‘It’s just a game’ … these are words never to be spoken to any man watching sports, or any person who makes a living designing them. Borut Pfeifer, principal at Plush Apocalypse Productions, has spent the last 13 years making computer games and his latest collaboration, Skulls of the Shogun, is already drawing praise from gamers and critics across the globe.
The LA-based American took to the stage at the he inaugural iTECH Gulf 2014 Forum and Exhibition, to address the tech-savvy crowd about the latest developments in his field. Borut, 37, said: “I collaborated with 17-BIT to create Skulls of the Shogun, which is an arcade strategy game for Xbox Live Arcade, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. “It is a fast-paced turn-based strategy game where players meet and join forces with vibrant ghost-samurai warriors, magical animal-monks and moustachioed samurai generals on the way to capture the Skulls of the Shogun. “As General Akamoto you’ll journey through four different seasons of the samurai afterlife battling your way to claim your title of Shogun … of the Dead!” The multi-platform game has so far received rave reviews. Taylor Cocke from ing.com said: “Do you like turn-based strategy games, but find them a bit too rigid? Would you rather have the ability to move at your own pace than have that pesky grid system holding you down? Do you see a hex-based map as The Man? Well, Skulls of the Shogun is here to break you from your shackles.” Borut says his goal is to create engaging games with deeper social themes. “I’ve been working in the gaming industry for 13 years. I’ve worked for a lot of big companies but now am happy working for myself on a freelance basis as I can be more varied, a captain of my own fate. “I got into this by being a gamer myself. When I was little I played, Sega, Sega Genesis and I realised it appealed to my creative and technical side to get into making games myself. I do a lot of programming but I also do design, figure out how the game works and how you interact with it and I really enjoy that, it’s a challenge. “The first game I worked on was in 2001, I was young and naïve and it ended up failing, we didn’t publish it but it lead me to a job working for the game version of the movie Scarface.” Borut advises anyone looking to enter the field to be prepared for setbacks and to take them in their stride. He said: “I’ve had to deal with a lot of challenges and I’ve had a fair few set-backs, but this is something I love to do so I try not to be discouraged when things don’t work out. “The key to success is taking chances. You can’t mitigate risk by removing it; you just have to choose what is worth taking a risk on. You have to bride the gap between tasking too many risks and not enough. “My advice to aspiring designers – there are a lot of great tools and technologies available to just get into it and teach yourself the basics online. Don’t be hesitant, just focus on building something from beginning to end, even if it’s very simple or small. You can only get better with practice.” According to Borut, being a game designer requires a ‘balance’ of skills. He said: “You know the kind of game you’d like to make if you play games a lot but you won’t know how to make them yet … and the key is doing it as much as possible. “It’s important to find a balance between technical skills and imagination, you need both. There is an art to finding the smallest possible version of what you have in mind and making that. “Scale down you ideas and test things out, even if it’s a one level game, you can always add more levels. The first step is always the hardest.” Over the years, Borut has worked at companies like Radical Entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment, and Electronic Arts. At EA he was lead AI programmer on a game in development with Steven Spielberg. His published credits include Scarface: The World Is Yours (on Playstation 2, Xbox, and PC), Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (a launch title for the Playstation 3). The expo was held under the patronage of the kingdom’s Minister of State for Telecommunications Affairs, Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and organised by Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions, a division of the Al Hilal Group. It offered visitors a unique IT and ICT knowledge exchange platform featuring debate and discussion on the latest regional trends, a line-up of expert speakers and industry awards. Also, for the first time in the kingdom, a Near Field Communication (NFC) Wall was demonstrated by web development and interactive agency 4SPOTS. The wall allowed visitors to download detailed information on show exhibitors, contacts or speakers directly onto their smartphones, simply by swiping over sections on the wall.
