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Post by Sketcz on May 1, 2024 7:17:20 GMT -5
I'm giving a keynote lecture on 22 May regarding the lineages of inspiration in games. I cover a lot of varied examples, but one that I'm tempted to include is recharging health, given that I interviewed Tokihiro Naito, creator of Hydlide, which featured it in 1984.
For a long time I thought Polar Rescue was the first example. Though it seems not quite...
Wikipedia cites Crisis Mountain as the earliest game to have it, from 1982:
But Polar Rescue (December 1983?) is still another very early proto example:
According to Peer it was programmer by Mark Indictor:
So I've tracked Mark down, he has a LinkedIn, and I've contacted him via LinkedIn, his two private emails, his former work, and his social media. To ask, what was the inspiration?
When you think about it, a submarine being damaged and repaired by the crew seems like a very natural, very organic idea to have. I'm wondering if he'd seen a film depicting it perhaps, such as Das Boot (1981), but I don't want to jump to conclusions. The core of the talk is that it's vital to speak to developers to hear their own, personal, first-hand recollections of inspiration, rather than making assumptions (which happens far too frequently among writers and YouTubers - superficial similarities between games or media does not necessarily equal inspiration or transference of ideas).
Has anyone ever seen an interview with Mark Indictor online or in magazines? Apparently NBC News, back in the 1980s, visited his mountain home to interview him about his work (I could not find archive footage of this ancient news piece).
What does everyone else think? This seems like a nice feather in the Vectrex cap - home to one of the earliest examples of a mechanic which would later become mainstream. Even if Crisis Mountain did beat it by a year, its use of recharging health isn't quite fully developed, I feel. There's basically four states you can be in (0~3), whereas Polar Rescue has a percentage. Technically a damage percentage, which is reduced through crew repairs, but this is closer to what we'd later see in games like Hydlide, Ys, etc.
Interestingly, all the examples I've cited, seemed to have evolved this idea independently. Naito described how he thought standing in an open field in the sunshine with a breeze would make you feel better, so it seemed natural to have recharging health. While I've not heard back from Mark, I highly doubt he took the idea from Crisis Mountain.
In a way, these ideas in games, are sort of like the evolution of DNA - some things are derived from earlier examples, while others spontaneously emerge on their own.
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Post by VectorX on May 1, 2024 13:02:13 GMT -5
Has anyone ever seen an interview with Mark Indictor online or in magazines? Apparently NBC News, back in the 1980s, visited his mountain home to interview him about his work (I could not find archive footage of this ancient news piece). I caught the tail end of that when I was a kid!  I was going "holy SH*T!". That was gigantic to me since the poor Vectrex, of course, unjustly didn't get huge. So there wasn't much coverage of it back then in the media. I just saw the mountain home and a few seconds of footage of Star Trek, that was it. And as more and more time goes by it's not like someone will find that footage on an old video tape and put it up, as that was decades ago as it was  |
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Post by Sketcz on May 2, 2024 7:42:51 GMT -5
If he replies I will ask him about it. Maybe he has a tape.
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Post by Peer on May 2, 2024 14:11:51 GMT -5
I do not know if this also holds true for Polar Rescue, but many of the original Vectrex games were no done as a one-person-show. There were "game designers" and "game programmers" working at WT, collaborating on the game projects. As far as I have read, the designers did not do any coding. And I guess that at least in some cases the programmers were not involved in the game design itself but just implemented what was assigned to them. Would be interesting to know if Marc Indictor also designed Polar Rescue himself, or if he merely (or mostly) implemented a design given to him by someone else.
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Post by Sketcz on May 4, 2024 4:01:12 GMT -5
No reply so far.  He's officially retired, since 2022, so maybe he just doesn't check emails too often? Will update if anything happens. Thank you Peer for the information! I was not aware of that - will definitely ask if I get the chance. |
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Post by VectorX on May 4, 2024 12:27:46 GMT -5
^Many people are slow to check e-mails nowadays in general, especially since they can just contact others through Facebook and all.
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Post by Sketcz on Jul 23, 2024 4:55:26 GMT -5
@vectorx @peer Mark replied! Or rather I called him, and he said he got my letter, but had been busy. He's willing to be interviewed, and sometime later in August when he has more free time. I plan to ask him about: * Work at Atari * Polar Rescue * Star Ship / Star Trek * Spinball * Later career outside of gaming * The TV news broadcast from the mountains This will likely be for Time Extension (if they say yes), and my colleague might do a Making of a Vectrex game for a magazine! If anyone has any pressing questions, please let me know. Also Peer, did you find his name in any other games? I'm going to ask him for a list of software worked on, but it doesn't hurt to pre-equipped with knowledge.  |
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Post by Malban on Jul 23, 2024 5:08:59 GMT -5
Since he was with the last Vectrex crew - it might be interesting if he knows anything about "A Crush of Lucifer" the game that was discovered two years ago.
The question who developed it at GCE was never answered...
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Post by Peer on Jul 23, 2024 5:38:46 GMT -5
Would also be interesting to learn if he knows anything about who programmed "Pole Position", and who is behind the "The Kid" easter egg which is hidden inside that game.
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Post by Peer on Jul 23, 2024 5:40:54 GMT -5
... Also Peer, did you find his name in any other games? I'm going to ask him for a list of software worked on, but it doesn't hurt to pre-equipped with knowledge. No, I "only" discovered his name in Star Ship, Spinball and Polar Rescue. So far at least  |
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Post by Sketcz on Jul 29, 2024 4:38:07 GMT -5
Good Qs. I'll ask all of these - The Kid Easter Egg is especially fascinating.
My first task will be to get a detailed list of what he worked on.
When I confirmed over the phone, I mentioned enthusiasts had examined the code to find these, and he laughed, saying: "Yeah, we weren't supposed to do that."
I don't check back here every day, but I will keep you updated on developments.
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Post by Sketcz on Sept 6, 2024 5:59:24 GMT -5
Small update: should hopefully be doing the interview in two weeks! I asked for a list of software worked on - but contact has been sporadic due to Mr Indictor's work commitments. Really looking forward to this. |
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Post by Sketcz on Sept 14, 2024 6:00:55 GMT -5
Turns out he also made Mail Plane: www.pugo.org/collection/faq/10/--- Mark Indictor (*) First duties during development: Software for communication with the ICE (In-Circuit-Emulator) Star Trek Games: for Western Technologies: Designed and coded Star Trek for GCE Designed and coded Spinball Designed and coded Polar Rescue Designed and coded Mail Plane (not published, for use with Lightpen) (Jeff Corsiglia added: While I had some input on these, I was mostly in the role of Producer at this point. Mark should get design credits for these. He could both design AND code with equal brilliance.) [07/05] --- Also if you check out this german magazine, photos and info too on page 120: archive.org/details/video-games-de-1993-10/page/n115/mode/2up?view=theater |
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Post by Peer on Sept 16, 2024 3:54:53 GMT -5
Nice article, thanks for sharing! |
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Post by Sketcz on Sept 23, 2024 5:56:32 GMT -5
Had a great interview (45 minutes). Transcribing it now. Going to take at least a day. Article to follow on Time Extension after. Just a quick heads up: * Mark hadn't heard of A Crush of Lucifer. * Mail Plane was completed and handed in, so the proto found is likely the finished version. Lots of other cool info too (and a small scandal!), to be available once I've finished this. I still need to emulate the system and take screens of all his games too.
EDIT:
I also sent him links / screengrabs of some of your public posts, Peer. He very much enjoyed reading your analysis, and gave some insight into the Easter Eggs. And yes, 17 September is indeed his birthday - in fact by pure coincidence that's when were talking.
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I was going "holy SH*T!". That was gigantic to me since the poor Vectrex, of course, unjustly didn't get huge. So there wasn't much coverage of it back then in the media.
