Joshua E. Sawyer

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Joshua E. Sawyer, 2012

Joshua Eric Sawyer (born October 18, 1975 ), called Josh, is an American game developer specializing in computer role-playing games .

Life

Sawyer is the son of Linda and Gerald P. Sawyer. Sawyer's family is largely of German descent, and he also speaks German himself. He grew up in Fort Atkinson (Wisconsin) and studied history (major) and theater (minor) at Lawrence University from 1994 to 1999 , each of which he completed with a bachelor's degree. Since childhood he was interested in computer role-playing games such as The Bard's Tale and the role-playing rules Dungeons & Dragons , which he kept as a hobby until he was a student.

Career

Josh Sawyer began his career as a webmaster for the American game developer Interplay , for whom he was responsible for the Planescape: Torment product page . For the computer role-playing game Icewind Dale of the Interplay development studio Black Isle Studios , he finally worked for the first time as a designer, responsible for creating levels and game objects. For the never completed successor to Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (working title Project Jefferson or The Black Hound ) he worked for the first time as lead designer and subsequently also exercised this position for Icewind Dale II and the likewise unfinished Van Buren project, a Fallout sequel. After the departure of numerous leading figures from Black Isle Studios, JE Sawyer also announced on November 7, 2003 that he would be leaving on November 21.

For the publisher Midway he worked with John Romero on the game Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows , but left the company just like Romero on July 15, 2005 before the project was completed and also did not mention it as a developer. Like several of his Black Isle work colleagues before, he moved to Obsidian Entertainment , where he took over as lead designer of Neverwinter Nights 2 after Feret Baudoin left . He subsequently took on other management positions, including as Project Director and Lead Designer for Fallout: New Vegas . Sawyer also took on the role of Project Director for the in-house production Pillars of Eternity .

Design principles

One of the design goals of Sawyer's work is to give the player the greatest possible influence on the development and appearance of his player character and the course of the game. His focus is on the narration of an RPG, although he also describes himself as an advocate of profound, well-thought-out game mechanics. According to his own statements, the main influences for his work are the games Darklands (here in particular the aspects of exploring the game world and the game mechanics), Fallout (decision-making options for the player and the resulting consequences) and Pool of Radiance (group mechanics, tactical round-robin battles).

Ludography

Web links

Commons : Joshua E. Sawyer  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer/q/358874015017758829 . Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ LinkedIn : Profile of Joshua E. Sawyer . Last accessed on May 24, 2013.
  3. ↑ a b c Will Ooi: An Interview with JE Sawyer - game developer, biker, and cat lover ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM TechWeb. September 25, 2011. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Joshua E. Sawyer: i'm audi like 5 gs ( English ) In: Official manufacturer forum . Interplay entertainment . November 7, 2003. Archived from the original on January 29, 2004. Retrieved on September 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ Tor Thorsen: JE Sawyer bolts Black Isle ( English ) In: GameSpot . CNET . November 10, 2003. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
  6. ↑ Tor Thorsen: JE Sawyer off Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows ( English ) In: GameSpot . CNET . July 19, 2005. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
  7. ^ John Brownlee: Lead Designer of NWN2 Leaves Obsidian ( English ) In: Kotaku . March 23, 2006. Archived from the original on March 23, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
  8. ↑ Kevin VanOrd: Pillars of Eternity, Baldur's Gate, and Toeing the Line Between Homage and Clone. In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , July 24, 2014, accessed April 1, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Josh Sawyer (@jesawyer) | Twitter. Retrieved December 13, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Sawyer, Joshua E.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sawyer, Josh (nickname); JES (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American computer game designer
DATE OF BIRTH 18th October 1975