Steve Ince

Last updated

Steve Ince
Steve Ince Wiki.jpg
Born (1958-02-21) 21 February 1958 (age 66)
Occupation(s)Writer, Game Designer
Known for Revolution Software, Juniper Games
Notable work Broken Sword series, Beneath a Steel Sky , So Blonde
SpouseJune Sutherby
Website http://www.steve-ince.co.uk/

Steve Ince (born 21 February 1958) is a British writer and game designer, known for his work on Revolution Software titles such as the Broken Sword series, and is working on a freelance basis.

Contents

Before entering the video game industry, Ince earned a degree in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1993, Ince was employed by Revolution Software, where he worked on titles such as Beneath a Steel Sky, the Broken Sword series, In Cold Blood and Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado. He left the company in 2004, and set up a new website, Steve Ince Solutions, offering solutions for writing and design in the video game industry.

Ince is also a creator of various comic strips and in 2004 a collection of one of his comic strips was published by BookSurge Publishing. In 2005 he launched Juniper Games, a label under which he would develop his own games, which was followed by the release of its first game, Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso. He also announced a new company, InceSight, through which he offered his skills and experience to developers and publishers in need of assistance in the fields of writing and game design. Ince wrote down his ideas on game design in a series on Developing Thoughts, and in a book entitled Writing for Video Games.

As writer, designer or script editor Ince has been working on a number of games, most notably Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None , The Witcher , So Blonde and The Whispered World . When Revolution started working on remakes of the first two Broken Sword games for newer platforms in 2009 and 2010, Ince became involved again. During this time he also worked on Spare Parts, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings , and ScanMe, and on casual/hidden object games, such as Rhianna Ford and The Da Vinci Letter and two Special Enquiry Detail games. For Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon , Ince received a nomination for Excellence in Writing at the Game Developers Choice Awards 2004. In 2008 he received another nomination from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in the category of Best Video Game Script for the game So Blonde . As of February 2012 Ince is represented by the SMART Talent agency.

Biography

Early career and Revolution Software

Before entering the game industry, Ince earned a degree in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1979). After a few jobs, including writing and drawing a cartoon strip for a local newspaper, he managed to get a job at Revolution Software in February 1993, about two years after the company was founded. [1]

He was hired by Revolution as an artist to work on what would become Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars , but he also worked on Beneath a Steel Sky, which had already been in production for some time. As he was also doing a lot of organising, Revolution's MD Charles Cecil asked him to become producer of the Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, and he was also the producer of its sequel, Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror . [1] [2]

As producer, Ince sat in on a lot of story and design meetings, and in time he became more and more involved in the designing and writing side of the games. For the third episode in the series, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (2003), he co-wrote the story and the dialogue, and became lead designer on the project. When the fourth game, Broken Sword: The Angel of Death (2006), was first being discussed, he was asked to be involved, but he was already working freelance and committed to another project, So Blonde , an opportunity for him to write a whole game almost from ground up. [1]

Besides his work on the Broken Sword series, he also worked on other games by Revolution: In Cold Blood (2000) and Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado (2000). In Cold Blood was the first game where he had a big hand in the writing and it was the first game for which he wrote any dialogue. [2]

Departure from Revolution

In May 2004, when Revolution had to let go most of its members because a project didn't get signed, Ince set up a new website, Steve Ince Solutions, where he offered solutions for writing and design in the game industry. [3] In the next month he became a writer for AllintheGame Ltd., one of the biggest UK talent agencies for voice acting and production. [4] In the same month he added a blog Writing and Design, [5] a spin-off of his older blog Life in the Crescent at his existing website, Juniper Crescent. [6] He was also working on comic strips, [7] and in 2004 a collection of his strips Juniper Crescent and The Sapphire Claw became available as Crescent And Claw, Vol. 1 (BookSurge Publishing). [8]

On 29 April 2005 Ince launched Juniper Games, a label under which he would develop his own games. [9] He added a new website and announced his debut game, Juniper Crescent – The Sapphire Claw, [10] based on his comic strip Scout the One-Eyed cat. [11] [12] Because of lack of funding the game, with its complex art and animation, wasn't finished. [13] [14] During this time he also worked as script editor on Wanted: A Wild Western Adventure (Revistronic, 2004), as writer on The Three Musketeers (Legendo, 2005), and as script editor on Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (Awe Games, 2005). [15]

On 26 August 2005 Ince announced a new company, InceSight, through which he offered his skills and experience to those developers and publishers in need of a proven professional in the fields of writing and game design. [16] On 16 November 2005, Juniper Games presented an arcade-style adventure game entitled Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso. [17] [18] The game was based on his online serial comic strip Mr. Smoozles, [19] and featured an original soundtrack by composer Josh Winiberg. It went on sale in September 2006, and was made available to download for free in June 2008. [20]

Besides working on new games in this period, Ince also wrote a book called Writing for Video Games (A & C Black, 2006). His book, with a foreword by Revolution's Tony Warriner, deals with all aspects of game production and the writer's role in the development process, and which skills are required. It includes for instance chapters on "Interactive Narrative" and "Dialog and Logic", and examples of a design document and script are added. Previously he had already written on game design, [21] [22] and in 2006–2007 he wrote down more of his ideas in a series on Developing Thoughts. [23] After the extensive series Ince continued to publish on aspects of game design. [24] [25] [26]

Other games Ince worked on since then are The Witcher (CDProjekt, 2007); Delicious – Emily's Tea Garden (GameHouse, 2008); So Blonde (Wizarbox, 2008); Delicious – Emily's Holiday Season (GameHouse, 2009); Rhianna Ford and the Da Vinci Letter (Green Clover Games, 2010); Alice in Wonderland (Gimagin/Merscom, 2010); Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds (Floodlight Games, 2010), So Blonde: Back to the Island (Wizarbox, 2010), and The Whispered World (Daedalic Entertainment, 2010). [15]

For So Blonde Ince was contacted by Wizarbox, whose crew had already done some concept work of the main character, some of the locations, and they had an idea for the story. They brought Ince in to develop the story, but in a way he became the public face of the game, [27] and he went to Leipzig and Paris on promotional tours.

Ince got involved with Revolution again when they started working on remakes of the first two Broken Sword games for newer platforms: Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars – Director's Cut and Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror – Remastered . During this time he also worked on Spare Parts (Ea Bright Light, 2010), Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds (Floodlight Games, 2011), The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (CDProjekt RED, 2011), and ScanMe (ScanMe.com, 2011). [15]

Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds, written and designed by Ince, is one of his casual/hidden object games. [28] The critically acclaimed detective adventure game debuted on the Mac App Store in January 2012. [29] It was followed by a sequel, Special Enquiry Detail: Engaged to Kill (G5 Entertainment, March 2012). [30] So Blonde also got a follow-up, Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle (Wizarbox, 2012), that is set back in pirate times. [31] Ince gave some video interviews to introduce the game. [32] [33]

As of February 2012 Ince was represented by the SMART Talent agency. [34]

Award nominations

For Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon , Ince received a nomination for Excellence in Writing at the Game Developers Choice Awards 2004. [35] In 2008 he received another nomination from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in the category of Best Video Game Script for So Blonde . [36] [37]

Personal life

Ince lives with his partner, June, in the East Yorkshire countryside. They have a tabby cat, Merlin, and fish in the garden pond. He has three sons, Shaun, David and Jason, [38] as well as five granddaughters, Caitlin, Leilani, Selene, Freya and Ariana, and a grandson, Louie. [39] On his website Steve Ince, Writer, Game Designer he has a blog on Writing and Design, and he also writes a more personal blog called It Happened So Fast. [38]

Related Research Articles

<i>Beneath a Steel Sky</i> Cyberpunk science-fiction point-and-click adventure from 1994

Beneath a Steel Sky is a 1994 point-and-click adventure game developed by British developer Revolution Software and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for MS-DOS and Amiga home computers. It was made available as freeware – and with the source code released – for PC platforms in 2003. Set in a dystopian cyberpunk future, the player assumes the role of Robert Foster, who was stranded in a wasteland known as "the Gap" as a child and adopted by a group of local Aboriginals, gradually adjusting to his life in the wilderness. After many years, armed security officers arrive, killing the locals and taking Robert back to Union City. He escapes and soon uncovers the corruption which lies at the heart of society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolution Software</span> British video game developer

Revolution Software Limited is a British video game developer based in York, founded in 1989 by Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes, and Noirin Carmody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Purcell</span> American cartoonist and video game designer

Steven Ross Purcell is an American cartoonist, animator, game designer and voice actor. He is the creator of the media franchise Sam & Max, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has grown to incorporate an animated television series and several video games.

Broken Sword is a series of adventure games. The first game in the series, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, was released and developed in 1996 by British developer Revolution Software. Its sequel, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror, was released a year later, and was followed by Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon in 2003, Broken Sword: The Angel of Death in 2006, and Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse in 2013. A remake of the first game in the series, known as Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director's Cut, was released in 2009, and a remake of the second game in the series, Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror – Remastered, in 2010 for iOS devices; other platforms followed in 2011.

Rolf Saxon is an American actor. He is well known for his voice-over work in video games, movies and TV shows.

<i>Lure of the Temptress</i> 1992 video game

Lure of the Temptress is a point-and-click adventure game published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in June 1992 for Atari ST, MS-DOS, and Amiga. It was the first game developed by Revolution Software and uses their proprietary Virtual Theatre engine. The player assumes the role of Diermot, a young peasant who has to overthrow an evil sorceress. The game was well-received and re-released as freeware on April 1, 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Cecil</span> British video game designer and director

Charles Cecil is a British video game designer and co-founder of Revolution Software. His family lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he was still very young, but was evacuated two years after Mobutu Sese Seko's coup d'état. He studied at Bedales School in Hampshire, England. In 1980 he began his studies in Engineering Manufacture and Management at Manchester University, where he met student Richard Turner who invited him to write text adventures for Artic Computing. After completing his degree in 1985 he decided to continue his career in game development and became director of Artic. The following year he established Paragon Programming, a game development company working with British publisher U.S. Gold. In 1987 he moved into publishing as a software development manager for U.S. Gold. A year later he was approached by Activision and was offered the position of manager of their European development studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Cordell</span> American novelist and game designer

Bruce Robert Cordell is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on Dungeons & Dragons games for Wizards of the Coast. He won the Origins Award for Return to the Tomb of Horrors and has also won several ENnies. He lives in Seattle.

<i>Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon</i> Adventure game 2003 on Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation 2

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon is an adventure game released on Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 in November 2003. It is the third installment in the Broken Sword series, released six years after the previous instalment, The Smoking Mirror. The Sleeping Dragon moved the series to 3D graphics, and is the only game in the series not to use a point and click interface. The player assumes the role of George Stobbart, an American patent lawyer who flies to the Congo to write a patent for a scientist who claims to have found a source of unlimited energy.

<i>Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars</i> 1996 video game

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars is a 1996 point-and-click adventure game developed by Revolution Software. It is the first in the Broken Sword series, co-written and directed by Charles Cecil. The player assumes the role of George Stobbart, an American tourist in Paris, as he attempts to unravel a deep conspiracy involving a sinister cult and a hidden treasure, seeing him travel to various locations around Europe and the Middle East. The game's storyline was conceived to feature a serious tone and heavily influenced by research on Knights Templar by Cecil, but was also interlaced with humor and graphics in the style of classic animated films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Warriner</span> British video game designer

Tony Warriner is a British video game designer, programmer and co-founder of Revolution Software. At a young age he started playing adventure games, when they were just text adventures. He wrote his first game, Obsidian, while he was at school and sent it to Artic Computing for consideration. Artic's director, Charles Cecil, loved the game and convinced him to license it to Artic, and then to join Artic as a programmer. At Artic he wrote, together with Adam Waring, Ultima Ratio which was published in 1987 by Firebird. In the same year he got a job at Cecil's Paragon Programming, where games from US publishers were converted to European platforms. When Cecil had left to work for U.S. Gold, Warriner started doing 8-bit programming for games. In 1988 he created Death Stalker, published by Codemasters. In the same year he joined Cascade Games, where he worked on 19 Part One: Boot Camp, Arcade Trivia Quiz, and Arcade Trivia Quiz Question Creator. In 1989 Warriner moved to Bytron Aviation Systems based in Kirmington, Lincolnshire, where he wrote software for the aviation industry, David Sykes was his fellow programmer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garen Ewing</span> British comics creator (b. 1969)

Garen Ewing is an illustrator, designer and most notably a comic creator, being the writer and illustrator of The Adventures of Julius Chancer - The Rainbow Orchid.

Lawrence G. DiTillio was an American film, TV series, and tabletop role-playing game writer. His creations include He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword and the award-winning Masks of Nyarlathotep.

Colin McComb is an American writer and game designer, who is best known for his work designing the Planescape setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, and as the creative lead for the role-playing video game Torment: Tides of Numenera.

<i>Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror</i> 1997 point-and-click adventure video game

Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror is a point-and-click adventure video game originally released on Microsoft Windows and PlayStation in 1997. It was re-released on Microsoft Windows, OS X and iOS as a remastered edition in 2010 and on Android in 2012. It is the second installment in the Broken Sword series, and the first game in the series that does not follow the Knights Templar storyline. The player assumes the role of George Stobbart, a young American who is an eyewitness to the kidnapping of his girlfriend Nicole Collard.

<i>So Blonde</i> 2008 video game

So Blonde, subtitled Lost in the Caribbean in Spanish and Blonde in Trouble in Russian and Polish, is a point-and-click adventure game released for Windows in 2008. Two spin-off games have been released: So Blonde: Back to the Island in 2010 and Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle in 2012.

Wizarbox was a video game developer based in Sèvres, France, southwest of Paris. They are notable for their graphic adventure games developed by industry veterans, such as the So Blonde series by Steve Ince and Gray Matter by Jane Jensen . The company declared bankruptcy in December 2012 and was placed in receivership by a French court. Interaction-Games later acquired Wizarbox.

<i>Broken Sword 5: The Serpents Curse</i> 2013 video game

Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse is the fifth title in the Broken Sword series of adventure video games, developed and published by Revolution Software, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS. The game was released in two episodes: the first was made available on 4 December 2013; the second was released on 17 April 2014 for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux. The Serpent's Curse was announced on 23 August 2012, along with a Kickstarter project; it was launched for the development of the game, which had been self-funded until the launch, to be completed. The game is presented in HD and returns to the series' 2D roots, with 3D characters pre-rendered and saved in 2D frames. The majority of the funding for the game was raised through Kickstarter, more than $771,000 of the requested $400,000 were raised, and together with PayPal donations, over $823,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Goat Puzzle</span> Puzzle in Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

The Goat Puzzle is a puzzle featured in Revolution Software's 1996 point and click adventure game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars. In the puzzle, protagonist George Stobbart must gain access to an underground dig located in a castle in Lochmarne, Ireland, while avoiding a fierce goat. The puzzle's perceived difficulty is due to it requiring the player to think in a different way to their approach to previous puzzles in the game. Many gamers and critics consider it to be one of the hardest video game puzzles of all time.

<i>Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Directors Cut</i> 2009 video game

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director's Cut is a 2009 enhanced remake and director's cut of the classic 1996 point-and-click adventure game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars developed by Revolution Software. It was released for Wii, Nintendo DS, iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Android and Linux spanning 2009 to 2012. The player assumes the roles of George Stobbart and Nicole Collard, who was a pivotal but not a playable character in the original version.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mulrooney, Marty (10 March 2010). "In Conversation With Steve Ince, Video Game Writer & Designer". Alternative Magazine Online. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 MacDonald, Laura (2003). "Interview with Steve Ince". Game Boomers. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  3. "Steve Ince Solutions". Steve Ince Solutions. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  4. Remo, Chris (16 June 2004). "AllintheGame signs Steve Ince". Adventure Gamers . Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  5. "Writing and Design". Life in the Crescent. 19 July 2004. Archived from the original on 18 January 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  6. "Juniper Crescent". Wayback Machine. 12 August 2003. Archived from the original on 12 August 2003. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  7. "juniper-crescent.com – the home of Steve Ince's comic strips". Juniper Crescent. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  8. "Crescent And Claw, Vol.1". BookSurge. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  9. Barton, Matt; Jong, P. (1 October 2008). "Steve Ince". Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  10. "Juniper Crescent – The Sapphire Claw". Juniper Games. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  11. Allin, Jack (28 April 2005). "Juniper Crescent – The Sapphire Claw". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  12. Schneider, Jan (4 May 2005). "Steve Ince". Adventure-Treff. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  13. Cadenas, J.; García, P.; Martínez, V. (August 2007). "Interview with Steve Ince". Aventura y CÍA. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  14. Broekhuis, Erwin. "A word with Steve Ince". Adventure Developers (undated). Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  15. 1 2 3 Ince, Steve. "Projects". Steve Ince's website. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  16. "INceSIGHT Press Release". Steve Ince's blog Writing and Design. 26 August 2005. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  17. "Juniper Games site re-design and two new games announced!". Steve Ince's blog Writing and Design. 16 November 2005. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  18. Danyboy; Trudysgarden (14 November 2006). "Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso – An Interview with Steve Ince". Mystery Manor. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  19. "Mr. Smoozles". Steve Ince's website. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  20. "Mr. Smoozles Goes Nutso". Juniper Games. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  21. Ince, Steve (July 2004). "My fingers are blistered and bleeding: writing for games". Gignews at WayBack Machine. Archived from the original on 3 July 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  22. Ince, Steve (15 March 2005). "Interaction Density: Has the Player Got Plenty to Do?". GameDaily at WayBack Machine. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  23. "Developing Thoughts". Steve Ince's blog Writing and Design. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  24. Ince, Steve (16 June 2010). "The Conversation". MCV. Develop . Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  25. Ince, Steve (21 October 2010). "Designing Puzzles Backwards (Part I)". Game Design Aspect of the Month. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  26. Ince, Steve (29 October 2010). "Designing Puzzles Backwards (Part II)". Game Design Aspect of the Month. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  27. Clausen, Peter (2008). "Interview with Steve Ince". G Wie Gorilla. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  28. Carter, Vanessa (27 May 2010). "A smart mystery where the detectives are better seen than heard". GameZebo. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  29. "G5 Entertainment brings Special Enquiry Detail: the Hand that Feeds to Mac on January 5". Gamasutra. 21 December 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  30. "Special Enquiry Detail: Engaged to Kill Launch Trailer". GameSpot . Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  31. "Captain Morgane website". Captain Morgane website. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  32. "Steve Ince Captain Morgane Interview". Reef Entertainment Ltd. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  33. "Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle -Steve Ince Interview Trailer". GameReactor. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  34. "Agency representation Smart Talent". Steve Ince's blog Writing and Design. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  35. "4th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Choice Awards. 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  36. "Writer's Guild Awards 2008 Shortlists Announced". The Writers' Guild blog. 20 September 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  37. Noon, Gemma (9 April 2010). "An Interview with Steve Ince". The Literary Project. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  38. 1 2 "It Happened So Fast". WordPress . Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  39. "About Steve Ince". Steve Ince's website. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.