09.09.2010 19:55
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PTERODON - Behind the Scenes
Chapter 2 - One week visit
I arrived to the Czech Republic on the 6th of July 2004. After a long 15 hour trip by train, I immediately went to the nearby bed at the hotel, as I was quite tired.
The next morning, Jarek Kolar contacted me and asked for a nice lunch together - an offer I could not refuse. We met for the first time in the hotel together with Filip Oscadal.
After a nice meal in the "Main Restaurant", we took off to see the city of Brno. It is worth mentioning that we got a discount price for the meal at the "Main Restaurant", due to the fact that we were PTERODON employees. This was one incident that showed how famous PTERODON in reality are in the Czech Republic.
Jarek Kolar and Filip Oscadal were both very kind to leave work for a couple of hours; in fact, they had actually spent a whole week on my expense. After a nice explanation of the dragon of Brno (that looked like a big crocodile), and sightseeing in a nice view tower and at the streets of Brno, we took off to the PTERODON office.
While heading for the office, I could not help noticing the nice structures of the city. The buildings were fairly new and the city itself was decorated with statues on the streets with more. All in all, it was very architectural.
When we reached the office, we decided what to do first. As Jarek Kolar had to arrange some meetings and work a bit, Filip Oscadal decided to show me each room of the headquarters and introduce me to the employees of PTERODON so that I could get to know them. As stated in chapter one, each room was divided in working abilities. All of the employees were very kind, and they were working hard.
After a nice presentation of what it was like to be in the office, Filip Oscadal showed me his room, where he explained to me how it was like making sounds for a game. Even though it seemed quite advanced, he clarified that it was not that hard after having done it for some years.
Later that day, I took off to the hotel and thanked the team for a nice day. Before going to bed, I was already prepared for the next day, where I would spend even more time with the people of PTERODON.
The next day, we took off to a new restaurant with some of the other team members. These were namely Jarek Kolar, Romain Laporte and Lubomir "Azael" Dykast. We discussed a lot of factors, like how they began to develop games, how I got in contact with PTERODON, and how I started working for them. After the appetizing meal, we went back to the office to continue working and showcasing a project that was currently being developed. While having played the mentioned project, I immediately knew that they were to develop an even bigger hit than the previously developed games.
Lead programmer, Michal Janacek, was also working very hard at the time of the visit, but managed to take some time to show me a few things and to talk. After the meeting with Michal Janacek, Jarek Kolar took me to his room to show me some of the earlier PTERODON projects. Some that had never been shown nor released to the public. One of the games was "Rambo", a product that was later on changed to "Vietcong" and was developed in a completely other style. "Rambo" was firstly required to be the next project of PTERODON after the release of "Flying Heroes". This was cancelled shortly after, due to the limitations that would have come with the title.
Game developing is a hard business that requires focus all the time. There are deadlines and a lot of other factors to take note of. It is necessary to develop quality games to get into the public gaming world, and also show the given publisher that it is worth a partnership.
I had the chance to visit the Czech Republic for one week. For the most part, this visit was mainly focused on the PTERODON firm. Having said this, they were extremely busy working on a new project that was currently being developed internally. I would like to thank the whole team for having taken care of me and showing me what it was like to develop great AAA titles. This was an extraordinary opportunity for me, which I will never forget.
Even though we experienced a lot of other things, while I was visiting, these things are to be kept outside the article.
You may read the first chapter named "The PTERODON office" here, and read the third chapter entitled "Red Sky in a Blue Dawn" here.
Jarek Kolar and Filip Oscadal together with Christian Konieczka.
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While heading for the office, I could not help noticing the nice structures of the city. The buildings were fairly new and the city itself was decorated with statues on the streets with more. All in all, it was very architectural.)
After a nice presentation of what it was like to be in the office, Filip Oscadal showed me his room, where he explained to me how it was like making sounds for a game. Even though it seemed quite advanced, he clarified that it was not that hard after having done it for some years.)
Lead programmer, Michal Janacek, was also working very hard at the time of the visit, but managed to take some time to show me a few things and to talk. After the meeting with Michal Janacek, Jarek Kolar took me to his room to show me some of the earlier PTERODON projects. Some that had never been shown nor released to the public. One of the games was "Rambo", a product that was later on changed to "Vietcong" and was developed in a completely other style. "Rambo" was firstly required to be the next project of PTERODON after the release of "Flying Heroes". This was cancelled shortly after, due to the limitations that would have come with the title.)
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