You know the old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"?
It's one I try to live by and teach my daughter by example. Sometimes it may feel like speaking up is the right thing to do when it's for a good cause. Last Tuesday I wrote a pointer about what looked like transphobia displayed in a footnote on Alpha Colony's Kickstarter page: "Dan Bunten was the creator of the original M.U.L.E. game in 1983 and the family would prefer that we refer to him as Dan instead of Dani." Based on the information available publicly online, I set out to protect Dani's right to choose her own identity, a good cause no doubt, but I failed to exercise caution.
I was later contacted by the project's director and lead programmer, Christopher Williamson, who felt hurt and wrongly accused. I decided to listen, and found myself eating a big slice of humble pie. Here's what he had to say in response to my questions.
GeekMom Ariane: Why did you want to make a game based on M.U.L.E. and Settlers of Catan?
Christopher Williamson: The M.U.L.E. part is easy, I loved playing the game with my family as a kid. I loved the re-playability and that I could play it together with my otherwise often socially-challenged family. After making several play prototypes extending the game mechanic over the last 10 years, I pitched a remake of the game to Electronic Arts back in 2008 for Xbox LiveArcade. E.A. liked the idea but, in the end, I guess they were more interested in their multi-million dollar sports franchises. Today, the vast majority of gamers have never heard of M.U.L.E.. It's a piece of video game history that is worthy of a fresh generation of gamers playing it!
Settlers of Catan is probably my favorite board game (especially with the Cities and Knights expansion). Catan shares many similar components to M.U.L.E. and is also a 'party' game that is fun for family and friends to play together. Resource production, trading, robbing, and 'handicap the leader so everyone can have fun' mechanics are similar but it is more up to date for today's game players. I hoped by mixing in some components from this popular board game we could modernize M.U.L.E. and bring in a whole new category of gamers.
GM: How hard was it to acquire the license rights from Dani's family?
CW: It was a challenge as the game licensing was in legal limbo between E.A. and Dani's family for many years (as I encountered in 2008). Getting in touch with and working with the family was also a challenge as Dani was previously married 3 times and had 3 children of varied ages and backgrounds.
GM: Have Dani's family commented on why they'd prefer her to be referred to as Dan?
CW: This is the official statement from the family verbatim:
“We, the children of Dan Bunten, have struggled with how best to handle the legacy entrusted to us after the death of our father. After much reflection, and according to the wishes our father made known to us in his final months, we have decided to refer to him as Dan Bunten. He wished us to remember him as our father and, as such, we have no right or intent to disobey this request. We are also cognizant of the fact that it was Dan, not Dani, who created M.U.L.E. and founded Ozark Softscape. We do not intend to diminish the courage and strength it took to live the life Dan chose to live, but our father's wishes are of the utmost importance to us. We hope this has made our decision-making process clear, and we ask for your understanding on this delicate topic.” - Melanie, Daniel and Nick. Ozark Softscape Legacy.
GM: What has been the reaction you've received from the community about this tribute game?
CW: We have gotten much positive interest in the game, both from M.U.L.E. fans and from new gamers curious about how a turn-based economic/strategy game might work with asynchronous game play. There are many gamer dads and moms out there looking for games to play with their kids and I believe Alpha Colony will be a great game for this audience.
Almost all of the few negative reactions we have gotten were that we are overly-ambitious (or perhaps even greedy). Much of this came from the board gaming community where Kickstarters are typically in the $20k-$30k range. Making a modern 3D video game for 6 platforms with cross-platform multiplayer play and social integration, paying the original license holders, and allowing enough time to properly playtest and balance the game is how I set our original goal of $50k. Greed seems almost laughable as I think my dedication and love for this game is clear. I have already put $50k of my own retirement money into it getting us this far. There are many more lucrative opportunities to make money, but I am not pursuing those. Alpha Colony will be a special game that I really want to give back to the world, both to fulfill Dani's legacy and fulfill a lifelong dream of mine.
If our current Kickstarter does not succeed, we already have plans to relaunch a second Kickstarter in August with a scaled down project. With our existing fans, a better media and launch plan, and a less aggressive goal, I believe we will be successful. The best way to find out about this would be to pledge even a small amount on the current Kickstarter as we will reach out to all of our existing pledgers to notify them of the follow up Kickstarter.
GM: Why should the LGBT community support this project?
CW: I hope the LGBT community will see how passionate we are to create this game and will agree that we need more game titles that bring the family together. I think Dani said this best in an interview she had with Mpath before her death when she answered "What got you interested in writing games":
"After years of therapy I think I know the answer to this - when I was a kid the only times my family spent together that weren't totally dysfunctional were when we were playing games. Consequently, I believe games are a wonderful way to socialize." - Dani Bunten Berry
In addition, as M.U.L.E. was the most famous video game developed by an inspirational transgender (Danielle) and that she publicly and privately expressed wishes to create a sequel, I believe I am helping fulfill her legacy in creating Alpha Colony: A Tribute to M.U.L.E. Dani was (and still is) my hero and mentor and I am sure she has also inspired many in the LGBT community.
Thank you, Christopher, for taking the time to set the record straight and share your story. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor.
