| Vijay Lakshman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role(s) | Producer, Designer, Writer |
| Years active | 1989–present |
- "Winning my war was never about who was right. It's about who was left"
—General Valarius Galadine, Mythborn
Vijay "VJ" Lakshman is a video-game developer, fantasy novelist, and master martial artist. Vijay, Julian Lefay, and Ted Peterson were responsible for originating The Elder Scrolls series with the game Arena. According to Vijay, his original notes, maps, stories, and adventures set in the world of Tamriel filled up to five novels worth of world-building. Vijay himself is responsible for naming the series.
BiographyEdit
Vijay and Julian originally pitched Arena to the president of Bethesda as a colosseum sport action game set in an original fantasy setting called Tamriel. The root concept was lifted directly from a film called The Salute of the Jugger, an Australian production about a party of gladiators who venture around the world to compete in various arenas against rival teams. The character art for Jagar Tharn in Arena was modelled off of Vijay's face. Vijay participated in the Dungeons & Dragons homebrew campaign ran by Lefay during Daggerfall's development about the Camoran Usurper, playing the character of Vanus Galerion, who was later immortalized in Daggerfall lore books. Vijay decided to leave Bethesda during the development of Daggerfall in late 1994 to accept a position at Magnet Studios, passing the torch to designer Ted Peterson.
Vijay has since gone on to work other enterprise unrelated to video games. He has written his own fantasy series called Mythborn. And was part of Oncelost Games creating a spiritual successor to Daggerfall and Arena called The Wayward Realms.
ContributionsEdit
- The Elder Scrolls Chapter I: Arena — Director, Lead Designer, Executive Producer, Writer
- The Elder Scrolls Chapter II: Daggerfall — Additional Contributor
InterviewsEdit
- Nov 1993: Computer Games Strategy Plus - Issue #36
- Nov 1993: Gamebytes - An Interview With Vijay Lakshman (archive.org)
- Feb 1994: Arena Developer Q&A
- May 1994: PC Player May - Issue #6
- Jul 1994: Power Play Magazine
- Mar 2014: The Making of The Elder Scrolls Arena (archive.org)
- Aug 2014: A History of The Elder Scrolls
- Nov 2018: The First Podcast: Everyone is a Hero of Their Own Story (with Vijay Lakshman)
- Apr 2020: OnceLost Games LIVE AMA
- May 2022: Vijay Lakshman - Business Strategist, Venture Capitalist, and Gamification Genius