Overview

Developer: Liquid Edge Games (No website)
RF official page: http://www.roboforge.com/

Publishers, developers, and you

Nearly every game you hear of, and most that get hyped have publisher backing. Publishers are usually the companies that give a developer money to make a game, and reap most of the rewards afterwards. It only makes sense, since the publisher is the one taking the financial risk. No game is a sure thing. Even major development teams, working on established franchises and getting strong marketing support can make a game that fails. A couple of bewildering examples include PlaneScape: Torment and MDK2. Both games achieved great critical success but gamers chose not to buy them.

Pity the cropping

Wheelie!

Tractor fights?

Therefore, it's no surprise that smaller teams composed of unknown members tend to have difficulty in finding financial backing for a project. When that project is a game that's just "out there" - possibly too innovative and different for its own good - the developers often find they have to slug it out on their own. This is precisely what Liquid Edge, the RoboForge developers faced.

The internet is the distribution method of choice for independent developers. Funding the game's development is difficult enough by itself - actually printing out boxes and manuals, pressing CDs and acquiring retail space is out of the question for many small companies.

Snap on, snap off

What a simple, ugly design

AI Menu

What is RoboForge?

RoboForge is something in between Robot Wars and Lego. The whole point of the game is to build robots from a selection of pre-made parts, design combat moves, design some AI and throw your creation into mortal combat against foes created by other players. The service is run by the developers and is seamlessly integrated into the game. They organize tournaments with real cash money prizes to boot.

With no publisher support, you can buy the game directly from the developers at . It costs $19.95 USD on promotion, $30 otherwise. Of course, before you go busting out with the credit card, perhaps you might want to read on.