Ever since staring wide eyed in wonder at the next door neighbour’s Pong bouncing a huge white block between two other white blocks, it was inevitable that we would end up with a career in the computer game industry. And as arcade games shifted to multicoloured sprites and the first primitive systems began creeping into homes, we were already hooked, addicted, our minds and souls lost to the hypnotic glow of an 8-bit image on a cheap TV in the corner of our bedrooms. Our parents watched in vain as we “wasted” our youth glued to the sacred screen and our skins paled as we shunned the sun in favour of completing just one more level. College grants were burnt up fuelling our passion (obsession), as Harv spent 4 years completing a degree in Interior Design while I (Nev) served my 4 years studying Technical Illustration. Jobs followed as Harv spent 5 years at London’s leading architect firm creating 3D animations and visuals, giving him a real taste for computer modelling and I slaved for 11 years as a Graphic and Web designer, giving me a real taste for doing something entirely different. It was in October of 2001 when our paths first crossed as we both secured jobs working for Codemasters here in the UK. We quickly learnt our trade working on a number of top titles, but as time went on we yearned for something more – freedom to be creative and to work on games of our own design. In June of 2005, while I was dragging Harv across Europe towards a 3-day heavy metal festival in Belgium, ideas of how we may fashion an escape from the clutches of our normal lives were hatched. Sat in a bar in Le Touquet in France whilst drinking a pint or two (more like seven or eight), we decided that our mutual disenchantment with our working lives had to be addressed… and soon. Assuring ourselves that we had both the knowledge and drive to make it work, the next step was to find the money necessary to begin the adventure. Three months later, after Harv had sold his house and I had re-mortgaged mine, we both “stuck it to the man” (hence the name - Stickman Studios) and cast off the security of a regular paycheque for the uncertainty of starting our own independent game company. With numerous designs fleshed out and ready to go, it was obvious that with both of us being from art backgrounds, we were going to have to buy a game engine – as we needed the majority of the code work done for us. We happened upon the Torque Game Engine and after some study of what it had to offer, decided that it should be perfect for our needs. Wanting to do something a little different, we chose to steer away from a First Person Shooter, Real Time Strategy game or the reworking of an Arcade Classic that seem to be the route many independent developers take. Instead we walked the plank of long hours and late nights over a sea of stormy code changes to bring you Buccaneer: The Pursuit of Infamy. Yaaarrrr!!!! Stickman Nev Site Index: [ Stickman Home ] [ Buccaneer Home ]