I was introduced to Morning's Wrath and I was happy to find out that it was an independent game. There are very few other game development studios here in new england. I played the game and interviewed Jenna who is the designer of the female lead character Princess Morning. Ethereal Darkness Interactive (EDI Games) started as a group of independent game developers and it was organized by Raymond Jacobs who I also spoke to briefly. They set out to create a commercial quality computer game with absolutely no budget. The team released their first title Morning's Wrath last fall. Since it is an indie game you might not find it many places except by buying it directly from their website. Like the recording industry which has changed tremendously in recent years, there is certainly room in the gaming industry for more opportunities.

Geek Woman: How did you become involved with Morning's Wrath?

Jenna: My brother is active in a game development community online (gamedev.net) and he showed me a post that Raymond (the head of Ethereal Darkness Interactive) had written saying that they needed artists for a game that they were working on. When I graduate college I would like to work in the video or computer games industry so I jumped at the opportunity!

Geek Woman: What work did you do on the game?

Jenna: I worked as the character designer so primarily I took descriptions or early models of characters from Raymond and developed them from there, finding 3D models to use and creating custom textures for them. I really enjoyed being a part of this project because it gave me direction in my work - all of my previous experience with computer graphics has been self-taught and on my own projects so it was nice to work with other people. It was also fun to actually see my work in a game!

Geek Woman: Is this the first game you have worked on?

Jenna: Yes, I've been teaching myself various computer graphic programs for the last 4 or 5 years but this is the first time that I have had the opportunity to actually put those skills to use in a game!

Geek Woman: Did you take any special courses that helped you get this job?

Jenna: No, I've never had any formal teaching in computer graphics.

Geek Woman: You are studying over in Italy now, what are you taking over there?

Jenna: Primarily I am studying art and art history here in Florence (Italian as well as my host family doesn't speak any English!) Italy is an absolutely amazing place because it is completely saturated in art - I live a 5 minute walk from the museum with Michelangelo's David, 20 minutes from the Uffizi, and nearly every block between has some sort of Renaissance church or museum.

Geek Woman: Were there any games that influenced your design of Morning?

Jenna: The character of Morning had actually already been sketched out by a concept artist working with the team, so for that character I was just responsible for turning the drawing into a character that could be used in the game.

Geek Woman: How long did it take to make this game?

Jenna: The game took several years to produce but I just joined the team last winter when they were in one of the later phases of development.

Geek Woman: Whose idea was it to have a female main character?

Raymond: It was mine, I have attempted to follow in the footsteps of one of my favorite game designers, Roberta Williams, many of her games featured female protagonists and even though the usage is more common now, I still find having a female character more desire able than a male one in many situations, it allows you to dive more into the emotional aspects of the story, I find it hard to write a game with an emotional male character, it just doesn't seem to be very believable, and emotion in stories is very important.

Geek Woman: Will there be a sequel? Are there any plans to bring it to Mac or the consoles?

Raymond: Morning's Wrath may have a sequel in the future, but I believe any good sequel first needs it's predecessor game to grow, in both the minds of players and in the minds of the developers. With that being said, I am sure we will get the itch to do another game like Morning's Wrath, and there is already plenty of material (and even a basic plot outline) as to where the game would go after the victory on Summerfound.

We did plan to bring MW to the MAC but at the moment we are having trouble justifying it based on PC sales of the game, so if it does happen it is likely to be a ways off. Instead we are hard at work on our next game, which is sure to please those who enjoyed the story and adventure aspects of Morning's Wrath.

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