projektariel
Stefan joined
After studying scenic arts (theoretical and practical research in theatre, the new media and especially in between ;)) at the university of Hildesheim, Germany, I am now looking forward to become a writer and editor of texts for games and other media! :) My interest in modding is not only scientific (diploma thesis on the deve- lopment of computer game modifications) but also artistically minded, as in my first project, the Far Cry "SturmMOD", in which William Shakespeare's play "The Tem- pest" meets Far Cry... Although I`m currently busy writing for commercial adventure games, I try to help where I can, so if you got a problem or questions or simply want to chat, don`t hesitate to contact me! :)
My Blogs
Long time no post - but back again now as I was able to win Kralich/David, editor and community manager at DBolical as well as lead developer of award-winning mod Raising the Bar: Redux, as a participant for my unique modderview series! :) In case you never heard of the latter: Modders are encouraged here to edit the answers of a questionnaire (or even completely substitute them!) if they see fit, most importantly for the next interviewee so that the questionnaire in each season evolves from a "vanilla version" in the first round over a "partial conversion" in part 2 to a "total conversion" in the third and last episode of a season. Now David was so nice to follow in the footsteps of modders like Minh "Gooseman" Le (co-creator of the original Counter-Strike mod) to close the third season of the modderviews. You can see a part of the result below (even with a transcript this time!) and read the full version following this link (accompanied by a short text in which I write about nostalgia as a driving force in modding [German only]) - hope you enjoy!
It's that time of the year again for a new edition of the German game culture magazine WASD! This time not only featuring my column "Mod's that?!" on the topic of post-mod-culture but also the final piece of my series of interviews with modders. I was greatly honored to win none other than Minh "Gooseman" Le, one of the creators of the original "Counter-Strike" mod for Half-Life, to answer questions already edited by other modders - here's the result (in part):
(c) WASD-Magazin, 8/15
If you'd like to read the whole interview, you can buy the WASD 8 here [apart from the modderview all other texts are only in German!]:
Finally, it's been a year since I declared the 1st monday of every month to be a 'mod-day' so if you want to read more of my eassys on mods and modding, check out my regular column to the Austrian game blog "Videogametourism", this time featuring the likely first PC mod "Dino Smurf" [text also only in German]:
Have fun reading (don't forget to check out the other editions of my column at "Videogametourism"!), looking forward to your feedback and spread the word! :)
June 1st 2015 marked the release of the 7th edition of the German game culture bookazine WASD:
For the fourth time I wrote a column about modding, this time in regard to modding for RPGs, and for the second time my column features a copy of a series of interviews I did with modders which will be released one after the other in upcoming WASDs. Here you can see what the current `modderview` looks like (in part):
If you'd like to read the whole interview, you can buy the WASD 7 here [apart from the modderview all other texts are only in German!]:
As I declared the 1st monday of every month to be a 'mod-day' since December 2014, June 1st also saw a new edition of my regular column to the Austrian game blog "Videogametourism", this time featuring the mod "Chronoport" [and only in German]:
Have fun reading (don't forget to check out the other editions of my column at "Videogametourism"!), looking forward to your feedback and spread the word! :)
December 1st not only saw the reprint of the out-of-stock first edition of the German game culture bookazine WASD being available again to which I had contributed an essay on troll and parody mods.
The date also marked the release of the WASD 6:
For the third time I wrote a column about modding, this time in regard to retro gaming, and for the first time my column features a copy of a series of interviews I did with modders which will be released one after the other in upcoming WASDs. Here you can see what such a `modderview` looks like (in part):
If you'd like to read the whole interview, you can buy the WASD 6 here [apart from the modderview all other texts are only in German!]:
But this is not the only important thing which happened at the 1st of December...
It also was the first monday of the month, from now on referred to as 'mod-day' as I will contribute a regular column to the Austrian game blog "Videogametourism". The first edition is on the mod "Trouble in Terrorist Town" [and only in German]:
Have fun reading, looking forward to your feedback and enjoy the holidays! :)
A fellow cultural science researcher, Christian Huberts, asked me to participate in an interview regarding atmosphere in games due to my practical experience in creating an explorative take on Prospero's Island from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and posted my answers among those of other developers on his blog:
So if you, too, have developed/are developing an interactive experience in which the environment has equal if not even more importance than the gameplay, don't hesitate to help his research by becoming an interviewee. You'll find the questions and further information about the project on the blog mentioned above! And thanks for sharing! :)
The following information may not only be interesting for German watchers / visitors but also for everyone who is able to read German texts and likes essays about games and (their) culture:
The second edition of WASD titled "Select System" is now available for order at a price of 14,50 Euro under
>> WASD 2: Select System <<
featuring texts on the topic "games and politics" from various writers, including myself. And even better: This is no random advertising, there is actually a connection to this site as my essay is on the political potential of modding in relation to game systems... ;)
Hope I got you interested, have fun reading and I'd be happy to receive some feedback! :)
Stefan (projektariel)
The following information may not only be interesting for German watchers / visitors but also for everyone who is able to read German texts and likes essays about games and their culture:
The first edition of WASD titled "Tasty Trash" is now available for order at a price of 14,90 Euro under
>> Wasd-magazin.de <<
featuring texts about "bad games" from various writers, including myself, on a total of 204 pages. And even better: This is no random advertising, there is actually a connection to this site as my essay titled "The Dark Side of Mods" on troll and parody mods profoundly quotes and links to ModDB! ;)
Hope I got you interested, have fun reading and I'd be happy to get some feedback! :)
Stefan (projektariel)
After surprisingly winning the LARA Education Award in 2010 this year has started great as well for the serious game "Winterfest" I had worked on as writer in 2009: Its European Award for Technology Supported Learning in February was followed by the Serious Games Award 2011 in Gold last Friday - and this time I was able to sneak into the picture! :)
(from left to right: Matthias Mangelsdorf [Daedalic Entertainment], myself, Holger Diener [Fraunhofer Institute], Barbara Cramm, Maik Neudorf [German association of community colleges], photo credits: Nordmedia.de)
And these are not the last of the good news: "Winterfest" is also nominated in the category "Best Serious Game" at the German Computer Game Award 2011 taking place in Munich on the 30th of March!
After contributing dialogues and texts for one chapter of the eco-thriller adventure game "A New Beginning" (currently only available in German, but an English version is in the works)
as well as co-writing the dialogues and texts for the hidden objects game "The Chronicles of Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet" (German version already released)
I`m currently busy creating the stories and dialogues for two episodes of a new casual game series and if everything works out "Projekt A.R.I.E.L." might make a return in the near future... so STAY TUNED! :)
This first blog post on my ModDB profile proudly announces the release of the Serious Game "Winterfest"!
As part of my internship at the German games developer Daedalic Entertainment in Spring 2009 I was given the opportunity to write the dialogues and items / hotspots - texts for the whole didactic adventure. :)
"Winterfest" was developed to be used in German community college courses in order to help functional illiterates (adults who have difficulties in reading and writing) improve their skills in a playful way.
The story in short: Alex, a young man who has already experienced many setbacks in his life, faints as he reads a letter which threatens him with eviction and wakes up near a medieval town. In order to return to our time he needs to rescue a witch sentenced to death. But things aren`t always as as easy as they look like...
The game is currently ONLY available in a GERMAN version but further localisations are planned as well as a boxed version.
If you are interested to download the game for free
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