Doug Church
Encyclopedia
Doug Church is an American
computer game designer and producer. He attended MIT
in the late 1980s, but left and went to work with Looking Glass Studios
, when they were making primarily MS-DOS
-based first-person adventure/shooter/roleplaying games, including Ultima Underworld
, Ultima Underworld II
, System Shock
and Thief.
Later, Church joined Eidos Interactive
as technical director, lending programming and design expertise on a number of games from Ion Storm Inc.
and Crystal Dynamics
, including extensive design work on Tomb Raider: Legend. In 2005, he left Eidos to join Electronic Arts
.
In 2003, Church was given the International Game Developers Association
's Community Contribution award, in part for his work as co-chair of the IGDA's educational committee developing relationships between the game industry and academia. He has also participated in many of the Indie Game Jam
s, including developing "Angry God Bowling," the prototypical game for the first IGJ.
From July 2005 to 2009, Church worked at Electronic Arts
' Los Angeles
office, as team leader on a project supervised by filmmaker Steven Spielberg
.
On March 17, 2011, Valve Corporation
announced that Church had been hired for an undisclosed position and project.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer game designer and producer. He attended MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in the late 1980s, but left and went to work with Looking Glass Studios
Looking Glass Studios
Looking Glass Studios was a computer game development company during the 1990s.The company originally formed as Looking Glass Technologies, when Blue Sky Productions and Lerner Research merged....
, when they were making primarily MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
-based first-person adventure/shooter/roleplaying games, including Ultima Underworld
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is a first-person role-playing video game developed by Blue Sky Productions and published by Origin Systems...
, Ultima Underworld II
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds is a 1993 first-person role-playing video game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It is the sequel to Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. Set in the Ultima fantasy universe, the game puts the player in control of the...
, System Shock
System Shock
System Shock is a first-person action-adventure video game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. Released in 1994, the game is set aboard the fictional Citadel Station in a cyberpunk vision of 2072...
and Thief.
Later, Church joined Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
as technical director, lending programming and design expertise on a number of games from Ion Storm Inc.
Ion Storm Inc.
Ion Storm Inc. was a Texas based developer of computer games founded by John Romero, Tom Hall , Todd Porter, and Jerry O'Flaherty, under the slogan "Design is Law"...
and Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics is an American video game developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and founded in 1992 by Judy Lang, Madaline Canepa and Dave Morris...
, including extensive design work on Tomb Raider: Legend. In 2005, he left Eidos to join Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
.
In 2003, Church was given the International Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association
International Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization....
's Community Contribution award, in part for his work as co-chair of the IGDA's educational committee developing relationships between the game industry and academia. He has also participated in many of the Indie Game Jam
Indie Game Jam
The Indie Game Jam is an effort to rapidly prototype video game designs and inject new ideas into the game industry. Started in 2002 by a group of game designer-programmers, the event features a shared game engine technology worked on by other designer-programmers for a single long weekend...
s, including developing "Angry God Bowling," the prototypical game for the first IGJ.
From July 2005 to 2009, Church worked at Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
' Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
office, as team leader on a project supervised by filmmaker Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
.
On March 17, 2011, Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
announced that Church had been hired for an undisclosed position and project.
Games
Church worked on the following games:- Ultima Underworld: The Stygian AbyssUltima Underworld: The Stygian AbyssUltima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is a first-person role-playing video game developed by Blue Sky Productions and published by Origin Systems...
(1992) - Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of WorldsUltima Underworld II: Labyrinth of WorldsUltima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds is a 1993 first-person role-playing video game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It is the sequel to Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. Set in the Ultima fantasy universe, the game puts the player in control of the...
(1993) - System ShockSystem ShockSystem Shock is a first-person action-adventure video game developed by Looking Glass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. Released in 1994, the game is set aboard the fictional Citadel Station in a cyberpunk vision of 2072...
(1994) - Flight UnlimitedFlight UnlimitedFlight Unlimited is a 1995 aerobatic flight simulator video game developed and published by Looking Glass Technologies. It allows players to pilot reproductions of real-world aircraft and to perform aerobatic maneuvers. They may fly freely, race through floating rings against a timer or take...
(1995) - Terra Nova: Strike Force CentauriTerra Nova: Strike Force CentauriTerra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is a 1996 tactical first-person shooter video game developed and published by Looking Glass Technologies. Set in a science fictional depiction of the 24th century, the game follows a faction of humans who colonize the Alpha Centauri star system to escape from a...
(1996) - Flight Unlimited IIFlight Unlimited IIFlight Unlimited II is a 1997 flight simulator video game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. The sequel to Flight Unlimited, it eschews its precessor's focus on aerobatics in favor of general aviation...
(1997) - Thief: The Dark ProjectThief: The Dark ProjectThief: The Dark Project is a 1998 first-person stealth game developed for Windows by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive...
(1998) - System Shock 2System Shock 2System Shock 2 is a 1999 first-person action role-playing video game, designed by Ken Levine for Microsoft Windows. The title is a sequel to the 1994 PC game System Shock, and was co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios...
(1999) - Flight Unlimited IIIFlight Unlimited IIIFlight Unlimited III is a 1999 flight simulator video game developed Looking Glass Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to Flight Unlimited and Flight Unlimited II. The game includes ten user-flyable aircraft in total, and several new features...
(1999) - Thief II: The Metal AgeThief II: The Metal AgeThief II: The Metal Age is a 2000 first-person stealth game developed by Looking Glass Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. The sequel to Thief: The Dark Project, the game's plot follows Garrett, a master thief, as he attempts to uncover a conspiracy in a medieval, steampunk city...
(2000) - FreQuencyFreQuencyFrequency is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by SCEI. It is the first major release from Harmonix. It was released in November 2001. A sequel titled Amplitude was released in 2003.-Gameplay:...
(2001) - Deus ExDeus ExDeus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...
(Game of the Year Edition) (2001) - Freedom ForceFreedom Force (2002 video game)Freedom Force is a real-time tactical role-playing game developed by Irrational Games and published by Electronic Arts and Crave Entertainment in 2002. The player guides a team of superheroes as they defend Patriot City from a variety of villains, monsters, and other menaces. A sequel, Freedom...
(2002) - WhiplashWhiplash (video game)Whiplash is a platformer video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox where a long-tailed weasel chained to a rabbit must work together to escape from a product testing corporation...
(2003) - Deus Ex: Invisible WarDeus Ex: Invisible WarDeus Ex: Invisible War is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive. Released simultaneously for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox video game console on December 2, 2003, the game is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Deus Ex...
(2003) - Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at HomeBackyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at HomeBackyard Wrestling is a video game developed by Paradox Development, and published by Eidos Interactive in 2003 for Xbox and PlayStation 2.- General summary :The goal of backyard wrestling is largely to use the environment to defeat an opponent....
(2003) - Thief: Deadly ShadowsThief: Deadly ShadowsThief: Deadly Shadows is a stealth video game in which the player takes the role of Garrett, a master thief. It is set in a fantasy/steampunk world resembling a cross between the Late Middle Ages and the Victorian era, with more advanced technologies interspersed...
(2004) - Tomb Raider: Legend (2006)
- Portal 2Portal 2Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game based on new patches to the original game...
(2011)
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.