Positech's Cliff Harris on indy game developing

Feature

Positech Games has a unique approach to game developing: one man does it all. We speak to Cliff Harris, head of marketing, sales, development and... well, everything else too!

March 16th, 2006 by Marko Susimets�

Positech Games has become known for their no-nonsense type of games that offer content instead of impressive but superfluous graphics and special effects. Games such as Democracy and Starship Tycoon are perhaps their best-known titles, but there are others, such as Planetary Defense and Asteroid Miner.

In addition to their unique approach to games, Positech Games has other qualities that set it apart from most game developers. Positech Games programs, publishes, markets and sells their own games. It is also a one-man company. And that man is Cliff Harris, who's also worked for other game developers in his days and his mark can be seen in, for example, The Movies. Cliff agreed to some questions from us concerning his philosophy in game-design.

Hooked Gamers: How did you come up with the idea of producing, programming, marketing and selling your own games? Would it not be easier to work with a publisher and concentrate your own efforts on programming?

Positech's Cliff Harris on indy game developing

Cliff: Easier yes, but not as rewarding. Publishers take a HUGE chunk of the price of a game, leaving you not only with very little cash, but very little contact with the players. I also know how I want my games described and presented to people, so it makes sense for me to do that too. I quite enjoy the business side of things too, and I think players appreciate the fact that there is no middle-man, and they are talking directly to the person that made the game. That's especially true when it comes to tech support issues.

Hooked Gamers: You mentioned independence as one of the major characteristics of Positech Games. How would your games, such as Democracy, be different, if you had worked traditionally with a separate publisher?

Cliff: Firstly, it would never get made. Who wants a game about politics, right? It turns out that a lot of people do, but it's not a traditional gaming market. Any publisher would have insisted that the game have some kind of 3D world, and probably have dumbed it down slightly. I can't see many big marketing departments liking a game that has quotes from Vladimir Putin, Gandhi and George Bush on its loading screens. The whole genre and aim of the game just would not fit in the gameplan of a traditional publisher. When a big company does a politics game, you get an infinite-polygon engine strapped to it for no good reason (Republic -the revolution). I was working at Elixir and watched that happen!

Hooked Gamers: With the contemporary obsession with computer-busting graphics, who do you see as the potential players for your games, as they use graphics that are mainly utilitarian?

Cliff: Firstly there are the jaded strategy gamers, who have played their share of whizz bang 3D and had enough of it. Then there are the 'ex-gamers', people my age (mid thirties) who remember 'pong', and aren't really bothered about the looks of a game. Then there are the non-gamers, people interested in politics, who might only play Democracy and not other games. Also, my games tend to run on low spec machines quite well. A lot of people aren't going to spend $400 on a graphics card anymore.

Hooked Gamers: Do you get a lot of feedback and suggestions from the people who play your games?

Cliff: YES! I used to reply to every suggestion, and try to incorporate every feature, but it has become a bit overwhelming. I do read every email I get, especially the ones with suggestions for improvements, although I don't always have time to reply to them all. Some of the ideas are really good, and I'm surprised just how many people have taken the time to email me and say how much they enjoy the games. I get a lot of praise from people who really into independent games, and I get a lot of really shocked emails from people whom I reply to. They never expected their email would get read at all, that's what the customer service of the big publishers has led people to expect.

Hooked Gamers: Where do you come up with the ideas for your games in general and how was Democracy born?

Cliff: I throw away a lot of ideas before I settle on a game. I started maybe 6 or 7 until I settled on Democracy. Starship Tycoon was originally a space combat game about morphing starships. Democracy was originally a game of galactic conquest where you were the governor of different space colonies. That became just 1 colony, then just 1 country, then it became real countries like the UK and USA.