Idwx chap 02

THE FIRST DECADE

C H A P T E R2

C O N T I N U I N G

10yearbook-CONTINUED.qxd:Layout 1 4/2/09 3:28 PM Page 2

BradyGamesAs video games became more complex, a newcategory of publishing popped up–strategy guidesthat helped players navigate the games. In the late’90s there were two major players in the

video game strategy-guide market: Prima Games andBradyGames. IDW did work for both companies butthe founders wanted to establish a long-term contractwith one company.

After getting IDW set up and settled into their new

office space, the founders of IDW focused on lining

up steady work for the company. Three early clients

would help set the direction for the next several years.

__________________________________________________________________A selection of some of the strategy guides IDW worked on for BradyGames.

C H A P T E R

GAMES2

10yearbook-FULL.qxd:Layout 1 3/19/09 9:21 AM Page 18

BradyGamesAs video games became more complex, a newcategory of publishing popped up–strategy guidesthat helped players navigate the games. In the late’90s there were two major players in the

video game strategy-guide market: Prima Games andBradyGames. IDW did work for both companies butthe founders wanted to establish a long-term contractwith one company.

After getting IDW set up and settled into their new

office space, the founders of IDW focused on lining

up steady work for the company. Three early clients

would help set the direction for the next several years.

__________________________________________________________________A selection of some of the strategy guides IDW worked on for BradyGames.

C H A P T E R

GAMES2

Adams remembers, “I was focused on figuringout a way to have regular cash flow, money thatwe could count on that would supplementthe individual projects we were doing. Krisand I had both worked on strategy guidesat WildStorm and we knew there was a lotof work available.

“In those days, all of us were playinggames and had a real affinity for this kind ofwork. The strategy guide publishers already hada pool of writers who were writing the guides so wedidn’t have much luck breaking into that side of thebusiness, but they did have a need for maps to showthe players the layout of each level and indicatewhere bonus items and similar things appear.

“One of IDW’s first projects was a small map jobfor Prima Games [Final Fantasy 8], but our first bigjob came from BradyGames in September 1999when we were contracted to provide the maps for JetForce Gemini, a Nintendo 64 game.

“The way it worked on the first map projects wasBrady would send us videotapes of someone elseplaying the game and Alex would watch the tapesand hand-draw the maps. He and Robbie createdtextures and designed the icons that would be placedon the maps. Looking back at the Jet Force Gemini

maps, they were very primitive compared to whatAlex produced even just a few months later.

“Brady was very happy with thework and we were quickly a regularprovider for them. The next job wascreating maps for Donkey Kong 64, a jobthat was considerably more complex thanJet Force Gemini, and I remember several latenights in the office for all of us as we worked

to complete them.Brady then tried us out

on a design/production jobfor the Sega Dreamcastgame, NBA 2K.

Adams remembers, “I was focused on figuringout a way to have regular cash flow, money thatwe could count on that would supplementthe individual projects we were doing. Krisand I had both worked on strategy guidesat WildStorm and we knew there was a lotof work available.

“In those days, all of us were playinggames and had a real affinity for this kind ofwork. The strategy guide publishers already hada pool of writers who were writing the guides so wedidn’t have much luck breaking into that side of thebusiness, but they did have a need for maps to showthe players the layout of each level and indicatewhere bonus items and similar things appear.

“One of IDW’s first projects was a small map jobfor Prima Games [Final Fantasy 8], but our first bigjob came from BradyGames in September 1999when we were contracted to provide the maps for JetForce Gemini, a Nintendo 64 game.

“The way it worked on the first map projects wasBrady would send us videotapes of someone elseplaying the game and Alex would watch the tapesand hand-draw the maps. He and Robbie createdtextures and designed the icons that would be placedon the maps. Looking back at the Jet Force Gemini

maps, they were very primitive compared to whatAlex produced even just a few months later.

“Brady was very happy with thework and we were quickly a regularprovider for them. The next job wascreating maps for Donkey Kong 64, a jobthat was considerably more complex thanJet Force Gemini, and I remember several latenights in the office for all of us as we worked

to complete them.Brady then tried us out

on a design/production jobfor the Sega Dreamcastgame, NBA 2K.

The job was a nightmare andit was one of the few timesthat, even though wecompleted the project, wecouldn’t make a client happy.That was the only designproject we would get fromBrady, but they were sohappy with Alex’s maps thatwe were soon buried inprojects.

“In 2000, IDW did mapsfor the BradyGames strategyguides for Perfect Dark(Nintendo 64), Tenchu 2(PlayStation), Dino Crisis 2,and Banjo-Tooie (Nintendo64). During this period Alexwas refining his work with each project, workingtowards the day when he would be able to stophand-drawing the maps and could produce true 3Dcomputer-generated maps.

“By 2001, Brady was so pleased with the workwe were doing they put us under an exclusivecontract and paid us a monthly advance against aguaranteed amount of work. Up until then we were

still doing a few projects forPrima, and we’d done theRune guide as well, but wewere very happy to sign anexclusive with Brady. Theywere always one of ourfavorite clients and weappreciated the confidencethey showed in our work.“Alex continued to refine

his technique and by thistime was producing maps thatwere really works of art. Itwas also during this time thatNintendo decided theywouldn’t let the games out oftheir office and Alex wouldhave to make regular trips to

Seattle to work on the maps.“Over the next four years, IDW provided maps

for dozens of projects and worked for Brady untilthe summer of 2005. By that point, game designerswere starting to provide their own maps for theguides and the games were becoming so complexthat Alex, working by himself, couldn’t get the mapsdone as fast as a team of people. By then, IDW

The job was a nightmare andit was one of the few timesthat, even though wecompleted the project, wecouldn’t make a client happy.That was the only designproject we would get fromBrady, but they were sohappy with Alex’s maps thatwe were soon buried inprojects.

“In 2000, IDW did mapsfor the BradyGames strategyguides for Perfect Dark(Nintendo 64), Tenchu 2(PlayStation), Dino Crisis 2,and Banjo-Tooie (Nintendo64). During this period Alexwas refining his work with each project, workingtowards the day when he would be able to stophand-drawing the maps and could produce true 3Dcomputer-generated maps.

“By 2001, Brady was so pleased with the workwe were doing they put us under an exclusivecontract and paid us a monthly advance against aguaranteed amount of work. Up until then we were

still doing a few projects forPrima, and we’d done theRune guide as well, but wewere very happy to sign anexclusive with Brady. Theywere always one of ourfavorite clients and weappreciated the confidencethey showed in our work.“Alex continued to refine

his technique and by thistime was producing maps thatwere really works of art. Itwas also during this time thatNintendo decided theywouldn’t let the games out oftheir office and Alex wouldhave to make regular trips to

Seattle to work on the maps.“Over the next four years, IDW provided maps

for dozens of projects and worked for Brady untilthe summer of 2005. By that point, game designerswere starting to provide their own maps for theguides and the games were becoming so complexthat Alex, working by himself, couldn’t get the mapsdone as fast as a team of people. By then, IDW

Publishing was really up and running and wedecided not to pursue a new contract with Brady.”

Alex describes his experience as thegames became more and morecomplicated: “For me, the onlyfrustrating thing about theseprojects was that thedeadlines were concrete, butthe broad scope of each gamevaried wildly and was never

known beforehand. Because ofthat, I was always forced to blindly

budget my time, just praying I could finish by thedue date. When we first started, I would average 15-30 maps per game. As game sizes increased over theyears, the average number of maps per game wasnearing 100 and therefore became unmanageable forone person. The only solution was to hire a team tohelp out, and that just wasn’t feasible for our businessstrategy at the time.”

RUNE STRATEGY GUIDEThe first book to have the IDW logo on itwasn’t a comic book—it was a strategy guidefor the PC-game Rune.

Adams remembers, “I

think my old friend and

colleague at Todd McFarlane

Entertainment, Terry Fitzgerald,

introduced us to the guys at Ethos

Entertainment who were associated in some

way with Human Head or the developers of the

Rune game. In any case, they had the strategyguide rights for the game and were looking for

someone to help them put together a book.

This one was a complete turn-key job for IDW—

we hired the writer and did all of the design and

production.

“The thing I remember most about this

project is that we had to buy a PC to get

it done. We’ve always been, and still are, a

Mac-only shop but this game didn’t run on a

Mac so we had to break down and buy a PC.

And this was in the days of the giant PC boxes

and monitors. That thing was an albatross in

our office for years, taking up space and doing

nothing but gathering dust. It was only when

we moved into our current office in 2008 that

we finally found a way to recycle the long-

obsolete equipment.”

Publishing was really up and running and wedecided not to pursue a new contract with Brady.”

Alex describes his experience as thegames became more and morecomplicated: “For me, the onlyfrustrating thing about theseprojects was that thedeadlines were concrete, butthe broad scope of each gamevaried wildly and was never

known beforehand. Because ofthat, I was always forced to blindly

budget my time, just praying I could finish by thedue date. When we first started, I would average 15-30 maps per game. As game sizes increased over theyears, the average number of maps per game wasnearing 100 and therefore became unmanageable forone person. The only solution was to hire a team tohelp out, and that just wasn’t feasible for our businessstrategy at the time.”

RUNE STRATEGY GUIDEThe first book to have the IDW logo on itwasn’t a comic book—it was a strategy guidefor the PC-game Rune.

Adams remembers, “I

think my old friend and

colleague at Todd McFarlane

Entertainment, Terry Fitzgerald,

introduced us to the guys at Ethos

Entertainment who were associated in some

way with Human Head or the developers of the

Rune game. In any case, they had the strategyguide rights for the game and were looking for

someone to help them put together a book.

This one was a complete turn-key job for IDW—

we hired the writer and did all of the design and

production.

“The thing I remember most about this

project is that we had to buy a PC to get

it done. We’ve always been, and still are, a

Mac-only shop but this game didn’t run on a

Mac so we had to break down and buy a PC.

And this was in the days of the giant PC boxes

and monitors. That thing was an albatross in

our office for years, taking up space and doing

nothing but gathering dust. It was only when

we moved into our current office in 2008 that

we finally found a way to recycle the long-

obsolete equipment.”

WizKidsIn 2000, IDW was contacted, through a mutual

friend, by Jordan Weisman, one of the founders ofFASA and FASA Interactive. Among other things,FASA created the popular Battletech and Shadowrunfranchises and after Microsoft acquired FASAInteractive, Jordan was Creative Director for theirentertainment division.

“When we first met, Jordan was in the very earlystages of development on what would become MageKnight,” remembers Adams. “He had a prototype ofthe combat dial and explained to us how the

mechanics of the game would work.It was obvious that he was anunbelievably smart guy whohad a great track record andwe were very happy to beworking with him. At thetime, Jordan was actuallypaying us with personal

checks. He’s one of the most entrepreneurial guysI’ve ever met and I tried to learn as much as I couldfrom him.”

In addition to designing hundreds of charactersin the Mage Knight universe, IDW designed theWizKids logo and providedthe art for the firstbooster boxes. The first

___________________________________________IDW’s work was recognized by WizKids when the

Mage Knight game was released in November 2000.26

VIDEO-GAME MAGAZINESIn addition to strategy guides, IDW did several illustrations for the covers and interiors of video-game

magazines, including a Wolverine cover for Official US PlayStation Magazine.

WizKidsIn 2000, IDW was contacted, through a mutual

friend, by Jordan Weisman, one of the founders ofFASA and FASA Interactive. Among other things,FASA created the popular Battletech and Shadowrunfranchises and after Microsoft acquired FASAInteractive, Jordan was Creative Director for theirentertainment division.

“When we first met, Jordan was in the very earlystages of development on what would become MageKnight,” remembers Adams. “He had a prototype ofthe combat dial and explained to us how the

mechanics of the game would work.It was obvious that he was anunbelievably smart guy whohad a great track record andwe were very happy to beworking with him. At thetime, Jordan was actuallypaying us with personal

checks. He’s one of the most entrepreneurial guysI’ve ever met and I tried to learn as much as I couldfrom him.”

In addition to designing hundreds of charactersin the Mage Knight universe, IDW designed theWizKids logo and providedthe art for the firstbooster boxes. The first

___________________________________________IDW’s work was recognized by WizKids when the

Mage Knight game was released in November 2000.26

VIDEO-GAME MAGAZINESIn addition to strategy guides, IDW did several illustrations for the covers and interiors of video-game

magazines, including a Wolverine cover for Official US PlayStation Magazine.

Mage Knight starter decks also included a mini-comicthat was put together by IDW.

IDW employed a handful of freelancers on thedesign but in-house artist Alex Garner, ended upproviding most of the designs and worked closelywith Weisman.

Garner remembers, “Little did I know back thenjust how popular Mage Knight would turn out to be,which is a testament to Jordan’s sharp business

acumen. But what I think also made himsuccessful was that he was a real fan ofthe genre, so his passion for theproject really showed through.

“When I designed thecharacters based off Jordan’sdescriptions, I assumed the art Iwas doing was for sculptor’s eyesonly, so I initially left them really

open and sketchy. Onlywhen we started doingtrading cards did Irefine the work forprint purposes.”

IDW also produceda comic series based onMage Knight that featuredcover art by J. Scott Campbell,Dave Johnson, Ryan Benjamin,Alex Garner, and MikeWieringo. Mage Knight wasIDW’s first licensedcomic-book seriesand it’s one of thefew IDW titles tonever be collected as atrade paperback. IDW

____________________________________Mage Knight characters designed by Alex.

__________________________________________________Opposite Page: Promotional poster for IDW’s Mage Knight:Stolen Destiny. Art by J. Scott Campbell.