Lyris Lite :: That back cover art looks familiar...oh yeah, that's because I designed it

I was browsing a blog called the Dreamcast Junkyard lately, where a contributor to the site posted about having received a pseudo-professionally printed copy of a leaked Dreamcast game that was never officially released: Half-Life.

Back in 2003, my online buddy Mike - who owns every single Dreamcast game ever released in Europe (sometimes in several variations) asked if I could mock up a back cover for the copy of the game he owned. So, I set to work and we came up with a back cover design that'd make his copy feel a little more professional.

Now, years on, I find a post on The Dreamcast Junkyard site contains a link to a Yahoo photo gallery that shows pictures of various unreleased games that have been mocked-up to look official. One of the examples of a Half-Life cover features back cover art that I designed.

I'm in two minds about this. First of all, Half-Life for Dreamcast isn't legally available as it was never officially released. This is why I don't offer up this back cover to download any more, and haven't since 2005, so I suppose in a sense this is cover art that I've "disowned". (It goes without saying that these people would have bought the game had it been officially available, though). And I think it's neat that someone's liked my attempt at "creating something that never was", enough to print it to such a high standard and actually use it. It's the selling part that makes me a little uneasy, I guess. All the same, I think it's really cool that Dreamcast fans are going to these extents to celebrate the system - I just hope the guy printing this stuff isn't taking all the credit, either.

Hi, I write at the Dreamcast Junkyard and must say I don't agree with paying for unreleased pirate games, no matter how slickly done. As for wherever your getting credited by the guy selling these for that box art, I wish I could say knew but I doubt it. =Y

Hey, thanks for commenting! It's no big deal, I was just amazed to actually see it!

its a lovely design whatever the weather

Hi all
I'm afraid I'm guilty of using the above half-life cover! I didnt take creadit for it though as a guy in the states found the covers on the net and asked me to use them to make a mock up for him. Sorry if you thought your work was being taken in vain! I thank you as efforts like yours started my interest in designing covers.
GREAT WORK!

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