remake or a Remaster. Though I think this is a great topic to look into a bit later this year!

Keep an eye out for that in the near future!

To recap what was discussed, a Remaster is where the studio focuses on enhancing the game’s visuals and removing bugs, but otherwise keeps the mechanics, story and features the same throughout. And a Remake is where they still update the visuals but change the mechanical and narrative from the original. This often changes the game and does take away from the Nostalgia that a Remaster focuses on keeping.

Whilst I do believe that this topic is much deeper than what I have gone over here, the definition is also muddied a bit when people try and aim for a mix of the 2. I’ll have a bunch of links below to all the websites and information I found on all the above topics if you want to really explore the rabbit hole!

References:

What’s the Difference Between a Remake and a Remaster?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Shock#Sequels_and_remakes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Shock_(2023_video_game)

https://metroid.fandom.com/wiki/Another_Metroid_2_Remake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM2R

https://metroid2remake.blogspot.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid:_Samus_Returns

https://metroid.fandom.com/wiki/Another_Metroid_2_Remake#:~:text=downloading%20the%20game.-,Shutdown,any%20download%20links%20be%20removed

Categories
Events Industry

Daring Lunar Architecture: Could The Future Of Space Travel Come From Australia?

Daring Lunar Architecture: Could The Future Of Space Travel Come From Australia?

An inaugural Australian Space Architecture Challenge (ASAC) organised by the University of Adelaide’s Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR) encouraged architects to envision the future of humans on the moon; through hypothetical vehicles and habitats we are able to see what our future could be!

What is the Challenge?

The Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR) looks to bring together many industries including those of STEM fields and align them and many creative fields to come up with concepts that will both be realistic and comforting for those who may have to live there in the future.

This also aligns with the goals of the Australian Civil Space Strategy and the Moon to Mars initiative that aims to advance Australia’s position in the global space economy and deep space exploration and settlement.

Overview

Although based here in South Australia the competition was Nationwide and Australia did not disappoint with their response to this challenge. With the winner having their work showcased at the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Milan, Italy. The IAC will be coming to Sydney in 2025 and they plan to also attend and showcase next year’s winner there.

Despite this being the first ever ASAC, many Australians had no trouble showing a creative and realistic perspective on the future of habitation/colonies on the Moon. The Top 3 entries showcased creative yet entirely plausible solutions, with an honourable mention standing apart from other applicants through their big “what if” approach, choosing to look much further into the future of what our architecture might evolve into.

These entrants also considered the major psychological challenges that current research suggests to be a large factor we need to look into, with a strong approach to making the habitats as comfy and human-centred as possible.

ASAC has 6 jury members who chose the winners and the honourable mention:

  • Amit Srivastava  – Founder and Chair of ASAC // Head, Lunar Architecture, ATCSR
  • Urs Bette – Program Director, Master of Architecture, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering (ACE), University of Adelaide
  • Deborah Turnball – Chair of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, UoA
  • Jonathon Dady – Artist in Residence, ATCSR
  • Enzo Ferraro – Senior Architect, Grieve Gillett Architects (GGA)
  • Sam Ximenes – CEO, Astroport Space Technologies, Australia
  • With their Space Architecture PhD student, Albert Rajkumar doing a lot of the behind the scenes work as the Coordinator for ASAC 2024
First Place

First place was given to the work titled “Happy Homesick” created by students Eric Luan, Claire Basso, Robert Cameron and JD Otto from University of Western Australia. With the jury describing their work as “a reminder that space exploration is not just about technical feasibility but necessity to create habitats that have a unique character,places that we can identify and develop a relationship with – places where we can feel home at” – Urs Bette

Although I did first recognise the similarities this piece held to Hobiton from Lord Of The Rings, it is very much a feasible piece centred around the needs of the humans right next to the functionality that is often the main focus of Space exploration and habitation.

Second Place

Second place was given to the work titled “Lunar Urbanism” by Bowen Yang and Yichan Wei from the University of Queensland. Johnnie Dady described their concept as “A very practical solution that gets the job done with available resources, in this case the hardware used for travel to the moon. The dynamic level variations are texturally interesting. The communication and presentation are compelling and the composition conveys the concept well.”

Third Place

Third place went to a work titled “Lunarium” by Ihab Shamseldin and Samer El Sayary from the University of Technology Sydney. “The modular system creates a launching pad for the experimental, inspiring communities of thinkers and tinkerers, limited in means but not imagination, to craft tailored outcomes with generic parts. This is modularity at its best.”, jury member Enzo Ferraro said.

Honourary Mention

And an honourary mention to Do Dang Quang Nguyen from the University of Adelaide for their work; “Alteon VII”. Described as a fun and creative combination of science and fiction.

The Importance of the Challenge for Australia

With the growth and interest in space travel and habitation continually growing worldwide, Australia aims to centre itself as a major player. With many space companies coming together to support this challenge, it only strengthens our place in the future of man living on the moon. Furthermore, with the launch of the EXTERRES Roseworthy Analogue in 2024 the support for research and testing within this area is ever growing.

Australia has a unique place in the space industry being so far from everything our land and expertise was needed to land the initial Astronauts on the Moon and we will continue to ensure that we are at the frontier of every space development!

With the winning entries being exhibited at the Space Architecture Symposium and Exhibition as part of the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) it shows how creative and committed Australia and its people are to the future of space travel and living. The massive support that this inaugural ASAC has is incredible, with the below sponsors providing monetary and personal contributions:

  • Space Architecture Lab (SAL)
  • Grieve Gillett Architects
  • Astroport Space Technologies

Alongside theses other supporting partners include:

  • MMG
  • HEX
  • Arch_Manu

One last congrats to the winners and a hearty good job to all applicants. Furthermore, thanks to everyone especially the ASAC team and ATCSR for making this happen!

Categories
Game Related

Fun Facts About Critter Capture Critters!

Fun Facts About the Critters from Critter Capture

Whilst we try to keep it rather serious around here at Mammoth HQ, sometimes we are here to just have fun and educate you about some little critters that you can capture yourself 👀.

Snails

Whilst they are kinda gross and slimy, they are also some of the cutest little guys around; with their mobile homes and eye stalks.

  • There are more types of snails than you think
    • Land Snails
    • Freshwater Snails
    • Sea Snails –  some known as Whelks or Limpets
  • There are more sea snails than the other 2
  • Similar to trees, the rings on a snail’s shell indicate its age.
  • Snails have the most teeth of any animal, despite being tiny snails can have up to 20,000 teeth depending on the species.
  • Snails don’t have jaws; you know those existential huge worms with gaping mouths and rows of teeth? Yeah that’s a snail mouth too (not quite)… also known as a radula
  • Snail Mucin is used in many cosmetics and was discover in the 1980’s
  • Snails are born with shells and cannot be replaced like Hermit crabs.
  • China has the smallest snail in the world from the soil of a cliffside in Guangxi. Known as the Angustopila Dominikae (Dominika), you will most likely need a microscope to  see it as it can fit through the eye of a needle. It was named after the wife of the scientist who discovered it (Barna Páll-Gerely).
  • The Giant Whelk is the largest snail, reaching up to 70cm in size and is in Australia, which dwarfs the next largest snail; the African Land snail, which is only a third of the Giant Whelks size.
  • Snails aren’t insects (but they are critters ;)).
  • Snails have one muscular foot that they use to move.
  • The Cone Snail (Conidae family) can kill humans with its venom and in fact has. It is also found in Australia… unsurprisingly
  • Snails can slip stream off another’s slime trail to go fast like sonic… snonic.
Roly Polys

More commonly known as Roly Polys or Pillbugs, Isopods are cute little friends who I remember finding under the rocks in my backyard as a kid.

  • Other common names are Woodlice, Pill bugs or Rolly-Pollies
  • Their job in the ecosystem is to break down organic matter and recycle nutrients back into the soil; in other words they’re detritivores and primarily feed on decaying organic matter, similar to many fungi! – terrestrial only
  • They’re crustaceans, and have a segmented exoskeleton – this allows them more manoeuvrability and to turn into a ball when threatened; which protects their vulnerable undersides
  • Live in various biomes from rainforests to deserts and even in deep-sea ecosystems
  • They breathe through specialised gills located on their abdominal segments
  • They have quite the range of colourations
  • They can regenerate lost limbs through their molting process – similar to many other crustaceans; with crabs being the most well known
  • Researchers are looking into potential medicinal uses from isopods as they have some antimicrobial properties that could help us develop new antibiotics.
  • There are variety of feeding habits between different species, free-living predators (cirolanids), scavengers (Giant isopods), grazers (idotea spp.), detritus feeders as stated above and parasites (species from family cymonthoidae) also more commonly seen as the one that eats the tongue of fish and take its place. Yikes.
  • There are about 20 isopods species that are commonly known as Giant Isopods, due to their enormous size. These are abundant in the cold, deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
    • They can be split into 2 different categories; Giant Isopods who grow to between 8 and 15cm long and Supergiant Isopods who grow to between 17 and 50cm long.
    • These are a great example of a phenomenon known as Deep-Sea Gigantism
    • Some East Asian cuisines uses the Giant Isopods as a novelty and is often described as similar to crab or lobster in taste, but firmer and chewier in texture.
  • Helleria Brevicornis are considered to be some of the biggest terrestrial isopods that also curl into a ball for protection; they get as big as 27mm!
  • Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii is an example of one of the smaller species of isopods. They; along with many other “dwarf” species only get to around 5mm long
  • This particular species can be found around ant nests and tend to feed on the ant droppings or mildew; because of this they are blind, this may be due to primarily living within the ant nests and rarely reaching the surface
Spiders

Arguably the scariest for our crittery friends, the spider is a formidable hunter and actually provides a lot of support to the environment and your home. Having a few spiders helps to keep the more pesky and annoying bugs at bay. Though with a common phobia and some deadly venom, it’s best to keep your 8 legged roommates at a distance.

  • Some Male spiders want to be eaten
    • Black Widows are known for cannibalising their mates, but this isn’t a guaranteed occurrence, however the red widow species in as exception where the male will force feed himself to the female by placing himself between her mandibles and will continuously go back till she eats him, if she keeps attempting to spit him out.
  • Some Jumping spiders specifically can see into spectrums that us humans cannot, with a few having proven to be able to see both UVA and UVB light!
  • Some new-world tarantulas can fling tiny irritating hairs to deter potential predators, similar to a porcupine using its quills as a defense
  • Most spiders are solitary creatures, some form communities, ranging into the thousands of members. They often work together to build large communal cobwebs, catch prey and then share their harvest.
  • Some spiders such as the ogre-faced spider will weave a net betweens its front legs and then waits till its prey passes underneath and then it scoops them up like they’re using a fishing net. In similar fashion Bolas spiders create a lasso with a long line of silk with a spot of sticky glue at the end, where they fling it at nearby moths to catch them
  • Some spiders mimic ants (looks and pheromones) to help hide from predators, however some do it to help them prey on ants
  • The biggest spider by mass is the Goliath Birdeater, a type of tarantula that can be found in South America and is quite lovingly compared to the size of a small puppy. These spiders are ambush predators where it primarily eats worms, beetles, mice (and other rodents), snakes, frogs and lizards. It can and has been seen eating birds, however it lives in a burrow on the ground and therefore doesn’t run into many birds.
    • It isn’t venomous, but does provide a painful bite and has urticating hairs that make it difficult to handle. Furthermore, it also isn’t poisonous and is considered a delicacy in some Southern American cuisines, the taste is often compared to shrimp. Hmm!
  • The Giant Huntsman, while not the biggest, has the longest legs and often appears bigger than the Goliath Birdeater. Currently it is only known to reside in a cave in Laos, but many other large Huntsmans can be found globally in any warm and temperate regions.
    • They are known for the male’s loud ticking sound.. Lovely!
    • They can deliver a venomous bite that may require hospitalisation
  • All potential options for the smallest spider are from the Symphytognathidae family.
    • Patu digua – Found in Colombia, males had a length of 0.37mm
    • Patu Marplesi – Somoan Moss Spider, found in Samoa, as small as 0.4mm
    • Anapistula Ataecina – Frade Cave Spider, only females have been found, males tend to be smaller, found in a cave in Portugal, body length of 0.43mm
    • Anapistula Caecula – Dwarf Orb Weaver, only females have been found, males tend to be smaller, found on the Ivory Coast, size of 0.48mm
  • Sometimes these leggy guys make friends with frogs!
    • Frog: Chiasmocleis ventrimaculata or the Dotted Humming Frog
    • Has befriended the burrowing Tarantula Colombian lesser black tarantula
    • This is a special relationship with the frog living in the burrow alongside the Tarantula, the frogs have a clear benefit from this relationship where the Tarantula provides the frog protection from its predators, a stable food source due to eating the spider’s leftovers and shelter to protect from climate variations. On the other hand, the frog’s foraging is believed to help protect the spider’s eggs from ants – this is still a hypothesis. Research is continuing into their relationship and many other similar ones that can be found within other frogs and Tarantulas of the same family/genus.
    • This relationship is clearly special, due to the Tarantulas catching and eating similar frogs, but avoiding the Dotted Humming Frog specifically.
Ladybugs

Quite cute and cuddly these little friends are quite colourful and found across the world. The loveliest of bugs and ladies combined we can only see that they are beautiful, except when you’re a farmer and lose hundreds if not thousands of crops each year; rude.

  • There are approximately 5000 species of ladybugs or lady beetles across the world
  • They are omnivores and eat both insects and vegetation
  • Ladybugs are coloured to tell predators that they taste awful and will secrete a foal tasting oil when threatened
  • The biggest ladybug is the large Leaf-eating ladybug (Henosepilachna guttatopustulata) and can get up to 7 – 9mm
  • Most are quite small and only get up to 0.8 – 18mm on average
  • Most are red with some who are orange or yellow. With the rare blue, pink, grey or white
  • Most have black spots, some have coloured, some are striped and others have no markings at all
  • They do sometimes play dead when they feel threatened
Honourable Mentions

Bees:

Some bees have little saddlebags called either Pollen baskets or Corbiculae and as the bees get pollen across their bodies they push it to their little pockets  on their hind legs.

The internet has loving called them pollen pants 🤙🤙

Weevils:

Females will lay a single egg in a rolled up leaf

Whelk, that’s all we have for today folks, love to share our love for the little and a little too big guys around the world!

References:

Snail

https://facts.net/snail-facts/

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artsep01/rhsnail.html

https://factsaboutsnails.com/

https://facts.net/nature/animals/20-facts-about-isopod/

https://australian.museum/blog/amri-news/are-isopods-on-the-naughty-or-nice-list/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_isopod

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helleria_brevicornis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platyarthrus_hoffmannseggii

https://www.si.edu/stories/eight-strange-true-spider-facts

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/meet-5-of-the-biggest-spiders-in-the-world

https://www.thoughtco.com/biggest-spiders-in-the-world-4172117#:~:text=The%20Goliath%20birdeater%20(Theraphosa%20blondi,that%20of%20a%20wasp%20sting.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/smallest-spider

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiasmocleis_ventrimaculata#:~:text=Commensal%20relationship,-This%20frog%20is&text=It%20is%20clear%20the%20dotted,to%20protect%20from%20climate%20variations

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/ladybug

https://www.treehugger.com/why-do-bees-have-pockets-4864396#:~:text=When%20you%20see%20bees%20flitting,including%20honey%20bees%20and%20bumblebees

Giraffe weevil

Categories
Events Industry

SAGE 2024

Roving Rovers at SAGE 2024!

Off of last year’s success the SAFC held another South Australian Games Exhibition over the course of 16th of Feb afternoon and the entirety of the following 17th. This was something we had waited a whole year for again, a space dedicated to just games and on top of that SAGE worked alongside the Fringe as well to make the event even better and bigger than the previous years.

And boy was it!

As we came into the start of 2024 we were continuing to work on our Rover Simulator alongside the ATCSR and Adelaide Uni in preparation for the upcoming Australian Rover Challenge in March and so we decided that SAGE was also a great opportunity to showcase Roving Rovers.

Throughout the Friday afternoon and following Saturday we had many people come up to our booth at SAGE because they find space to be very interesting, especially since Rovers being the main focus is an uncommon decision. So we had many people specifically interested in space come up and play Roving Rovers enjoying how the rovers are customisable and give more freedom to the player. They enjoyed being able to try what the minimum or maximum they could get away with when creating a bespoke rover.

Despite an implemented built-in tutorial for the rover builder and the overall game controls, many players would spend the whole allotted 10 minutes we provided each player, with players at some points actively finding just how much they could do before the game itself broke and had to be restarted.

I would also recommend that other developers who look for users to follow their socials or keep up to date with the game include a QR code in their setups. We had many visitors using their phones to open up our Linktree so they could look into Roving Rovers later on when they were back home.

Our CTO – Camryn Schriever – attended the networking get together on the Friday night after that afternoon of showcasing Roving Rovers to the public. He was able to catch up with many other developers who had just gone through the stress of setting up and showcasing a game all in one day.

Camryn described that event below:

“The SAFC hosted networking on Friday was a good opportunity to network with other local devs, and relax after a stressful day of setup and showing our game. I am very thankful for the opportunity SAGE presented us, and it’s always good to see local developers get the recognition they deserve.”

On top of Unwind, an SA developer get together, the community here in Adelaide is quite close and it’s lovely to come together and support each other and their projects. We would recommend that everyone in the industry or interested in joining should attend these events as they are a great way to network and get to know the industry and determine where you will fit in best.

With such positive reactions from many visitors it will definitely continue next year and I would expect it to be even more grand that what it was this year, especially since it was only SAGE’s 2nd time running. In 2023 it was something we were confident was going to continue, but didn’t expect it to attract as many visitors as it did this year, it’s fantastic to see the support that our local community and the wider SA has for the growing games industry!

It is definitely an event that is going to continue for years to come and will hopefully become a staple within the South Australian games industry; as an event that we all look forward to each year as a great way to bolster the industry and the confidence in our studios and upcoming talent.

Thank you to all who attended, either as a guest or as an exhibitor, thanks to the SAFC, Patrick and Phillip for keeping our industry connected and supportive. And thank you to Natacha for organising all the stall holders and keeping the event running. We thoroughly enjoyed this experience and can’t wait for it to be even bigger and better next year and to see the improvement on everyone’s projects and studios. Thank you for being an amazing industry and I hope South Australia can continue to show its strength in the coming years!!

Categories
Development Processess Industry

It’s Time To Change The Way You Interact With Customers!

It’s Time To Change The Way You Interact With Customers!

As everyone knows, video games are often viewed as a tool of entertainment and distraction, allowing players and viewers to forget about the world around them for hours at a time. However productive or useful you believe this outcome to be, it is an excellent way to grab and hold people’s attention and this is something you should be engaging with. It is a new way to interact and communicate with your audience and the most efficient way to educate and get your company’s story and vision out there.

But before I go into any more detail about how you can use this to your advantage, I think it is important to define what the purpose and strengths of games are and what you should be achieving when deciding to engage with your target audience.

Firstly the purpose of a video game is to:

  1. Entertain and keep an individual’s engagement and attention for a long period of time
  2. Use to education and share information

This brings with it a few strengths:

  • It is easier for users to engage with your story and content
  • Can reach a wider audience – including both children, adults and those who speak a different language

Purpose of interacting with your audience is to:

  • Increases sales
  • Increases trust with existing and new customers
  • Broadens your potential reach
  • Keeps existing customers engaged with your company and products/services

I know this seems like an intimidating task and it certainly can be, but how exactly will video games help to boost your audience reach and engagement?

First you have to determine how long you want your audience to be engaging with a video game; for example mobile products aim to keep their player’s attention for a minimum of 6 minutes, whilst many console and PC games aim for a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 hour.

By determining why you’re engaging with your audience you can figure this out. We have had previous clients who have been using a short video game that takes a maximum of 10 minutes to teach and engage with their audience at expos and fairs. Waste Wranglers is a perfect example of how a council can interact with their audience and how to create a positive change in their community. Enabling many people to engage with them whilst also teaching their audience what they wanted, to learn which waste goes in which bin.

Watch a quick playthrough of Waste Wranglers Here!

If you are aiming to take a video game to help with engagement and interest at expos, fairs or events aiming for each player to have approximately 10 minutes is a good middle ground to keep people entertained and not have them “hogging” the game at busy public events. If you’re looking for a more personal and intimate experience with your audience then a longer game with a more indepth story and gameplay would be more beneficial, this would enable those to relate to your company and story instead of being engaged with just the purpose of your interaction with them.

Solution

Lucky for you, we provide interactive entertainment and educational content, or in a more succinct way; edutainment video games.

We have an easy and simple 4-step process in place to ensure that the product you receive is what you need to increase engagement with your target audience.

We start off with the discovery phase where we will work alongside you to determine what interactive experience will benefit you and your goals. Throughout this process we will create 4 detailed documents going over the method to build your product along with how and who will engage with it once it’s been completed.

  • Game Design Document

How the experience will play out and how users will interact with it

  • Technical Design Document

How all the behind the scenes coding and technicalities will work

  • Art Bible

Determines the visual aesthetic and how it will appeal to your core audience

  • Production Plan

Details the budget, costs, development timelines and any funding options and opportunities available

When you’re all happy with the documents and development process we will move onto the development phase; where your product will be created using our in place processes and production pipeline. During this phase we have milestones where we will ensure that you are happy with how the development is going and to voice any queries or concerns you may have. Progress will ensure we hit the following milestones within the determined timelines from the Production Plan document:

  • An MVP or Minimum Viable Product

Simple version of the final mechanics and some basic art

  • Mechanically Complete Alpha

Basic art, with main art assets having been created with the full and complete version of the mechanics

  • Content Complete Beta

First pass on all the art assets and mechanics – enables you to visualise how the end product will be

  • Quality Assurance Testing

Improve how the game feels, remove bugs and finalise art assets

  • Polish

Ensuring the game is as perfect as possible before handing it over to you

Upon the completion of the game we go into the Publication phase, where we help you to distribute the game on to their platforms and monitor that it continues to work as intended.

We also ensure that the marketing pages for your product are optimal and will catch your audience’s eye.

Of course if your game is not going to be publicly available we will not release it on these platforms but we will ensure it works on all devices that it is needed on.

Once your game is accessible by you and your audience we will then move into the Support phase. Mini Mammoth Games provides on-going support for your product for the following 6 months after completion. This ensures a smooth release, distribution and user experience for you and your audience.

The on-going support allows us to:

  • Fix and remove bugs
  • Amend product breaking corner cases
  • Meet the ever changing needs of the launch and distribution platforms
  • Continue to improve customer engagement with the product


To simplify it all, we create yet another tool to help engage with your audience; in this ever digital and online world it is important to update your methods and be on the cutting edge of interacting and engaging with your customers, clients and audience.If you want a more indepth read into our process and what each phase means, catch up to speed here: https://minimammothgames.com/ensuring-our-clients-get-what-they-need/

Just remember this world changes everyday and so does the way we are expected to engage and interact with our audience. One of the best ways to have an easy and self-promoting product is through the use of video games; creating something people will want to share and enjoy with others but will still educate your audience on your company’s vision and story. This is a strong visual medium that can be used to create any experience that you want, use this to your advantage and book a meeting with us to see exactly what you can get out of video games.

Contact us through our contact form or email us via contact@minimammothgames.com

Talk soon!

Categories
Events Industry

Australian Rover Challenge 2024: A Recollection

Australian Rover Challenge 2024: A Recollection

Ahh, another year, another Australian Rover Challenge (ARCh); every March many universities descend upon Adelaide from far and wide to attend and compete in ARCh. This year was no different and once again we were there to celebrate alongside the many teams in attendance. The talent we walked into while there was astronomical and it’s no wonder its such a popular event, bringing in hundreds of people each year with many schools making a trip yearly to see the teams and their rovers; and now us as well.

This is our 3rd year in attendance at ARCh and it is something we look forward to each year, with many from the public and the teams themselves checking out what we and Roving Rovers have been up to over the past year.

Join us in a short journey going through our involvement in ARCh 2024 and where you will find us now that it is all said and done!

This year we decided to shift the starting position of Roving Rovers, instead of being in the Shackleton Crater we were to the side and above a cliff leading down into the crater.

Furthermore we kept it so players were still able to enter the crater through the use of lava tubes. Enabling players to experience more interesting terrain while still staying true to the lunar experience.

In the interest of maintaining a spoiler free blog here I am simply going to list the next few updates below without giving away too much information.

  • Included the 2024 University of Adelaide rover
  • A new narrative with more environmental engagement
  • Updates to the control of the rover, making it a much easier and nicer experience for players

Overall we were able to update and improve Roving Rovers to be more entertaining and an easier experience for those who aren’t super familiar with games, especially driving based games.

As a bit of a late introduction, if you’re unsure what the Australian Rover Challenge is then I’ll give a quick explanation below.

Every year students at various Universities will create teams made up from various disciplines giving them all the knowledge of how to build and program a lunar rover. Teams can use and upgrade upon the design of the Rovers used in previous challenges or come up with a new design, though they have to follow some strict guidelines to follow. Teams are told about the different challenges and goals for the challenge so that they can practise and problem solve; making their rover the most efficient at various tasks.

A majority of the teams are from Australian Universities, however last year they had their first international team from Poland – Project Scorpio – and this year, the second from Bangladesh – Team Atlas – With both performing their national anthems for us at the ending ceremony!

For more in depth information go give their website (https://set.adelaide.edu.au/atcsr/australian-rover-challenge/) a quick visit, but the challenges they compete in are:

  • Post Landing Task
  • Excavation & Construction Task
  • Space Resources Task
  • Mapping & Autonomous Task

This year was even more grand than the last, especially at a new location. But the winners definitely deserved their places.

  • 1st place goes to Projekt Scorpio
  • 2nd place goes to Monash’s Nova Rover
  • 3rd place goes to UQ Space

It was great to see all the differences between rovers and all the progress that’s been made and the effort everyone has put into the event and the team’s dedication to their rovers.

Keep a close eye out and you might find a familiar rover appearing in Roving Rovers 👀👀.

With that being all said and done, how did Roving Rovers go at Arch?

Firstly, thankyou for asking and secondly it went fantastic!

Although there were less people just wandering through this year, we still had quite a few people coming and checking it out, including a few school groups. Roving Rovers is a great introduction to the Australian Rover Challenge for the younger audiences, as they are able to try out the different challenges before watching the teams attempt the challenges in real time. We also had many of the teams come through and check out the game, as most had heard of Roving Rovers but never tested or watched any gameplay and so this was their first time playing or watching their teammates play.

As stated above we also had a digital version of the University of Adelaide’s rover and many; who had never controlled their own rover, were absolutely thrilled to be able to finally manoeuvre and attempt the challenge for themselves with their own rover.

Overall the experience was fantastic as always and it’s great to support all the hardwork and dedication that all the teams have put into their Rovers. We are looking forward to next year and are eager to see who takes the trophy in 2025!

You can find Roving Rovers HERE 

And can keep up to date with its development through multiple channels!

Catch ya on the lunar side!

Categories
Industry

2023 Trends Continuing Into The New Year

The Up and Coming Trends for 2024!

2023 had many original, remakes and reboots of games released but there were also many notable changes to the trends towards the end of the year, some of which were a pleasant surprise. This blog will unpack some of the trends that we think are going to bring even many more gifts into the gaming world.

Let’s Get Into It!

As many games and companies aim to widen their reach, we are seeing a large increase in the diversity of customisable characters. With a noticeable increase these past years, it is undeniable that this trend is only going to continue to grow as the industry itself diversifies. Throughout the years many more women- and POC- run studios have been popping up across the world, showing that with diversity comes a greater range of experiences and increased creativity. Furthermore, established teams and studios are also expanding the variety of genders, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds that they will hire. Although this is often considered a “non-issue” in many people’s eyes, having a range of people in all positions at a studio allow more experiences and viewpoints to be shown and heard, enabling games to be made that we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten.

 

There have been many recent examples of how industries have bolstered audiences through increasing internal diversity. Such efforts have successfully fostered connections with international, demographically varied audiences. The heightened accessibility of diverse audiences provided by social media/formal media outlets has proved intercultural communication and understanding a necessity.

Years ago, many people considered or only knew of Steam as the major contender for PC games if you weren’t installing from a CD or directly downloading from the developer’s website themselves. Nowadays, many games are bringing back their own digital launchers or utilising multiple games platforms.

With Steam’s changing policies and saturated game market, lacking any curation it is easy to see why many developers are losing interest in the platform. A few alternative contenders have either gotten back into the limelight or recently come into favour with a larger playerbase. Places like Epic Games Store, Itch.io and GOG have continued to release many games throughout the years, however with a wider range of games and, in some cases, a much more curated game experience.

  • Epic Games
  • GOG
  • Itch.io
  • Xbox Games Pass

With a much more guaranteed positive and well-made experience on other platforms, many are only using Steam for a game that has been marketed and shown that it is worthwhile instead of discovering and playing games from little-known studios or developers.

Steam used to offer such a great experience for new studios and devs to be able to share their game to a wider audience, but with its current state it’s no longer at that peak and many are leaving due to myriad concerns.

However, with each new launcher created there is an increasing annoyance and growing disdain that a lot of players have against developers having their own launchers. This is because many developers only have 1 – 3 games that they release through that launcher creating a bloat to the system of downloading and playing games. Even some games you buy and play through Steam redirect you through another developer’s launcher, which makes it required to have your friend on that other launcher as well to play specific games together. And not all of these are as user friendly as Steam currently is, the 2k Launcher has negatively affected many of the games played through it and caused a bit of an uprising in XCom fans.

Whilst this is still an in-development practice, many distributors are now offering a download free option for games. By running the game from the cloud and streaming it to the player, it enables those without much space or  computer power to play a wider range of games without having to uninstall previous or existing games. Furthermore this is often used by groups of friends who want to play a couch co-op game together, but are unable to catch up to play on the same device. Streaming the game enables those players to play the game with the host actually running the game and streaming to the other players who then are able to interact with the game. With this innovation many players with excellent and easily accessible internet were able to experience a wider range of games, however that is one of the bigger drawbacks to this feature; it was entirely dependent on your location and your governmental infrastructure. If you had a fast and accessible internet that was located close to the server then you would have a wonderful experience, but anyone without all of those would have a worse experience and potentially wouldn’t even be able to play any of the games without extreme delay.

On top of potential inaccessibility, this isn’t something that many have embraced with open arms and is a bit controversial, but enough players and investors have shown interest, so I believe it will continue to gain interest and be a big player in the future when games only get bigger and take up a large amount of space on devices.

As players don’t own the game they’re playing, there are only select games available which are only accessible through a subscription system, eliminating a large section of the audience that would benefit from having a system like this.

In many areas of the entertainment industry, remakes are becoming increasingly popular; with companies and investors wanting to make money off beloved and existing franchises. However this has been a slow progression within the gaming industry, with the first remakes appearing in the early 2000’s and then only in the late 2010’s. In the past few years though, more remakes and emulations of now defunct or inaccessible games are coming out, either by the developer/publishers themselves or by dedicated fans. The most spoken about has been the Pokemon franchises and their remakes/reimagines of some of their earlier games, though there has been serious criticism of their recent releases (although I liked them all).

However in other franchises like Resident Evil, the remakes have been accepted and praised for the developers sticking to what made the original so loved and what made it stand out from the horror genre back then. With many being drawn back to a franchise that had lost many dedicated players after years of increasingly disappointing releases within the franchise’s world.

The interest has only increased in those wanting to go back and relive the games from their childhoods, the games that made them love videogames in the first place. For many those were arcade games and unfortunately only a few are still accessible or emulated online, but for many more they were downloaded either digitally or from a physical CD that they picked up from in store. With many of these games being emulated online or developers/publishers making them accessible on distribution platforms, like Steam, it enables players to go back and play those games. This has also been a growing trend on YouTube and Twitch with gamers playing games from their childhoods and commenting on what they liked the most.

 

Furthermore you can find whole communities dedicated to keeping and documenting all the ‘retro’ era games and keeping a massive accessible library of them so that anyone can go back and find their childhood favourites.

 

Something similar happened when Adobe Flash went down many years ago, there was a rush to preserve the history of online web games and how they influenced the world that we are living in now. You can visit these archives, download and play some of the games that they have managed to archive before they all became defunct or went mia before the original devs were able to port the game, if they were still around that is. The favourite and current leader being Flashpoint Archive/Maxima, an archive started by an internet user going by Blue Maxima; but has since become a non-for-profit community effort to archive and save over 100,000 games and 20,000 flash animations.

It has increasingly become more popular in the past few years where an early access or alpha build of a game is made publicly available for players to muck around in. This is a great way for studios to get a dedicated fan base whilst still developing the game and helping to fund the rest of the development. Whilst not every player is willing to buy a game before it has actually been finished, being able to see how players interact with and review the game can help those interested to watch for when it is released or wishlist/favourite the game to ensure they don’t miss it when it is eventually released.

Having an existing fan base and a large portion waiting for it’s release is something that can dramatically increase the chance of investment or funding for the rest of the development, especially in indie studios.

It can be difficult for many Indie studios or developers to be able to fully fund a game without prior success, prior partnerships with a publisher or without being able to definitively prove that this game will be a commercial success. Having a demo or early access that the public is allowed to play can make sure that investors and publishers have trust in the game’s success and are willing to put money and marketing behind the game to further the already guaranteed profit.

This can also make sure that the game hits all its deadlines and ensure the game comes out on time without any crunch at the end. By enabling the studio to hire on more talent to develop and test the game quicker and more in depth than they could’ve previously.

With 15% of all games on Steam being in early access it isn’t surprising that this is a growing trend and one that will only continue to become more and more common in the coming years.

VR and AR have had a slow introduction into the world of video games, with many heralding it as the next greatest thing when the first semi-affordable headset was released. However it has had slow but consistent growth since, many consoles and devices are thrown into popularity through a particular feature or video game, for the VR headset that has been a struggle. There have been many successful games mind you, just not anything that has made any significant changes to how players want to interact with their games, many still wait till they have the spare change to buy a headset and don’t actively save up for one.

Games like Pavlov, Gorilla Tag, Half life 3 have been a big hit within the VR community and brought a lot of interest, especially when they first released. Unfortunately not enough games are either regularly coming in or replayable enough for a majority of players to keep coming back on a regular base like they would with games on other consoles.

Though with a few games allowing cross platform with the VR headset it did bring back a lot of interest as people could play with their friends who didn’t have a headset instead of just playing single player or online with strangers. I think this specifically in the VR game industry is going to be the trend of this year, cross play has become increasingly popular and necessary across the rest of the consoles so I think it’ll have a huge boost in the VR space especially with successes like Davigo, No Man’s Sky and many more https://brentmersy.blogspot.com/2023/02/vr-games-you-can-play-with-your-friends.html .

In contrast AR had a breakthrough when Pokemon GO released 8 years ago and had enough replayability and collectable pokemon to keep its large audience engaged for years to come, with many still having the game on their phone and interacting with the regular updates. Furthermore Niantic, the developer of Pokemon GO has had enough success to release multiple other games in the same genre and with a similar playstyle. Pikman Bloom and Monster Hunter Now were released a few years after the blow up of Pokemon GO and have both had just as much success as their predecessor, just aimed at different communities, with the Pikman Bloom game offering only teamwork challenges instead of player vs player pokemon battles.

Having a look back at some of the previous AR games shows just how much this particular industry has developed and how much it integrates into other industries.

Google maps for example, there is a zombie tour thing in venice and other countries, normal tours in other countries, people use it at museums so everyone can learn about all the pieces without requiring a guided tour with strangers.

It seems that while it may have stagnated a bit in the entertainment industry, it is still growing and I feel like this year will be a big success for the AR industry especially if it’s coming from Niantic.

This is not going to be a surprise for anyone, Esport tournaments have been a large trend for quite a few years. With only a few changes or additions to the games over the years it has been a steady and consistent spot in the games industry.

The current favourite games for Esports tournaments are:

  • Overwatch
  • Rocket League
  • Valorant
  • Apex Legends
  • Call Of Duty
  • Arena of Valor
  • Rainbow Six Siege
  • PUBG

This trend isn’t going to slow down anytime soon unless the games themselves absolutely crash, however that is highly unlikely. Tournaments are a favourite in any fan base, from singing to sports to trading card games and unsurprisingly video games. It is going to continue with the only question being what game/s will be added to the roster this year.

Battle Royales have been a long time favourite of Esports tournaments and had a recent resurgence with games like Apex Legends, Fortnite and Call-Of-Duty: Warzone that were released in previous years. With these games still very much still in their peaks their tournaments are going to continue for as long as the genre persists.

Furthermore an off and on again trend has been stream interactive games, with the biggest introduction being Killing Room, which allowed viewers of a Twitch streamer to vote on a benefit or obstacle for the streamer to experience.

An example being the choice to vote for the streamer to lose a leg – making them move slower, hop and unable to run – or giving them a new weapon – allowing the streamer to increase their damage output and have a better chance of winning.

Interactions like these give games a longer life and more replay ability as the human factor and randomness give a sense of anticipation as to what is going to happen this time. This also makes the viewers more likely to stay around as they get to directly affect how the entertainment is going.

Other games like Cult of the Lamb jumped on an opportunity for viewers to work under their “cult leader” as one of the many hirelings throughout the game. This encouraged streamers to play more than once as most liked to play the game by themselves for at least the first few sessions, furthermore it encouraged viewers to tune in to those particular streams to keep updated on how “their character” was doing within the cult. This was a popular feature that hadn’t been integrated in many other games during 2022 and ensured that people not only played, but watched others play the game.

The most recent example would be modern adding it into Lethal company and Indie game that previously didn’t have streaming support. This continued the longevity of the game and has it still being played despite its repetitive gameplay, having viewers randomly interact and potentially make or break a run was extremely popular and added in with other mods made each game only more chaotic.

With how popular these features have been, it can only get more and more popular with simple games that are aimed towards the streaming and YouTuber communities. It wouldn’t be surprising if more mods start to pop up in other games and resurge interest in them again.

There are many trends across video games with many being specific to their genres, but a few definitely stand out. With so many new releases and continuously replayable games it is almost guaranteed that an existing trend is going to continue into the coming year.

As our friend Newton stated in his 1st Law, and I quote: “Every trend will keep its momentum unless acted on by an external force”, or something along those lines I believe.

Categories
Industry

Our Placement Program: Cultivating the Future of Video games in South Australia

Our Placement Program: Cultivating the Future of Video games in South Australia

As students we didn’t quite get the opportunities we wanted with placements, but once we started Mini Mammoth Games we decided to change that! Come through and discover how we here at Mini Mammoth Games are cultivating the future talent of the South Australian games industry.

During our study at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment many of us founders were able to participate in their placement program, enabling us to go out and experience the opportunities of seeing how our skills could be applied to real life jobs. Unfortunately there weren’t many, if any, game development studios that opened their doors to placements; something that we found to be disappointing and didn’t feel relevant or productive.

Therefore when we sat down to create a placement program we focused on what we would have liked and benefited from. This enabled us to make a few decisions immediately as to what we should focus on:

  • Make a fun and unserious game
  • Full experience – design, development and distribution
  • Creating the marketing
  • Receiving and analysing the results of their marketing
  • Scope of projects

This worked out quite well and did help a lot with students’ understanding of scope, specifically for small hyper casual mobile games. This was something that we struggled with when we first started making games at MMG and is something that we have also noticed when working with placements.

Feel free to have a look at the games that the placements from 2023 made!

2023 Placement Games

With the program being a success at AIE we decided to increase our reach and extend the offer to other universities. Starting with our friends over at Flinders University, next was the University of Adelaide and last but not least; the University of South Australia.

This is also amongst the various work experience and one of placements from either high schools or other tertiary education institutes that we did not yet have much contact with.

Doing this allows us to have a constant rotation of placement groups throughout the entire year, enabling us to give valuable experience to as many students as possible.

One of our placements from Flinders University, Adam, had this to say about his experience with us:

“It was a rewarding journey, in which I was encouraged to experiment, learn, and have fun every step of the way. I am thankful to Mini Mammoth Games for the opportunity, continuous support, and mentorship. Being exposed to the entire development process, from pitch to launch, has given me confidence that I now have knowledge and skills to contribute to the video games industry.”

Through our ‘Quality, Quickly’ process we are able to get placements to experience the full scope of development and marketing. Once they have developed their game we get them to create both image and video creatives to help market their game over the course of a week. Once completed we then provide the results and analytics to the students, allowing them to see which creative attracted the viewer’s attention best and the reaction of players to their game.

Our goal is to make the video games industry more accessible in South Australia; with such a tight knit community it can often be intimidating and a little off putting to those trying to get their foot in the door.

If you’re interested in taking part as a placement or on behalf of your students, please email us through contact@minimammothgames.com or go through our contact form. Furthermore, we often take placements in groups as this allows them to work as a team with a designer, programmer and artist; a minimum of 3 but we do take larger groups if needed. We are open to working with those who can’t build a full group, however that will be determined on a case by case basis and depending on our current and schedule placements.

We will be continuing our placement program for the foreseeable future and we would love to help you and others become more prepared for the industry!

With our former and current placements giving us positive feedback we are intent on continuing this so that students can get the best opportunities available. We have partnered with multiple educational institutes to reach as many students as possible and will continue to reach out to more throughout the entire state.

Categories
Mammoths

Mammoth facts you didn’t see coming, because they’re extinct.

Mammoth facts you didn’t see coming, because they’re extinct.

One of the more unknown facts about mammoths is that they’re not actually around anymore. They became extinct 10,000 years ago, an unfortunate reality that we have accepted here at the mammoth HQ. But for your viewing pleasure only, we are here to satiate your need for mammoth facts and information to last the rest of your lifespan.

Your Welcome!

Mammoths are herbivores and graze the ground for food; similar to that of the modern cow!

There is more than one type of mammoth

  1. The Woolly Mammoth
  2. And the Steppe Mammoth

With the latter being the much larger sibling; weighing in at 7.2 metric tonnes and reaching a whopping 4m or 13ft tall

Our little friends the Woolly Mammoth come in at a mere 4.5 metric tonnes and 3m or 9ft tall; approximately the same size as our African Elephant friends

  • Remarkably, Woolly Mammoths are more closely related genetically to the smaller Asian Elephant

Mammoths lived in biomes known as the Steppe Tundra or the Mammoth Steppe

  • This used to be Earth’s most extensive biome; reaching from the west of Europe, across Eurasia and into North America
  • With a significant north-to-south reach as well, the Steppe Tundra reached from the arctic islands all the way to China
  • With the climate being cold and dry the Steppe Tundra was mostly large, flat and featureless grassland, covered in palatable grasses, herbs and willow shrubs
  • However during the winter months snow would cover a majority of the edible grasses and shrubs, making food scarce during this time
  • Though the Mammoths are the most recognised animals, there were many friends that also wandered this landscape; reindeer, muskox, woolly rhinoceros, steppe bison, brown bears, (cave) steppe-lion, scimitar cats, wolverines and wolves
  • It is believed that the extinction of the Mammoths was due to a combination of humans hunting them and the climate changing to be warmer and wetter; removing and changing the vegetation away from what Mammoths could consume

Due to this, fossils and mummified remains of the Steppe Bison suggested that the same happened to them

Woolly Mammoths and friends. Illustration by Maurico Antón via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice_age_fauna_of_northern_Spain_-_Mauricio_Ant%C3%B3n.jpg

They also originated from the warmer African climate; before migrating north into Europe, Asia and North America

Similar to some winter dogs and animals, Woolly Mammoths also had two layers of fur

  • The longer top coat that could grow up to 90cm in length!
  • The shorter undercoat, which created a thick insulating layer
  • Mammoths displayed a range of coloured furs with orange as the most common; paleontological evidence suggest colours ranged from almost black to blonde were present within herds

Humans were also alive and hunting during the Mammoth’s reign and hunted them for food, fur and their bones; which were used to create strong buildings and huts

Due to living in harsh cold biomes many mammoths ended up being preserved and accidentally mummified; with the best being a female in her 50s named Buttercup (RIP)

Scientists are looking more into “reviving” extinct species including the Tasmanian Tiger and the Woolly Mammoth, 

  • This is a controversial experiment due to the significant change in environment and climate since they last wandered the earth

We welcome you to share these amazing facts with those around you and give a small thanks to those mammoths watching over you reading this blog.

Please check out our other mammoth blogs and become acquainted with our very own mini mammoth, Herbert. The best boy in this hemisphere!

If you would like to look at the autopsy photos of Buttercup follow the links below, small warning they are NSFW!

https://www.livescience.com/37042-image-gallery-stunning-mammoth-unearthed.html

https://www.livescience.com/48768-photos-mammoth-autopsy.html

 

Check out these websites for more info

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/10-incredible-woolly-mammoth-facts/

https://www.westberkshireheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Woolly-mammoth-fun-facts-sheet-online-version-2.pdf

https://www.livescience.com/56678-woolly-mammoth-facts.html

https://www.treehugger.com/woolly-mammoth-facts-5114029

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Exhibiting At THE Museum of Discovery

Roving Rovers at the Museum of Discovery

As many of you have heard, here at Mini Mammoth Games we have a Hard Sci-fi lunar management sim under development, Roving Rovers! In December of 2022 we introduced ourselves to Lisa Bailey from the University of South Australia who runs the MOD. Which opened up a great opportunity we had been looking for, a month long exhibition for the public. This would not only open Roving Rovers up to being played by many different people, but also allow us to get first hand feedback and analytics to help guide on-going development.

With an exciting month-long exhibition ahead of us we thought it was only fitting to host a Launch Party. We could then celebrate the wider games industry,as well as connect with space industry professionals from across the state. With the help of the MOD staff we were able to pull off a great night, with an excellent spread of food and drink choices in the very comfortable and welcoming Gould Gallery.

The night went off without a hitch, everyone was able to find the Gallery and we filled most of the main hall., With our game accessible in an adjacent room, everyone was able to mingle and see what the fuss was all about. We were also blessed to have some great speakers that talked about the idea and conception of Roving Rovers. Thank you to Cameron Mackness from Flinders University, Andreas Antoniades from Saber Astronautics and John Culton from the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR). Their endless support of Mini Mammoth Games and Roving Rovers has been a big help with the project and its development so far.

At the exhibition we decided to show off multiple versions of Roving Rovers, showing how the game has evolved over its development . Starting in late 2021 alongside Flinders University and some of their students, we were able to create a small but enjoyable demo that did an ok job at showcasing the 2022 Australian Rover Challenge. With such a welcoming and encouraging response to the demo we decided to continue to develop Roving Rovers further and so we prepared an update for the Space Forum event later that year. In 2023 we once again worked with (ATCSR) to create a more accurate rover demo while adding in some of the participating team’s rovers used in the physical challenge.

All of these versions of the game were available to play with at our exhibition, as well as a few posters providing context as to why there were multiple versions of the same game and explaining the history of the project. We were also allowed to have Mini Mammoth Games staff members manning the exhibition and working from the space, allowing those who visited to ask more in depth questions and learn more about it’s on-going development.

Alongside multiple builds of Roving Rovers we were tracking analytics from the most recent build. These were also displayed  to those who visited the exhibit. We used this event as a way to see how players engage and interact with the rover builder to complete various terrain challenges. With the exhibition open to the public for 20 days we had a staggering 649 sessions, over 61 hours of total playtime with an average of 5 minutes and 45 seconds per player. We did have someone play for a total time of 53 minutes, more than 10 times longer than the average. Players who did play for an extended amount of time enjoyed the rover builder the most and would spend a large portion of their time fiddling with the designs.

 

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Having developers present allowed us to also observe how players would interact with the game between the various builds. From our observations players really enjoyed the rover builder, but wished to have more firm directions/quests like the 2 Australian Rover Challenge builds had.

Our experience with the MOD was fantastic and with over 600 distinct sessions of Roving Rovers it was effective at reaching a large audience. Furthermore, with the MOD allowing developers to work there during its opening hours we were also able to interact and watch those who played the game, which expedited our feedback process.

We would like to thank the MOD. for inviting us to use their space, and all the help and support they provided over the month we were set up there. It was an invaluable experience and we would highly recommend it to any developers given the opportunity.

Thank you to everyone who helped us get to this point and we appreciate all the support!

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