Digital distribution platform company Greenhouse Interactive released the Nitrogen Software Development Kit, a tool set available free of charge to independent developers seeking to enhance their games selected for the Greenhouse service.
One feature Nitrogen SDK offers is the ability to add "triumphs" and "standings," which allows developers to reward players for in-game accomplishments and display them for the rest of the Greenhouse gaming community.
The first Greenhouse title to utilize Nitrogen SDK's triumphs and standings will be Hothead Games's
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two, which is scheduled to launch for Windows, Mac, and Linux this Wednesday.
Launched in April 2008 by Hothead Games and Penny Arcade, Greenhouse is designed to be a "developer-friendly" digital distribution platform that features new titles from independent studios.
Other titles currently available through Greenhouse include
Spectromancer from Three Donkeys,
World of Goo from 2D Boy,
Strange Attractors 2 from Ominous Development,
Eschalon: Book I from Basilisk Games, and
On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One.
"We recognize that gamers expect these features in standard retail games, so why not in indie games as well?" says Greenhouse CEO Vlad Ceraldi. "But, in a crowded gaming world of achievements and trophies, it's inevitable that all of the good words are gone. We've just snatched the last few that make any sense, so 'good luck' to anyone else looking to offer something similar."
Greenhouse's Robert Khoo adds, "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time anyone's offered these kinds of in-game reward and integrated community features on the Mac and Linux platforms. In fact, triumphs and standings are only the beginning. There's so much more in the works with Nitrogen that we just haven't found the vocabulary for yet. Stay tuned."
