RedPanda

What is your game called? I can't find the name anywhere on your site.

RedPanda's game has no name, nor will it ever (at least not one that RedPanda gives it.) The game is designed to give you as much control as possible. Thus, stipulating a name by which you have to call the game would be antithetical to RedPanda's philosophy. So you get to call the game whatever you want.

When can I download the game?

RedPanda's beta release is scheduled for October 2008. But if you contact them (at redpanda.team@gmail.com), they might be able to arrange something special. They like email a lot.

Why do you have a quotation by Karl Marx at the bottom of your webpage?

The game seeks to give ultimate power to its players instead of its designers. Likewise, Marx argued for power to be given to all people rather than just politicians and the wealthy. Whether or not you consider yourself a Marxist, RedPanda hopes its game will convince you that technology has progressed to the point at which the distinction between playing a game and designing it is on the verge of collapse. The solid foundations of gaming are melting into air.

Why did you choose the name RedPanda?

Because red pandas are adorable.

Your mission statement says that you are "changing the way computer games are developed and the way they are played." What does that mean?

The game gives its players the ability to extend numerous virtual world in endless ways. You control the characters that populate the world, the quests that players can embark upon, and the dragons that can kill you along the way. RedPanda strives to set nothing in stone. Thus, playing the game puts you immediately at an exciting intersection between playing a game and designing it.

What's an "emergent property?"

It's when something unforseen and unforseeable arises out of something else. Here's an example: Pretend you're playing an online role playing game and you decide that you don't want to walk around and complete quests anymore. Instead, you

1) Fly high up in a virtual blimp,

2) Use the game's ability to let you create an army of monsters of all shapes and sizes, and

3) Start playing a real-time strategy game against one of your friends (who is flying around in a different blimp.)

This is the kind of freedom RedPanda seeks to give you. (See the wikipedia article for other examples.)

What software do you use?

• Blender and Maya for making 3D models and animations.
• Java Monkey Engine for 3D rendering, scene graph management, and integrating graphical user interfaces.
• Java Game Networking for facilitating our client-server system and fully synchronized virtual worlds.
• Net Beans for making GUI components.
• Vim for code development.
• All of the code is written in Java.
• Development happens on Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Windows.