Road To Pax:Design a Champ PT. II

 Benopotomus aka Ben Rodgers Lead Designer:

SmashMuck is going to PAX again! This time we are ramping things up. Not only will we do a panel, but this year we will have a booth on the show floor, complete with round the clock smashing. On top of that, we’re having some fun in the PAX LAN area, doling out prizes to anyone who can beat the team. I’m starting to get my practice in now (it only looks like I’m looking for bugs).

In case you haven’t heard by now, last year we did a panel. Since we’re all about open development, we thought it would be fun to sit down with random strangers and design a champion.  The team was initially hesitant and a little bit nervous. Admittedly, we had no idea if it would work.  Opening the design process up to the audience is a huge gamble, being an indie game, and especially for our first public panel. Luckily, the people at PAX are fun, outgoing, and willing to yell over a noisy crowd, so things worked out great. That panel spawned Dr. Jennifer, one of our most unique champions to date.

This year, we’re doing it again. We’re coming in style, and we’re ready to be bombarded by suggestions. We want all the crazy, out-of-the-box ideas that people can come up with. If you’re coming to the panel, start thinking now. I’m ready to have a silly argument, and I hope you are too.

I’ll be around the booth on the show floor most of the time. I should be carrying a yellow notepad to take down suggestions for changes and additions to SmashMuck. Also, if I’ve nerfed your favorite champ too much, the notepad can be used to deflect light projectiles. Feel free to come up and yell at me about whatever’s on your mind.

After PAX, things are going to be awesome this year for our SmashMuck community. We’ve got Custom Games, Spectator Mode, Tournaments, AI updates, and more. In addition to all these planned changes, we’ve finally got some time to get back into R&D to improve and expand our existing game modes. This is going to be the highlight for me, as we will be taking feedback on a rapidly changing set of game rules until we find the best set.

It’s going to be a fantastic year for SmashMuck and I hope you’re ready.

For more information on our Design a Champion Panel, click here!