Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Encyclopedia
Unknown Worlds is an independently-owned American
game development company whose goal is to "unite the world through play". Based in San Francisco, California
, the studio is best known for the forthcoming sequel to Natural Selection
, due to be released in 2011.
Natural Selection
.
The phenomenal success of Natural Selection convinced Cleveland to start work on a commercial sequel to the game: Natural Selection 2
. Soon after Cleveland founded Unknown Worlds Entertainment as a commercial computer games studio.
To help fund the development of Natural Selection 2, the studio created and released Zen of Sudoku
in November 2006, a casual puzzle computer game based on the popular logic puzzle Sudoku. This game was a departure from Natural Selection both in terms of genre and audience.
In October 2006, Max McGuire became the studio's first employee, having previously worked at Iron Lore Entertainment
as Lead Engine Programmer. McGuire became the Technical Director of UWE and development of Natural Selection 2 began in earnest.
A year later, Unknown Worlds released Decoda as a commercial debugger for the Lua programming language. This application was created to aid with development of Natural Selection 2, whose game code was largely being written in Lua.
Later on in development of Natural Selection 2, the studio announced it had changed engine from the Source engine
to their own proprietary engine developed in-house. After consulting their fanbase on a possible name for their new engine, it was finally named the Evolution engine. Later it transpired that "Evolution" was already taken
and "Spark" was chosen as the new name for the engine..
In June 2008, Cory Strader was hired as Art Director. Strader had been a previous key member of the development team for Natural Selection.
In May 2009, Unknown Worlds began taking pre-orders for standard and special edition versions of Natural Selection 2.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
game development company whose goal is to "unite the world through play". Based in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the studio is best known for the forthcoming sequel to Natural Selection
Natural Selection (computer game)
Natural Selection is a modification for the video game Half-Life. Its concept is a mixture of the first-person shooter and real-time strategy game genres....
, due to be released in 2011.
History
Unknown Worlds was formed in May 2001 by Charlie Cleveland and began life as a the collective developers responsible for the development of the high profile free modMod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
Natural Selection
Natural Selection (computer game)
Natural Selection is a modification for the video game Half-Life. Its concept is a mixture of the first-person shooter and real-time strategy game genres....
.
The phenomenal success of Natural Selection convinced Cleveland to start work on a commercial sequel to the game: Natural Selection 2
Natural Selection 2
Natural Selection 2 is a multiplayer computer game mixing first-person shooter and real-time strategy gameplay. It is set in a science fiction universe, and is currently under development....
. Soon after Cleveland founded Unknown Worlds Entertainment as a commercial computer games studio.
To help fund the development of Natural Selection 2, the studio created and released Zen of Sudoku
Zen of Sudoku
Zen of Sudoku is a Sudoku based computer game developed by Charlie Cleveland of Unknown Worlds Entertainment and released on June 20, 2006...
in November 2006, a casual puzzle computer game based on the popular logic puzzle Sudoku. This game was a departure from Natural Selection both in terms of genre and audience.
In October 2006, Max McGuire became the studio's first employee, having previously worked at Iron Lore Entertainment
Iron Lore Entertainment
Iron Lore Entertainment was a computer game developer that was founded in October 2000 by Brian Sullivan and Paul Chieffo....
as Lead Engine Programmer. McGuire became the Technical Director of UWE and development of Natural Selection 2 began in earnest.
A year later, Unknown Worlds released Decoda as a commercial debugger for the Lua programming language. This application was created to aid with development of Natural Selection 2, whose game code was largely being written in Lua.
Later on in development of Natural Selection 2, the studio announced it had changed engine from the Source engine
Source engine
Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. It debuted in June 2004 with Counter-Strike: Source and shortly thereafter Half-Life 2, and has been in active development ever since...
to their own proprietary engine developed in-house. After consulting their fanbase on a possible name for their new engine, it was finally named the Evolution engine. Later it transpired that "Evolution" was already taken
Evolution engine
The Evolution engine is an air-cooled, 45-degree, V-twin engine manufactured since 1984 by the Harley Davidson Motor Company for the company's motorcycles. It was made in the displacement for Harley Davidson Big V-twins bikes, replacing the Shovelhead engine, until 1999 when it was replaced by...
and "Spark" was chosen as the new name for the engine..
In June 2008, Cory Strader was hired as Art Director. Strader had been a previous key member of the development team for Natural Selection.
In May 2009, Unknown Worlds began taking pre-orders for standard and special edition versions of Natural Selection 2.
Future
Natural Selection 2 is currently in development and the alpha version was released on July 26th 2010 to all that have pre-ordered the special edition of the game.Release history
- Natural Selection (2002)
- Zen of SudokuZen of SudokuZen of Sudoku is a Sudoku based computer game developed by Charlie Cleveland of Unknown Worlds Entertainment and released on June 20, 2006...
(2006) - Natural Selection 2Natural Selection 2Natural Selection 2 is a multiplayer computer game mixing first-person shooter and real-time strategy gameplay. It is set in a science fiction universe, and is currently under development....
(TBATo be announcedTo be announced, To be confirmed, and To be determined are placeholder terms used very broadly to indicate that although something is scheduled or anticipated to happen, a particular aspect of that thing remains to be arranged...
)
Awards
Natural Selection- 2002 : Best Newcomer - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
- 2002 : Mod of the Year - 'Game of the Year' Awards, Gamespy
- 2003 : Most Improved Mods - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
- 2003 : Mods You Should Never Leave Home Without - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
- 2003 : Best Overall Mods - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
- 2004 : Best Level Design - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
- 2005 : Players' Choice #10 - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database
- 2006 : Honourable Mention - 'Mod of the Year' Awards, Mod Database