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The
folks at N-lightning have created perhaps the best Christian game to
come out in a very long time. We caught up with Ralph Bagley,
President of N'Lightning Software who took some time out to answer a
few of our questions about their game, their company and their
future. If you're interested in online gaming you'll
be excited about what Ralph Bagley has to say below.
CG: Who are you and what do you do at N'Lightning?
Answer: My name is Ralph Bagley and I am President of N'Lightning Software Development Inc.
CG: How long has N'Lightning been making games?
Answer: Catechumen is our first game. However, some of the key members of our team have experience in the game industry. Several of our team members came form the company formerly known as Trilobyte.
CG: What is N'Lightning's vision?
Answer: To provide a high quality gaming experience for Christians and non-Christians that is not full of satanic imagery and blood, guts and gore.
CG: When did you get the first idea you wanted to make Catechumen and what did you hope to accomplish?
Answer: I first had the idea for Catechumen back in 1995. I hoped to create a high quality, fun game with a biblical foundation.
CG: How many people worked on Catechumen and what did they do? If you can
mention names, please do.
Answer: There were over one hundred contributors to the project. However, the core of the development team consists of:
Kris Horton - Designer/Engineer
Chris Perkins - Lead Level Designer
Nat Weiss - Lead Engineer
Mike LaRue - Engineer
Keith Cawthorne - Level Designer/Webmaster
Andy Anderson - Graphic Artist
Ralph Bagley - Sound
CG: What was your greatest challenge in getting Catechumen finished?
Answer: Making sure that the game had no major bugs or glitches. It is an amazingly painstaking process to find and eradicate all of the bugs within a complex game such as ours.
CG: How did the final product compare to your original vision of the game?
Answer: I think the game is even better than I had originally thought!
CG: What went right in the process of creating Catechumen?
Answer: We were only one day late on our schedule which is pretty rare in game development. Also, the response to our game from the secular game sites and media have been much better than we expected!
CG: What went wrong?
Answer: Not very much! From the very beginning, I have been constantly amazed at how smoothly our project flowed. When God wants something accomplished, things typically go well.
CG: What can we expect to see as your next software title?
Answer: We are currently working on the sequel to Catechumen. It promises to be an even richer gaming experience!
CG: What other kinds of games do you plan to create in the future?
Answer: We are also currently developing a ground-breaking new multi-player game that promises to be quite revolutionary.
CG: What are your thoughts on the state of the Christian market for high
quality computer games?
Answer: I firmly believe that the market is starving for high quality, biblically based entertainment.
CG: What has been missing in Christian computer games in the past and what do you think would help make Christian oriented computer games truly unique and fun?
Answer: Obviously, the main thing that Christian games have lacked in the past has been quality gameplay. Christian games are starting to come into respectability with the release of Catechumen and hopefully other quality games.
CG: One of the big areas of gaming now is online gaming. What do you see as the future of online gaming for Christian oriented products?
Answer: Obviously, multi-player games are going to be a big part of the future of Christian games. The companies that produce high quality, fun to play games will be the leaders in this growing industry.
CG: There are quite a few young Christian developers out there. Do you have any advice for them as they try to get started in this business?
Answer: Pray! A lot! Then believe that God has heard your prayer, and step out in faith and create! After you have created a working demo of your concept, then find an investor willing to finance your project. One word of caution though, if you are going to create something that represents Christ to the world, do it with excellence!
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