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The high-profile and protracted five-year development of ''Fez'' led to its status as an "underdog darling of the indie game scene".〔 The 2012 puzzle platform game built around rotating between four 2D views of a 3D space was developed by indie developer Polytron Corporation and published by Polytron, Trapdoor, and Microsoft Studios. Over the course of the game's development, ''Fez'' designer and Polytron founder Phil Fish received celebrity for his outspoken public persona〔〔 and prominence in the 2012 documentary ''Indie Game: The Movie'',〔 which followed the game's final stages of development and Polytron's related legal issues. The game was released to critical acclaim as an Xbox Live Arcade timed exclusive, and was later ported to other platforms. It had sold one million copies by the end of 2013. Fish and Shawn McGrath collaborated on a puzzle game that became ''Fez''. When McGrath left the project due to creative differences, Fish, the game's artist, pursued a platform game direction with Renaud Bédard, the game's programmer, who wrote the game's level editor and game engine from scratch. Levels were built in 3D by extruding surfaces with Photoshop-created textures. Bédard and Fish were joined by three different animators and other collaborators. The game was first announced in June 2007 and won an award at the 2008 Independent Games Festival and entered the public spotlight. Fish created a studio, Polytron Corporation, and was later aided by nearby developer-publisher Trapdoor when Polytron ran out of money. ''Fez'' won several more prerelease awards, including the 2012 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. == History == ''Fez'' development cycle developed a reputation for its protracted five-year〔 length and public exposure.〔 Nathan Grayson of ''VG247'' likened the game's rocky development process to "an indie ''Duke Nukem Forever''".〔 ''Polygon'' reviewer Arthur Gies wrote that the game was an "underdog darling of the indie game scene" for four years prior to its release.〔 The game's designer, Phil Fish, became renowned in a way unusual for game developers due to his prominence in ''Indie Game: The Movie'', which released in 2012.〔 While the game was released to wide acclaim, Fish himself became known for his outspoken and acerbic public persona.〔〔 The game that became ''Fez'' began in a collaboration between Montreal-based Phil Fish and Toronto-based Shawn McGrath〔 on McGrath's idea for a puzzle game: a four-sided〔 3D space with each side in 2D,〔 similar to Fish's 3D pixels (voxels) as incorporated into ''Fez''.〔 The entirety of ''Fez'' design, lore, and art descends from this game mechanic.〔 Fish provided the project's art and credited his influence to Shigeru Miyamoto and Hayao Miyazaki.〔 Fish and McGrath's partnership crumbled due to creative differences, as Fish wanted to create a platform game.〔 Fish continued to work on the game in his spare time〔 and announced his search for a programmer on DeviantArt, and the first person to reply, Renaud Bédard,〔 became lead programmer.〔 They were both the same age and living in Montreal.〔 Though Bédard had some hobbyist experience in 3D graphics〔 and was studying computer science,〔 ''Fez'' was his first professional〔 game development project.〔 His first task was to write the level editor〔 and game engine.〔 ''Fez'' was first announced in July 2007〔 on ''The Independent Gaming Source''.〔 A trailer released in October 2007 convinced Jason DeGroot to join the development team as a producer.〔 DeGroot, also known as "6955",〔 first met Fish at a 2006 E3 party, and started work on the game's soundtrack〔 and sound effects.〔〔 The soundtrack was ultimately composed by Rich "Disasterpeace" Vreeland〔 and the sound effects by Brandon McCartin.〔 The game was nominated for two awards at the 2008 Independent Games Festival (IGF) at the Game Developers Conference (GDC): Excellence in Visual Art and the Design Innovation Award.〔 As ''Fez'' was a side project, Fish was employed full-time at Artificial Mind and Movement in Montreal, where he worked on a tie-in game for a film. He was not permitted time off to attend the event and thus decided to quit his job in January 2008—a moment he later marked as "when I became indie".〔 The game won "Excellence in Visual Art", and created a surge of public interest in the game concurrent to a similar swell of interest in indie game developers. Fish received a Canadian government loan to open Polytron Corporation as a startup company and began full-time work on ''Fez''.〔 In July 2009, Polytron announced a release for Xbox Live Arcade in early 2010.〔 Polytron and Microsoft agreed to release ''Fez'' as an Xbox exclusive, a deal Fish later recalled as sensible. Fish designed the game as "a console game, not a PC game", and felt that the way he intended the game to be experienced—with a controller on a couch—was "part of the medium".〔 Polytron ruled out a WiiWare release due to problems Fish had with their platform and developer options.〔 Development continued with a more experimental ethos until the company began to run out of capital.〔 The Canadian government loan that had funded Polytron's prototyping phase was not renewed for their production phase. They also lost funding from the organization that preceded the Indie Fund as Polytron's producer left the company. Fish borrowed money from friends and family for three months to keep the company open. In dire straits, he considered canceling the project.〔 In March 2011,〔 the nearby Québécois developer-publisher Trapdoor offered to help Polytron, having just signed a deal with Electronic Arts to publish their own game, ''Warp''. Trapdoor assisted with Polytron's finances and operations〔 and offered to treat them as part of their company and let them keep their intellectual property rights in exchange for a portion of ''Fez'' earnings. Fish felt that partnership rescued the game.〔 Fish is shown preparing for ''Fez'' March 2011 PAX East booth in the 2012 documentary film ''Indie Game: The Movie'', which chronicles the stories of several indie developers at various stages of their games' development cycles.〔 As a subplot, the film presents Fish amidst a legal dispute with a former business partner that jeopardizes the game's future.〔 The partner, believed to be Jason DeGroot, is portrayed negatively and does not participate onscreen.〔〔 The film's end credits were later corrected to reflect that Fish's business partner was not asked for input.〔 ''Game Informer'' called Fish the film's "most memorable developer",〔 and ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun'' wrote that Fish is portrayed as melodramatic, theatrical, and neurotic, in a way that exacerbates his outspoken public perception.〔 ''Eurogamer'' said that the part where Fish resolves to kill himself if he does not release his game is "the film's most startling moment".〔 ''Fez'' won the Audience Choice Award at the September 2011 Fantastic Arcade,〔 Best in Show and Best Story/World Design at the October 2011 Indiecade,〔 and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2012 GDC Independent Games Festival.〔 It was also a 2011 Penny Arcade Expo "PAX 10" selection.〔 ''Fez'' was displayed in its entirety in a secluded lounge room at the October 2011 GameCity festival in Nottingham, England. Fish considered the demo their most fruitful yet. Fish told a ''Gamasutra'' reporter that he had received positive feedback from Independent Games Festival Chairman Brandon Boyer and ''Braid'' designer Jonathan Blow. Near the end of development, Fish felt "burnt out" and that his personal health had suffered.〔 The final game included almost none of the original work from the first two years of development.〔 After several delays,〔 ''Fez'' was submitted for certification in February 2012.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Development of Fez」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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