It took 20 years for Children of the Sun to become an overnight success

Children of the Sun burst onto the indie scene like a muzzle flash on a dark night. Publisher Devolver Digital dropped the game’s first trailer on February 1, showcasing frenzied sniper shots and a radioactive art style. A Steam demo highlighting its initial seven stages went live that same day and became a breakout hit during February’s Steam Next Fest. Two months later it landed in full and to broad acclaim. This explosive reveal and rapid release timeline mirrors the game itself — chaotic but contained, swift and direct, sharp and bright. Though it feels like Children of the Sun popped into existence over the span of two months, it took solo developer René Rother more than 20 years to get here. René Rother As a kid in Berlin in the early 2000s, Rother was fascinated by the booming mod community. He spent his time messing around with free Counter-Strike mapping tools and Quake III mods from the demo discs tucked into his PC magazines. Rother daydreamed about having a job in game development, but it never felt like an attainable goal. “It just didn't seem possible to make games,” he told Engadget. “It's like it was this huge black box.” Rother couldn’t see an easy entry point until the 2010s, when mesh libraries and tools like GameMaker and Unity became more accessible. He discovered a fondness for creating 3D interactive art. But aside from some free online Javascript courses, he didn’t know how to program anything, so his output was limited. “I dabbled into it a little... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2024-04-18 19:45:11 UTC ]
News tagged with: #soundtrack collaborator #band nadja #similar droning #slowcore vibe #casual message #nice experience #proper word #psychedelic clarity #super spontaneous #necessarily knowing #eventually lead #required work #— chaotic #— visuals #major publishing #libraries

Other Publishing stories related to: 'It took 20 years for Children of the Sun to become an overnight success'


Trinity Mirror builds on the success of UsVsTh3m with launch of Ampp3d

Buzzfeed-style site has managed to lure 7 million users – but it still seeks commercial successThis week the Daily Mirror's publisher will make its second foray into socially shared content with the launch of data journalism experiment Ampp3d, as mainstream media companies inspired by the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital literacy #mail online


Daily Mail overtakes Sun as biggest-selling Saturday paper

News UK red-top outsold by rival by more than 20,000 copies in November, but remains the UK's top-selling title across six daysThe Daily Mail overhauled the Sun in November to become the UK's biggest-selling Saturday paper for the first time.However, the News UK red-top remains by some distance... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #740month-on-month change


Dan Brown-trumping French bestseller due in English next year

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, which topped book charts across Europe, set for English publication in 2014A literary thriller that has sold almost a million copies in France and has knocked Dan Brown's Inferno off the top of bestseller lists across Europe this summer, will be... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paperback original


Children's Booksellers Give Thanks for Thanksgivukkah

The holiday started the evening before Thanksgiving, fueling "Thanksgivukkah" hype and perhaps goosing sales. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Four from McLachlan for Bloomsbury Children's

Bloomsbury Children’s Books has acquired four books in a series from debut author Jenny... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bloomsbury children


BBC spends £1.3m on flights between London and Manchester over two years

Cost of rail travel for more than 100 managers has also risen since relocation to MediaCity in Salford QuaysThe suspicion that British Airways and Virgin Trains would be among the beneficiaries of the BBC's move to Salford appears to be born out by figures on travel costs published this week.In... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #long run #work hard


Newsweek to print weekly edition again one year after calling it quits

Editor in chief Jim Impoco announced the magazine will begin producing a weekly 'premium' print edition as early as JanuaryAmanda Holpuch Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


'E-book of the Year' vote at Sainsbury's

E-books by Sainsbury’s is asking customers to vote for their ‘E-book of the Year... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Here Are All of This Year's Hot List Digital Winners

Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed Photo: Jeremy Goldberg  A few years back, Peretti produced something that went viral. He challenged himself to do it again. And he did. Then, nobody thought you could engineer viral, but Peretti saw the power of social publishing clearer than anybody else. “I’ve... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #engaging content #ben smith #saeed jones


Russell Brand v the Sun: war of words hots up

Red-top brands comedian a hypocrite, Jack Dee criticises Crewe and Jimmy Carr tells Ross Noble not to knock Mock the WeekThis week's comedy newsThe gloves are off in Brand versus the Sun. On Saturday, the never-knowingly-underexposed comedian wrote a piece for this paper accusing the Sun on... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #huge problem


Stoner is Waterstones Book of the Year

Forty-eight years after it was first published, Stoner (Vintage Classics) by the late US author... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #waterstones book


Kent apologises for children’s writing slur

The University of Kent has apologised for a statement on its website that seemingly belittled... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Burns joins Bloomsbury as children’s sales director

Bloomsbury Publishing has appointed Elise Burns as children’s sales director. She will... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sales director #bloomsbury publishing


ALA 2014 Preview: Google Books: Eight Years Later...

On November 14, Judge Denny Chin dismissed the long-running Authors Guild suit against Google, ruling that the digitization of books for Google Book Search is fair use. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #google books


Random House's Grinch campaign encourages children to do selfless deeds over the holidays

The Grinch campaign, also known as the 'Grow Your Heart 3 Sizes,' encourages children to do good deeds in exchange for book donations. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house #encourages children #book donations


The Observer's books of the year

From new voices like NoViolet Bulawayo to rediscovered old voices like James Salter, from Dave Eggers's satire to David Thomson's history of film, writers, Observer critics and others pick their favourite reads of 2013. And they tell us what they hope to find under the tree …Curtis... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #extraordinary portrait #damian barr


Times: 'We won't reduce level of children's coverage'

The Times' new literary editor Robbie Millen has promised that the newspaper will not cut its... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


80 Years Later, Orwell’s “Burmese Days” Wins Award in Burma

The Burmese Ministry of Information announced that a new translation of Orwell’s 1934 novel, Burmese Days, won the National Literary Award’s informative literature award. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Bauer unveils digital brand The Debrief aimed at 20-something wealthy women

Publisher of Heat says The Debrief will have aggregated news and sex advice for connected, influential readersBauer Media is the latest mainstream UK publisher to jump on the social mobile bandwagon, unveiling plans for The Debrief, a multiplatform digital brand aimed at "constantly connected,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tablet users #mail online #allowing users


Baltimore Sun parent company reorganizes publishing unit

Tribune Co. announced a restructuring of its publishing business Wednesday to focus on its digital efforts and streamline operations, resulting in nearly 700 job losses across the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and six other daily newspapers. Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2013-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chicago tribune #digital efforts #streamline operations #daily newspapers