Edit 1.15 – this position is no longer open, thanks for all the applications!
As we are expanding our business strategy to encompass interactive Web experiences around news and current events, we are seeking an exceptionally talented System Administrator who would share our passion and vision. We offer a competitive salary and compensation based on experience. The job is located in Pittsburgh. Our new admin will take overall responsibility for setup and maintenance of client-facing and internal systems, including administrating and balancing a high traffic website that integrates dynamic database content and flash remote services. He/she will work with software developers in performance monitoring and benchmarking of server side-applications, and be responsible for maintaining the internal company network. Responsibilities may also include HTML, JavaScript and Java coding. Interested? Please send a cover letter and resume through the contact form on our sites (PeaceMaker or ImpactGames).
We were somewhat hesitant to announce our new endeavors while still in early stages of development but our good friend Charlie O’Donnell did it for us. Charlie is a passionate advocate for the anti-stealth approach and his Blog is his way to communicate his business ideas and vision in full transparency. Our new effort in his own words:
“…If we’re in a bubble, why aren’t these guys fully funded yet? Oh… wait… that’s because they’re not anti-stealth. They’re not stealth either… They’re just a bit lax in telling the the world about their cool app. Impact Games is taking their award winning concept from a game about the middle east they built called PeaceMaker to the web, and turning the news into an interactive, community driven game experience. Imagine fantasy baseball meets CNN. They’re not looking for ridiculous amounts of money either, and Asi and Eric are great guys… so someone go fund them.”
And still among friends, check out Hila Medalia’s new documentary about the Israeli Palestinian Conflict “To Die in Jerusalem“. The film is distributed by HBO Films and like PeaceMaker it focuses on the two perspectives, trying hard to present a balanced account of real events. Hila also appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America.
Fall semester 2007 is on its way and many teachers have begun using the PeaceMaker game in their classroom or in community events. Following multiple inquiries we wanted to address this audience specifically. We feel that the success of PeaceMaker as a new teaching tool depends a lot on the teachers’ feedback and we intend to take it seriously.
We have added a check box to our contact form titled “Educational Sales”. Although we currently do not support site license we offer different solutions for school labs. Please feel free to contact us and we will be glad to assist you via email or phone. For specific technical inquiries, have your IT administrator contact our support team and we will make sure to work with the configuration and policies of your network. After working with various schools we gained experience in dealing with specific firewall and/or strict proxy settings as well as different license distribution techniques.
We would also love to know your thoughts on “How I Used PeaceMaker in My Class”. Feel free to comment on this post and share your experience with others and with us.
Around our launch last February we started a FaceBook group called “I Wanna be a PeaceMaker“. It was a small step, but PeaceMaker officially has its own social corner on FaceBook. We started the group to help spread the word about the release of our game and have since taken quite a liking to the online and community space… You can be sure we’ll have more to unveil in the coming months, but for now it’s open for your comments and suggestions. So, please add us to your groups and feel free to invite your friends.
Two interesting (and competing) lists have been published. Game Tunnel introduces the “top 100 Indie Games list” and TIGSource fires back with a collection of 50 “high quality independent games”. They introduce a short blurb on each game, and I believe that people who are interested in what we’re doing may like to follow some of the recommendations. Not many social/political/serious games made the lists, but there are some very interesting approaches to gameplay that you won’t find in mainstream titles.
Thanks to the Rampant Coyote Blog that appeared on my Google alerts for PeaceMaker.
From time to time we are receiving angry emails criticizing our asymmetrical design: how come the Palestinian President cannot attack Israel directly while the Israeli PM has a robust branch of military options to choose from. And of course, both sides challenge our neutrality. Israelis/Jews claim that we are one-sided because “we assume that the Palestinian President is not responsible for terror attacks”. Palestinians/Arabs want to know why they are restricted from directly attacking Israel.
Our assumption is based on the current situation and the current tool set of both leaders. We verified it with Palestinian, Israeli and American content experts: the Palestinian President controls a limited internal police force. On the other side of the border, the Israelis manage an extensive military with the ability to operate in Gaza or the West Bank. The two sides are unbalanced and we’re trying to demonstrate that. Many would contest that the Palestinian leader directly controls militant attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. Based on inconclusive supporting facts, we have chosen to limit this interaction to indirect measures to support or curb Palestinian militant organizations, such as Fatah or Hamas.
Due to the latest updates of QuickTime and Java we’ve introduced a new version for Macintosh. It fixes the tutorial level of the game. This is also relevant to the owners of the Amazon package.
- If you own version 1.06 or newer please go ahead download the new patch.
- If you own an earlier version, please install the newest full version (1.063).
The NPR interview triggered some serious traction for PeaceMaker, apparently with the right audience. This week our Amazon package made it to the the top 20 in all video games and #2 in PC games. It was great to see our indie game with its unique message in the company of World of Warcraft and Sid Meier’s Civilization.
Check out this headline on Gamasutra’s industry news (July 20th):
“Meanwhile, the ImpactGames-developed RTS PeaceMaker manages a strong showing seemingly out of nowhere, as Amazon reports short supply yet a suddenly high level of demand for the title, despite it never having seen a place in the weekly top five since its initial release in May.”
Rewrite (11.29): For problems running PeaceMaker, check below to find a compatible patch. If no patch matches the version of PeaceMaker you own or solves your problem, please contact support for assistance.
New Patch: Deactivation and Reactivation Functionality
We have recently added new functionality to allow our users to deactivate and reactivate copies of PeaceMaker in order to move them from computer to computer. Please be sure to use the deactivation tool before uninstalling. If you own the online version (v1.068 and earlier) or the CD version (physical copy) feel free to install this patch for PC or Mac. You do not need this patch if you own a later version of PeaceMaker. DO NOT use this patch if you have the Peres Center version.
Patch A: Peres Version – QuickTime Issues
If you own the Peres Center version of PeaceMaker (v1.068, distributed exclusively through Israel and the Palestinian Territories) feel free to install this patch for PC or for Mac. DO NOT use this patch if you downloaded PeaceMaker, or purchased a physical copy through Amazon.com, or a specific event.
Patch B: Other Versions – QuickTime Issues
If you own the online version (v1.063 and earlier) or the CD version (physical copy) feel free to install this patch for PC or Mac. You do not need this patch if you own a later version of PeaceMaker. DO NOT use this patch if you have the Peres Center version.
Patch C: Game Doesn’t Run after Installation
For rare cases when the start screen shows up but the game doesn’t run you will need to run the game in windowed mode. Please download this file and put it in C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name>\PeaceMaker