Michael Pondsmith

Michael Elin Pondsmith was born into a military family. His father is a psychologist and air force officer ^[4] who traveled around the world with air forces in the first 18 years of Mike's life ^[5] . Michael graduated from the University of California , Davis , with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and a Bachelor of Science in Behavior ^{[3] [6]} . According to Pondsmith, he created games as a child, and at college he became acquainted with the concept of role-playing games with a pen and paper thanks to his friend, who got a copy of D & D. Having behind him a huge experience in naval war games, he became interested in gameplay mechanics used in D & D , but not in her fantasy world ^{[7] [8]} . Later, however, he became very interested in the science fiction game Traveler , released in 1977 by . Disillusioned with the mechanics used there, Pondsmith rewrites it under the name Imperial Star for personal use ^[9] . In the future, Pondsmith will call Traveler the best role-playing game from the Hobby Games: The 100 Best list by ^{[10] [11]} .

Before starting to create role-playing games with pen and paper, Pondsmith worked in the computer games industry as a graphic designer. His first job after college was to create packaging designs and promotional materials for the now-closed (CPCC), while focusing on the distribution of Japanese games in the western market. He further worked as a designer for the games of , as well as for the early games of the Ultima series developed by Richard Garriott , all of which were published by CPCC ^[7] . After that, Pondsmith left CPCC due to problems within the company, and began working at the printing house of the University of California at Santa Cruz ^[6] .

According to Pondsmith, in the early 80s there was practically nothing to do in the field of computer games due to the limitations of available technologies. Most of the games published by CPCC were developed for Apple II computers. Being a board game player with a pen and paper, he became interested in creating such games. Thanks to his work in the printing house, he had access to modern computers with advanced software used for the layout of books and magazines. Because of this, he developed the fur- game , based on Japanese manga books, which he had previously stumbled upon. Due to his interest in role-playing board games, he stopped his career in graphic design and focused on game design (although he created the design and layout of most R. Talsorian Games books) ^{[7] [12]} .

Role-playing games

The first game developed by Mike, , was released in 1984. Pondsmith admits that the game was most influenced by the Mobile Suit Gundam manga, written in Japanese. Mike did not understand the text, and therefore inaccurately reproduced the world of manga, relying solely on the graphic component of the comics ^[7] . In its original form, Mekton focused on combat mechanics and did not contain any role elements; it was created as a pure tactical combat game ^[13] . Mekton's success convinced Pondsmith that he could make a living with game design, and he founded the company in 1985 ^[6] . In 1986, Mekton was reissued as a full-fledged role-playing game, Pondsmith and Mike Jones were mentioned as authors ^[14] . In 1987, RTG published another Poundsmith game inspired by the Japanese manga, ^[6] . In 1987, Pondsmith released Mekton II , containing the mechanics of the role-playing system , later used in games of the Cyberpunk series with minor modifications ^[15] . In 1989, Teenagers from Outer Space was reprinted with significant changes to the mechanic. Games like Cyberpunk (hereinafter Cyberpunk 2020 ) and Cyberpunk V3 have been translated into 9 languages. This was followed by the games (1992), (1993) and (1994).

Interlock and Fuzion Systems

In addition to working in RTG, Pondsmith participated in the development of the . His job was mainly to help edit books like Alliances for Champions: New Millennium . Here he became acquainted with the developed by Hero Games, which he later decided to combine with the used in most RTG games at that time. As a result, the Fuzion system was born, which was used in further RTG games, including the third edition of the Cyberpunk game. In the preface to the third edition of Cyberpunk, Pondsmith described these changes as necessary to streamline the game and attract new players, but they received mixed ratings ^{[16] [17]} . Fuzion’s rights are held by Pondsmith, as well as by and from Hero Games ^[6] .

Maximum Mike

Mike Pondsmith uses his alter ego Maximum Mike in a variety of Cyberpunk books. Unlike other reusable characters, Maximum Mike often breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader ^[18] .

On May 30, 2012, it was confirmed that Mike Pondsmit with CD Projekt RED was working on a computer game unfolding in the Cyberpunk universe ^{[19] [20] [21]} . On October 18, 2012, the name of the project was revealed - Cyberpunk 2077 ^{[22] [23]} . Immediately after that, Brian Cretsen from Polygon magazine discovered that Pondsmith is also working on a new version of the board game, which should develop the genre ^{[24] [25] [26]} . In an interview with GameSpot, Marcin Ivinsky, the founder of CD Projekt, explained that Pondsmith’s participation in game development is mainly expressed in aspects of the game world and game mechanics, but does not occur on a daily basis due to the distance between the parties ^[27] . Computer game developers, Mike Pondsmith and other game designers RTG are involved in filling cyberpunk.net, the newly created Internet blog ^{[27] [28] [29] [30]} .

Poundsmith has a wife, Lisa, and a son, Cody, who also work in RTG. Although Mike and Lisa had met before, their relationship began around 1977, when they both went to college. They were married in February 1982. Lisa is the general manager of RTG and is listed as the author of many games, the most significant of which is The Memoirs of Auberon of Faerie for Castle Falkenstein (with Jeff Grubb ). Cody is listed as a member of the production team in Flashpak for Cyberpunk V3.0 . He also participated in promotion and public relations about the steampunk game RTG, Castle Falkenstein ^[31] .

• The official website of R. Talsorian
• Mike Pondsmith at
• Mike Pondsmith at MobyGames