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~ March 2010 ~
When I released yet another spiritual
game with The Making Of A Prophet, the backlash
was predictably fierce.
But the sentiment wasn't lost on one of my Indian players,
Mr Centurian,
who gets to the heart of the matter in this brief interview...
Will Mat Dickie ever jump
back into the gaming industry, taking it as a hobby
or part-time work? The
fans have played Wrestling MPire many times
and now since you quit from game development,
we are looking to others. But
once again, is there any chance of
updating or releasing a new wrestling
game?
I still can't figure out how I feel about game development. Part of me knows
it's over and that I have nothing left to contribute, but the other half of me
feels I have a talent for it and that I was born to do it. It's hard to turn
my back on something that was my childhood dream - especially now that the art
form is taking over the world and will only get bigger. But that's also the
problem. Games have become so big and sophisticated now that it's very
difficult for an independent to make an impact and stay relevant. The games
industry still hasn't settled down the way music and movies have. It's hard
for anybody to see their future in it, and I'm tired of gambling my life on
those waves. It was fun while it lasted and I don't regret a thing, but it's
not what I choose for myself now. The bottom line is I worked very hard and
did my very best, but my time in the sun is over. That doesn't have to be a
bad thing! It's OK to move on. Your favourite TV show didn't run for 10 years
and your favourite wrestler won't be around in 10
years. Why does your favourite game developer have to exist for eternity?
Your games were spectacular and were the first to go
into such depth with the
career mode. Encore was the best.
Wrestling MPire,
though new, somehow lacked the gameplay of
wrestling. They were like just hitting and hitting
the opponents. Can we hope for
some new gameplay with better camera angles?
Everybody has their reservations about a revamped game, but I personally felt
that Wrestling MPire 2008 was better than everything that came before
it in every single way (with the obvious exception of performance). I wouldn't
have made it the way it was if that wasn't the case. I'm not sure what you
mean about more "hitting"? I'm a wrestling fan and I worked hard to put that
at the forefront. Maybe you're talking about elements from the boxing game
Reach, which Wrestling MPire 2008 was largely based on. I was happy
with a lot of those and was interested in keeping them. That's what got me
excited about a new wrestling game in the first place. I'm really not as
interested in remaking the games as people think, because that's as good as it
gets for me. If anything was left out, it was left out for a reason. People
will discover that as they set about customizing the games themselves. They'll
have a lot of "Eureka" moments where they realize why I did things a certain
way. That was one of the reasons I wanted to go public with the code...
Many
people are asking why you're releasing games (and mods)
based on religion? And by
doing so, can people of
other religions
(or none like atheists)
expect their own game of some sort?
Are you willing to make a version for them,
or do you only cater for
the religions that are true in your opinion and which you have a good
knowledge of?
People sometimes read too much into those projects. As I warn in the
disclaimers on The Making Of A Prophet, "This is primarily a work of
entertainment and does not necessarily reflect my beliefs." These games are
works of entertainment and have to convey a message within the constraints of
an interactive experience. It's not a suitable forum for me to convey
EVERYTHING I believe in. You just get snippets. Half of it I subscribe to, the
other half I shoehorn in there to drive the story along and make it work as a
game. It makes me laugh when people run around assuming I must be a devout
Christian (or a Muslim now). One of my fellow Blitz developers even
dismissed me as a "priest" who was "preaching" to the kids I had brainwashed
with wrestling. If he had spent more than 5 minutes at the site, he would know
that the whole point of The You Testament was that it CHALLENGED
orthodox beliefs! It's a shame that sceptics are so opposed to the projects
and feel slighted, because the whole point of the games is that they put
spiritual principles into a realistic context. The metaphor has something to
offer everybody. It's no secret that I have a spiritual side, but I'm not the
"religious fanatic" that people have me down as. I guess the weakest links are
the easiest to make. I just have a deep understanding of these things and used
that knowledge to create a unique piece of work. Nothing more, nothing less...
When you spoke of Christ
and Muhammad in Hindu
terms, I was really impressed by your
knowledge because only few people know about this and even many Hindus don't
know because their original holy books (like
the Vedas) have
lost their glory since they were first written.
How did you come to know of this,
and who guided you in it? I came to know of
it because I live in
India, but how do you as a
westerner know of this?
Thank you. After 12 months of ill-informed abuse, it's good to receive praise
for the efforts I made to connect the world's various cultures! It wasn't easy
and I had to work extremely hard to turn these concepts into a coherent gaming
experience. I was buried in books for months. It required a sound
understanding of the issues at hand, so it was odd when people accused me of
getting things wrong and not knowing anything. I'd love to debate with them!
People often wonder whether I'm "religious" or not. All I can tell you is that
I see the truth in ALL the world's major religions and respect them
accordingly. Some people think that makes me VERY religious, others think it
doesn't make me religious at all (because I don't subscribe to any one in
particular). I've studied them all intently and I honestly don't see the
difference between them. The differences are few and trivial, whereas the
similarities are plentiful and profound. My take on it is inspired by an
Indian guru called
Paramahansa Yogananda who dedicated his life to pointing
out the similarity between Hinduism and Christianity. Once you "get" that, all
of the other belief systems fall into place - including Islam. It's all about
putting this physical life into perspective and seeing it for what it is.
That's exactly what my games are about, as the characters discover how and why
their world was created. As Muhammad remarks in The Making Of A Prophet,
"Until you know what life is, you can't hope to live a good one."
Copyright © MDickie 2000 - 2010
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