Irth Online Wrap Report - Part 1

The Team

Friends first and co-workers second, Alan Chipura and Dennis Robinson formed the company two years ago. Alan has vision and Dennis has know-how, a perfect union.

Alan, whose alias is Damian on the forums, is the chief moderator and creator of the website. His experience managing servers, building computer hardware, managing MMOs, and designing websites and content is far-reaching. Alan knows games better than anyone. He keeps close to the pulse of the industry. The website is his baby, and consequently, he makes certain that all of us are exposed to forum comments, issues, ideas and evaluations. Without Alan, there would be no Irth Online. Every game must start with an idea. Ours originated with him. It was his vision that spawned this company. It was in his basement where it all began. He continues to be the driving force for ongoing development.

first and foremost are player freedoms... This is a skill-based game... no leveling grind, no restrictive or predefined classes, no specific course of action that any player must take.

Dennis is the lead programmer. Dennis has worked for many major software companies. His level of competence is extraordinary. There is nothing he cannot do with respect to programming. He takes an idea, then makes it happen. He turns crazy concepts into logical code. Without him, there would be no Irth. It would be nothing more than a fading dream. Other programmers who have worked for us are Igor who specializes in client side applications, Oliver who had significant impact on our proprietary game engine, and Lucas Lowry and Alex Boesel who experienced great accomplishments under Dennis's direct supervision.

Tom Gale is the lead Artist. His artistic ability is undeniably unequaled by anyone on the planet. Walk around the gameworld and take in its beauty; this is the direct result of Tom. If he didn't personally create it, he was involved with it in one way or another. He has worked for many game companies creating exceptional art. We are so fortunate to have him with us. Tom does it all... 2D art, 3D art, animations, items, buildings, terrain, etc. You name it; he does it, and no one does it better. He is a perfectionist, and the results of his efforts are obvious when you encounter Irth. Most of its visual appeal is directly related to his work. This would be a different game without Tom as it would have significantly less artistic value. Other artists that have worked for us too. Yuri created simply awesome beasts and monsters. There is no one better at 3D models and animations. Fabio Nunes handled most of our 2D art with each icon hand-drawn down to the last intricate detail. He is an old school artist who uses new school technologies. He can paint an oil portrait on canvas just as well as he can create comparable detail on a computer screen. Peter Crafts, who has worked on many other games, designed numerous buildings. Alex Weisman made some animated monsters and characters. Kate O'Donnell made many emotes.

The design team consisted of my son Tony Pungitore, my daughter Elise Pungitore, my son Matthew Pungitore, (it's a family thing), Dan Milewski, Steve Washburn, Paul Kissane, Xavier Sosa, Kevin Driscoll, Jared Smith, and Dave Sylvia. All have had varying responsibilities in creating concepts, designing features and mechanics, world building, particle systems, quest writing, database management, story development and marketing. They are all game players. They understand games and have come up with exceptional ideas and concepts.

This team is the heart and soul of the game. They all have built this world that you see. Painstakingly, they have molded and crafted the terrain, placed each decoration, waterway, shrub, NPC and monster. They made the mountains, valleys, roads, etc. They did it all. The have engaged themselves in a labor of love. Without them there would be nothing but code on a disk and artwork in an electronic folder. They have brought the game to life. They have created the environment that you find yourself in. They have created the game's atmosphere. They have created systems of game play that players encounter. They essentially have taken the code and art and assembled and presented it before the players in a finished product as a chef would take groceries and prepare a gourmet feast. Truly, without the design team we would have nothing to offer our public but an empty plate.

Let's not forget Jane Swaran handling office functions, Ben Dellard customer service and Maria, who cleaned up our messes. Muchas Gracias Maria. Le amamos.

I also have to mention our friends at Mutable Realms. To the MMORPG community's great loss and to our great fortune, Wish's assets became available. There was no game closer in art style to Irth than Wish. Therefore, we had an opportunity to purchase some Wish art and characters. They fit in perfectly with what we were creating and sped up the design process immensely. The termination of the Wish project was bittersweet for us. We looked forward to that game and were disappointed that it was not launched. On the other hand, we were able to capitalize on the outstanding talent, high standards and exemplary effort that Mutable Realms nurtured in its employees. We were able to give some wish assets a new home. So Wish lives on in a way, through Irth.

High-Level Goals

Well, first and foremost are player freedoms. We wanted to create a game where players were not limited or restricted by design including but not limited to character development. This is a skill-based game... no leveling grind, no restrictive or predefined classes, no specific course of action that any player must take. There are four playable races, three PvP civilizations plus one non-PvP, and tons of skills to develop. So basically, a player can pick a race and the civilization they identify with and develop any skill that he or she chooses. If you don't like what your character has become, you can change the character by doing different things and learning new skills. In many respects, the players are responsible for balancing their own characters and do not have to level a predefined set of static attributes.