RedPad Games© founders set off on a strategic goal to bring the highest quality AAA level content to the international gaming community. Let’s take a moment to get to know the key individuals working overtime behind the scenes of the ground-breaking studio RedPad Games© and its forthcoming MMO release Dustland™!
The video game industry has long since become a Titan in the entertainment business vertical. As of 2001, the gaming industry generates more revenue that the movie and music business combined and its little wonder why. The depth of passion gamer’s display for their favorite game for their favorite genre is evident in their monthly entertainment budgets. Generally, people have a finite amount of money to spend on entertainment each month. The very fact that the numbers bear out consumers are spending incrementally more on gaming is evident of the power of interactive entertainment. It takes a monumental effort to both produce a dedicated game development studio and even more effort to bring a new, highest level quality game introduction to market. The elements that take place behind the scenes are obfuscated to all but the most die-hard of fans. There are many gears in the interworking engine of a game studio; design, development, art, business development, operations, marketing, PR…the list will stretch as far as needed. Consumers typically see the front facing consumer product, developer and producer and publisher without ever really knowing who the masters of their crafts behind their favorite games are.
Central and key to this effort are the Lead Designers who work tirelessly in the never ending pursuit of the suspension of disbelief. They have a varied and key role within the game studio environment; coordinating all game design aspects, developing ideas, experimenting with themes, plot development, storylines, characters, scenarios, levels of difficulty, rules and of course UI concepts to bring it all together for the gaming community to enjoy. There is an old saying, never meet your idols…lets penetrate that fable for a moment and introduce key employees at RedPad Games and its new development opus, Dustland starting with our incredibly talented, creative and driven game design leader:
Arkady Kabulov, Lead Designer at RedPad Games
Tell us about yourself Arkady, who are you, what is your background?
In short, my background is kind of like Homer Simpson's, if you read his interview with Esquire magazine. There probably won't be enough space to describe a profession that I wouldn't like to try! I have a varied background with a degree in psychology, but by profession I am a graphic designer with 20 years of experience in the international advertising agency space, creative design and gaming of course. Well in essence about the gaming background. When I took up a computer game for the first time I was enthralled with the creation of “Polygon Role-playing games" and went on to create around 6 similar games with nearly almost all of them, according to the universes and rules were my design creations while also concurrently engaged in the development of traditional board games.
How did you come to video games?
I was first introduced to the world of video games when I was 8 years old. I first started playing on a Spectrum ZX computer. Following this, there was of course Nintendo, then Sega and finally my first PC. It was a Pentium 1 with a clock frequency of 75 Mhz. Not much by today’s standards but it planted a powerful seed in me and grew my passion for gaming that has stayed with me throughout my entire career and brought me to my current position as Lead Designer with RedPad Games!
What is your favorite game of all time?
In games I liked and will always like the feeling of a different reality. Long ago, as a child, games became a way for me to visit another dimension and let my imagination run free! I have always had a particular affinity for, of course the game mechanics allowing game design creates amazing ways for human interaction with the game, whether it's branching dialogues, shooting, etc. I could compile a long list of my favorites, some new and others beloved classics. Here are a few of mine! Fallout, Blood, , MDK, Sanitarium, Neverhood, Red Alerts and of course the classic Thief 1 and 2!
What is the most interesting thing for you in creating video games? What would you consider to be the most routine?
The most interesting thing for me is probably the development of game mechanics. I have always enjoyed this aspect of game design the most and it requires a very well thought through design in order to give the players a final release that is engaging, challenging, instills an aspect of self-achievement with the end user and most importantly, fun! The most routine part of the game design process in my opinion would be the tedious methodology of the calculation of balancing in all aspects of the gameplay development process. Concepting to deliver is a laborious challenge, however when we enter a milestone in this process, as for me, is definitely the correct calculation of the balance throughout the course of development.
Tell us briefly about the concept of Dustland and how the idea was born?
In short, we can say that Dustland is a refreshing new fusion of Frank Herbert's Dune universe and the Mad Max franchise mixed with some very unique and engaging aspects within the narrative of the game. Players are going. The concept for Dustland was the game was born under the influence of my great love for the post-apocalypse and games, genres such as Fallout, Wasteland, as well as films such as Mad Max, Escape from New York and many others within this vein.
What is the main goal that you want to achieve as a lead game designer?
As a designer, I am my own harshest critic. Ultimately my goals are always to create captivating content that gamers will find engaging, intriguing and of course challenging. Additionally, as is the culture of our studio, I open myself to feedback, opinions, ideas and even constructive criticism and incorporate these viewpoints throughout the course of quality design iterations. That said, the direct answer to this answer is quite simple actually. Create a game that will be loved by the fans and an IGN leader!