Forbeck.com

Seems like my friends are breaking out all over. Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast finally announced its long-in-the-works imprint for creator-owned fiction, Wizards of the Coast Discoveries. The initial list of writers includes my pals Richard Danksy and Rob King. \

In other news, podcasting author Scott Sigler just sold three novels to Crown at auction. Scott’s spent some time at the University of Michigan about the same time as me, and among other things he wrote a couple Silent Death supplements after I handed over the reins to Donald Dennis back in the mid-’90s.

In yet other great news, more of my friends are publishing new comics through Archaia Studios Press, the company run by another friend of mine, Mark Smylie of Artesia fame. First, this June, David Rodriguez (who’s day job is with High Voltage Software) returns to Starkweather, with an original story penned by none other than Piers Anthony. Then, in October, Jason Blair and Leanne Buckley (both employed at Human Head Studios) launch The Long Count.

Congratulations to everyone! I’m looking forward to lots of great reading.

written by Matt Forbeck

My pal and former boss Tim Gerritsen has left the company at which I worked with him, Human Head Studios. I had a great time working with Tim and the crew there, although it’s now a much different company than the one I left, complete with brand-new offices and a hit title (Prey) on its hands. My friend Jason Blair, who took over as the head of the adventure games division after I left, is still there though and now working as the company’s spokesperson too.

Best of luck to Human Head in finding a new CEO and to Tim in the next chapter of his life!

written by Matt Forbeck

Prey, the fantastic first-person shooter game from my old employers at Human Head Studios, has officially gone gold. This marks the end of a five-year-long development cycle and a triumph for many good friends.

I downloaded the game’s demo the first day it was up, and I played through the whole thing soon after. It’s even better than I remember it when I used to play around with it in the Human Head offices. Of course, they’ve had a year and a half since then to polish it to a gleaming shine, and it shows. This is quality gaming at its best, and I’ll be standing in line to get my copy the day it ships.

written by Matt Forbeck

Yesterday I ran up to Madison and visited my friends at Human Head Studios. CEO Tim Gerritsen gave me the nickel tour of their fabulous new offices, which include a real train car in the lobby and the best home theater system I’ve ever seen. (The chairs are better than any you’ll find in a real theater—and less sticky too!)

Tim also showed me the latest effort from the adventure games division I used to run for him. Normal, Texas, a roleplaying game of 1950s, B-movie action, is due out this fall, and it looks fantastic. Jason Blair did a bang-up job with the design, and Leanne Buckley gave it a shiny-keen polish graphics-wise. Be sure to pick it up when you can.

written by Matt Forbeck

The demo for Prey, the new computer game from my old employer Human Head Studios, is now live and ready for download. You can guess what I’ll be playing tonight!

I watched this game develop over the two years I spent with Human Head, and even when I left over a year and a half ago it looked great. I can’t wait to see how it comes out, but I’d put good money on this being one of the best computer games of the year.

written by Matt Forbeck

While leaving the GAMA Trade Show in March, I managed to forget to pack my copies of Villainy (a new, multi-deck card game from Human Head Studios), which designer Jason Blair had kindly slapped into my waiting hands during the show. Jason, refusing to allow me to get away with such a disastrous mistake, shipped out new copies of each of the three decks, which landed at my house last week. Now I’m itching to have a go at establishing who’s the most villainous member of my house.

I’m betting on my kids.

written by Matt Forbeck

Human Head Studios shows its hard-core tabletop gamer roots with some of the special bits to come with its limited edition of Prey: three pewter miniatures sculpted and cast by Reaper Miniatures. They even have shots of the greens available in a 360°, rotatable view.

Ah, to have an Xbox 360 or PC gaming rig and the hours to spend on it… Fortunately, I got to play some of the game back when I worked at the studio. It rocks.

written by Matt Forbeck

As reported by ICv2.com, Human Head Studios will publish its first full-fledged roleplaying game this summer: Normal, Texas. I did some preliminary concept work on this line back when I was with the company, but after I left Jason Blair took it the other 99 yards down the field for the touchdown. The preview edition that showed up at conventions last summer looked great, but it only whetted the appetite for the real thing, which we should see at this year’s Gen Con Indy.

In the meantime, we’ll have to content ourselves with playing Villainy, Jason’s first card game. It looks great, and I can’t wait to play it. Sadly, though, I left my copy in the Playmates Toys booth at GTS in my mad dash to find my luggage before my flight left. (Some helpful GAMA staff had locked my bags in a closet for me on my departure day, but they’d gone to lunch when I needed to go. I found someone to open the closet, but there were a few harrowing moments of dull panic before that.) So, I’m still aching to play, and hopefully I’ll get my chance soon!

written by Matt Forbeck

Chris Rhinehart, of my old employer Human Head Studios, will be on Attack of the Show tomorrow night (1/23/06) at 7 PM Eastern. He’s there to show of the latest build of the long-anticipated Prey. Check it out, and you’ll see why this game is reason alone to pick up an Xbox 360. The 3DRealms’ website has all the details.

written by Matt Forbeck

My former compatriots at Human Head are getting closer to the release of Prey, their kicking first-person shooter for the Xbox 360. To highlight this, there’s now an official website for Prey. Also, 3DRealms, the company that originated the game and provided much of its funding, is hosting a weekly development update on its own site. The first update, from my friend Chris Rhinehart, the game’s project lead, is up now.

written by Matt Forbeck

The cat’s officially out of the bag, so now I can finally talk about Human Head Studios‘ top-secret video game: Prey. For those of you who have been playing PC games forever, you might remember that 3DRealms, the makers of Duke Nukem, promised to come out with one particular game before Duke Nukem Forever. That game was Prey.

Human Head has been working on the game under 3DRealms wing for years, and it’s finally coming to light. Gamespot.com has a great interview about Prey on their site, with lots more details, if you’re curious.

When I worked in the Human Head offices, I had the privilege of watching Prey develop and to playtest a few of the levels. This game is amazing. If you’re a first-person shooter or science fiction fan (or, better yet, both), you’re going to want this bad. It uses the Doom 3 engine, so it’s gorgeous, but the gameplay is fantastic too. Time to think about upgrading systems.

written by Matt Forbeck

My friends at Human Head Studios tell me that the Frankenstein’s Children is on its way to their warehouses from China as I write this. This was the last game I worked on for them, a sequel to last year’s Dracula’s Revenge. Both games plug together for all sorts of horror-gaming mayhem. Download the rules for free to whet your appetite for the terrifying things to come.

written by Matt Forbeck

As of October 1, I left Human Head Studios and returned once again to being a full-time freelancer. I had a great time working with the fine folks at Human Head. While I’ll miss them, I won’t miss the hour-long commute to Madison at all. My own office is less than five minutes away in a raging snowstorm.

I have lots of work lined up already. My first novel (Secret of the Spiritkeeper from Wizards of the Coast) came out in August, and I have six others already contracted, with more on the horizon. I’m also working on some collectible card game and roleplaying game material in between the books. Still, the freelancer’s lot is to always be looking past the horizon for bigger and better gigs. If you know of any you think would fit well, don’t be shy about letting me know.

For some more details, I’ll let the great guys at ICv2.com tell you all about it. Just click here for their article on my departure and my replacement at Human Head.

written by Matt Forbeck

Gen Con was flat-out amazing. I’ve been to the show 23 years in a row now (I started young), and I can’t imagine my summers without it. For me, this is like summer camp wrapped up with Christmas in August, except you get to pick out (and buy) your own gifts.
Continue reading »

written by Matt Forbeck