Richard Gray (game designer)
{{short description|American video game designer}}
{{Other people|Richard Gray}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Richard "Levelord" Gray at Geek Picnic 2017 in St Petersburg.jpg
|name = Richard Gray
|other_names = Levelord
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|11|15}}
|birth_place = New Haven, Connecticut, United States
|known_for = Level design in Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Heavy Metal FAKK 2 and SiN video games
|employer = Levelord Games
|occupation = Level designer
|website = [http://www.levelord.com www.levelord.com]
}}
Richard Gray (also known as Levelord) is a video game designer who is best known for designing levels for 3D video games.{{cite news | url = http://gamestar.ru/article/1881.html | title = GameStar: Richard Gray: "Creativity has to inspire the person" | accessdate = March 14, 2012 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://archive.today/20130416202448/http://gamestar.ru/article/1881.html | archivedate = April 16, 2013 }} His most famous works are perhaps the levels for Duke Nukem 3D and SiN. During development of the expansion for Duke Nukem 3D, he quit his position at 3D Realms to co-found the company that became Ritual Entertainment.
Career
He is known for hiding difficult to find Easter eggs in his levels in the form of hidden messages. Some of these can only be found by viewing the level in an editor program or cheating in the game, with a message such as "You're not supposed to be here! - Levelord". Duke Nukem 3D is known for having many such messages written on walls in some levels. His chosen pseudonym dates back to his early work on what became Blood starting in September 1994, based on how he signed off e-mails to designer Nick Newhard.{{cite web|last=Keefer |first=John | url=http://www.shacknews.com/article/75336/where-are-they-now-richard-levelord-gray |title=Where Are They Now: Richard 'Levelord' Gray | publisher=Shacknews | date=August 20, 2012|accessdate = December 30, 2015}} His transfer to the Duke Nukem 3D team in March 1995 was one of the causes of the strain that lead to Blood being published by GT Interactive over 3D Realms.
He created the first suspended platform, aka "void", deathmatch called HIPDM1 or "The Edge of Oblivion" for the Quake add-on pack Scourge of Armagon.{{Cite web |title=Richard Gray |url=https://www.mobygames.com/person/1009/richard-gray/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=MobyGames |language=en}} This "islands in space" design of this multiplayer map became a staple in Quake III Arena and many other deathmatch games. He created the first player-the-size-of-a-rat deathmatch level with the release of SPRY or "Behind Zee Bookcase" for SiN.
With MumboJumbo's acquisition of Ritual and its transition from big-budget projects (like SiN Episodes) to casual gaming, he has been involved with smaller, more quickly developed and more experimental games.
In 2009, he conceived, designed and developed a hidden object game called Becky Brogan - The Mystery of Meane Manor, using the game programming language BlitzMax.{{Cite web |title=Becky Brogan: The Mystery of Meane Manor (2009) |url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/43816/becky-brogan-the-mystery-of-meane-manor/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=MobyGames |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|2082863|Levelord}}
- {{moby developer|id=1009}}
- {{IMDb name|2969306}}
- [http://www.mumbojumbo.com Mumbo Jumbo]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20010208090423/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990723/levdesign_chapter_03.htm Interview] from Gamasutra
- {{IMDb name|1201315|Richard Gray}}
- [http://www.blitzbasic.co.nz/Community/posts.php?topic=87500 BlitzMax Post]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Richard}}