Page 11 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #21 Free Edition

our first projects included a port of a game called The Horde to SNES, which we finished, but sadly was never released. A couple of other notable early projects that helped get us going were Microsoft Soccer and Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System, both for Windows 95. None of these were dream projects for us, but they helped pay the bills and we were happy to have the opportunity to develop games. Our ultimate goal was to start our own project and to get closer to that, we got our hands on the ‘Build’ engine and started working on concepts for a PC first-person shooter.”
But not so fast. Although they
could now create the original
game they always coveted,
the first-person shooter space
was more crowded than ever.
McNeely and the team knew they
had to stand out. “The project
began with the desire to make a
game with an Egyptian theme,
so we started early development
using the Build engine for our publisher at the time, Apogee Software,” McNeely said. “Our game was being developed simultaneously with three other develop- ers using the same engine. The other three games were Shadow Warrior, which had a ninja theme, Duke Nukem, which had a sci-fi theme and Blood, which had a horror theme. Our Egyptian themed game, origi- nally called Ruins, rounded out the theme spread for this set. Eventually, the product changed hands on the publishing side, and we continued development on three platforms: PC, Saturn, and PlayStation. Playmates Interactive published the U.S. versions, Powerslave, and BMG published the game in Europe, Exhumed and Japan A.D. 1999: Pharaoh’s Revival.”
With three other games using the same engine, all being simultaneously developed, it was now obvious being able to stand out was going to be even more difficult. McNeely wasn’t about to take this opportunity lightly, however. “I worked day and night with an incred- ibly talented group of developers as we collaborated and toiled to try and get everything right,” McNeely said. “Most of my efforts were focused on the console
versions, with some of my contributions including game flow and structure, the design of the special artifacts and how they were used to enhance player abilities and unlock new areas, controls and player attributes, the design and behavior of enemies and weapons, the composition of the map and the stage themes, and the game’s story. I also designed and created art for several stages, environment lighting, characters, effects, items and much of the UI.”
That passion came from a lifetime of gaming. At the start of the project, McNeely knew he was close to having his dream of developing an original game realized and whenever he needed to muster up some more energy, all the time he dedicated to the craft as a kid definitely came into play. “I started out in the ’70s as a kid playing games on the Magnavox Odyssey home console system at my parents’ friend’s house,” McNeely said. “While the adults were socializing upstairs, I spent hours in the basement playing. I was hooked and really wanted my own home console, so I saved my paper route money
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