Marc W. Miller | |
|---|---|
 2009 | |
| Born | August 29, 1947 United States |
| Occupation | Game designer, author |
Marc William Miller is a wargame and role-playing game designer and author.
Marc W. Miller | |
|---|---|
| 2009 | |
| Born | August 29, 1947 United States |
| Occupation | Game designer, author |
Marc William Miller is a wargame and role-playing game designer and author.
After serving in the U.S. Army, Miller continued his studies at Illinois State University in 1972 under the G.I. Bill. [1] >: 53 There he joined the ISU Game Club, created by Rich Banner and Frank Chadwick. [1] : 53 [2] Banner obtained a grant that funded the printing of blank hex sheets (suitable for making war-game maps). Adding new members Loren K. Wiseman and John Harshman, the ISU Game Club drafted a variety of designs. Some of these designs were derivatives of existing games, and had generic names like Guerre and Swamp, while others were amalgamations, such as Triplanetary.
In 1973, after being convinced by Miller, Chadwick and Banner, Illinois State University created SimRAD (Simulation Research, Analysis, and Design), a college program where students and teachers designed games. [1] : 53 Revenue from these games supported the funding of innovations in education.[ citation needed ] At the same time, Miller, Chadwick, Banner, and Wiseman decided to publish a massive World War II simulation game and created Game Designers' Workshop as their publishing company. [1] : 53
Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was formed on June 22, 1973, and was initially located in Miller and Chadwick's apartment. [1] : 53 In that year, GDW published Drang Nach Osten , the first of its Europa Series on World War II.
In 1974 the company published five new titles, including Coral Sea, based on the World War II naval battle.[ citation needed ]
In 1975, GDW published Triplanetary by Miller and Harshman. [1] : 53 Miller designed The Russo-Japanese War and Chaco, which is based on the 1930s war between Bolivia and Paraguay. [3]
Miller, Chadwick, Harshman, and Wiseman designed Traveller , which was published in 1977 by GDW. [1] : 54
Miller designed the science-fiction board game Double Star for GDW, which was released in 1979. [3]
While at GDW, Miller designed a total of 74 games and products, with an average of one every four months, including Imperium ; and, co-designed MegaTraveller and 2300 AD .[ citation needed ]
Miller wrote a letter to the company Digest Group Publications (DGP), in 1987 asking them to help GDW make the large amount of published material for Traveller more accessible, which resulted in the second edition of the game known as MegaTraveller. [1] : 204 DGP produced considerable work that went unused, and since 1996, Miller has forbidden his licensees from referencing the unpublished DGP material because of his concerns over copyright issues. [1] : 206
Miller left GDW in 1991. [1] : 60, 205
Miller designed the computer game Challenge of the Five Realms which was published and released by MicroProse in 1992 and the card game Super Deck! . [3] In 1996, Miller purchased the rights to Traveller, Twilight: 2000, and 2300 AD, and he formed a new company named Far Future Enterprises. [1] : 63 He served as the head of this company, which held the rights to the games. [1] : 63 Miller partnered with Sweetpea Entertainment to license media rights for his science-fiction property in exchange for funding to get Imperium Games running in February 1996, as a new publisher dedicated to producing only Traveller material. [1] : 330 While Far Future Enterprises licensed Traveller and other games to several companies, Miller worked on a fifth edition of Traveller for Far Future. [1] : 63
Miller also does consultation work for gaming companies. [1] : 63 Miller publishes game designs through Far Future Enterprises at farfuture.net, consulting on various aspects of the game industry through his Heartland Publishing Services, primarily design and production issues. His role-playing games are currently in print through Far Future Enterprises, Mongoose Publishing, and Steve Jackson Games.
Miller has received the Origins Award, the prestigious Games 100 Award, and the Game Designers' Guild Award. He was inducted into the Charles S. Roberts (Origins) Hall of Fame in 1981 as a designer. He was featured as the king of spades in Flying Buffalo's 2010 Famous Game Designers Playing Card Deck. [4] His novel Agent of the Imperium was nominated for the Dragon Awards in 2016. [5]
Traveller is a science fiction role-playing game first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop. Marc Miller designed Traveller with help from Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, and Loren Wiseman. Editions were published for GURPS, d20, and other role-playing game systems. From its origin and in the currently published systems, the game relied upon six-sided dice for random elements. Traveller has been featured in a few novels and at least two video games.
Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.
Triplanetary is a science fiction board wargame originally published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1973. The game is a simulation of space ship travel and combat within the Solar System in the early 21st Century.
Imperium is a science fiction board wargame designed by Marc W. Miller, and published in 1977 by the Conflict Game Company and Game Designers' Workshop (GDW). It features asymmetrical forces, the two sides having its unique set of constraints. The game came in a cardboard box illustrated with a space battle on the exterior. It included a cardboard-mounted, folding map of a local region of the Milky Way galaxy, a set of rules and charts, and the 352 counters representing the various spacecraft, ground units, and markers, and a six-sided die. A second edition was published in 1990, a third in 2001, and the first edition republished in 2004.
Frank Chadwick is an American multiple-award-winning game designer and New York Times best selling author. He has designed hundreds of games, his most notable being the role-playing games En Garde!, Space: 1889 and Twilight 2000, and the wargame series Europa and The Third World War, as well as creating Traveller with Marc Miller.
Loren Keith Wiseman was an American wargame and role-playing game designer, game developer and editor.
GURPS Traveller is a set of table-top role-playing game books by Steve Jackson Games, designed to allow game play in the Third Imperium science-fiction setting from the original Traveller using the GURPS rule system. Loren Wiseman wrote the core book for GURPS Traveller and served as line editor.
Striker is a science fiction miniatures wargame, designed by Frank Chadwick, and illustrated by William H. Keith. It was published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1981 as a boxed expansion to the Traveller role-playing game. Although Striker is a 15mm miniatures ruleset, GDW consider it their eighth Traveller boardgame. It was republished in 2004 as part of Far Future Enterprises Traveller: The Classic Games, Games 1-6+.
Timothy B. Brown is an American game designer, primarily of role-playing games. He has been a designer at Game Designers' Workshop, an editor at Challenge magazine, and the director of product development at TSR.
Azhanti High Lightning is a science-fiction wargame, designed by Frank Chadwick and Marc W. Miller, illustrated by Paul R. Banner, Charmaine Geist, Richard Hentz, and Richard Flory, and published by Game Designers Workshop (GDW) in 1980. The title is the name of the large military starship that provides the setting for close-action combat between individuals on board. Azhanti High Lightning is the fourth Traveller boardgame published by GDW. It was republished in 2004 as part of Far Future Enterprises's (FFE) Traveller: The Classic Games, Games 1-6+. Originally Supplement 5: Lightning Class Cruisers was only available as part of this game, it was republished in 2000 as part of FFE's Traveller Supplements volume.
Paul Richard "Rich" Banner is an American game designer and graphic artist.
Lester W. Smith is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Digest Group Publications was an American game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements.
Imperium Games was an American game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements.
John Harshman is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Dark Nebula is a two-player science fiction board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1980. Dark Nebula is the seventh Traveller boardgame published by GDW. A second edition was published in 1983 with a new cover. It was republished in 2004 as part of Far Future Enterprises Traveller: The Classic Games, Games 1-6+.
Traveller Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z) is a tabletop role-playing game supplement, written by John Harshman, Marc W. Miller, and Loren K. Wiseman for Traveller, and published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1982 as a digest-sized 48-page book. Library Data (N-Z) is an encyclopedia of information about the Traveller universe. Thirteen Traveller supplements were published. A single collected volume was published by Far Future Enterprises in 2000.
The Traveller Adventure is a science fiction tabletop role-playing game adventure, written by Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, J. Andrew Keith, Marc W. Miller, and Loren Wiseman, with a cover by William H. Keith, for Traveller, published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1983. The Traveller Adventure follows the crew of a subsidized merchant vessel, the March Harrier, through a series of adventures in the Aramis subsector. It is the companion volume for The Traveller Book.
Traveller Alien Module 7: Hivers is a supplement published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1986 for the science fiction role-playing game Traveller.
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