Warren Spector
| Warren Spector | |
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Spector at the November 30, 2010 release party for Epic Mickey at the Times Square Disney Store in Manhattan.
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| Born | Warren Evan Spector October 2, 1955 United States |
| Occupation | Video game designer |
| Spouse(s) | Caroline L. Spector (née Skelley) (1987–present) |
Warren Spector (born October 2, 1955)[1] is an American role-playing game designer and a video game designer. He is known for creating games which give players a wide variety of choices in how to progress.[2] Consequences of those choices are then shown in the simulated game world in subsequent levels or missions. He is best known for the critically acclaimed video game Deus Ex that embodies the choice and consequence philosophy while bringing together elements of the video game genres first person shooter, role playing game and adventure.[3]
Contents
Early life[edit]
Spector grew up in Manhattan, which he described as a sometimes hostile environment where "short, pudgy, Jewish kids didn't fare well".[1] He showed an intense devotion to whatever topic became his focus at any given time, from dinosaurs and airplanes as a small boy, to an interest in law by the sixth grade.[1] At age 13, Spector had decided he wanted to be a film critic, and by high school, his interests expanded to include cars and basketball.[1]
Spector and game designer Greg Costikyan were friends since high school.[citation needed]
Spector attended Northwestern University in Illinois, still intending to become a film critic, stating that he "knew more about movies than a lot of my teachers".[1] Spector earned his BS in Communications at Northwestern, and went on to earn his MA in Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas in Austin in 1980.[1] His thesis was a critical history of Warner Bros. cartoons.[4]
All through college, Spector enjoyed gaming, and recalls that he "played Avalon Hill games mainly, and a lot of OGRE and G.E.V. games, and Rivets from Metagaming. It was all boardgames until I became friends with science-fiction writers who were into D&D games, so I gave the game a try. I was hooked."[1] Spector taught several undergraduate classes at the University of Texas at Austin, on the history, theory, and criticism of film.[1]
Career[edit]
Tabletop role-playing games[edit]
In 1983, after a job at the Harry Ransom Center as an archivist in charge of the David O. Selznick collection ended after a few months, Spector recalls that he "was sitting around, wondering how I was going to pay the next month's rent, when I got a call from Chris Frink. He was a writer for a weekly entertainment magazine I used to edit in college. Anyway, he said that he was now editor of Space Gamer magazine and asked if I wanted a job. So, in the fall of 1983, I started as an editor."[1] Within a short time, Spector became the editor-in-chief for all Steve Jackson Games products, the company that owned and published Space Gamer magazine. Spector began producing role-playing games for the company, stating, "I supervised game development, typesetting, and the art and graphic departments."[1] Greg Costikyan developed Steve Jackson Games' first complete role-playing system, Toon (1984), based on an idea by Jeff Dee; Costikyan intended the game to be an article in Fantasy Gamer magazine, but Spector liked it enough that he expanded it into a full game.[5]:104 Spector wrote the Paranoia game supplement Send in the Clones (1985) with Allen Varney.[5]:189 Spector also worked on the GURPS role-playing game.[6] In March 1987 he was hired by TSR, initially working on games such as Top Secret/S.I. and the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game.[1] He also worked on The Bullwinkle and Rocky Party Roleplaying Game, and the second edition AD&D rules set, as well as board games, choose-your-own-adventure books, and novels.[6] Spector spent some time in TSR's R&D department, helping launch, among other things, Spelljammer.[citation needed]
Origin and Looking Glass[edit]
In 1989, Spector entered the computer game industry and joined Origin, where he co-produced Ultima VI and Wing Commander and produced Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II, Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, System Shock, Wings of Glory, Bad Blood, Martian Dreams, and others.[6][7] He later became general manager of Looking Glass Austin.[6] He worked briefly on Dark Camelot, which later became Thief: The Dark Project.[citation needed]
Ion Storm[edit]
In 1997, after a year as general manager of Looking Glass, he founded Ion Storm Inc.'s Austin development studio, where he directed the award-winning action/RPG, Deus Ex (2000).[6][7] As Ion Storm studio director, he oversaw development of Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003) and Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004).[6] In 2004, Spector left Ion Storm to "pursue personal interests outside the company".[8] Ion Storm closed by owners Eidos Interactive in February 2005.[9]
Disney[edit]
In 2005, it was announced that he had established a new studio Junction Point Studios.[10] A job advertisement for the studio called for artists for a game that has "classic Hollywood cartoons" featuring "cartoon mice, cats and wabbits".[citation needed] On July 13, 2007, it was announced that Disney Interactive had acquired Junction Point Studios.[11] His first project with Disney Interactive is a project involving classic Disney characters, titled Epic Mickey. The game is a Steampunk title and designed exclusively for the Wii;[12] the game was released in 2010.[citation needed] Spector has contributed a great deal to video game theory, and promotes the importance of proper execution of ideas in video games.[13]
In January 2013, it was announced that Warren Spector had left Disney Interactive following the closure of Junction Point Studios.[14]
Personal life[edit]
Warren met Caroline Chase in 1984 at a comic book store in Austin, Texas, where she was employed. Caroline got a job at Steve Jackson Games shortly afterwards, and shortly after that, the two began a romance. Warren and Caroline were married on April 11, 1987. He and Caroline sometimes worked together, such as on game supplements for the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game.[1]
The two currently reside in Austin, Texas. Caroline is a fantasy writer.
Cameo appearances[edit]
Warren Spector appears in many of the games which he helped design. In Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire and Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams he appears as the scientist Johann Schliemann Spector, known by the locals in Savage Empire by the alias Zipactriotl. In Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle he appears as the corrupt treasurer Spektor. In the first Ultima Underworld title, he appears as "an upset specter named Warren". In System Shock he voices Warren Anderczyk in his log file, discussing bio-contamination leaks on Citadel Station. In Deus Ex, the face of the character Ford Schick was modelled after him; in addition, "iamwarren" is one of the game's cheats (it causes electronic devices in the player's vicinity to malfunction spectacularly, a joke by the development team).
Credits[edit]
Video games[edit]
- Wing Commander (1990), Origin Systems
- Wing Commander: The Secret Missions (1990), Origin Systems
- Ultima VI: The False Prophet (1990), Origin Systems
- Bad Blood (1990), Origin Systems
- Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (1991), Origin Systems
- Wing Commander: The Secret Missions 2 - Crusade (1991), Origin Systems
- Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams (1991), Origin Systems
- Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (1992), Origin Systems
- Shadowcaster (1993), Origin Systems (Uncredited)[15]
- Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (1993), Origin Systems
- Wing Commander: Privateer - Righteous Fire (1993), Origin Systems
- Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle (1993), Origin Systems
- Ultima VII Part Two: The Silver Seed (1993), Electronic Arts
- Wings of Glory (1993), Electronic Arts
- System Shock (1994), Looking Glass Technologies
- CyberMage: Darklight Awakening (1995), Origin Systems
- Crusader: No Remorse (1995), Origin Systems
- Thief: The Dark Project (1998), Looking Glass Studios
- Deus Ex (2000), Ion Storm Austin
- Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003), Ion Storm Austin
- Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004), Ion Storm Austin
- Epic Mickey (2010), Disney Interactive Studios
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (2012), Disney Interactive Studios
Spector is usually credited as a producer, except for Deus Ex on which he is also credited as project director.
Role-playing games[edit]
- Toon – Developer (1984), Steve Jackson Games
- Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game – Editor (1988), TSR, Inc.
- Uncanny X-Men Boxed Set – Editor (1990), TSR, Inc.
Novels[edit]
- Double Agent: Royal Pain/The Hollow Earth Affair by Richard Merwin/Warren Spector ISBN 0-88038-551-0
Comics[edit]
- DuckTales- Boom! Studios - (2011)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "TSR Profiles". Dragon (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR, Inc.) (#123): 88. July 1987.
- ^ Specrot, Warren. "Choice and consequence talk". gamasutra.com.
- ^ Spector, Warren. "Deus Ex postmortem". gamasutra.com.
- ^ "AGDC: The Warren Spector Interview". September 6, 2007.
- ^ a b Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- ^ a b c d e f Spector, Warren (2007). "Tikal". In Lowder, James. Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 322–326. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
- ^ a b Spector 2000, p. 50.
- ^ Tor Thorsen. "Warren Spector exits Eidos". GameSpot. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
- ^ Tor Thorsen. "Ion Storm closes its doors". GameSpot. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ Curt Feldman & Tor Thorsen. "Warren Spector resurfaces at Junction Point". GameSpot. GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ Martin, Matt (2007-07-13). "Disney swoops for Spector's Junction Point Studios". GamesIndustry.biz (GamesIndustry.biz). Retrieved 2007-08-18.
- ^ Thomas M. "'Epic Mickey' Spector's first Disney effort?". GameSpot. GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
- ^ Mayhew, Fenster (2009-03-23). "Discussing Game Design #1-2". yoobercharge.blogspot.com (blogspot.com). Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ Michael McWhertor. "Warren Spector no longer with Disney after Junction Point closure". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
- ^ Warren Spector's Master Class Interview No. 8 with Tim Willits (University of Texas, October 29, 2007)
- Sources
- Spector, Warren (November 2000). "Postmortem: Ion Storm's Deus Ex". Game Developer (UBM TechWeb): 50–58. Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warren Spector. |
- Junction Point Studios developer blog (usually Warren Spector, but sometimes other team members)
- Junction Point Studios, Inc. official website
- Warren Spector at MobyGames
- Warren Spector at the Internet Movie Database
- Spector is interviewed on a variety of game industry related topics
- Spector on Grand Theft Auto and video game violence
- Interview with Warren Spector about Ultima VII: Serpents Isle
- Interview at EuroGamer
- Warren Spector interviewed on the TV show Triangulation on the TWiT.tv network
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