Megan Summers (Damsel), mods: copyright + creativity & “no-grind" games

This week we talk game mods and what happens when copyright owners decide that that are not on board with the changes players make to their games. What happens when the corporate world interferes with the artistic creation of mod creators. Forum RaceDepartment had over 30 pages of mods removed at the request of Formula One's rights holders, a move that is technically within their rights but leaving many fans annoyed. Can there be an equilibrium between user generated content and commercial ownership?

We also reached across the country to speak to Queensland based developer Megan Summers and spoke about the “Short Form” arcade platformer her team is developing, Damsel. We talked about making games in Queensland, how you pay for indie game development and standing out from the rest of the crowd. You can find more information about Damsel on the Screwtape Studios site http://www.screwtape.net/

No one likes doing the same thing over and over again, so why do we seem to put up with it in some of our favourite games? Are we asked to spend just a bit too much time and effort unlocking all the characters and content in the games we play? Would you pay a little extra money to unlock all the content of a game immediately? Turns out the Pixel Sift crew just might.

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