Hey there, fellow gamers and blog readers! Grab your favorite snack and get comfortable because today we are talking about a pretty wild ride in the gaming world. If you have ever dreamed of jumping out of your living room sofa and right onto the digital screen, you are going to love this story. Imagine being a lifelong gamer—we are talking about half a century of pressing buttons, exploring virtual worlds, and losing countless hours to high scores—and then, suddenly, *you* are the person on the screen. Sounds like a dream, right? Well, for one lucky and talented guy, that dream actually turned into reality.
It all started about sixteen months ago with a rather unusual introduction. Picture this: you are going about your day, and someone walks up to you and says, “I listen to you on the radio and I keep hearing your voice in my head!” Not your average icebreaker, I know! This quirky greeting came from a developer named Greg Strangis. He reached out because he wanted to collaborate on a passion project he was cooking up in his garage, out in the middle of nowhere. The game is called *Black Tides Draga’s Wake*, and let me tell you, the journey to get there is quite the tale.
Now, if heading out to a remote garage to meet a game developer sounds a bit shady, our protagonist reminds us that life has a funny way of repeating itself. Back when he was twenty-one years old, a rather posh fellow invited him to a random church in the East End of London to talk saucy in front of a few other well-to-do gents. That weird little encounter turned out to be his big audition for the classic show *GamesMaster*. So, heading off to a garage didn’t seem quite so terrifying after all!
Let’s talk about Greg for a second, because he sounds like an absolute character. He sports a giant yet impeccably groomed beard, rocks one of those stylish Peaky Blinders caps, and has eyes that flash with intense creativity. He talks faster than the average human being—basically, he’s a hipster Rasputin. But beyond the cool look, Greg has some serious chops. He is a character artist who has previously lent his talents to industry heavyweights like Rockstar, Naughty Dog, and even Guillermo del Toro. For any gaming fan, that résumé hits all the right genius notes.
When our narrator finally got to lay eyes on the actual game, he was blown away. *Black Tides Draga’s Wake* is described as gorgeously dark and twisted. It is a survival horror title set against the backdrop of a decaying 1900s steamship following a heist gone completely wrong. The main character, Draga, is a tough-as-nails sailor with a murky past who ends up infected by an ancient god growing deep inside him. It sounds thrilling, wildly original, and genuinely terrifying. And Greg wanted our radio-guy-turned-actor to star as the lead.
There was just one tiny issue: our narrator is nothing like a hardened, monster-slashing sailor. He is not big, he is definitely not tough as nails, and the only ancient god he has ever been infected with is a nasty case of gout (which, as he points out, brings a truly biblical level of pain). He did study drama back in the early nineties at the University of Bristol, but university acting back then wasn’t about high-kicking in musicals or mastering complex Shakespearean monologues. Instead, it was mostly about dissecting obscure Russian plays where potatoes served as a heavy metaphor for gender politics, written by some guy who once gave Maxim Gorky a lift.
Naturally, stepping into a professional voice booth for a dark survival horror game came with a learning curve. When he first heard his own voice playing out through the badass digital hero smashing terrifying monsters, he wasn’t a fan. His normal tones sounded a bit too tinny coming out of such a massive, terrifying character. So, what did he do? He lowered his voice just a fraction and stopped trying quite so hard to “act.” Guess what? It totally worked! Having a supportive director like Greg also helped keep the nerves at bay and made the whole process feel welcoming and encouraging.
Working on the project gave him a fascinating look into the indie development scene. The team behind the game is scattered across different corners of the globe, chipping away at the project in their spare time. Checking out their message threads filled with wild ideas, concept art, and animations reminded him of the classic bedroom programming culture of the ZX Spectrum era. It’s an inspiring reminder of what can happen when people are fueled by an unshakeable belief in a creative idea and a pure passion for gaming—especially in a day and age when massive publishing giants seem to be closing down studios left and right.
Of course, the pressure was on. He certainly didn’t want to be the weak link in the chain or deliver a performance that might pull a prospective publisher right out of the gaming experience. Part of the fun—and the challenge—was learning how to manipulate his voice and handling the most exhausting part of the job: improvising epic fight noises. Greg and the team needed battle grunts and action sounds that they could drop in whenever and wherever necessary. The final result in the game sounds completely natural and intense, but the reality behind the scenes? It involved a fifty-something Scottish dad standing in a rural Nova Scotia garage, making wild noises he hasn’t made since his honeymoon, while another guy kept telling him to sound much more aggressive!
Playing the finished product brings on a whole new set of emotions. It’s described as unbearably weird. Seeing your virtual avatar die on screen feels genuinely distressing because, well, it’s *you*. Watching other people play the game leads to some deep, existential thoughts about the lack of free will experienced by video game characters everywhere.
Despite the existential dread, there is a massive silver lining. One of the absolute highlights of the entire journey was showing video clips to his kids without giving away the big secret. Watching their faces light up with huge grins as they suddenly recognized their grumpy old Scottish dad starring as a survival horror action hero easily ranks as one of his greatest moments as a parent.
This whole adventure has also given him a newfound appreciation for the art of voice acting in video games. Growing up, he admits that great voice acting often flew right under his radar because the performances were so immersive that it simply felt like the characters were talking naturally. Now, he holds a deep respect for industry-defining performances like Nolan North bringing Nathan Drake to life, Ashley Johnson’s incredible work in *The Last of Us*, and every single actor pouring their talent into titles like *Expedition 33*.
The story is getting some serious traction, too. The announcement trailer for *Black Tides Draga’s Wake* dropped just a month ago and pulled in an impressive 200,000 views within its first couple of days online. Right now, Greg is deep in discussions with various publishers to bring the project to a wider audience. As for our lifelong gamer? After spending fifty years exploring virtual worlds crafted by other people, he still has to pinch himself knowing that he is finally, officially, going to be inside one.
What an incredible milestone, right? It just goes to show that you never really know where your passions might take you, even if it starts with a strange man in a garage asking you to make weird monster noises. Until next time, keep gaming, stay awesome, and who knows—maybe your own digital adventure is just around the corner!
source: theguardian.com (www.theguardian.com)
Photo by Studio_Iris on Pixabay