I have mentioned here before that I was working on a game with Blue Byte Software in Düsseldorf - Settlers: Rise of an Empire. My contribution has been story, continuity, and cut screen scripts, similar to my work with ArenaNet. The game has been released, and did quite well in Europe, but was much quieter on this side of the Atlantic (where there is a lot more attention to Assassin's Creed, also by parent company UbiSoft).
That's a pity, because I thought the concept was really cool, and I appreciate all the work by the brilliant team, including Benedikt Grindel, Andreas Suika, and Alex Brueggemann (who were my main contacts in a very long-distance work relationship).
But I was surprised to learn that we (meaning the game) had picked up no less than six awards for the German Developer Prize, including "Game of the Year", and, my fave "Best Cutscene Intros". That last one made me particularly happy, since I thought they turned out great (One friend, looking over my shoulder during the development, said he would BUY the game based on the cutscenes).
L to R: Benedikt, Pepe (graphics artist), Andreas, Alex, Ralf Wirsing (director of Ubisoft Germany) and presenter Arne Peters.
Congratulations to the team, and delighted to see that Settlers: Rise of an Empire has gotten its well-deserved props!
More later,