Doug Church
Doug Church | |
|---|---|
Church tests an Indie Game Jam 2005 project. | |
| Born | November 16, 1968 Evanston, Illinois, United States |
| Occupations | Game designer, producer |
| Employer | Valve |
Doug Church (born November 16, 1968, in Evanston, Illinois)[1] is an American video game designer and producer. He started out at MIT in the late 1980s. Instead of finishing up there, he left and joined Looking Glass Studios, where the team was producing MS-DOS-based immersive sim games like Ultima Underworld, Ultima Underworld II, System Shock and the Thief series. His colleague Warren Spector has pointed out that Church was likely the one who first came up with the term "immersive simulation".[2]
Later, Church joined Eidos Interactive as Technical Director, lending programming and design support across a series of titles from Ion Storm and Crystal Dynamics, including Tomb Raider: Legend. He left Eidos in 2005 and headed to Electronic Arts.
In 2003, the International Game Developers Association gave him its Community Contribution award. Part of that nod went to his time co-chairing the IGDA's educational committee and helping build links between the game industry and academia. He became a regular participant at Indie Game Jam events over the years, including putting together "Angry God Bowling" as an IGJ prototype.
In 2009, IGN listed him among the top 100 game creators of all time.[3]
From July 2005 to 2009, Church worked at Electronic Arts' Los Angeles office as team leader on a project supervised by filmmaker Steven Spielberg.[4]
On March 16, 2011, Valve announced that Church had been hired for an undisclosed position and project.[5] He remained there for several years before moving on.
In August 2016, OtherSide Entertainment announced that Church had been hired as a creative consultant for the development of System Shock 3.[6] More recently, he has served as project leader on Nightdive Studios' 2023 remake of the original System Shock. He has also received credits on Valve's 2022 Portal: Companion Collection, as well as Embark Studios titles The Finals and ARC Raiders.
Games
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss | Programmer, additional support |
| 1993 | Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds | Lead programmer, designer, additional support |
| 1994 | System Shock | Lead programmer |
| 1995 | Flight Unlimited | Programmer |
| 1996 | Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri | |
| 1997 | Flight Unlimited II | Programmer, additional support |
| 1998 | Thief: The Dark Project | Programmer |
| 1999 | System Shock 2 | |
| 2000 | Thief II: The Metal Age | Engine programmer |
| 2001 | FreQuency | "Synth and Related Playstation 2 Voodoo" |
| Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition | Design, additional programming | |
| 2002 | Freedom Force | Special thanks |
| 2003 | Whiplash | |
| Deus Ex: Invisible War | ||
| Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home | ||
| 2004 | Thief: Deadly Shadows | |
| 2006 | Tomb Raider: Legend | Design |
| 2012 | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
References
- ^ Paul M Harrison (October 15, 2012). "Doug Church, A Brief Introduction".
- ^ Fenlon, Wes (May 8, 2017). "The designers of Dishonored, Bioshock 2 and Deus Ex swap stories about making PC's most complex games". PC Gamer. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
Warren [Spector]: I think Doug Church was the one who came up with [the term 'immersive simulation'], isn't he? He's the first person I ever heard use it.
- ^ "IGN - 34. Doug Church". IGN. Archived from the original on 2014-04-20. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
- ^ Thorsen, Tor (2005-10-14). "Steven Spielberg, EA ink three-game next-gen deal". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30.
- ^ Ordland, Kyle (March 16, 2011). "Valve Confirms Hiring Of Thief Designer Doug Church". Gamasutra. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
- ^ Donnelly, Joe (2016-08-30). "System Shock 3 reveals 'dream' development team". PC Gamer. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
External links
- November 2004 Gamasutra interview with Church
- "Formal Abstract Design Tools for Games" a notable early effort to develop a common language of game design methodology.