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The Indie Stone<ref>http://theindiestone.com</ref>
{{Header|The Indie Stone}}
{{Infobox company
|name=The Indie Stone
|logo=TIS_logo.png
|logo_size=200px
|logo_caption=The Indie Stone current logo (2018).
|type=Private
|industry=Video games
|founded=2009 (incorporated 2013)
|founders=[[Chris Simpson]]<br>[[Andy Hodgetts]]<br>[[Marina Siu-Chong]]<br>[[Will Porter]]
|products=[[Project Zomboid]]
|website=[https://theindiestone.com/ theindiestone.com]
}}
'''The Indie Stone'''{{#tag: ref| [https://projectzomboid.com/blog/about-us/ Project Zomboid - About Us]. Retrieved 11th May 2018.}}&nbsp;is a small independent developer responsible for the creation of [[Project Zomboid]]. [[Chris Simpson|Chris "Lemmy" Simpson]], [[Andy Hodgetts|Andy "Binky" Hodgetts]] and [[Marina Siu-Chong|Marina "MashPotato" Siu-Chong]] established The Indie Stone in 2009, later joined by [[Nick Cowen|Nick "Nickenstein" Cowen]] in 2011. The company first began working together on small projects in their spare time, developing mods for The Sims 3 and Civilization 5, most notably the Indie Stone Story Progression Mod for The Sims 3.{{#tag:ref| [https://web.archive.org/web/20090729233439/http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=356632 Indie Stone Story Progression Mod] modthesims. 18th Jul 2009. Archived from [http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=356632 the original] 11 May 2018.}} ''Project Zomboid'' is The Indie Stone's first commercially released game.{{#tag:ref | [http://www.indiedb.com/company/the-indie-stone "Games released by The Indie Stone on their IndieDB profile"]. Indiedb.com. Retrieved 2013-05-15.}} The studio has recruited more members over the years, especially following the release of [[build 41]].


The Indie Stone has also enlisted the help of [[Formosa Interactive]], [[General Arcade]], [[The Eccentric Ape]] and previously [[Tanglewood Games]] to assist with development of the game.


==Members==
<div style="column-count: 2; -moz-column-count: 2; -webkit-column-count: 2;">
*[[Andy Hodgetts]] - founding member, artist & designer
*[[Chris Simpson]] - founding member & programmer
*[[Marina Siu-Chong]] - founding member & artist
*[[Will Porter]] - founding member, writer & creative director
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248471/patrick-brennan/ Pat Bren] - writer
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/214092/martin-greenall/ Martin Greenall] - art & animation
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/141489/mark-wright/ Mark Wright] - art
*[[Paul Ring]] - map designer & scripter
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248468/jamie-magnuson/ Xeonyx] - map designer
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248469/ayrton-orio/ Ayrton Orio] - map designer
*[[Romain Dron|Romain "RJ" Dron]] - coder
*[[Tim Baker|EasyPickins]] - programmer
*[[Kees Bekkema|TurboTuTone]] - coder
*[[Fox Chaotica]] - coder
*[[User:Aiteron|Aiteron]] - coder
*[[Planetalgol]] - coder
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248504/soul-filcher/ Soul Filcher] - coder
*[[Fenris Wolf]] - coder
*[[Eris]] - coder
*[[ProfMobius]] - coder
*[[User:NasKo|NasKo]] - community manager
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1183153/jake-snow/ EnigmaGrey] - operations manager
*[[User:Kirrus|Kirrus]] - system administrator
*[[User:Vaileasys|Vaileasys]] - wiki manager
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248497/sasha-mihailova/ Pandorea] - lead QA
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248498/yana-marszalkowska-duncan/ Yana (Spiffo)] - QA & moderator
*[[User:Beard|Beard]] - tech support
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/620257/amy-young/ Amz] - videographer
*[[User:Blindcoder|Blindcoder]] - [[Project Zomboid Map Project]] manager
*[[MadDan]] - moderator
*[[LeonKiel]] - moderator
*[[:File:TIS Team Photo 2.png|The guy outside the pub]] - special thanks
</div>


<references/>
==Former members==
*[[User:Connall|Connall]] - coder, wiki manager
*[[Nick Cowen]]
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248488/drake-barron/ Rathlord] - tech support & server runner
*[https://www.mobygames.com/person/1248463/zach-beever/ Zach Beever] - composer
 
==Problems==
The Indie Stone have been notably plagued with problems while creating ''Project Zomboid''.{{#tag:ref| [http://kotaku.com/5813826/game-developers-who-dont-hate-piracy-get-screwed-by-piracy "Game Developers Who Don't Hate Piracy Get Screwed By… Piracy"]. ''Kotaku''. 20 June 2011. 15 May 2013.}}
 
===Funds frozen by PayPal and Google Checkout===
After The Indie Stone's PayPal account was 'limited' briefly, before the decision was ultimately reversed, the team became "wary" of PayPal and opened a Google Checkout account, which proved to be a much more popular purchase method than PayPal. In April 2011, a month after the account was opened, Google Checkout took issue with The Indie Stone selling "donations," blocking new transactions and removing access to the funds in the account, which comprised 80% of their income to date. Asking Google Checkout for clarification, the team received only an irrelevant stock reply.{{#tag:ref| [https://web.archive.org/web/20130405070335/http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/warning-how-google-checkout-screwed-project-zomboid Google Checkout Woes]. ''Project Zomboid''. 25 April 2011. Archived from [http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/warning-how-google-checkout-screwed-project-zomboid the original] on 2013-04-05.}}{{#tag:ref| Walker, John (2011-04-26). [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/04/26/google-can-indie-stone-have-their-money Google, Can Indie Stone Have Their Money?]. ''Rock Paper Shotgun''. Retrieved 2013-05-15.}} A day later, The Indie Stone were contacted by someone from Google Checkout stating that their funds would be available "soon" and clarifying that Google Checkout offered a "pay what you like" feature.{{#tag:ref| [https://web.archive.org/web/20111218223133/http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/happy-days Happy Days!] ''Project Zomboid''. 26 April 2011. Archived from [http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/happy-days/ the original] on 2011-12-18.}}
 
In May 2011,{{#tag:ref| Good, Owen (9 October 2011). [http://kotaku.com/5848062/frozen-account-further-sours-PayPals-terrible-reputation-with-indie-devs Frozen Account Further Sours PayPal’s Terrible Reputation with Indie Devs]. ''Kotaku''. Retrieved 15 May 2013.}} PayPal placed their account "in a permanent limitation" with a held balance of £4,454.47.{{#tag:ref| Simpson, Chris (2011-05-23). [http://theindiestone.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=626 ":("] ''the Indie Stone Community Forums''. Theindiestone.com. Archived from [https://web.archive.org/web/20111012061747/http://theindiestone.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=626 the original] on 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2013-05-15.}} Developers Chris Simpson and Andy Hodgetts later explained how they "didn't pay close attention to terms and conditions in PayPal or Google Checkout," and that "the problem was selling a product that didn't currently exist," leading The Indie Stone to instead sell "the world's worst games" with the ''Project Zomboid'' Alpha advertised as a free bonus.{{#tag:ref| Tom Senior (25 July 2011). . [http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/07/26/project-zomboids-eureka-moment-we-started-selling-the-worlds-worst-games "Project Zomboid's eureka moment: "we started selling the world's worst games"]. ''PC Gamer''. Retrieved 2013-05-15.}}
 
===Leak to public distribution===
In June 2011, soon after the public release of ''Project Zomboid'' as a paid pre-alpha tech demo, the game was leaked, and unauthorized copies spread to many other websites. {{#tag:ref | Wesley Yin-Poole (20 June 2011). [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-20-pirates-force-project-zomboid-offline "Pirates force Project Zomboid offline"]. ''Eurogamer''. Retrieved 21 August 2011.}} The unauthorized version of the game enabled downloading from the ''Project Zomboid'''s servers with the press of an 'update now' button, regardless of whether the user already had the latest version. In order to avoid paying for these downloads, The Indie Stone took the customer-only paid version offline,{{#tag:ref| [https://web.archive.org/web/20130214071940/http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/sorry-weve-had-to-take-the-game-down/ Sorry we’ve had to take the game down for the day]. 2011-06-18. Archived from [http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/sorry-weve-had-to-take-the-game-down/ the original] on 2013-02-14.}} and instead, released a free "public tech-demo" for download the next day.{{#tag:ref| [https://web.archive.org/web/20120326120846/http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/free-public-demo-released/ FREE PUBLIC TECH-DEMO RELEASED!]. 2011-06-19. Archived from [http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/06/free-public-demo-released/ the original] on 2012-03-26.}}
 
===Theft of developers' laptops with source code===
On October 15, 2011, the flat of two developers of ''Project Zomboid'' was broken into. Two laptops were stolen from the flat, containing large amounts of the initial game code which had not been backed up externally for several months.{{#tag:ref |[https://web.archive.org/web/20130318154543/http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/10/project-zomboid-burglary-statement Project Zomboid Burglary: Statement]. Archived from [http://projectzomboid.com/blog/index.php/2011/10/project-zomboid-burglary-statement the original] on 2013-03-18.}} This resulted in severe delays to the game development.{{#tag:ref |Good, Owen (16 October 2011). [http://kotaku.com/5850245/burglary-delivers-huge-setback-to-indie-game-project-zomboid "Burglary Delivers Huge Setback to Indie Game Project Zomboid"] ''Kotaku''. Retrieved 15 May 2013.}}{{#tag:ref| Conditt, Jessica (16 October 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20150131112005/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/16/the-indie-stone-is-burgled-loses-code-for-latest-project-zomboi/ The Indie Stone is burgled, loses code for latest Project Zomboid update]. ''Joystiq''. Archived from [http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/16/the-indie-stone-is-burgled-loses-code-for-latest-project-zomboi the original] on 2015-01-31. Retrieved 30 June 2013.}} Due to this setback, they gave a presentation at Rezzed entitled "How (not) to make a video game", going over some of the lessons they have learned since starting the project.{{#tag:ref |[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYgPI0qkdU4 Project Zomboid Rezzed Session - How NOT to make a game!]. ''YouTube''. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2013-05-15.}}
 
==Gallery==
<gallery>
TIS Team Photo 1.png|Group photo with several members of the team
TIS Team Photo 2.png|A more recent photo of several of the team members (feat. The guy outside the pub)
</gallery>
 
==External links==
*[https://projectzomboid.com/ Official website]
*[https://theindiestone.com/forums/ The Indie Stone forums]
 
==References==
<references />

Latest revision as of 07:33, 15 April 2024

The Indie Stone > The Indie Stone
The Indie Stone
The Indie Stone
The Indie Stone current logo (2018).
Type
Private
Industry
Video games
Founded
2009 (incorporated 2013)
Founder
Products
Website

The Indie Stone[1] is a small independent developer responsible for the creation of Project Zomboid. Chris "Lemmy" Simpson, Andy "Binky" Hodgetts and Marina "MashPotato" Siu-Chong established The Indie Stone in 2009, later joined by Nick "Nickenstein" Cowen in 2011. The company first began working together on small projects in their spare time, developing mods for The Sims 3 and Civilization 5, most notably the Indie Stone Story Progression Mod for The Sims 3.[2] Project Zomboid is The Indie Stone's first commercially released game.[3] The studio has recruited more members over the years, especially following the release of build 41.

The Indie Stone has also enlisted the help of Formosa Interactive, General Arcade, The Eccentric Ape and previously Tanglewood Games to assist with development of the game.

Members

Former members

Problems

The Indie Stone have been notably plagued with problems while creating Project Zomboid.[4]

Funds frozen by PayPal and Google Checkout

After The Indie Stone's PayPal account was 'limited' briefly, before the decision was ultimately reversed, the team became "wary" of PayPal and opened a Google Checkout account, which proved to be a much more popular purchase method than PayPal. In April 2011, a month after the account was opened, Google Checkout took issue with The Indie Stone selling "donations," blocking new transactions and removing access to the funds in the account, which comprised 80% of their income to date. Asking Google Checkout for clarification, the team received only an irrelevant stock reply.[5][6] A day later, The Indie Stone were contacted by someone from Google Checkout stating that their funds would be available "soon" and clarifying that Google Checkout offered a "pay what you like" feature.[7]

In May 2011,[8] PayPal placed their account "in a permanent limitation" with a held balance of £4,454.47.[9] Developers Chris Simpson and Andy Hodgetts later explained how they "didn't pay close attention to terms and conditions in PayPal or Google Checkout," and that "the problem was selling a product that didn't currently exist," leading The Indie Stone to instead sell "the world's worst games" with the Project Zomboid Alpha advertised as a free bonus.[10]

Leak to public distribution

In June 2011, soon after the public release of Project Zomboid as a paid pre-alpha tech demo, the game was leaked, and unauthorized copies spread to many other websites. [11] The unauthorized version of the game enabled downloading from the Project Zomboid's servers with the press of an 'update now' button, regardless of whether the user already had the latest version. In order to avoid paying for these downloads, The Indie Stone took the customer-only paid version offline,[12] and instead, released a free "public tech-demo" for download the next day.[13]

Theft of developers' laptops with source code

On October 15, 2011, the flat of two developers of Project Zomboid was broken into. Two laptops were stolen from the flat, containing large amounts of the initial game code which had not been backed up externally for several months.[14] This resulted in severe delays to the game development.[15][16] Due to this setback, they gave a presentation at Rezzed entitled "How (not) to make a video game", going over some of the lessons they have learned since starting the project.[17]

Gallery

  • Group photo with several members of the team

    Group photo with several members of the team

  • A more recent photo of several of the team members (feat. The guy outside the pub)

    A more recent photo of several of the team members (feat. The guy outside the pub)

External links

References

  1. ↑ Project Zomboid - About Us. Retrieved 11th May 2018.
  2. ↑ Indie Stone Story Progression Mod modthesims. 18th Jul 2009. Archived from the original 11 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "Games released by The Indie Stone on their IndieDB profile". Indiedb.com. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  4. ↑ "Game Developers Who Don't Hate Piracy Get Screwed By… Piracy". Kotaku. 20 June 2011. 15 May 2013.
  5. ↑ Google Checkout Woes. Project Zomboid. 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-04-05.
  6. ↑ Walker, John (2011-04-26). Google, Can Indie Stone Have Their Money?. Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  7. ↑ Happy Days! Project Zomboid. 26 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-12-18.
  8. ↑ Good, Owen (9 October 2011). Frozen Account Further Sours PayPal’s Terrible Reputation with Indie Devs. Kotaku. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  9. ↑ Simpson, Chris (2011-05-23). ":(" the Indie Stone Community Forums. Theindiestone.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  10. ↑ Tom Senior (25 July 2011). . "Project Zomboid's eureka moment: "we started selling the world's worst games". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  11. ↑ Wesley Yin-Poole (20 June 2011). "Pirates force Project Zomboid offline". Eurogamer. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  12. ↑ Sorry we’ve had to take the game down for the day. 2011-06-18. Archived from the original on 2013-02-14.
  13. ↑ FREE PUBLIC TECH-DEMO RELEASED!. 2011-06-19. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26.
  14. ↑ Project Zomboid Burglary: Statement. Archived from the original on 2013-03-18.
  15. ↑ Good, Owen (16 October 2011). "Burglary Delivers Huge Setback to Indie Game Project Zomboid" Kotaku. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  16. ↑ Conditt, Jessica (16 October 2011). The Indie Stone is burgled, loses code for latest Project Zomboid update. Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2015-01-31. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  17. ↑ Project Zomboid Rezzed Session - How NOT to make a game!. YouTube. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
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