- Barrage of Flashes -

The author: (surrounded by a crowd of reporters) „Help, I am blind!“

A reporter with a wide brimmed hat: „Mr. Schütz, what triggered your decision to make a game like Medieval?“

Author: „Inventing games is a hobby of mine. I have been doing this all my life. For me, inventing a game is like writing a story and a computer-programme at the same time. I love exciting, logical and complex stories."

A reporter with a missing tooth: „How did you get the idea for Medieval?“

Author: „I have been wanting to make a medieval strategy-game for many years. In order to make it more "alive" I imagined the characters of the game to have a bit of "personality".

An exceptionally small reporter: „I am from the Daily Interplanetary, Mr. Schütz. My readers would like to know some personal details about yourself. Where were you born? Do you have family? Something about your friends, you know... Do you have other hobbies?"

Author: "Well, I am an Austrian in my mid-forties. I still have both parents and my brother,...a couple of good friends. I only regret that we see each other too rarely. About my hobbies: I like to read and to travel. My favourite topics are science-fiction and fantasy. I like to go to the movies or to go out and eat in a good downtown restaurant. I like mountain-hiking, diving, biking and skiing as well. And of course I like to meet my friends to play and to make excursions together. An elegantly dressed lady reporter: „What have you done for a living so far, Mr. Schütz? What kind of profession do you have?“ Author: "Oh, I have had quite a lot of jobs. Mostly I have been in the tourist business. I have been working at the airport, in tourist offices, etc...

The author: Otto Schütz

I have been a diving instructor in Australia and a cast-member of Disneyland Paris. For the last 5 years I have been working as a webdesigner in Salzburg (Austria). I even had a shop once, specialized in board games and role-playing games in Vienna ("the Hobbit"). At the moment I am working for the UN headquarters in Syria until mid-june 2005.

One of my problems is that I am get bored very quickly. I am pretty spoiled, I guess. I have always enjoyed playing games, however. For that reason I decided to become a games-designer now.

Missing tooth: „Would you please let me pass, dear collegue! - Mr. Schütz, what are your plans for the future? Will there be other games to follow?“

Author: „You may count on it! I have a lot of fantasy and I do not have to strain myself much in order to have ideas. To draft the system of the rules, however, is another pair of shoes. It took me two years to harmonise the rules of Medieval. When it comes to that, I am a bloody perfectionist. By the way I do not believe that Medieval is my masterpiece. But you have to make a start somewhere.

The elegant dressed lady reporter: „Where will you spend your time after your mission in Syria?"

Author: „Most likely you will find me in cyberspace. I don't know yet exactly where to go after my current mission. Probably I will go to Costa Rica to learn spanish, to smoke a couple of good cigars and to dream up some new ideas for my next game while resting in the shadow of a palm tree.“

the lady reporter: „Mr. Schütz, one more question please: Are you married, divorced or simply gay? My women readers must know this!"

Author: „Send them all to me. They should best find out for themselves. – If you would excuse me now, ladies and gentlemen, I have a flight to catch.“