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

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Only 20% of US indies signed up to Google Editions

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 16/05/2011 - 15:20 Only 20% of American Booksellers Association (ABA) members have signed up to the Google E-books programme, the head of the ABA has said. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Only 20% of US indies sign up to Google Editions

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 16/05/2011 - 15:20 Only 20% of American Booksellers Association (ABA) members have signed up to the Google E-books programme, the head of the ABA has said. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus publisher of the year at The Bookseller Industry Awards

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 17/05/2011 - 09:00 Quercus has been crowned 2011's best publisher at The Bookseller Industry Awards, as Sainsbury's scooped the Bookseller of the Year award. Quercus was presented with the Bonnier Publisher of the Year Award at the black-tie... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children indies' concern over cover prices

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 15:40 Publishers are remaining tight-lipped about recent price increases in books for children and teenagers. Price increases have seen some young adult titles being priced at £18, with some paperback fiction given an £8.99 price... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette Children's links with Tesco

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:40 Hachette Children’s Books has teamed up with Tesco to give away book packs to school pupils. Children’s author Giles Andreae is ambassador for the scheme, which will see a variety of books ranging from £10-£200 available from... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sainsbury's grows book sales 20%

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 11/05/2011 - 08:22 Sainsbury's has singled out book sales as an area of strong growth in its most recent financial year, and has said that it will now devote more new space to "non-food ranges". For the 52 weeks to 19th March 2011, the retailer... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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National Geographic Wins Magazine of the Year

National Geographic won Magazine of the Year as well as Single Topic issue at the 2011 National Magazine Awards. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital sales could be 15% of total next year - Hudson

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 11:06 E-book sales could exceed 8% of trade publishers' sales in 2011, and could reach 15% next year, Random House UK's deputy chairman Ian Hudson told delegates at the World e-Reading Congress this morning (10th May). Hudson also... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kids sales fall for third year in a row

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Mon, 09/05/2011 - 09:28 Publishers’ sales of children’s books fell by almost 7% during 2010, from 190m in 2009 to 177m in 2010, marking a third successive fall for the children’s market since 2007 when publishers’ sales stood at 212m units. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Strong year start for Quercus

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 06/05/2011 - 11:28 Quercus has enjoyed "strong double-digit growth" across both its trade and contract divisions in the first four months of 2011, chief executive Mark Smith announced today (6th May) at the publisher's annual general meeting in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales slump to eight-year low in Royal Wedding week

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 04/05/2011 - 16:00 Booksellers suffered their poorest sales in almost eight years last week with spending on physical books slumping by 12% week-on-week. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Travel publishers look to children's sector for growth

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 04/05/2011 - 09:10 Lonely Planet is launching a range of children's books called Not-for-Parents, and says that it sees children's publishing as a "good route" to grow the business. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Children's Books of BEA

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle and James Dashner's the Maze Runner trilogy are both drawing to a conclusion, while noteworthy collaborations from Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman, and Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, set sail. Also look for fresh ventures from William Joyce, Maggie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle Books to Be Loaned From Libraries Later This Year

Amazon said Wednesday that its popular Kindle e-reader will allow customers to borrow Kindle books from more than 11,000 U.S. libraries starting later this year. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's laureate takes on Waterstone's branding

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tor pushes for China Miéville ‘year’

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 14:59 Tor is to rejacket three-times Arthur C Clarke Award-winning novelist China Miéville to coincide with publication of his latest novel, Embassytown, in hardback. The new look, on supermatt paper, is being rolled out across eight... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Murtagh to take over at HarperCollins Children's from Santos

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 08:44 HarperCollins Children's Books m.d. Mario Santos is leaving the publisher at the end of June to "pursue other career opportunities". Publisher Ann-Janine Murtagh has been promoted to take overall publishing and business... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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LBF: More support needed for children's poetry

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 15:36 Publishers called for more retail and library support for children's poetry as Chris Holifield, director of the Poetry Book Society, warned that children's poetry "faced extinction" during a seminar about children's poetry... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fears over access to children's poetry after Arts Council cuts

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Wed, 06/04/2011 - 09:37 Children's poetry is among the biggest losers in the children's literature sector following the recent cuts in Arts Council funding, it has emerged. As well as the Poetry Book Society (PBS) which has seen 100% of its funding... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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20 Game-Changing Events That Shaped the Internet, Part 2

We continue to look at the events that made the Internet into what it is today. In this part we examine blogs, Napster, Skype, online books, Facebook, and more. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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