“Tigran the Great” Historic Strategy game to be created

Interview of the author of the idea and the head of the project Tigran Sargsian to Itel.am portal

- How was this idea born and at which stage is the game production now?

- Being a 14-year-old schoolboy and studying in Russia, I once realized that many of my Russian classmates knew nothing particular about Armenia. It was annoying for me that people practically know nothing about my country beyond its borders, despite the fact that it is as ancient as the Roman Empire and deserves to be known in the entire world.

Since then I started thinking about possible ways to make Armenian history popular. Since I am a math teacher by education, the idea developed by in the corresponding framework: it is oriented for the young generation and my science is used in it.

As a result, I decided to create a computer historic strategy game about Armenia, titled “Tigran the Great”. The period, when Tigran the Great ruled, represents a most interesting scenario for such a game, in which political unions, wars, victories, defeats, building of new towns and fortresses, and, in the end, conclusion of a peace agreement with Rome, under which Armenia preserves its historic territory, but loses all other possessions…

I am sure that this project will improve international authority of Armenia and will bring significant profit. At the moment, I am working on composing the detailed business plan of the project. I enroll a group of enthusiasts, who are ready to help me at various stages of work. Ten people have already gathered. There is a historian, an economist, a lawyer, an artists and a 3D modeling specialist among them. 

The interim models of the game heroes are already ready, the entire historic information is collected, and the approximate scenario is composed. I have also studied technologies for producing such games, launched a few internet forums (for instance, www.tigranthegreat.mybb.ru, http://blog.ararat-center.org/?p=70#comment-634, http://www.akumb.am/blog.php?b=69) for people, who are informed in the given sphere, to be able to share their ideas concerning the game or join my team of developers.

Another forum about the game will be opened at the website of the Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia - www.armeniadiaspora.am. 

One of the most important tasks for me at the initial stage is thorough analysis of the strategic games, which have occupied their deserved places in the world market, in order to make our game competitive in the Armenian and world markets.

- Have you registered the company, which will deal with all issues, related to the game? Do you face problems concerning copyright?

- I plan to register the enterprise after I recruit the entire technical team. Concerning copyright, it is impossible to protect one’s right for a certain idea by law, however one can deposit the business plan of the project in “Armauthor” NGO for copyright protection, and I have done that.

- Have you turned to the Armenian government, other interested structures for cooperation?

- I have already presented the project to representatives of the Ministries of Economy, Diaspora, the Armenian 3D Modeler Association, “Enterprise Incubator Foundation”.

I also plan to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Science and Education and Culture, as well as to try to attract investments from IT companies in Armenia.

- What is the volume of investments needed for realization of the project and what financial return do to expect to have?

- The entire realization of the project, according to our calculations, costs about 3mln euro, the return is expected at the level of about 10mln euro.

- Is the scenario of the game ready?

- The scenario is ready, but I would not like to disclose it for obvious reasons. I will only say that the game will start with the collapse of the Tower of Babel and the foundation of a settlement in the Armenian plateau by the forefather of Armenians.

Special attention will be paid to the military campaigns of Tigran the Great.

- When may we expect the release of the game?

- The first issue of the game is planned for 2011, and it will be sent for sale the same year we think. Simultaneously we will start working on the next issues of the game, which will reflect the following historic epochs: adoption of Christianity, division of Armenia between the Byzantine Empire and Persia, creation of written language, Avarayr Battle, Arabic Invasion, etc. As a result, a game anthology of the history of the Armenian people will be created.