Derek Smart

Last updated

Derek K. Smart is an American video game designer. He is the president and lead developer of 3000AD, Inc., an indie game development company based in Aventura, Florida. In addition he is the president of and investor in the video game development company Quest Online. [1] Smart is an independent video game designer and software developer, and the creator of several video game series.

Contents

Work

In 1996, Take 2 Interactive released his first game, Battlecruiser 3000AD . Prior to the release Smart and Take 2 were involved in a dispute over the premature release of the game. The matter was later settled out of court. [2]

Through his 3000AD company, Smart has developed a total of nineteen games to date, [3] across his various franchise properties; most of which are derivative works. Through his Quest Online company, he also worked on the completion of the MMO Alganon as well as that game's expansion pack, Rise of the Ourobani. [4]

Smart also signed a deal with DC Comics in which several comics have been created for his Line of Defense games. [5] A comic for Alganon was also released. [6]

Smart is a lifetime International Game Developers Association (IGDA) member, and was also a board member of the Miami chapter of IGDA. [7]

Games designed

Online activities

Computer Games Magazine wrote that "over time, his reputation as an online defender of his games and unabashed pistol-whipper of his enemies overshadows the games themselves". [8] A 2012 in-depth article regarding the disconnect between his real life and his online alter-ego was written by media veteran Russ Pitts and published by Polygon. [9]

In 2015, during the height of the Gamergate harassment campaign, Smart appeared on a Society of Professional Journalists live broadcast panel [10] alongside Milo Yiannopoulos, then-editor of Breitbart News, Christina Hoff Sommers of American Enterprise Institute, Lynn Walsh of the Society of Professional Journalists, Asche Schow of the Washington Examiner, and others. In that panel, he decried the actions of media who were branding Gamergate members as a hate group.

Since July 2015, Smart has been embroiled in heated controversy surrounding the Star Citizen crowd-funded game which he claimed [11] in July 2015 could never be developed due to its scope and promises. [12] With widespread media coverage surrounding the project, [13] he has since gone on to write various blogs about the project. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video game developer</span> Software developer specializing in the creation of video games

A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with employee responsibilities split between individual disciplines, such as programmers, designers, artists, etc. Most game development companies have video game publisher financial and usually marketing support. Self-funded developers are known as independent or indie developers and usually make indie games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Schafer</span> American video game designer

Timothy John Schafer is an American video game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts. Schafer is best known as the designer of critically acclaimed games Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, Brütal Legend and Broken Age, co-designer of Day of the Tentacle, and assistant designer on The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. He is well known in the video game industry for his storytelling and comedic writing style, and has been given both a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Game Developers Choice Awards, and a BAFTA Fellowship for his contributions to the industry.

<i>Elite</i> (video game) 1984 video game

Elite is a space trading video game. It was written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and was originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in September 1984. Elite's open-ended game model, and revolutionary 3D graphics led to it being ported to virtually every contemporary home computer system and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. The game's title derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of "Elite".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game Developers Choice Awards</span> Annual award for games and developers

The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999. Since then, the ceremony for the Independent Games Festival is held just prior to the Choice Awards ceremony.

<i>Battlecruiser 3000AD</i> 1996 video game

Battlecruiser 3000AD is a space trading and combat simulator video game developed by 3000 AD. It was designed by 3000 AD president and lead developer Derek Smart as the studio's first project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Game Developers Association</span> US nonprofit professional association

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers."

<i>Universal Combat</i> 2004 video game

Universal Combat is the second video game series by the developer 3000AD and is the successor of the Battlecruiser series of games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GameTap</span> Online video game service

GameTap was an online video game service established by Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) in 2006. It provided users with classic arcade video games and game-related video content. The service was acquired by French online video game service Metaboli in 2008 as a wholly owned subsidiary; Metaboli aimed to create a global games service. The service remained active until October 2015, when it was shut down by Metaboli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Wardell</span> American novelist

Bradley R. Wardell is an American businessman, programmer, author and AI engineer. He is the founder, president, and chief executive officer of Stardock, a software development and computer games company.

<i>Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</i> Video game series

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) is a media franchise of space opera role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare, which have seen releases on the original Xbox, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, IOS, Android and Nintendo Switch. The franchise takes place in the fictional universe of Star Wars by George Lucas.

Space flight simulation is a genre of flight simulator video games that lets players experience space flight to varying degrees of realism. Common mechanics include space exploration, space trade and space combat.

<i>Galactic Command</i> Video game series

Galactic Command is the third series of space exploration video games developed by 3000AD, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Sarkeesian</span> Canadian-American feminist media critic

Anita Sarkeesian is a Canadian-American feminist media critic. She is the founder of Feminist Frequency, a website that hosts videos and commentary analyzing portrayals of women in popular culture. Her video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, examines tropes in the depiction of female video game characters. Media scholar Soraya Murray calls Sarkeesian emblematic of "a burgeoning organized feminist critique" of stereotyped and objectified portrayals of women in video games.

<i>Star Citizen</i> In-development multiplayer space game

Star Citizen is a multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation video game currently under development by Cloud Imperium Games for Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plans for Freelancer (2003), Star Citizen is led by director Chris Roberts. The game was announced in 2012 and was followed by a successful Kickstarter campaign which drew over US$2 million. However after more than a decade in development, no projected date for the commercial release of Star Citizen is currently given.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoë Quinn</span> American video game developer (born 1987)

Zoë Tiberius Quinn is an American video game developer, programmer, and writer. Quinn developed the interactive fiction game Depression Quest, which was released in 2013. In 2014, a blog post by their ex-boyfriend sparked the online harassment campaign known as Gamergate, during which Quinn was subjected to extensive harassment including doxing, rape threats, and death threats. The following year, Quinn co-founded Crash Override, a crisis hotline and resource center for victims of online harassment.

Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "#Gamergate" primarily in 2014 and 2015. Gamergate targeted women in the video game industry, most notably feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian and video game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Alexander (journalist)</span> American author and journalist (born 1980s)

Leigh Alexander is an American author, journalist, and video game writer. She is the former editor-at-large and news editor for Game Developer, and former editor-in-chief for the revived Boing Boing website Offworld. She has writing credits on the games Reigns: Her Majesty and Reigns: Game of Thrones.

<i>Marvel Puzzle Quest</i> 2013 video game

Marvel Puzzle Quest is a 2013 puzzle game developed by Demiurge Studios and published by D3 Go!. The fourth installment in the Puzzle Quest series, it is a free-to-play, match-three Bejeweled-style puzzle battle game set in the Marvel universe, featuring 358 playable, unlockable, recruitable Marvel characters.

References

  1. ↑ "Quest Online Corporate information" . Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  2. ↑ "1997 3000AD and Take 2 settle differences". 23 December 1998.
  3. ↑ "Games". 3000ad.com. 14 March 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  4. ↑ "Alganon – Rise of the Ourobani". Archived from the original on 17 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Line Of Defense Comic Issues 1–3, Lodmmo.com
  6. ↑ "Alganon – Fall of the Ourobani comic". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "IGDA Miami – Chapter Meeting: June 2002". Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
  8. ↑ Julian Murdoch, Computer Games Magazine , The People vs. Derek Smart, Issue 196.
  9. ↑ "The Redemption of Derek Smart". Polygon . 20 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  10. ↑ dsmart (16 August 2015). "SPJAirPlay GamerGate Debate". Smart Speak. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  11. ↑ dsmart (6 July 2015). "Star Citizen – Interstellar Citizens". Smart Speak. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Younger, Paul (5 July 2015). "Star Citizen will "never get made" as it's been pitched says Derek Smart". PC Invasion. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "inside-star-citizen". Kotaku UK. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  14. ↑ dsmart (6 July 2015). "All Star Citizen Blogs". Smart Speak. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.