Game Design – Alexander Ipfelkofer

Back in 2007 Crysis was released, a stealth first-person shooter and I played the heck out of it, although my PC could only run it at reduced settings; it was rather demanding in terms of hardware specs. Besides eating up my free time, running around in a Nanosuit and blasting everything in sight, it also came with a great editor.

Thus, the idea of Kayne was born, a kind of stand-alone DLC Mission or Expansion using the CryEngine 2. But wait… what should it be about? What’s the story?

I find among the best stories are Origin stories, and so I started writing about this guy Kayne, evil corporation, check, torn by inner conflict, check, mysterious woman, check. Is he really the hero, or is he the henchman? Was “Operation Unity” a lie or a necessary evil to save the world? Let’s get to the bottom of this! What is the truth? Reminds me of A Few Good Men! But I digress.

Here’s the first page of the script I wrote back then.

After 17 years, it’s time to start a new adventure as my journey with Blizzard comes to an end. I could fill books with the stories and experiences made throughout those years, good, bad and sometimes ugly, but mostly good and some unforgettable.

One of my favorite moments was back in 2007 when one of my game design drafts for World of Warcraft came live. Which one, some might have guessed it from the title of this post. It took a year, though, to get from design draft to implementation.

The 19-page document for “The Brewfest” covered everything from the historical facts of the real event “Octoberfest” which it is based on, from activities to traditional clothing, food and even mystical creatures such as the Wolpertinger. The designers did a great job bringing this spectacle to WoW, and I hope that players have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy it.

So, one morning back in 2007 I come to the office, switch on my PC and start up Outlook as usual, sipping my morning coffee when my eyes catch a mail without subject from Dave M. Strange, I thought. I click…

The preview window filled with a screenshot, no text, just an image. In the center of that image was a dwarf and the name tag read “Ipfelkofer Ironkeg“. I looked at the screen bewildered. What was this? A joke? A tease? I remember, I felt giddy with excitement, even though it was an Alliance NPC and I played Horde. I immediately went on to the test servers and lo and behold, there was a dwarf with my name…

It gets even better! In 2008 the Gamer’s Edition of the Guinness Book of World Records named the Brewfest the world’s largest virtual beerfest! Say what?

The Brewfest will start again September 20th, if you play WoW, maybe you can catch one of them elusive Wolpertingers!

Cheers!

A.I.I.