Remember 'Fighting is Magic'?

I know I sure do. Those who didn't follow its progress very closely might not have realized what happened when it slipped quietly into the night, or maybe you don't even know what I'm talking about.

For the uninitiated, "Fighting is Magic" was a fighting game being developed by insanededicated fans from around the world with the cast of My Little Pony. The game started off with just the name slapped on a crudely photoshopped "character select screen" for the "game", but received a lot of attention with fans throwing ideas back and forth about what sort of mechanics the characters we know and love would have in game. Some of those people were crazy enough to take that concept and move forward.

From the start, it was something special. "The fandom"—if you'll allow me to use the word—has always astonished me with the talent and dedication that they put into everything they do. "Fighting is Magic" was no exception—if anything, it was setting itself up to be one of the monoliths of the fandom. The developers, a group calling themselves "Mane6", brought together experienced fighting game players to make the game competitively interesting, talented artists to create the sprites and backgrounds for the stages, talented musicians (you may have heard of them: Whitetail and RainbowCrash88), and the best voice talent available. It was going to be spectacular. The development of the game was especially fascinating because the developers posted blogs about what they learned along the way. They didn't have the funds or resources to make their own engine, so they were stuck with a fairly old engine called "FM2K" which I believe stands for "Fighter Maker 2000". They developed a number of clever work-arounds for the problems they faced. Watching them encounter problems, and find solutions was a joy in of itself.

This all changed back in February of 2013, when they received a Cease and Desist order from Hasbro. Mane6 had been careful up to that point, and hadn't broken any rules. The game was being made in their free time and would be distributed as a free game—a celebration of the fandom and what a group of passionate individuals could do if they set their minds to it. Unfortunately, though, the scope, quality, and attention it was getting became a problem. Trademark laws made it so that if Hasbro didn't try to defend their IP, then they'd lose it. Any chance of appealing it would involve hiring a lawyer that they couldn't afford—they were people with day-jobs doing this in their free time. So, that was that.

Until...

So, yeah. That happened. Lauren Faust came in on that dark moment, and helped pick them up and give them hope again. She joined up with them and helped them develop a new IP all their own to develop, and really help them get started as an indie game company. This game is why I'm making a blog post, because right now that game has an indiegogo campaign running for funding so that these people can follow their dream and make an awesome game.

The game is called "Them's Fightin' Herds" and stars a cast of entirely quadrupedal combatants.

I am very excited, and wanted to do my part my part in spreading the word. Let's help make this game a reality. The indiegogo campaign can be found here. This is their website, where you can follow their progress, and this is their steam greenlight application. If you use steam, and would like to see their game supported on the steam network, consider giving that page your thumbs up.

And, hey. I'm not especially popular, but I figure every bit of exposure and word-of-mouth will help. Even if you can't contribute any money, you can always help by increasing the attention they receive.

Now, let's get some ungulates in EVO!

Cheers,

—Comrade

Oh, and if you are interested in the game, but think fighting games are beyond you, don't let that stop you. I will help anyone who wants to learn figure the game out.