A Russian M&B Fan asked SD a series of questions for a project being posted on Russian forums. Here is what resulted, with no edits from me, credit goes to SD and Hunterwolf.
"Hello,I'm Hunterwolf from The Riders of Calradia, a Russian M&B fan site, a Russian M&B fan site , and I'm currently working on a project named "M&B Modmakers: Who Are They?" that includes interviewing authors of the global M&B mods. Could you please answer a couple of questions for the Russian-speaking Mount&Blade community? We would be very appreciative if you spend a couple of minutes to answer those.
The list of questions is as follows:
- Hello saxondragon, thanks for agreeing to answer our questions. First, could you please tell us a little about yourself? What kind of person are you?
Hello Hunterwolf. Thank you for the email. My real name is Jim Landes, and I am a game designer. Currently I head up a program to teach interactive media and game design to college students in West Michigan, in the United States. You can find some of my work and projects by searching the web. What sort of person am I? I am someone who embraces new ideas and ways to solve relevant problems that face us both in the entertainment field and in the world at large. I am formally educated in both computer science and psychology, and have been employed in product marketing and management for many years. I am someone who naturally sees the value and strengths of other people, can help them bring forth those strengths to maximum effectiveness.
- Apart from the mod development, what kind of hobbies do you have?
I spend a great deal of time analyzing technical trends, and technological advances in relation to how they impact people both individually and in groups. I am an amateur physicist, armchair astronomer, and closet philosopher. I am interested in history, politics, and the perceptual differences between cultures. One of my main hobbies is with the arts, where I am a patron of the theater and support creative expression of all forms. I also enjoy reading works of fantasy and science fiction.
- The work on the Prophesy of Pendor project, how did it actually start? What caused you to choose this theme for your mod?
The story behind this endeavor is well documented. I had been out of the interactive entertainment industry for many years as a professional and desired to return. After almost 15 years being absent from this field, I came to realize that this was my passion and that I deeply missed the joy of creation I experienced. What I personally felt when a design came together, and I could bring to life a new concept, not seen or experienced in any other form before, was immensely satisfying.
The length of time I had been absent had witnessed a great deal of technical innovation in this field and I had some personal doubts as to whether I could provide value in this new world. It was fortunate that I had been following Taleworlds in their development of Mount&Blade just when I decided to test myself. It was a good match.
My main goal was to create something unique, push some of the design boundaries and concepts forward and to see what I could accomplish. My secondary goal was to use this body of work as a stepping stone to return into the interactive media industry.
We have gone through five development cycles and are in the process of the sixth. The last two cycles I have not been directly involved except in an advisory capacity.
Overall, I feel that this has been a successful endeavor.
- Please tell us a bit about the Prophesy of Pendor dev team, the people that help you work on the project.
The first six weeks was the proof of concept. The goal was to determine if there was any acceptance of the design concept and story. The first release was on December 17th, 2008.
The response from the players of Mount&Blade was extremely positive and also, correctly, pointed out that we needed better artwork.
I turned to the community and started to query individuals as to their willingness to step in and help. To date we have had over 180 people who have signed up to contribute to this community endeavor, of which perhaps 150 have helped in some form.
While I am not comfortable giving the real names and professions of the primary members, I can tell you some interesting facts about them as a group.
The membership ranges between ages 17 to 64. They include both men and women. They held jobs from being near homeless to being CEO’s of multimillion dollar companies. A few hold or held positions in existing game development houses, many were still in college pursuing various degrees in adjacent fields, one taught college, and many were working full time jobs. They come from over twenty countries including Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Turkey, Vietnam, Australia, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, South Africa, Austria, and Germany,
We have had members come and go. Some have returned again, some have completely disappeared. Some have faced personal tragedy in this process and one, whom was quite dear to us all, passed away.
They are artists, coders, modelers, writers, critical thinkers and most importantly they all became friends joined in a common goal that transcended political and ideological borders. A group of people who never would have met, came together, exchanged ideas, learned, laughed and triumphed together to create something that they will all reference with a measure of pride and satisfaction for many years to come. I have been very fortunate to have been part of this project.
- What is your concept for the future development of the Prophesy of Pendor project? What kind of new stuff can the players expect to see in the final version of the mod?
The future version of Prophesy of Pendor on the Warband platform will see the player take the role of the Heir of the Pendor King. This Prince/Princess is part of a invading army of Men and Elves that sail to the South to invade the land of Amala.
Amala - A land once ruled by the old Empire, who had brought together many cultures and had formed a single powerful nation. All had eventually bowed to the will of the Emperor and his descendants, either in subjugation or in wary alliance.
All except for one single being. A being of darkness and magic. A being that was immortal that had been born of a time before Man. A being that was truly, an abomination. An accident of arrogance and hatred. A being who hungers and poses the greatest threat to the world than any demon ever could. A being that destroyed the Empire from within by the promise of dark whispers, seductive influence and deadly magic.
The efforts of the Goddess to conquer Pendor had failed. The invasion of the forces of Pendor posed a great threat and she expended her dark powers to summon a powerful storm that smashed the Pendorian ships to bits and all but decimated the invaders. The effort cost her greatly and the supernatural control over the many factions in Amala she had held, were broken. She had been weakened.
The player starts the game in a small village having been saved by a local fisherman. Seemingly the player is the sole survivor of that once grand army of Elves and Men from Pendor.
There is no going home, there is no turning back. The player must find a way to bring an end to the reign and life of this abomination, this self proclaimed Goddess.
One sword against all odds…
Expect to find difficult battles, new knighthood orders, new enemies both major and minor, new artwork, models and a wealth of unique situations never before encountered. You get to see the homeland of the Jatu, the birthplace of the Empire and the influence of the Grand Duchy's of Barclay.
Some of the companions are the children of the POP 3.x companions. Each companion yields special abilities that unlock new opportunities.
Players start out by selecting what happened in the Uniting of Kingdom of Pendor and in doing so, change the composition, arms and armor of the Pendor line of troops that may be available to the player later in the game. Thus each game is different based upon which faction and culture that was able to unite Pendor. This also changes the skills and characteristics of the player when he/she starts the game.
The concept of this design is to create a highly politically charged environment where, as the game is played, the Snake Goddess is able to influence various main and minor factions and bring them under her influence and against the alliances that the player creates.
I think this is enough to whet your appetite.
- If it's not top secret, do you have any plans to start a new M&B mod project?
No. By day I work as an instructor, by night and weekends I work on creating a new entertainment offering with a development company I co-founded. We are a small team of dedicated and talented individuals who have come together and plan some very exciting games. I have spent the better part of the last 18 months working on our first release.
- Do you participate in the other M&B modding projects besides the Prophesy of Pendor?
No. Modding is not sustainable. To do it right, to create a new experience such as the ones that I would want to do, takes too much time and energy at the expense of everything else in my life. You find that most modders do a game or three, and then retire from the scene. Most either move to professional positions or do other more personally rewarding activities... such as spending time with their families, or girlfriends.
- Let's say, a person is willing to help you in the development of your project. How can he/she do it? What kind of special knowledge/skills are required to be a part of the dev team?
It really depends upon the situation. The best development model is a central lead coder/project lead who hands out tasks and jobs to artists, writers, concept/critical thinkers to handle the game aspects that need to be improved.
The model that I found most successful is that we brought on folks who had a passion around a specific game aspect they wanted to improve, then together we molded their concept into the framework of the Pendor game world and aligned it with the other current development features.
The primary characteristic/skill it takes is the willingness to work, truly embrace the concept that your own self worth is well beyond any idea that you may share in the development forum (i.e. be willing to let go of a concept if it is changed by discussion), and the self discipline to execute on what you say you can. Beyond that, the main rule is to have fun. This should not be a job, it should be a great deal of fun with other talented people.
I stepped out of the day to day development process with the port of the game over to Warband from Mount&Blade. We had some of my students begin the 4.0 version and then the team was led by M0rdred for 8 months. He handed the leadership reigns to Sairtar, who is moving the current development effort forward, but there are other demands on his time so it is moving slowly.
At this time we are looking for help to move these concepts along on this project. The primary skill we need is the ability to code.
- Would you like to say a couple of words to the Prophesy of Pendor fans in Russia?
Yes. I wish that I could speak Russian to thank you all directly for your interest and support of both Pendor and the many people who have contributed to this body of work. We are all very pleased and grateful that you find it worthy of your time to play.
For the early I thank you for answers and your work on the Prophesy of Pendor project .
You are most welcome Hunterwolf. I appreciate the opportunity to speak candidly to you and the community that you represent."
No comments:
Post a Comment