Review Fix chats with Heavy Water CEO Tammy McDonald, who discusses the company’s new and intriguing game platform, The Axis Game Factory.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration behind the Axis Game Factory?
Tammy McDonald: To create a product that allows everyone to create, design, build, play and share their game creations in an easy to use interface. We want everyone to be able to build what their imagination can draw.
Review Fix: How much time and effort went into creating all of these assets?
McDonald: The prototype that you see in our video has been in development for four to five months now. Many of the assets such as the characters, NPC’s, enemies, sets, props, textures, and some of the tech features, have been in development over the past few years. We have been self-publishing virtual worlds in PlayStation Home for years… all of these assets in our library span multiple genres, features, and functionality. It’s a treasure chest of awesomeness that offers a huge jump-point in our development.
Review Fix: What’s your favorite part of the platform?
McDonald: This is a hard question to answer… for Matt (McDonald, one of the co-creators of the platform), I would say his favorite part is the “build” mode. In this mode, you can piece together larger objects through a massive amount of objects that are provided in the warehouse’s parts department. Building houses, vehicles, obstacle courses, platforms, dungeons, modify vehicles with their unique weapons… there is a ton to do in this mode, and once you have created your object, you can bring it straight into design and you will always have that object in your library to use over and over again or share with friends that have the same items in their warehouse.
I personally like “Design” mode – this is where everything is brought together and planned out. All of your terrain, ground coverings, structures, furnishing, flooring, characters, NPC’s, enemies… this is where you select your camera modes (and can change as you go) – set your start point and layout gameplay objectives. At any time in Design mode, you can jump to “Play” mode to test out your game and see how it has all come together and make tweaks accordingly. It also has a great “play back” feature, so at any time I can load in a level and watch it come together from scratch. It
My seven-year-old, Gavin, likes the “Play” mode – he enjoys running around the environment as a character, finding objectives and battling enemies. Depending on the level of complexity in the design, it can be a challenge to find your way to the “exit” point in a level, and is very rewarding to enter the next level of gameplay.
Review Fix: What do you think is missing from the platform for it to be as successful as it should be?
McDonald: Right now, we need eyeballs.. as much support for the project on Kickstarter as possible. After we get off the ground, I will also be working with partners to bring in licensed IP so that players and Machinimators can create content using their favorite brands and characters.
Review Fix: Can players monetize their creations?
McDonald: We have not built a monetization feature into the Axis Game Factory as the focus is to empower users with the tools to create their own games. I think we need to walk before we run… I am not saying that it is not a possibility, but just not for the launch of the product.
Review Fix: What kind of updates are being planned for the platform?
McDonald: When we are close to being funded, we plan to release our stretch goals along the way. One of the main updates will include expanding the platforms… opening up to the iOS, Android, Tablet and Consoles. We are already building features into the game to ensure seamless control and functionality across platforms.
From there, we really plan to drill down on various genres and ensure we have a deep gameplay experience for all gamers who support Axis Game Factory. FPS with full campaign modes, diverse weapons systems and tactical combat systems. Supporting multiplayer and networked gaming… it’s all within scope, we just need to take it one step at a time.
Review Fix: What’s the next step if you guys can’t raise the necessary funds via Kickstarter?
McDonald: We will continue to move forward with the Axis Game Factory… the good news is that we have had tremendous outreach thus far from industry partners, publishers and entertainment partners alike. We would likely allow any supporters a chance to donate on our website using the PayPal we set up to ensure their reward status and tier.
Review Fix: What are your long-term goals for the platform?
McDonald: We see the Axis Game Factory as becoming a self-sustaining platform… by that, I mean, that the community will naturally evolve by sharing, collaborating and discovering new ways to interact with the software and by requesting new features to support their game visions and ideas.
We would love to see the main focus shift to the user-generated content of their games, movies, stories, films, animations and series they develop and collaborate as a creative community.
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