|
About a
week ago, David graciously answered a few questions. While we
couldn't pry out of him anything more than a hint about their upcoming
plans, we hope to get a good deal more about it in the near
future. This interview gives a little insight into the game
which we think you'll find interesting.
How
long did it take you to develop the game?
We developed the game in about
10-11 months full-time. The whole process from design
and conception to publishing was about 16 months.
When
did you first conceive of doing the game?
October 1997.
What
was your greatest challenge in getting the game published?
Saints of Virtue was targeted at the Christian bookstore market (CBA
for short). The Christian games
that have been done in the past five years have ranged from mediocre
to poor and have not sold well. So it was really hard for us to find
a publisher who would help push and
promote us in the CBA marketplace because they saw
the Christian game market as "dead". We tried very hard to
convince them that a product such as
ours would help revive it. Most of the big publishers turned
us down. A small publisher, Cactus Games, saw the potential for
success because we had a high quality
product. They had success with board games and took
us on to publish our game.
What
are your future plans? Anything specific you can tell us?
We have another game in the works. We can't give anything specific
out right now, but our website --
www.shinestudios.com will have updates in the next few months.
What
do you see as the future of gaming for Christians?
As for Christian computer games, I see an untapped market: games
that offer Biblical and spiritual
truths and that promote goodness and hope and love and justice
and more. There is enough that are just "kill the bad guy"
and those kind of games have been
around since the beginning of computer games.
What
do you see as the future of Internet gaming for Christians?
In terms of Internet gaming -- I see some games being created
several years from now, but
unfortunately the business model can be difficult unless the game is
of high enough quality. I think when
more of the equivalent of "game engines" for the
Internet become available so developers can focus on the content,
not the technology, then it will be
easier to do on-line games with more substance. I do know
that the Christian community on-line is huge and they would be
hungry for a game of depth and quality
that would engage them on all levels. Perhaps a big Christian
on-line community may help fund and support a project.
What
kind of graphics engine do you plan to use?
The one drawback of Saints of Virtue is that we used an older
technology graphics engine. Back when
we started, none polygonal engines were available and we
did not have the time to write a new one. Now, there are many
quality polygonal engines that can do
Quake2 or better. The Quake3 and UnReal engines are
out of our price range because they cost from $250K - $500K just for
the engine.
Is
there anything else you would like to do?
Our goal at Shine Studios is to do entertainment that is fun but
engages the spiritual side too. We want
the people who play our games to not just go away thinking
that it was a fun game -- but to understand life in new ways ( a
more Christian worldview ), be
challenged and confronted with Biblical truths, and be touched
at the "soul" level. We at
Shine have a background in computer game development, so we are
using our talents the best we can in
that area right now. We could go in other directions, but
we feel God has lead us into the best way He would have us to
communicate His truths to the world. |
