it all started back in 1989, when my best friend and I sat down and started learning how to program in gwbasic, it lit a spark in me that lasts even today. we created over 50 games but never actually finished one, but I made myself a promise that one day I would start and finish my very own video game....
jump ahead a few years, and along came final fantasy ii & iii (U.s. versions.) to me, this was what I wanted to create. the concept of gaming and storytelling together seemed like the perfect way for me to express myself creatively. just how was I going to do this....
in junior high and leading into high school, my best friends and I engaged in the taboo roleplaying known as "dungeons and dragons." the early going involved campaigning individual sessions with my friends, but soon after an idea was born: why not join these players together in one massive quest? And say, why not we build our own d&d club? after a successful run through or two, the group: 'GALER' was born. this name stood for the five individuals who took part: 'g' for graham, 'a' for alec, 'l' for luke, 'E' for Edgar, and 'r' for Robert. one campaign in particular, known only as the, "Untold Heroes", was by far the most entertaining to be a part of as a dungeon master. However, we were unable to finish this quest and never returned to roleplaying since. I felt I owed my friends to have this chapter closed. Thus, "GALER: Plague of Heroes" served as it's conclusion.
the game turned out quite 'interesting' in it's design, but not intentionally. let me explain. my love of rpg's started with the original final fantasy in 1987. The first moment i saw this game played, i was staying with my cousins in Moncton, New Brunswick. Their best friend, his name was Sean, was playing while we all watched in amazement. The really freaky thing, is that I haven't seen him in over 20 years, but thought he would make a great character for my story. The beginning of GALER: Plague of Heroes, starts with you controlling Sean's character in the game. The other initials characters in the game were also those who first played Final Fantasy with me!! (Again, I did not intend for this, but realized after the fact.) As the game goes on, the characters you run across are pretty much in the same timeline as to when I met them in real life... Again, NOT something I intended but thought it was amazing when i realized this.
As the game goes on, the world begins dying. As for myself, my world started dying around me also in a different respect, though I may not have realized it at the time. A massive depression caused me to lose those around me, and there were days as though I felt the world was closing in. Again, the parallels can be seen in the video game, i.e: a strange fog begins closing in on the rest of the world and the characters left alive begin to questions why. I too questioned why I was suffering, and only blamed outside forces instead of looking inside myself for answers. In "GALER: Plague of Heroes," The characters that remain are also faced with confronting themselves and their issues, or face certain death.
This game means so much to me it is hard to express in literal terms. As soon after I had done the work I needed to do for myself to heal, this game had been finished, and it closed the chapter on a significant period of my life. Now I have a son, and all my energy goes into him.
Inner peace is possible, and I am living proof.
-Graham Dodge
jump ahead a few years, and along came final fantasy ii & iii (U.s. versions.) to me, this was what I wanted to create. the concept of gaming and storytelling together seemed like the perfect way for me to express myself creatively. just how was I going to do this....
in junior high and leading into high school, my best friends and I engaged in the taboo roleplaying known as "dungeons and dragons." the early going involved campaigning individual sessions with my friends, but soon after an idea was born: why not join these players together in one massive quest? And say, why not we build our own d&d club? after a successful run through or two, the group: 'GALER' was born. this name stood for the five individuals who took part: 'g' for graham, 'a' for alec, 'l' for luke, 'E' for Edgar, and 'r' for Robert. one campaign in particular, known only as the, "Untold Heroes", was by far the most entertaining to be a part of as a dungeon master. However, we were unable to finish this quest and never returned to roleplaying since. I felt I owed my friends to have this chapter closed. Thus, "GALER: Plague of Heroes" served as it's conclusion.
the game turned out quite 'interesting' in it's design, but not intentionally. let me explain. my love of rpg's started with the original final fantasy in 1987. The first moment i saw this game played, i was staying with my cousins in Moncton, New Brunswick. Their best friend, his name was Sean, was playing while we all watched in amazement. The really freaky thing, is that I haven't seen him in over 20 years, but thought he would make a great character for my story. The beginning of GALER: Plague of Heroes, starts with you controlling Sean's character in the game. The other initials characters in the game were also those who first played Final Fantasy with me!! (Again, I did not intend for this, but realized after the fact.) As the game goes on, the characters you run across are pretty much in the same timeline as to when I met them in real life... Again, NOT something I intended but thought it was amazing when i realized this.
As the game goes on, the world begins dying. As for myself, my world started dying around me also in a different respect, though I may not have realized it at the time. A massive depression caused me to lose those around me, and there were days as though I felt the world was closing in. Again, the parallels can be seen in the video game, i.e: a strange fog begins closing in on the rest of the world and the characters left alive begin to questions why. I too questioned why I was suffering, and only blamed outside forces instead of looking inside myself for answers. In "GALER: Plague of Heroes," The characters that remain are also faced with confronting themselves and their issues, or face certain death.
This game means so much to me it is hard to express in literal terms. As soon after I had done the work I needed to do for myself to heal, this game had been finished, and it closed the chapter on a significant period of my life. Now I have a son, and all my energy goes into him.
Inner peace is possible, and I am living proof.
-Graham Dodge