Matt Chat with Tim Lang

[{CH}ArticleBot]

The last two instalments of Matt Chat, a series of interviews with professional game designers and developers, features Tim Lang, a former game designer at New World Computing. Tim is a friendly and outspoken fellow who has stayed in touch with various members of the community over the years.

Part one of the interview is about Brrapp Games, Tim's company, and his early days in the gaming industry.

Part two covers Tim's time at New World Computing, including his work on Might and Magic IX.

If you like to travel back in time, we had an interview of our own with Tim Lang 13 years ago. Back then, Ubisoft had just acquired the rights to the Might and Magic license and we were speculating about Ubi's ability to deliver great Heroes games.

Read full article...

[Avonu]

Part three

[Avonu]

Part four - this time he talks about tragic fate of MM9.

[Angelspit]

And the fifth and final part. This one is about New World Computing and M&M Legacy.

[Avonu]

...or as Tim Lang says - Might and Magic: Legend of Grimrock.
Also:

When you design the game, design for minimum requirements, not for maximum requirements.

[Troller]

Oh what could have been – I believe they changed engine too early. The benefits where to small and the restrictions too big to justify it. The low polycount made the monsters and NPCs ugly compared to the old sprite models. The area restrictions made the game feel more like levels and not like an open world you could explore. If they waited a generation or two the higher poly count would allow them to populate the world and make it feel more alive...
But this is so easy to say in hindsight - they were under pressure so scrapping the initial work was probably a no go :-(