Gary Carr (video game developer)

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Gary Carr
BornFebruary 1966 (age 57–58)
Occupation Video game developer
Known for

Gary Carr (born February 1966 [1] ) is an English [2] video game developer. His career began at Palace Software, where he worked on titles such as Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior and Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax . In 1989, he joined Bullfrog Productions and worked as lead artist on Powermonger and Populous II . He also worked on Theme Park , but, after a disagreement with Peter Molyneux, he left the company to work for The Bitmap Brothers, where he worked on The Chaos Engine 2 . He returned to Bullfrog in 1995 hoping to work on Dungeon Keeper , but worked on Theme Hospital instead. He left Bullfrog again in 1998 to join Mucky Foot Productions.

Contents

In 2003, he joined Lionhead Studios, and later became a Creative Director, as well as an Executive Producer at Microsoft Game Studios. He left Lionhead in 2015. The following year, he set up a new company, Two Point Studios. In 2017, the company signed a publishing deal with Sega for a new game.

Career

Early career

In 1986, Carr attended art college, and originally wanted to be a film maker. [3] His career in game development began when he was inspired by titles such as Elite and Little Computer People , and liked the ability to manipulate the world and its people. [3] He obtained a Higher National Diploma in graphic design. [3] He applied for a job at a company called Palace Films, but was assigned to the software department instead. [3] At Palace Software, Carr worked on the Barbarian series. [3]

Bullfrog Productions (1989–1998)

In 1989, Carr joined Bullfrog Productions, [4] where he worked as lead artist on Powermonger and Populous II . [5] He was Bullfrog's sixth employee. [6] Palace were losing money due to an increase in its films' costs, and a colleague showed him screenshots of Populous , which Carr thought "amazing". [3] Carr considered games such as Powermonger and Populous Bullfrog's forte. [3] He also worked on Theme Park , which Carr hated: [7] "I just didn't get it. I thought it was a dreadful idea", he stated. [4] Peter Molyneux, managing director of Bullfrog and producer of the game, [8] wanted colourful graphics to appeal to a Japanese market, but Carr thought he had "lost the plot". [4] He left Bullfrog in 1993 and joined The Bitmap Brothers, where he worked on The Chaos Engine 2 . [4] [5] [3] Carr later regretted this, and called himself "a dickhead". [4] He also described Theme Park as "an absolute classic". [4]

He returned in 1995 with the intention of working on Dungeon Keeper , but ended up working on Theme Hospital instead, [9] [7] as lead artist. [10] Carr was initially disappointed at this: "Great! A sequel to the game I left the company for in the first place!" he said. [9] He did not leave again due to the success of Theme Park. [7] During research for Theme Hospital, he, along with the project leader Mark Webley, [10] made visits to Royal Surrey County Hospital and Frimley Park Hospital. [9] During a visit, Carr and Webley were watching an operation, and Carr was distracting the surgeon through excitement. [11] The surgeon ordered them out, [9] [11] and Carr then had the idea of making Theme Hospital feature made-up illnesses, [11] [9] due to them considering hospitals monotonous. [11] [7] [9]

Mucky Foot Productions (1998–2003)

Carr left Bullfrog again in 1998 to join Mucky Foot Productions, [12] who considered him "one of the most talented and experienced artists in the computer games industry". [5] He was the company's managing director. [13] Carr stated that Mucky Foot's Startopia is his favourite game that he had worked on, due to its humour and simulation. [3]

Lionhead Studios (2003–2015)

Carr joined Lionhead Studios in 2003, [14] and became the executive producer of The Movies . [3] At a press event in Barcelona, Molyneux asked Carr to demonstrate the production of a sequel using the game's script-writing function, a feature which did not exist. [6] Describing the event, he said Molyneux "threw me under the bus", and also said that there was a piece that said Carr did not know how to play the game. [6] Carr speculated that this was an attempt by Molyneux to force the implementation of a feature. [6] Carr was afterwards assigned to Project Milo , and Microsoft approached Lionhead seeking to use its camera technology. [3] After Molyneux left Lionhead, Carr became the company's most senior developer. [15] By September 2012, Carr had become Lionhead's chief creative officer, and was the creative director of Fable: The Journey . [16] [17] He was also an Executive Producer at Microsoft Game Studios. [3]

Two Point Studios (2016–present)

On 14 September 2015, Carr departed Lionhead. [15] A Microsoft spokesperson thanked Carr for his contributions and described him as "a great friend and colleague". [15] In 2016, Carr and Webley founded a studio called Two Point Studios. [18] [19] On 30 May 2017, Two Point Studios signed a publishing deal with Sega. [18] Carr stated that they are "really excited" to be working with Sega, and expressed confidence that they will be able to create "something special". [18] On 16 January 2018, this was revealed to be Two Point Hospital , a spiritual sequel to Theme Hospital. [20]

Awards

In 2011, Molyneux felt Carr deserved a Lifetime Achievement honour from the Game Developers Choice Awards. [21]

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References

  1. ↑ "Gary CARR". Companies House. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  2. ↑ Fable The Journey – Exclusive Interview with Lionhead Studios Creative Director Gary Carr: Part Two. Game. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2017– via YouTube.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 A Career in Games: The Journey by Gary Carr at GamesWest. International Game Developers Association. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2017– via YouTube.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Revisiting Bullfrog: 25 Years On". Retro Gamer . No. 110. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. December 2012. pp. 60–67. ISSN   1742-3155.
  5. 1 2 3 "Gary Carr". Mucky Foot Productions. Archived from the original on 20 August 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Jason Schreier (11 March 2014). "The Man Who Promised Too Much". Kotaku. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Julian Benson (29 June 2017). "How the makers of Theme Hospital made hospital wards and diseases funny". PCGamesN. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "Funtime at Bullfrog". Prescreen. Edge. No. 4. Bath: Future plc. January 1994. pp. 37–43. ISSN   1350-1593.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Making of Theme Hospital". Retro Gamer . No. 130. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. June 2014. pp. 46–51. ISSN   1742-3155.
  10. 1 2 "Hospital Update". Bullfrog Bulletin. No. 3. Guildford: Bullfrog Productions. 1996. p. 11.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Behind The Scenes Theme Hospital". GamesTM . No. 113. September 2011. pp. 128–131. ISSN   1478-5889.
  12. ↑ Guy Simmons. "About". Lifefart!. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  13. ↑ Philip Aldous (15 September 2015). "Ex-Lionhead Creative Director Gary Carr Setting up New Indie Games Project". Indie Haven. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  14. ↑ Racher Weber (14 September 2015). "Lionhead's creative director Gary Carr departs". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 Rob Crossley (14 September 2015). "Lionhead Creative Director Gary Carr Departs". GameSpot. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  16. ↑ Chad Sapieha (20 September 2012). "Fable: The Journey creative head Gary Carr on playing Kinect games from your couch". Financial Post. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  17. ↑ "Fable: The Journey Credits". Microsoft. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  18. 1 2 3 "SEGA ® Europe Ltd. announce publishing partnership with Two Point Studios". Gamasutra. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  19. ↑ Stephanie Chan (30 May 2017). "Sega Europe's partnership with Two Point Studios is another sign of its PC growth". VentureBeat. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  20. ↑ "Theme Hospital creators announce Two Point Hospital". Metro . 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  21. ↑ Rob Crossley (10 March 2011). "Molyneux praises Lionhead's secret heroes". Develop. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
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