This is my Mario or Sonic...

Categories: artwork

Tags: computer games, Brushes, train, CRE, Artwork

Date: 13 May 2010 08:41:30

Naturally I don't mean in terms of exposure, success or prominence, things I aspire to with little confidence or hope. Nor do I mean that he is the occupant of a colourful world filled with amazing dangers, set pieces, bad guys and shiny things be they gems or star bits or rings. Nope, this is the guy who inhabits my thoughts when I think on computer games, the ones I want to make. I dare say anyone who's worked in the industry has wanted, at one point or another, to create 'the game'. Certainly when I worked in the industry most of the people I sat alongside would have done the game they were working on differently, whether it was a material based flight sim (Magic Carpet PC) or a metal based flight sim (Top Gun PS2/GC/Xbox) both of which I worked on (I also worked on The Cabal, Populous 2 (Mac) and Burning Ambition, all unreleased, Raucous Caucus, FA 18E Super Hornet, Theme Park, Creation, Dungeon Keeper and Syndicate/Syndicate Wars in a variety of roles. FA18/DK I did a tiny amount on, the rest a little more). Anyhow, I digress. I have always wanted to make a number of games, the ideas for which reside in my mind and struggle to break out on occasion. I want to do a spin on a football game which makes PERFECT sense, a music/rhythm action game which changes the game a fair amount and mashes another genre into the mix. I want to make a pinball/action game, an MMO with a SERIOUS difference and, most of all, an action/adventure game which stars the guy above: Intimidus. If I had to choose one game to make it would be this one (although from a logistical standpoint I'd make a couple of smaller games first just to bed in a team and work out the pipeline of roles and responsibilities...) Without giving too much away (and some of this has been done elsewhere, the ideas been bubbling away for 6 years or so) Intimidus is the bodyguard of a murdered Roman Senator. Left for dead in the attack, then accused of it, he runs away, first to escape and then to clear his name and find out who caused so much harm and so many changes to everything he understood. He falls in with people he previously attacked, through need rather than choice, learns something of the consequences of his blind obedience and, most of all, he comes to understand life at the other end of the sword. Yes there would be violence in the game - I have no issue with the concept of violence per se, having more of an issue with the fact that computer games deal, for the majority of the time, with consequence free violence and part of the game focuses specifically on this fact. So anyhow, the game I see in my mind is dirty, earthy, gritty, painful, unpleasant, honest, occasionally violent and stars a man equal to all of these things. One day I hope to make the game. Yesterday I had a number of chats which led me to wonder if it could actually happen. We'll see, but I enjoyed the chats yesterday and feel more energised than ever about it, hence drawing the picture above on the train from Esher to Guildford while standing up :) One of the struggles that managed to make it out of my mind... I hope one day the rest follows. (Sorry forgot to add, and heard the voice of Yvonne in my head reminding me I should listen, that this was drawn on my iPad nano - or iPod touch, whichever name you prefer :) )