Paul Tozour

Paul Tozour is an American software engineer. Tozour worked at Retro Studios as a Senior Engineer from 2003-2008, on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, as well as two unannounced projects, AdeptDidYouKnowGaming. "8 Cancelled Nintendo Games from Retro Studios (New Discoveries)" YouTube. November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i7P9nbOTvA and Project X.Kiwi Talkz. "#138 - Paul Tozour Interview (Metroid Prime 2 & 3, Boss Design, A.I., Leadership, Four Swords etc.)". YouTube. June 25, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
Tozour was interviewed by Kiwi Talkz in 2022 about his work on the Metroid Prime series.
==Early career==
Tozour's career began at Brøderbund Software in 1994, where he was the lead designer and engineer for WarBreeds, and a programmer on In the 1st Degree. He then worked at Gas Powered Games (later Wargaming Seattle), Microsoft (as a Combat AI Developer for MechWarrior 4: Vengeance, and designer of two missions) and an AI developer at Ion Storm on Deus Ex: Invisible War.
==Metroid Prime series==
Tozour joined Retro Studios shortly after the release of the original Metroid Prime.GameDevsLikeYou. "GameDevsLikeYou Interview With Paul Tozour". Game Developer. June 29, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2022. He created the artificial intelligence for several bosses in Echoes and Corruption, including the Chykka Larva, all of Dark Samus's battles in both games, the Defense Drone, Grapple Guardian, Helios, the Korakk Beast and "Beast Rider" (Pirate Hussar), Meta Ridley and Rundas. He used a navigation-mesh-cost-based avoidance system designed by Jeff Orkin of Monolith Productions on several creatures in Echoes;Tozour, Paul. "September 1, 2005". Game/AI. Archived from the original on June 7, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2022. these included the Grenchler, Lumite, Sandigger and Dark Alpha Splinter. During his time at Retro, Tozour contributed to Game/AI, an AI-related blog.
Shortly after development of Corruption concluded, Tozour wrote a pitch for a strategy game in the Metroid series called Metroid Tactics. He revealed its existence in a late 2022 DidYouKnowGaming? interview.
Tozour and Rhys Lewis worked on Project X, a prototype of a game in The Legend of Zelda seriesDidYouKnowGaming? "Retro Studios' 2 Cancelled Zelda Games (Exclusive)" YouTube. September 3, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzlROEEMvBs, after Corruption. Tozour felt that the ideas in the game's design document did not work well together, and his repeated warnings about this to Mark Pacini were ignored. He later suggested that this was due to Pacini's imminent departure to form Armature Studio. The project was eventually cancelled, something Tozour was relieved by. Tozour also created a prototype for Adept, a Portal-like game that was rejected by Nintendo.DidYouKnowGaming. "8 Cancelled Nintendo Games from Retro Studios (New Discoveries)" YouTube. November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i7P9nbOTvA
==Subsequent career==
Tozour left Retro Studios and the video game industry in June 2008, about two weeks into commencement of development on Donkey Kong Country Returns. He joined the Intel Corporation as a Development Lead for six months. After two years as the Director of Development at Intelligence Engine Design Systems, LLC, he founded Mothership Entertainment in 2013 and currently serves as General Manager.
In 2021, Tozour announced that he was publishing a book, The Four Swords: A Parable of Leadership, Video Games, and Dead Dragons, currently scheduled for release in late 2022. It will also be released in audiobook form, with casting roles and the recording causing a delay from its planned release in 2021. He launched an Indiegogo campaign to finance the book that year, but the campaign did not meet its goal.https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-four-swords--3
==External links==
*Archived personal website
*Archived portfolio
*Helios interview (no longer available)
:*"In this interview, Paul Tozour discusses his work on the AI of Metroid Prime 3, most notably the boss called Helios. He discusses the swarms in the game as the inspiration for Helios, and the various stages of the prototype. Paul also discusses the various levels of intelligence that goes into this multi-agent system, including the various forms of Helios: creature, shapes, swarm, multiple swarms, and particles system. You'll also learn about the various obstacles encountered, such as performance in collision or avoidance, and how they were resolved in practice."
*Interview with Kiwi Talkz
*Tozour on LinkedIn
*Tozour on MobyGames
*Tozour on Gamasutra
*Tozour on YouTube
*The Four Swords on Twitter
*Game Outcomes on Twitter
===Blog posts===
*... And a big old 'Howdy' from the Lone Star State
*Useful Middleware
*September 1, 2005
*Presentation Details
==References==
Category:Retro Studios employees
Category:Paul Tozour