Last Online: 6/18/08
Andrea Fryer
MMORPG Junkie and pixel guru from Finland.
Who has time for love when there are battles to be won?
History
Greetings,
I'm Andrea Fryer, and I work as an artist at the Sumea studio of Digital Chocolate in Helsinki, Finland. I mainly spend my days creating pixel art. This is my first job in the game industry and a dream come true.
Before Digital Chocolate, I was working at Nokia Mobile Phones. In my first position there, I was creating user interface graphics for the S80 platform so, if you happen to have a 9500/9300 communicator, you're holding a little bit of Andrea. :-)
In my second position, I was building the actual UIs instead of skinning them, for cover screens of S60 clamshells. The first UI I designed on my own can be seen on the cover of the N76.
Before Nokia, I freelanced as a web designer for several years.
Who needs Barbie dolls?
So, where did my passion for games begin? Well, like most of you, childhood. While other kids spent their allowance on candy, I was at the arcade playing games! I was especially addicted to Pac-Man and Galaxian.
My first video game
I think my dad noticed something strange was up, 'cause one Xmas he bought me a black contraption you hook up to your TV to play a very simple version of tennis (yes, it was the classic Pong). I remember being absolutely fascinated by the fact that I could control what was happening on our TV set, which at the time, was very much a passive device.
My first hand held
During my teens, I saved up for a Game and Watch with Marios Bros and still have it, packaging and all. It still works and is just as addictive today as it was then.
From my childhood, there's only one thing I'm bitter about not getting: In the early 80's they were selling these adorable table top mini arcade machines. They had an embedded lit up screen, mini joystick and everything! The only problem was getting a blistered forefinger and thumb, but the sacrifice was worth it ;-). Awww... now ain't this the cutest thing you ever saw? They also had them for other popular games as well.
Mini Pac-Man 1 | Mini Pac-Man 2 | Mini Pac-Man 3
Sighs dreamily. Oh well, maybe some day I'll be able to afford one off Ebay, if only for the sentimental value itself. <:-)
Moving on to my late teens. I never had the nerve to ask my parents for a computer (thinking they'd be way too expensive) so I managed to completely miss out on the Amiga/Commodore phase. :-/
My first computer
It wasn't till 92 that I finally got a PC (486) and bought my first game: Civilization. Oh man! I think I spent a year playing that alone. My second game was Lands of Lore. Anyone remember how beautiful that was? 256 RGB values, all masterfully picked out. That's when I knew: I wanna make game art some day.
Making my first game
Then something freaky happened: In the same year of purchasing my computer, I also invested in a Soundblaster which came bundled with a free music editing program. I couldn't understand how to use it though, so looking at the credits I saw Finnish names and looked up their numbers. Geesh, they even lived close by. So I gathered my courage, called one of them and with a very apologetic manner explained the dilemma. I was sure I'd be received with irritation: "Who do you think I am? Your helpdesk?". But not only did I receive help, but ended up talking to the guy for hours and hours. By the end of the conversation we'd decided to make a game together! :-o Over the next year, Tero Piispala, Mika Keskikiikonen and I worked on a space ship shooter called Brutal.
Everything looked promising, the demo version was ready and Pelit lehti made an article about it, with screenshots and all. We even went to Assembly together to hype things up. But alas, things came up and we never got it farther than that.
How I spent the 90's
During the 90's some of my all time favourites were the Eye of the Beholder and Ultima Series, Commander Keen, Lemmings, Bubble Bobble etc. But when Blizzard started to churn out it's Warcrafts and Starcraft, then I was really hooked. (which reminds me of how much I loved Dune II) Oh oh! and let us not forget Supaplex.
In my whole game history: the most addictive, annoying and fun game ever. Excellent playability. I seriously recommend every game designer out there play this through from start to finish. It may take you months, even years - but do it (took me 10 years :-)). It's a great example of a game that causes massive obsession. Even just talking about it makes me want to play through it again. I've heard others refer to it with shared awe, such as our Kirill at Sumea.
How I became a MMORPG Junkie
In 97 Origin finally released the grand daddy of today's MMOGS: Ultima Online. Now having been a fan of the Ultima series I knew that if I got myself messed up in this I'd be a goner. So I managed to avoid it successfully until my friend Elina practically forced me to join her. That was it then: The end of my single player games days. Seriously, once you get messed up in these online worlds, it's really hard to go back. Single player games just don't cut it anymore. So DON'T DO IT. ;-)
Since 99 I've been playing UO, DaoC, AO, WoW and Second Life. Was especially involved in UO where I guess you could say I'm a celebrity of sorts. Known as Saphireena the lady who paints "portraits"...
... and for my various "Big Mamas" establishments like the Big Mamas Apartmentos, which I rented out to players. In fact, these apartments have housed such Finnish gaming celebrities as Mikko Koykka from Sulake, Joni Leimu - known for his game reviews at Peliplaneetta and of course our mobile MMOG guru Elina. :-)
How I became a pain in the a$$ for EA
In the Ultima Online community, I'm perhaps best known as the loud mouth artist who started the Pixel Graphics Challenge in 2004. Over the years the quality of art in UO had slowly been declining due to the change of staff over the years. At some point, they didn't have their own artists at all, instead outsourced any artwork, or else had their game designers do "quick and dirty" fixes. The results were painfully obvious. So someone had to do something about it. I posted an aggressive rant, then asked players to challenge me to redesign any lacking art they'd seen in the game, which I'd then draw and post in the thread. What followed was amazing: The requests flooded in and once the players saw how much better the art could have been had it been done faithfully, consistent to the original UO style, they were enraged!
One example of the many items and creatures I "put right" was the Skeletal Dragon. Here is EA's version:
And here is my version:
Lastly, here is my version in the middle of the UO red and brown dragons which were made by the original UO artists:
You can see many more examples in this folder.
Anyhow, soon many other artists joined in and there was a whole group of us redesigning these things like crazy. Obviously, EA finally took notice. The result? They hired artists, who then came to talk with us. Almost all of the things we complained about have now been fixed in the game and there is a completely new level of communication going between players and developers, as for before, the devs lurked in the shadows. The thread eventually became the most viewed, most commented in U-Hall history, which is quite a feat considering that the devs themselves post there as well. :-o
Currently I have a new rampage ongoing. Not everyone is so happy about UOKR, so I decided to scale up some nice UO legacy graphics and polish 'em up to see "what could have been" had EA simply double sized the client.
You can see the current discussion about it over at Stratics.
But Ultima Online has not been the only MMORPG I've been addicted to. Over the years I've played several others, including Dark age of Camelot, Anarchy Online, World of Warcraft, City of Villains and Second Life. You can see links to the fan sites I made for some of these games in the Gamer: Links section.
Andrea, games and sex
All that MMO experience had Brenda Brathwaite fascinated, who I met at GDC in 2005. Brenda is known as the Sex in video games guru. In 2005 she started the sexuality SIG in IGDA, in 2006 she organized the Sex in Videogames conference and published a book on the subject. In fact you can read the first chapter of it here. So what has Brenda got to do with me? Well, my avid playing of MMOGs was not the only thing she found interesting, but especially my numerous experiences with emergent love, romance and sex in these games. So she invited me to speak at the conference, and interviewed me for her book as well. It's all been very cool!
As I explained in the beginning of my introduction, I've only just recently started working in the game industry and by the time of reading through this all, it has probably become evident just how deeply rooted games are within me and why I didn't get into the industry earlier. Well, let's see:
In the 90's:
I'm Andrea Fryer, and I work as an artist at the Sumea studio of Digital Chocolate in Helsinki, Finland. I mainly spend my days creating pixel art. This is my first job in the game industry and a dream come true.
Before Digital Chocolate, I was working at Nokia Mobile Phones. In my first position there, I was creating user interface graphics for the S80 platform so, if you happen to have a 9500/9300 communicator, you're holding a little bit of Andrea. :-)
In my second position, I was building the actual UIs instead of skinning them, for cover screens of S60 clamshells. The first UI I designed on my own can be seen on the cover of the N76.
Before Nokia, I freelanced as a web designer for several years.
Who needs Barbie dolls?
So, where did my passion for games begin? Well, like most of you, childhood. While other kids spent their allowance on candy, I was at the arcade playing games! I was especially addicted to Pac-Man and Galaxian.
My first video game
I think my dad noticed something strange was up, 'cause one Xmas he bought me a black contraption you hook up to your TV to play a very simple version of tennis (yes, it was the classic Pong). I remember being absolutely fascinated by the fact that I could control what was happening on our TV set, which at the time, was very much a passive device.
My first hand held
During my teens, I saved up for a Game and Watch with Marios Bros and still have it, packaging and all. It still works and is just as addictive today as it was then.
From my childhood, there's only one thing I'm bitter about not getting: In the early 80's they were selling these adorable table top mini arcade machines. They had an embedded lit up screen, mini joystick and everything! The only problem was getting a blistered forefinger and thumb, but the sacrifice was worth it ;-). Awww... now ain't this the cutest thing you ever saw? They also had them for other popular games as well.
Mini Pac-Man 1 | Mini Pac-Man 2 | Mini Pac-Man 3
Sighs dreamily. Oh well, maybe some day I'll be able to afford one off Ebay, if only for the sentimental value itself. <:-)
Moving on to my late teens. I never had the nerve to ask my parents for a computer (thinking they'd be way too expensive) so I managed to completely miss out on the Amiga/Commodore phase. :-/
My first computer
It wasn't till 92 that I finally got a PC (486) and bought my first game: Civilization. Oh man! I think I spent a year playing that alone. My second game was Lands of Lore. Anyone remember how beautiful that was? 256 RGB values, all masterfully picked out. That's when I knew: I wanna make game art some day.
Making my first game
Then something freaky happened: In the same year of purchasing my computer, I also invested in a Soundblaster which came bundled with a free music editing program. I couldn't understand how to use it though, so looking at the credits I saw Finnish names and looked up their numbers. Geesh, they even lived close by. So I gathered my courage, called one of them and with a very apologetic manner explained the dilemma. I was sure I'd be received with irritation: "Who do you think I am? Your helpdesk?". But not only did I receive help, but ended up talking to the guy for hours and hours. By the end of the conversation we'd decided to make a game together! :-o Over the next year, Tero Piispala, Mika Keskikiikonen and I worked on a space ship shooter called Brutal.
Everything looked promising, the demo version was ready and Pelit lehti made an article about it, with screenshots and all. We even went to Assembly together to hype things up. But alas, things came up and we never got it farther than that.
How I spent the 90's
During the 90's some of my all time favourites were the Eye of the Beholder and Ultima Series, Commander Keen, Lemmings, Bubble Bobble etc. But when Blizzard started to churn out it's Warcrafts and Starcraft, then I was really hooked. (which reminds me of how much I loved Dune II) Oh oh! and let us not forget Supaplex.
In my whole game history: the most addictive, annoying and fun game ever. Excellent playability. I seriously recommend every game designer out there play this through from start to finish. It may take you months, even years - but do it (took me 10 years :-)). It's a great example of a game that causes massive obsession. Even just talking about it makes me want to play through it again. I've heard others refer to it with shared awe, such as our Kirill at Sumea.
How I became a MMORPG Junkie
In 97 Origin finally released the grand daddy of today's MMOGS: Ultima Online. Now having been a fan of the Ultima series I knew that if I got myself messed up in this I'd be a goner. So I managed to avoid it successfully until my friend Elina practically forced me to join her. That was it then: The end of my single player games days. Seriously, once you get messed up in these online worlds, it's really hard to go back. Single player games just don't cut it anymore. So DON'T DO IT. ;-)
Since 99 I've been playing UO, DaoC, AO, WoW and Second Life. Was especially involved in UO where I guess you could say I'm a celebrity of sorts. Known as Saphireena the lady who paints "portraits"...
... and for my various "Big Mamas" establishments like the Big Mamas Apartmentos, which I rented out to players. In fact, these apartments have housed such Finnish gaming celebrities as Mikko Koykka from Sulake, Joni Leimu - known for his game reviews at Peliplaneetta and of course our mobile MMOG guru Elina. :-)
How I became a pain in the a$$ for EA
In the Ultima Online community, I'm perhaps best known as the loud mouth artist who started the Pixel Graphics Challenge in 2004. Over the years the quality of art in UO had slowly been declining due to the change of staff over the years. At some point, they didn't have their own artists at all, instead outsourced any artwork, or else had their game designers do "quick and dirty" fixes. The results were painfully obvious. So someone had to do something about it. I posted an aggressive rant, then asked players to challenge me to redesign any lacking art they'd seen in the game, which I'd then draw and post in the thread. What followed was amazing: The requests flooded in and once the players saw how much better the art could have been had it been done faithfully, consistent to the original UO style, they were enraged!
One example of the many items and creatures I "put right" was the Skeletal Dragon. Here is EA's version:
And here is my version:
Lastly, here is my version in the middle of the UO red and brown dragons which were made by the original UO artists:
You can see many more examples in this folder.
Anyhow, soon many other artists joined in and there was a whole group of us redesigning these things like crazy. Obviously, EA finally took notice. The result? They hired artists, who then came to talk with us. Almost all of the things we complained about have now been fixed in the game and there is a completely new level of communication going between players and developers, as for before, the devs lurked in the shadows. The thread eventually became the most viewed, most commented in U-Hall history, which is quite a feat considering that the devs themselves post there as well. :-o
Currently I have a new rampage ongoing. Not everyone is so happy about UOKR, so I decided to scale up some nice UO legacy graphics and polish 'em up to see "what could have been" had EA simply double sized the client.
You can see the current discussion about it over at Stratics.
But Ultima Online has not been the only MMORPG I've been addicted to. Over the years I've played several others, including Dark age of Camelot, Anarchy Online, World of Warcraft, City of Villains and Second Life. You can see links to the fan sites I made for some of these games in the Gamer: Links section.
Andrea, games and sex
All that MMO experience had Brenda Brathwaite fascinated, who I met at GDC in 2005. Brenda is known as the Sex in video games guru. In 2005 she started the sexuality SIG in IGDA, in 2006 she organized the Sex in Videogames conference and published a book on the subject. In fact you can read the first chapter of it here. So what has Brenda got to do with me? Well, my avid playing of MMOGs was not the only thing she found interesting, but especially my numerous experiences with emergent love, romance and sex in these games. So she invited me to speak at the conference, and interviewed me for her book as well. It's all been very cool!
As I explained in the beginning of my introduction, I've only just recently started working in the game industry and by the time of reading through this all, it has probably become evident just how deeply rooted games are within me and why I didn't get into the industry earlier. Well, let's see:
In the 90's:
- No game dev education
- No work that offered a stable reliable source of income - something a mother of two boys simply had to have.
- No connection to the "scene" = a whole bunch of geeky teen boys. Umm... do you really think they were interested in letting an "old" momma like myself in on their club? Well no, they weren't. * Not that I really wished to intrude either mind you.
- Ok gaming work was widely available abroad, sure. But I couldn't leave the country. I had kids whose dads were in Finland.
Game Dev: Links
Game Dev: Videos
If you'd like to check out some videos on YouTube of games I've developed, here ya go. Please note that whilst some of these videos are "official" videos, others aren't and have been submitted by fans capturing game play moments, the resolution is screwed up etc.
Brain Juice Energy
Mini Golf Magic
Santa's Tower Bloxx
Brain Juice Energy
Mini Golf Magic
Santa's Tower Bloxx
Gamer: Videos
I've started to dabble with machinima, so here are some videos I've made of my gaming adventures.
The Last Farewell
Summary: A dwarf and his "heart" Shalestina, explore Mount Hyjal on their last day together before she departs (before I shut my account).
Back story: They had met nine months prior and had spent many happy times together, had explored many areas, but the one place they wished to see the most - Mount Hyjal - was yet to be seen.
As her last days approach, Shalestina manages to find a way into Mount Hyjal with the aid of a friend. She thinks of her beloved dwarf and knows she must take him there.
On her last day, she asks her dwarf to meet her in Winterspring, for she has something important to show him.
During the film, the two explore Mount Hyjal and it's many legendary spots, such as the Well of Eternity, which is encompassed by the World Tree.
As the end of their adventure starts to draw near, the couple shift their focus onto the love they share, and spend some last precious moments standing quietly as their rams nuzzle each other, relishing each others company and reminiscing old times.
When the day winds down to it's end, they hearthstone out and take a final walk together through the passages of Ironforge as they seek out a private room. They undress quietly, and snuggle up next to one another, saying their last tender words before passing away, side by side.
These characters and their romance was sacred to us, perhaps the most touching experience we had in WoW, thus we decided to vow that we'd never log on with these characters again.
Shalestina and her dwarf. July 2005 - April 2006.
Argent Dawn, a European roleplaying server in WoW.
Credits:
Howard Shore - The Forbidden Pool
Howard Shore - Andúril
Craig Armstrong - Morning Breaks
Howards Shore - Breath of Life
A high resolution (1152x864) version of this film, with excellent quality (so you can actually read what the dwarf is saying) can be seen in full spledour here. I really recommend downloading it if you want to see the full splendour of the video and make out what is being said by the characters.
Rollerboogie night in Second Life
A rollerdisco night was being held at the Kitty Roller Rink on 10th of March 2007. I (Ferocia Fackler) grabbed Doran Carter, and we used a few minutes to pimp ourselves up. Before you know it, we were dancing the night away, shaking our butts 70's style to the Jacksons, Kool and the Gang and of course Rick James, amongst many other great hits from the 70's and 80's. A big thank you to Dj Lucius for hosting this unforgettable event!
The Last Farewell
Summary: A dwarf and his "heart" Shalestina, explore Mount Hyjal on their last day together before she departs (before I shut my account).
Back story: They had met nine months prior and had spent many happy times together, had explored many areas, but the one place they wished to see the most - Mount Hyjal - was yet to be seen.
As her last days approach, Shalestina manages to find a way into Mount Hyjal with the aid of a friend. She thinks of her beloved dwarf and knows she must take him there.
On her last day, she asks her dwarf to meet her in Winterspring, for she has something important to show him.
During the film, the two explore Mount Hyjal and it's many legendary spots, such as the Well of Eternity, which is encompassed by the World Tree.
As the end of their adventure starts to draw near, the couple shift their focus onto the love they share, and spend some last precious moments standing quietly as their rams nuzzle each other, relishing each others company and reminiscing old times.
When the day winds down to it's end, they hearthstone out and take a final walk together through the passages of Ironforge as they seek out a private room. They undress quietly, and snuggle up next to one another, saying their last tender words before passing away, side by side.
These characters and their romance was sacred to us, perhaps the most touching experience we had in WoW, thus we decided to vow that we'd never log on with these characters again.
Shalestina and her dwarf. July 2005 - April 2006.
Argent Dawn, a European roleplaying server in WoW.
Credits:
Howard Shore - The Forbidden Pool
Howard Shore - Andúril
Craig Armstrong - Morning Breaks
Howards Shore - Breath of Life
A high resolution (1152x864) version of this film, with excellent quality (so you can actually read what the dwarf is saying) can be seen in full spledour here. I really recommend downloading it if you want to see the full splendour of the video and make out what is being said by the characters.
Rollerboogie night in Second Life
A rollerdisco night was being held at the Kitty Roller Rink on 10th of March 2007. I (Ferocia Fackler) grabbed Doran Carter, and we used a few minutes to pimp ourselves up. Before you know it, we were dancing the night away, shaking our butts 70's style to the Jacksons, Kool and the Gang and of course Rick James, amongst many other great hits from the 70's and 80's. A big thank you to Dj Lucius for hosting this unforgettable event!
