John Starduck- The Game -

Here's a first look (teaser) at one of my passion projects. John Starduck is a character who has been with me for a long time, now. His story draws on everything I've always wanted to explore narratively. It's also interwoven with all my personal longings and preferences for adventure, science fiction, space travel, rocket ships, crazy creatures, and unexplored worlds, triggered by my lifelong fascination with Jules Verne's novels and – at the same time – the futurism of the 1960s and 1970s. For me, it's important to emphasize that John Starduck's world doesn't follow the "usual" paths of heroic stories, threats, and their combat, but, despite all the fantastic abundance of danger and catastrophes in his world, also makes room for the everyday. By this, I mean that the characters are beings, are people who don't just wrestle for victory and with danger.

Be that as it may, today is the day I can announce the start of production for the first time. There's probably still a long way to go until release, but at this moment, prototypes are already being diligently developed. I sincerely thank my Dutch producer/showrunner and his crew of incredibly talented developers and animation artists for their energy and enthusiasm. The duck is in the best hands.

«It is a monster, my rocket ship. It is not dead metal; it has a life of its own.»*

The Purple Monster - John Starduck's rocket ship. A significant factor in John Starduck's world is his rocket ship, which serves as the main catalyst for his journeys into the depths of space. For John, his ship is more than just dead metal. John talks to his ship as if it could hear him.
*John Starduck, freely adapted from Guenter Wendt's quote.

Right, one more thing about John Starduck's ride. I based – figuratively, not literally – the shape of the spaceship on a creature. The vessel itself isn't alive; it just feels that way to John Starduck. «The Purple Monster» rocket ship blends the following elements: first, an actual dragon-like shark-ish creature, and second, the design language of retro sci-fi blaster or phaser as imagined in the 1950s and 1960s. Mixed with a whole lot of André Franquin flavor. At least there is an attempt there.