Paul Woakes

Symoon · Post by **Symoon** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 7:22 am

Sad news, I don't think I've seen it on the forum: learnt a few days ago that games author Paul Woakes died in July 2017.

He was co-founder of Novagen, and published Mercenary, Damocles, Backlash, Encounter, ...

chicane · Post by **chicane** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:07 am

Very sad news - the guy was a genius. I never "encountered" the earlier games, but Damocles was so far ahead of its time.

I think much of the retrogaming community was holding onto the hope of getting an interview with him some day, but I get the impression that he was media shy and perhaps not particularly interested in discussing his earlier works.

iceman · Post by **iceman** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:09 am

Yeah, I heard about this a few days ago on Twatter.

Damocles was absolutely amazing.

Atarieterno · Post by **Atarieterno** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:27 am

A very sad news.
Rest in peace, we lose another genius of the bits.

Cogweasel · Post by **Cogweasel** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:44 am

I had no idea! Very sad news! RIP Mr Woakes! I had actually been considering to try and find him and conduct an interview with him, but that will sadly never happen now

alexh · Post by **alexh** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:51 am

I was just saying I lost most of the summer of 1990 (or was it 1991) playing Damocles. Totally immersed. Looking back the worlds were very "empty" but at the time I was transfixed.

Cogweasel · Post by **Cogweasel** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:59 am

I think I only ever played the demo of Damocles. I think there was a time limit or something, otherwise you were free to explore the world. I was amazed by the fact I could fly from planet to planet and explore it in its entirety! It also made me so exited about the future of the gaming industry and trying to imagine what would be possible on more powerful future machines! Truly ahead of its time ....

alexh wrote:I was just saying I lost most of the summer of 1990 (or was it 1991) playing Damocles. Totally immersed. Looking back the worlds were very "empty" but at the time I was transfixed.

darklight · Post by **darklight** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:40 am

Oh man, thats sad. I was only just reliving my Mercenary (on the speccy) memories a couple of weeks back. Seriously that game was amazing. Damocles was good too - very impressive. What a genius programmer - should be as well known as Braben & Bell.

The guy needs an epitaph, from Benson.

joefish · Post by **joefish** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:19 pm

Shame. Damocles was an incredible achievement.

npomarede · Post by **npomarede** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 10:58 pm

I have good memories from Backlash too, even when I run it nowadays, it has some kind of purity in its design, almost mesmerizing. It was also a very fast paced shoot em up, really very innovative concept IMO for its time.
Really a great figure of the video game industry.

Greyfox™ · Post by **Greyfox™** » Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:17 pm

I think when we hear about great game designer and developers like this leave us..it really is down to the impression they leave as their legacy is what makes their memory more valuable to us old school gamer whom lived the period they reign with their incredible software and Paul Woakes is one of those unsung heroes of computer video game entertainment and although shy was a possible testimonial to why he never or needed to be interviewed , it was all said in his games.

R.I.P. to him for he's games will live on through all of us here.

Post by **ijor** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 1:30 am

Sad news. A very talented developer. RIP

Symoon · Post by **Symoon** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:17 am

I first played Mercenary when I was a kid, with a pirate copy, and found it good but boring once all the buildings were destroyed!
Until I understood there was much more than this, and finally found how to get inside the underground complex. I got hooked, played all the sequels like crazy and decided, by playing Mercenary III, to start a website about it.
I got in touch with many former Novagen employees and all were incredibly friendly.

I am sad there was no more sequels, and no more games like these, with total freedom, multiple ways to win, and humour.
BTW I now own multiple legal copies!

mrbombermillzy · Post by **mrbombermillzy** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 11:47 am

Im sorry to hear this.

Much has been said already about Mercenary and Damocles.

I did purchase Mercenary but never got into it.

However, when I do get time to get out a C64 and have a blast, one of my all time classic greats is Encounter. The atmosphere is electric!

Its like Tennis or Football; It just doesnt seem to age at all. Infact, the 3D engine was just so quick that it was a joy to play. I know it was because there wasnt much to display, but still...its a great game!

If you can make a simple classic like this, then more power to you I say!

R.I.P. Paul Woakes

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