Revolution: The Quest for Game Development Greatness
A downloadable book
This is a 600+ page book I wrote covering my experiences in the games industry, beginning in the crazy 8-bit days through being a co-founder of Revolution Software in 1990. You'll read about how we made all the Revolution games, which of course includes Beneath a Steel Sky and Broken Sword.
It's basically a roller-coaster journey of highs and lows as we fought off games industry sharks and produced some decent games against all the odds. I think it'll be pretty interesting to anyone looking to make it in the games industry. Please check it out!
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A friend gifted me this book. I've read it in less than a month, even if English isn't my native language. Then I purchased another copy to support Tony's marvellous effort in writing such a honest, detailed, yet never verbose recollection of events. Besides I wanted to tip him for the very promising game he's working on, titled Wormhole Dungeon.
I'm from the Free Software (GNU) philosophy, therefore I think that all source code should be free, but I make an exception to play games that I find interesting and that respect my software freedom more than commercial ones. Old adventure games played with ScummVM are a good examples of these exceptions, or native DRM-free GNU/Linux games, even if they are proprietary.
Broken Sword, Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress are some of my favourite adventure games. Despite its rough edges, I find Lure design immersive and quite innovative. It's a shame that its source code got lost. I would have loved reading it, like we are able to with Sky, thanks to Tony's and Revolution foresight. I played these games around 2006, when they were already "old". I liked them so much that years later I decided to join the Broken Sword 5 fundraising. Thanks to the Broken Sword 5 fundraising, I found out another Revolution gem in the form of In Cold Blood, which is underrated and it's the most unofficially Bondian video game. I liked In Cold Blood combat system as well! Revolution would be a good choice for a 007 game. I wish In Cold Blood Italian version (A sangue freddo) were available on GOG.com.
Revolution: The Quest for Game Development Greatness is as good as Masters of Doom, or Derek Yu's Spelunky published by Boss Fight Books. Actually it's probably better than Masters of Doom, because Tony and the other main characters come out as decent humble human beings, whereas the Doom authors seemed full of themselves and they sometimes acted like jerks. It's an insightful read that could help many independent developers, since this book is not an ego trip down Revolution history, but it's about the sad facts of commercial video game production.
Thank's so much for these comments! It really means a lot. Always pleased to hear of an In Cold Blood fan :) We should have done more of them!
Wormhole is sorta on hold while I finished UrbX Warriors, but it will get there one day :)
Thank YOU, Tony, for making such great games!
Don't be in a hurry for Wormhole Dungeon: I have all the time in the world, and so I believe the many fans of your works. We can wait. Take your time, have fun with UrbX Warriors.
I would love to read your development diary in a freedom friendlier space than Substack, maybe via RSS feed. If you are interested I can help you build a simple static website. Substack might be good for getting people that don't know you yet attention, but in the end you should own at least a bit of your primary communication means on the Internet. Having a website is empowering, because it allows you to decide how to present yourself on the Internet, without having to fear the platform you chose changes.
I would surely take part in a Wormhole Dungeon fundraising campaign, just to let you know. I'm also available to help you out with GNU/Linux testing and development. Moreover if you would like to develop an adventure game one day, I'm ready to go back and play a 640x480 only title to cut costs. I don't need 4K, but I need great games and I'm sure as hell that you, Charles and the rest of Revolution are capable of making many more incredible video games!
Well, the thing about Substack is you own the mailing list - and there's nothing more valuable than a mailing list! But it is what it is - a once every couple of weeks thing. We just set up a Discord for Brazen (https://discord.gg/yaeVpScD) for more day to day dev posts - which I'll do from now on. But yes, Brazen needs a website... we need to do that soon.
UrbX will Kickstart in a few weeks! And I do have to make it run on Linux too, I guess.
I am nothing to do with Rev, but I would like to do something adventurey at some point. The question is... what? I'm known for Broken Sword - the highest budget European adventure ever made. What can I do with a budget of $0? :)
Sorry, I didn't mean to mix you up with Revolution. I just wanted to write that we don't need modern games polish to have fun. It's both true for you as well as for the other Revolution folks.
Take a look at Gobliiins5 by Pierre Gilhodes or The Castle by Point and Pixel Adventures; to some degree you could consider small inexpensive games both Lamplight City by Grundislav Games and Whispers of a Machine by Clifftop Games and Faravid Interactive as well, even if they had more budget than the first two examples. I think you could and you should make a true retro adventure game both in form and mechanics: meaning less polish but more heart. Or maybe go back to text adventures, to tell an interesting and unique story. I like Avventura nel castello a lot (https://www.erix.it/retro/storia_cast.html)! I would pay to play a game like that, maybe with source code released too. ;)
Again, to me playing Lure of the Temptress is more interesting than playing the new Beyond a Steel Sky, because Lure design may not be better than BASS2, but it's daring and experimental, that makes it compelling, even if it's a rough game to play (especially on ScummVM). Obviously the original Sky is a masterpiece compared to the sequel, which isn't bad and it has its moments, nonetheless overall it's unnecessary and boring. I would rather have a small interesting (and not good looking) game than a long uninspired one. Your idea of mini adventure games could work well. I liked your pitch about the two detectives solving mysteries in modern day Stockholm.
I'll take a look at UrbX fundraising and I'll consider subscribing to the mailing list. I love mailing lists, especially those where everyone can write to. Discord is a big no for me, because it's the most far away from Free Software platform there is. I've a bit of an issue giving my email address to Substack servers, but my address is public on various Free Software related lists anyway. It would be very lovely if you were to publish UrbX source code down the line, to make it truly live forever. I'll be waiting for the GNU/Linux version for now. Feel free to write me, if you need some help with Linux or with the website. Thank you for this wonderful chat.
Hi Tony, I just finished the hard back copy of your book. I bought it after your mention of it at AdventureX in 2023, where I was in attendance. The book is a real page turner. I’ve been playing your games since Lure, I’m just a little younger than you and I am a software developer myself who currently works in a co-working space. So loads to relate to!
Thank you for such a great book.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it :) :)
Say hello at the 2025 Adv X
Is the print edition still available anywhere? My girlfriend and I are both Revolution fans, but I'd prefer a physical book rather than PDF if possible.
Hi, sorry but currently out of print. There will be a paperback in the new year, but no precise date on that as yet :)
Brilliant, thank you! I'll keep an eye out for news on that.
Great book, Tony! I really enjoyed reading your life adventure. I have two follow up questions:
1. Did you participate in the recent Reforged version of BS1 or you have partied with Revolution for good?
2. I understand why you decided to go back to more ZX Spectrum type of games, but I am curious are you became dissatisfied with Point & Click genre as a whole after working so long on creating them?
Thank you!
hiya!
1.
I had no involvement, but my wife worked on the George sprite and did all the icons :)
2.
I would like to do a PnC at some point - I have lots of ideas - but funding is a real problem. So, maybe one day...
Do you think that Kickstarter might be a solution? I am sure that there are plenty of people who would love to support your endeavour given your experience :)
It would be 'part' of the solution. In truth, KS is more of a marketing device than an actual dev funding mechanism as there's quite a gulf between what you can raise and what you really need. One day we'll make a demo with a couple of screens and see where it takes us... :)
I read this cover to cover in record time. Absolutely loved it! Thanks Tony.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :) :)