Calis Projects is an online game development label that was formed in 2004 by Stephen McVicker (online name: Neo-Dragon).

Here is the history of Calis Projects, and it’s founder.

Stephen (born in Dublin, Ireland on 6th of August 1987) always was interested in computer game development and was a student in Ballyfermot College studying Game Development but dropped out mid way through his second year due to problems with the course. He was awarded a FETEC Level 5 award in IT after graduation of his first year. During the summer of 2009, Stephen and 2 of his friends teamed up with graphics and web designer Jeff Dolan to form Shogun Games Studio, a game studio with the goal to design iPhone/iPod Touch Apps and games. Stephen was brought in as a programmer with this being his first experience learning Objective C (code base used for developing on MAC and iOS platforms). Shogun Games released 2 apps, iBabyGen and iSwipeit onto the app store.

“It was a real learning experience for me. I had just finished my first year in college and learned so much on how game development works. While I’m a programmer, I became fascinated with game development design and the principles behind designing a game. Shogun Games showed me what it was like to work with a team to achieve a goal in the field while also teaching me new programming languages and “how to” for setting up apps for the iOS platforms.” – Stephen

Meanwhile, as a hobbie from his teenage years, Stephen was a fan of developing Pokemon fan games- games developed in an engine based on a pokemon world. Stephen joined a forum called Pokecommunity where he posted Pokemon Silk in 2004.

Silk became a highly popular game and after releasing a demo, Stephen moved onto, arguably, the highest rated game of Pokemon fan games, Pokemon Silk2: TakeOver.

This was a game ahead of it’s time featuring a fully fledged reputation system, a “follow/caterpillar” system and the chance to be a good or bad guy. A demo was released with a possible 3 endings dpending on the choices you made throughout the demo. It was the first time in Pokemon fan games that a demo was released with features promised and fleshed out beyond what others were doing. Stephen became a force within the community after this release and was respected among his peers.

Stephen worked on a game that he called “my own take on the pokemon world” called Pokemon: Digital Network. It was like a futuristic approach to Pokemon with the battle UI and menu UI looking unque to the games.

The game had 2 versions, with Pokemon Digital Network Upgrade which had a demo that end up never being released as the game was passed onto another developer but work didn’t continue. It became apparent that the quality that set these games apart was features that were in the game, actually coded rather then talked about, that had a unique feel, such as Digital Network’s feature to fuse Pokemon together. The game also featured systems that would become a staple behind Stephen’s game such as the “simplistic approach to stats” using 3 base stats.

Calis Projects itself began to gain momentum as the games under Stephen’s development did. Stephen brought in 2 other people to help with his new game, Pokemon Protectors, a game that was set to be a spiritual sequel to Silk2:TakeOver.

Pokemon Protectors Concept Video

Justin (online name: Atomic Reactor) became a mapper for Protectors. Jason (online name: Martyr) became a forum moderator.

As Protectors grew, so did the need for Calis Projects to grow with new Staff members who were very talented coming and going. In April 2009, Stephen became a Moderator for the Game Development section of Pokecommunity.

“I sometimes think I used my power as a Mod there to get people to come to Calis and join the Staff. It sounds dirty as if I was abusing a system or something, but the fact was if you were asked to join Calis Projects staff, it ment I respected your work in your field. I think a little bit of respect goes a long way in the confidence and motivation in a staff member.” – Stephen.

Calis Projects is now currently comprised of Staff members from all around the world. All with the goal to help each other with their projects to produce the best work they can. We have staff from England, Germany, America, and Canada.

Some notable mentions on the Staff would be Martyr, for becoming the first staff member to raise the ranks from “forum mod” to “Calis Projects Music Lead”. Ivanna, for becoming the first female member on the team . Cilerba, the first Staff member to have a project showcased to the public under the label since the forum revamp and staff changes in 2010.

The forum is more popular then it’s games. The forum quickly became an area where general game development, artwork and other projects could be showcased to people to receive intelligent feedback and criticism.

Calis Projects is always growing in staff numbers, community size on the forums, and the diversity in projects that are coming in the near future.