Team Profile: Dan Purdy

Member Name:    Dan Purdy

Position:                Lead Designer

Dan was born in the mythical land of Canada, in the forgotten, long-ago era of the 1980s.  He was raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and later in the great state of Kentucky, which he now calls home.

Dan has been a gamer since his family bought their first Nintendo NES system in '85.  As a gamer, he prefers adventure (traditional point-and-click, classic Sierra titles, and modern epics like The Longest Journey, Uncharted, or anything by Quantic Dream), thinking-man's shooters (basically anything Tom Clancy), and Japanese RPGs.

Dan is a professional data analyst.

Dan's favorite author is Stephen King.  By far, the Dark Tower series is the best he's ever read.  And as King is the master of the modern creepy tale, so too was Lovecraft just after the turn of the century.  No stranger to Lovecraft's works, Dan chose the story, The Beast in the Cave, as the inspiration for his first ever full-length adventure, CAVE.

Side note: The short story mentioned above contains MAJOR SPOILERS.  We don't recommend reading it until after you've played CAVE.

Dan's introduction to Lovecraft's works came at the hands of another team member: Paul Shamhart, our creative consultant.  Dan:

"Lovecraft wasn’t really on my radar until [Paul] introduced me to his works.  We started playing the Call of Cthulhu D20 game shortly thereafter and I was hooked.  It was, I think, particularly due to Paul’s storytelling style and the way he wove many different Lovecraftian themes into each adventure that hooked me; to this day, I get nervous around 4:30 every afternoon."

Dan has a strong background in computer graphic design, with areas of focus in 3d modelling, animation, and 2d raster art with software tools like Autodesk 3DS Max, Adobe Photoshop, and The GIMP.  Borrowing from his professional experience, his skill set also includes project planning and execution, team leadership, cycle testing, and project support.

What does Dan want most to see in CAVE?

"The biggest thing I’d like to see is a polished, finished work.  I’m not speaking of the graphics, though they will go a long way toward player immersion.  Rather, I’m speaking of playability, enjoyability, and replay value.  I want people to really enjoy this experience.  Game element-wise, I’d love to see some first-person platforming; I’ve had this vision of Carter dangling by his fingertips on a darkened precipice overlooking a stygian abyss."


Look out for more team profiles, coming soon!