Home » NEWS BOARD » Forum News » A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off (Shaun Lyng himself is auctioning off a unique hand-drawn Metavira map!)
 A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off[message #366702]
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Sun, 14 December 2025 02:33 
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 Shanga |
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Messages:3475
Registered:January 2000
Location: Danubia |
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Hi everyone, Shaun has sent us an exciting update regarding the auction. Details below:
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AUCTION UPDATE 2
I believe I am almost at the end. I lost everything JA related when our basement flooded about ten years ago. People can be reassured that in terms of development stuff this pretty much is it.
These 4 duo-tangs are the master profiles for the mercenaries and others. It shows all their starting stats and inventory as well as their hidden values. They are all more than 25 years old
1-contains all the PCs for JA
2-contains all the PCs for JA:DG
3-contains all the PCs for JA2
4-contains all the NPCs and RPCs for JA2
(Shaun Lyng)
Quote:
AUCTION UPDATE 1
Thanks to everyone who made a bid on the map. Since offering the sector map of Metavira, I found the “birth of Arulco” ; an 8.5 X 11” piece of graph paper upon which I drew a map of the country. On this document, I designated the name of the country and its towns, assigning each a specific function. From the picture you see that not everything I planned, went as planned. Minor things like the railroad became an ice cream truck.
Rather than auction these items off on a piecemeal basis, I am going to put everything together in an Ultimate JA collector’s package, which I will authenticate. It will include both maps and some other goodies that I’ll mention as discovered or when I am sure I can make it happen.
Check back here when you can for further updates. (Shaun Lyng)
If you're into collecting unique gaming artifacts, from JA's history in particular, this is for you. I've been recently contacted by Shaun Lyng's son, Brandon. He asked me to spread the word about them wanting to auction off a Metavira development map, all hand-drawn by Shaun himself.
I'll paste below Brandon's own e-mail and the picture he sent me so you can make your own mind. And yes, this is legit, the money will go to Shaun, I've checked. If you are seriously interested and have the means to help one of the most iconic game designers that ever was, please send your offer to Brandon (e-mail is brandonlyng@gmail.com). And spread the word, people should know about this.
Quote:
Hi everyone,
I’m posting because my father (Shaun Lyng) was part of the original Sir-Tech Canada team involved in the early development of the Jagged Alliance series. While helping him go through some old stored items, we came across a large hand-drawn prototype sector map from the early design of Jagged Alliance.
This map is the first and only non-digital representation of Metavira. Shaun designed it on white illustration board (44 × 28.5 inches) in early ’93 as the blueprint for the game. It served as the foundation for the sector layout, including Fallow Tree, the processing plants, quest locations, Santino’s HQ, the testing center, the lab, and the island’s early geographical features.
Now more than 32 years old, the piece shows natural aging but remains suitable for framing and preservation behind glass. In my view, it’s the ultimate Jagged Alliance artifact — a one-of-one origin piece from which the game world was built. No other hand-drawn maps were ever produced for JA or any of the sequels.
My father has been dealing with some health issues, and he’s decided it’s time for this piece of his early work to go to a collector who will genuinely appreciate its significance. He isn’t looking to rush a sale — this will only go to the right person and for the right price.
If you’re a serious collector or someone genuinely interested in owning this one-of-a-kind piece of Jagged Alliance history, feel free to reach out. This may be the only opportunity you’ll ever have to acquire an artifact like this. Shaun is also willing to sign the piece for the eventual buyer and would answer some game related questions.
Thank you again to everyone who commented, shared stories, and showed support. This community has been incredibly welcoming, and it means a lot to both of us. Please message me directly for serious inquiries.
Here's a close-up of the aforementioned map:
[Updated on: Fri, 06 February 2026 13:17] Report message to a moderator
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| Re: A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off[message #366714 is a reply to message #366702]
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Tue, 30 December 2025 05:36 
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| arulcolurker |
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Messages:1
Registered:December 2025 |
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Very cool map and thread!
The forum has a lot of lurkers who will probably miss this thread, so it might be worth stickying threads that mention the AMA in the title in some of the other subforums.
A few questions for the AMA:
1. The last commit on the v1.13 repository is from three days ago. At what point did you realise that the game might have this kind of longevity, and is there anything you would have done differently during development if you had expected people to still be playing it in 2025?
2. The characters you designed and their dialogue are a big part of the reason Metavira and Arulco are popular tourist destinations to this day. Many players have favourite moments (“I have opportunity to kill lying Mike!” is a line I still think about decades later). As the original games’ writer, is there any piece of storytelling you are particularly proud of?
3. Do you have any untold stories about some of the more eccentric fans and detractors who got in touch with Sirtech?
4. Are you familiar with any of the mods or post-Sirtech sequels? Do you think any of them embody the spirit of the originals?
5. With the success of JA3, it’s likely we will eventually have a JA4. Any advice to the designers?
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Civilian
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| Re: A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off[message #366749 is a reply to message #366714]
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Sun, 25 January 2026 21:16
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| ShaunLyng |
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Messages:5
Registered:January 2026 |
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Sorry for the delay, but that is the way things go these days:
1. The last commit on the v1.13 repository is from three days ago. At what point did you realise that the game might have this kind of longevity, and is there anything you would have done differently during development if you had expected people to still be playing it in 202
Replayability was a development priority in both JA and JA2 as standalone games, then the addition of the editors gave it even further longevity. There was never a moment when I believed it would still be played 30 years later. Quite the opposite, I believed the game had a limited lifespan simply because technology and formats were advancing so quickly that it would be obsolete and unplayable in the future. It made me sad at the time.
2. The characters you designed and their dialogue are a big part of the reason Metavira and Arulco are popular tourist destinations to this day. Many players have favorite moments (“I have opportunity to kill lying Mike!” is a line I still think about decades later). As the original games’ writer, is there any piece of storytelling you are particularly proud of?
I take pride in the fact that the story is different for every player and that it evolves based on the player’s choices and actions. My merc core was usually Ivan, Wolf, Rueban/Razor, and Shadow.
3. Do you have any untold stories about some of the more eccentric fans and detractors who got in touch with Sirtech?
It was a long time ago, but I do recall people writing in looking to correspond with certain mercs. It was like AIM was a dating app, before there were dating apps.
4. Are you familiar with any of the mods or post-Sirtech sequels? Do you think any of them embody the spirit of the originals?
At the time, I do remember checking out some of the early mods briefly, but to be honest I went to work on other games and writing projects. I also had 5 children to raise, which required a substantial amount of my time. That said, the amount of time, passion, and creativity fans poured into creating these mods was nothing short of extraordinary. This site, Bearpit, was an instrumental part of it.
. With the success of JA3, it’s likely we will eventually have a JA4. Any advice to the designers?
I have no knowledge as to the level of success of JA3 or whether there are plans for a JA4. If a development deal does materialize, I hope it involves rabid JA players, who understand its structure and the basis for its success. As well as an understanding of any fan defined shortcomings of JA3. Personally, I wish Ian and I were working on JA9 at this moment. Jagged provided us with a decade of fun and challenges, and some of my best memories.
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| Re: A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off[message #366750 is a reply to message #366749]
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Mon, 26 January 2026 02:29
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Hey there Shaun, big fan of your work. Hope you’re doing well. I’d also like to add a few questions to the AMA.
1-Did you take any inspiration when creating the settings for Metavira and Arulco and their antagonists (Santino and Deidranna)? If so, were they influenced by any real-world parallels or specific works (books and films)?
2-What are some cut concepts or ideas that didn’t make it into Jagged Alliance 2, such as characters, mechanics, laptop websites or other features?
3-When Jagged Alliance 2 launched, what did you think of the gaming scene at the time?
4-How was the process of making Unfinished Business and creating the country of Tracona?
5-Following up on the first question, I’ve always had a few questions about some of the mercenaries
-Mike’s AIM profile in the original Jagged Alliance links him to the JFK assassination and participation in the Gulf War. How accurate is this? Did he have any other notable feats?
-Gus Tarballs not only gives the player missions in Deadly Games, but in Jagged Alliance 2 he seems to be the only one who remembers the player from previous games, based on some of his dialogue. Was there any special treatment or reason for this?
Also, where does he get the nicknames like “Woody” or “Woodrow” for the player?
-Did you ever consider exploring social issues like racism, sexism, and other prejudices more deeply in the game (let’s say, make the alliance even more JAGGED than it is lol)? There are some dynamics that aim at this, like Cliff and Blood, Lynx with Buzz, and a few other examples.
-After spending time with some of the weaker MERC mercenaries, you eventually unlock Jim/Cougar, and he’s surprisingly different from the rest. Any thoughts on him?
7-Any interesting stories or decisions behind the weapons and items in the game? You had a role on what to include?
8-Knowing that newer players continue to find and enjoy Jagged Alliance, how does that make you feel about the game’s impact, and are there moments or details you hoped they’d appreciate?
9-Are you still in touch with the members of the original team?
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 Re: A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off[message #366762 is a reply to message #366750]
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Fri, 06 February 2026 17:07
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| ShaunLyng |
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Messages:5
Registered:January 2026 |
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1. The islands I tried to make sound like a place you might have heard of yet know you didn’t. The border of reality and fiction.
Santino = Satan. Disclosing the source of Deidranna could result in litigation, so I am going to pass.
2. Offhand, I can’t think of anything. The luxury of cutting things wasn’t something we enjoyed. Things were usually thought through in the concept stage then cut before too much time was put into them. I do remember we had a rule that if we couldn’t get it right, we didn’t do it no matter how much we thought it would be cool. Another rule was always go with funny.
3. What a lot of people might not realize is that JA helped break the genre classification system. Back in the day, games fit into a single category, either strategy, RPG, tactical, action, adventure, etc. Prior to JAs release Johnny Wilson, editor of Computer Gaming World, wrote an editorial seriously questioning the prospect of a game claiming to be more than one. He didn’t mention us by name, but we had just shown him an early version of the JA and he didn’t hold back his thoughts at the time. Shook us to our core! Since we were claiming it was an RPG, Strategy, and Tactical game.
I believe JA went to #4 on CGW’s top 100 the month it came out. Mr. Wilson wrote an editorial months later walking back his position on multi-genre games. Again, he did not mention us by name.
5. Mikes achievements are whatever I want them to be. Being a writer offers god-like abilities.
I wanted Gus Tarballs to come across as a drill sergeant type without the player disliking him since he was the main NPC. The woody and other wood-related names were friendly, yet slightly demeaning, offering Gus an air of superiority. Or so I felt!
JA2 had sexism, racism, nationalism, and other biases.
If I remember right, Cougar was a reward for making use of MERCs services.
7. In the original JA I had to come up with the items. Knowing nothing about guns and the like, I ordered tons of magazines and brochures about mercenary and guerilla warfare. It actually crossed my mind at the time that the police might knock on my door wondering what I was doing. Of course, I made up stuff too – Compound 17, etc… Fortunately, a programmer named Alex Meduna joined our team before the game released and put some math to my mess. In terms of weapons and how they behave in the JA world, Alex would be responsible. He was rewarded for his great work with a city named after him.
8. I am still in touch with Ian and Linda Currie. However, we live a great distance apart.
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| Re: A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off[message #366803 is a reply to message #366793]
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Tue, 21 April 2026 18:31
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| Kordanor |
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Messages:31
Registered:March 2008 |
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Oh, great to see Shaun here! Only found this thread afer an "accidental google search" for some Info about Shaun.
I also remember the health issues from the GoFund me Campaign some years ago. So I hope you are not in a position where you are forced to sell these "artifacts".
It would be great if these could also be scanned and archived for history! Personally I am also a collector myself, but not exactly a "high roller".
I also have a few questions which are more "meta", so I am not sure if you can say much about this.
1. Original Release Date.
You'd think that the release Date is clear. But while major pages like Wikipedia and Mobygames State that release is April 1995, distributors like GOG and Steam state that it's June 1994.
I know that the original version is actually floppy-based and the CD version was released afterwards. I am wondering if it's clear what the 1994 refers to. Since SirTech often had issues with publishing I am wondering whether maybe there was an original 1994 floppy version which stayed mostly hidden and was later "missed".
2. Speaking of Publishing: German Voice Overs
In Germany basically every JA game was published by different companies which also had to redo the Voice-Overs. One thing which might have lead to JAs success in Germany was that the German Voice Overs were excellent in a time when there weren't that many fully voiced game yet, and especially ones with such good quality. I would even argue that some voice overs are even better than the original English ones (no offense). You usually only see that if the developers have a very strong connection with the german recording studio (therefore usually German Developers). I am wondering how close the collaboration was, were the developers involved with that?
3. More about German publishing:
Jagged Alliance Deadly Games is a curious case, as the German Version actually has no story. The Campaign exists, but it's just missions with generic voice overs of Gus, who will also not join the player (just as if you made a custom campaign as player). The whole "Campaign Story" is only in text, but not mechanically. Since German gaming magazines only tested the US Version this was never mentioned. I am wondering if SirTech was even aware of that and if yes, what lead to this. Is this a bug or was it cut due to some issues? Interestingly Guido Henkel also worked on Deadly Games but the German publisher has not been his company Attic or the later Company Topware which published JA2 as well as Games by Attic. Frank Heukemes then also pops up for Localization in Topware who then also made it into JA2 as Barman. (Before he worked at a German Magazine where he tested JA DG). Maybe you can give any insights or interesting stories in that regard.
Lastly, I am wondering if there was any interest in doing an Audio Interview. Not with me. But with a German Podcast "Retrokompott" I have contact with (Interview would be in english ofc). They also have a museum and try to preserve Computer and Gaming History. Over the last 10 years they interviewed people lilke Al Lowe, "Burger Becky", John Cutter, Ken & Roberta Williams and most recently Bill Stealy.
No worries though, much more open and free form interview (not as "specific" and nerdy as my questions here), starting with first Contact with Computers and going through your career.
[Updated on: Tue, 21 April 2026 18:35] Report message to a moderator
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Private 1st Class
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| Re: A unique Jagged Alliance development artifact is about to be auctioned off[message #366811 is a reply to message #366804]
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Fri, 08 May 2026 21:51
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| ShaunLyng |
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Messages:5
Registered:January 2026 |
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Can I ask what possessed you to search for me?
Though I am not starving to death, having not been able to work for the past 22 years, I am hardly rich. Fortunately, I live in a country that provides free health care, so I’ve managed to survive past my expiry date. o.o
I’ll do my best to answer your questions, but some of this happened more than 30 years and my memory isn’t getting any better.
JA was published in April 95. Though it was originally developed as a disk game with text, once CD-ROM began a possibility, we switched gears. I’m not sure if we ever published a game on disks.
I do remember hearing the German version of JA and being happy with it. I am not offended if some of the voices were better. As for my involvement, I would have given them basic instructions for each character, helped translate expressions, and answered any questions they might have had.
If I remember right. It was difficult at the time to get “war” games published in Germany due to various laws and regulations. Jagged alliance managed to get approved so I imagine that might have helped with its popularity.
I can’t speak for Sir-Tech, but I didn’t know about any problems with the German version of Deadly games. Gus ran the show. He gave you missions against the DFK, then commented on your success or lack thereof. If you met certain criteria, Gus joined you for the final mission. All was voiced in the English version.
As a side note I can reveal what DFK stands for in case people didn’t know. While writing the missions, I had to create an enemy. I used DFK when nothing came to mind, as in Don’t Freaken Know or something close to that. I never thought of anything better, so it stayed.
Frank Heukemes was a rabid JA fan and a nice guy. I met him on a couple of occasions. Last time I had contact with him he was into his music and playing with a couple of bands. Maybe Frank would be better at remembering some of the specifics.
Another German and great guy, also a musician, but better known for his many other talents. First time I met Guido Henkel was in New York and, if I remember right, we ended up in the hotel jacuzzi fully clothed. Sometime thereafter, I directed and produced the voice recordings for Attic software’s english version of the Realms of Arkania trilogy. I believe I did some voice acting on the 3 of them as well. Perhaps he might remember more than me with regards to your question.
If you can give me an email address to contact you, we’ll see what I can do about an interview.
[Updated on: Tue, 12 May 2026 00:19] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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