Chess was the last game I worked on before leaving TAG. I had just finished an ad system project, and needed a new game to work on. Unfortunately, both of the producer/designers were busy on other projects at the time. However, there was a design for Chess that Larry Cadelina had created some time earlier, though the game never went into production.

Well, I was pretty comfortable with design at that point, and I always worked closely with the artists on my projects. So, I talked to Larry and we decided that I should take over Chess as producer, designer, and programmer. I had always contributed in those areas, so I felt comfortable taking over the positions.

Fortunately, Larry left me in a pretty good place with a mostly finished design and much of the core game art already complete. There were some areas I needed to fill out, like the tutorials and awards, and the usual bunch of details that creep up during the development process. All in all, it wasn't too difficult to work on the design, even though I was simultaneously programming the game!

What I enjoyed most was steering the look and feel of the game. Larry and artist Andrea Lam Leong had already settled on the core look - a castle theme with a number of board and piece variations. With that in mind, I wanted to give the game an "epic" feel, as if the game were two kingdoms battling it out.

Andrea really nailed it with the title screen, but it felt a little lifeless. So, I asked her to animate the flags on the castle. It was a small touch, but it really made a big difference. The same goes for the game over screen - I wanted to show one side victorious and one defeated. We came up with the idea of two horsemen: the winner, flying a banner, and the dejected loser, with his horse lazily eating grass. It was a small touch, but it helped inject some personality into the screen. We worked similarly on many other parts of the game, and in the end, it looked really great!

Like Jump 'n Jazz Checkers, I was inspired to write the title theme for Chess. Despite not being anything remotely approaching a musician, I wrote a theme that I thought really drove home the "epic" feeling of the title screen. Unfortunately, I left TAG when the game was about 90% complete, and the title music ended up being changed after the gameplay music was composed. I thought the new theme was too imposing, but I guess I'm pretty biased in the matter.

Chess was my last game at TAG, but developing it was a wonderful experience. I got to really embrace the role of designer while keeping my regular programmer duties. I love programming, but having a vision and working closely with others to make it a reality is very rewarding. I don't think I'll be trading in my compiler anytime soon, but it was a great opportunity, and I'm glad I took it.