"If you
want to fulfil your dreams, give yourself up to loneliness, work hard, and fear
nothing."
- Bret Hart
For
the first decade of the 21st century, this site was the home of a remarkable career
in game development. Operating under the abbreviated signature of
MDickie, I single-handedly developed and published a dizzying array of
PC games - presiding over every inch of every project, from the design and
programming through to the graphics and music. From that vantage point, I was able to turn
my hand to the ideas I had always wanted to see - delivering
innovative
concepts that simply could not be found anywhere else. Free from the shackles of a
bureaucratic team, I also worked at a blistering pace - churning out a steady
flow of deeply personal projects. The highlight of which was the
Wrestling MPire
series, which is still regarded as one of the best wrestling simulators ever
made and is attended to by its own dedicated
fan community. As a
long-time fan of professional wrestling, it was an honour to make my own
contribution to the genre.
These underground rumblings
resonated around the world, as players responded in their
thousands and established me as one of the most prominent independents on the
scene - permitting me to make a living from something that was hitherto
considered a hobby. The media also marvelled at my methods and celebrated my work as an
exciting new facet to the world's biggest and fastest growing art form. It was a
responsibility I took very seriously - supplementing the games with a canon of
insightful articles that
redefined what could be achieved by one man.
This penchant for writing even culminated in gaming's first ever
memoir,
Inspiration For
The Interactive Generation - the first of several books I would go
on to publish as my interests diversified. I had grown weary of the
entertainment industry and could no longer justify the extraordinary amount of
work that went into each project. Having dedicated my childhood to it, I
sought to tone down the influence it would have over my adult life.
Fearless
to the end, I brought my career to a dramatic close with two of the world's most controversial
games about
Christianity and
Islam respectively. It was
the culmination of every concept I had conjured up previously, and used the
metaphor of a virtual world to make sense of spiritual principles that were
otherwise incomprehensible. Rather predictably, my sincere efforts were
denounced as "blasphemy" by the pious - whilst the ignorant masses
howled with derision and attempted to make me the laughing stock of the Internet. Nevertheless, it
was a fitting end for a trailblazing career that divided opinion like no
other! Everything about me was designed to provoke a reaction. My amateurish efforts were
easy to criticize, my solitary decisions were easy to question, my passionate
words were easy to misinterpret, and even my name was asking to be ridiculed!
But like all paths of least resistance, that route was only taken by the
foolish. Those that took the bait revealed their lower natures, whereas those that saw the good in my work
were pure diamonds that
were shining the light back. They were the bricks that built the MPire,
and it is to them that I dedicate all that was accomplished.
When my
exploits at this site were finally at an end, I elected to release for
free
what had previously been published titles so that they might reach an even wider
audience. Although for your convenience, I still provide the complete
Rise &
Fall Of The MPire collection on a handy CD for just $9.99. In an
unprecedented step, I also made the
source code available too so that aspiring game developers could see
the inner workings of each game and make their own modifications. The fruits
of this new generation continue to emerge at fan communities throughout the
world. It is my hope that what the games may lack in market value they now make up
for in educational value!
And so I leave you to stroll
into the future with a games industry that no longer has me snapping at its
heels. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. For all
my faults, I at least offered something different. I'd be lying if I said I
accomplished all I wanted to, but I'd also be lying if I saw it becoming any
more likely as time goes on. There was always a time limit on the game I was
playing and the "Game Over" sign couldn't be any clearer. All that remains is
to put my name up there at the top of the "Hi Score" table where no one man
will ever reach it! That was always the reason I spelt my name with one T:
1. M - A - T 19'812'010
I leave you with this poignant montage of every game I ever made between 2000 and 2010 - one of many videos you can find on my dedicated YouTube channel:
Copyright © MDickie 2000 - 2010