Retro game interview: Paul Neurath (Space Rogue)

Retro Games

Paul Neurath

As a follow up to my post about the game known as “Space Rogue“, I tracked down one of the people responsible for the game.  In this case it was Paul Neurath who is currently the Creative Director / Founder of Floodgate Entertainment.

Paul Neurath has been involved with games like: Neverwinter Nights, Thief, Descent and Ultima Underworld.  Starting out his game career back in 1986 with a game called Ogre.

He was kind enough to answer some of my questions, so here are his responses.

---

Floodgate Entertainment

You’re the Creative Director / Founder of Floodgate Entertainment, what does that involve?

I founded Floodgate Entertainment, and run product development for the studio.   In my role as Creative Director I involved in coming up with new game concepts, work with our teams in refining and fleshing out the concepts into games during production, and oversee development in general.

---

Having been in the games industry for over 20 years, how far do you feel this form of entertainment has come, compared to those early days?

Not far enough!   It feels that true innovation happens more slowly than it should.  While the visuals and audio of today’s games are leaps and bounds better than years ago, in terms of  game play mostly what is being played today is pretty much the same as what was played a decade ago.   Pick your favorite genre – shooter, RPG, RTS, MMO – for the most part the game play formulas were worked out years ago, and today the newest games rehash these designs with  modest refinements and embellishments.   Perhaps this is inevitable in any creative field one the pioneering days are past, but my sense is that the game industry tends to be more conservative creatively than other creative medias.  There can be great reluctance by game publishers to try anything that is actually new, and I think that has held back the development of the industry to some extent at least.   Even Hollywood, which some consider staid, seems to try more out-of-left-field types of films than the game industry does in comparison.

---

Out of all the games you’ve been involved in, which was your favourite and why?

If I had to pick just one, Ultima Underworld.  This is the game where we really cut our teeth in creating an immersive experience that supported emergent game play.   Before Ultima Underworld there were really not games where players were encouraged to try their own solution to challenges; often solutions that the game designers never anticipated or planned for.  Ultima Underworld let gamers feel as if they were driving the experience, not along for the ride on rail laid down by the developers.

---

Are there any other games out there, from other developers, that have captured your interest over the years?

Many, and for different reasons.

---

Outside of work, do you ever get chance to play games?  If so, what’s your current game?

We play board games at the office, which provides a nice counter-point to computer / video games.   I also play in a regular poker group of local game company exec types.

---

How long were you with Origin Systems?

I was never actually employed by Origin Systems.   I worked closely with Origin as an independent game developer, and did game design consulting on some of their internal project, such as Ultima 4, Ogre, and others.   Origin had a great crew of talented folks, including Richard Garriott, Warren Spector, Chris Roberts and others, and I learned a lot from these folks.

---

I noticed Warren Spector, a member of Floodgate’s Board of Advisors, was also at Origin Systems and worked on Space Rogue.  Do you both still talk about the good old days there?

A bit, but mostly when we get together we talk about what we are doing now, state of the game industry, and the like.  It is pretty unique that we share such a long-term perspective on the game industry.

---

What was your involvement in the creation of Space Rogue?

I did essentially all of the development on the original Apple II version; including coding, art, design.   That was back in the day when it was still possible for an individual to do a game pretty much by themselves.  Warren did some writing for the game towards the end of the project, and others ported the game to PC, Amiga and such.

Once Space Rogue was completed, I realized that for the next game I worked on I could not do by myself.  By 1988 the games were getting too big for any one person to do.   So with Ultima Underworld I put a team together, and it was the first project where my role evolved to Creative Director.

---

How did you think it turned out?

All things considered, I think the game came out well.  It would have been better had I not tried to tackle all the development myself.  For instance, my artist skills are limited.

---

Looking back at it now, after all your experience in the game industry, what do you consider its best aspects?

There are three things I enjoy most about the game industry.  The first is getting to work with super talented folks who are passionate about creating games.   The second is closely related to the first;  building a team of talented developer and then seeing them cut loose on the development of a game.  A well oiled development team is a thing of beauty.   The third is that the game industry does continuously evolve and change, which keeps it fresh.

---

When was the last time you played, talked or even thought about Space Rogue?

Have not played it since the day it shipped.  Working on a game for 2 years makes it not so appealing to go back and play; one of the hazards of being in the game industry

I only really think about Space Rogue these days when somebody tells me about their recollections of the game.

---

Whose idea was the worm holes between systems that ate away at your ship?  Just want to know who to blame for all those failed attempts of navigating the trickier ones.

I have to take the blame for that

---

Also, I’m sure Space Rogue must have been the first game to have an interactive arcade game in it, beating GTA III by 15 years.  Do you remember who came up with it?

Again, I’ll take full credit (and blame) for design elements     I played my fair share of stand-up arcade games in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and thought it would be fun to have one in the space stations of the game.

---