Black Game Developers
- Thread starter Responsible Allen Iverson
- Start date
get him started on that coding life, even if he never ends up developing he will be in high demand.
Terrence Hicks – Freelance Digital Artist | We Are Game Devs
Terrence Hicks – Freelance Digital Artist
By We Are Game Devs. Published on March 8, 2016. 0
“I’m the constant in the creative storm.”
Terrence, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat.
“Thanks for having me.”
What is your job title?
“At the moment, I’m a freelance digital artist.”
What are some of the game titles you’ve worked on throughout your career? What companies have you worked for?
“I have worked with big and small companies Sony, EA, Redacted, and Doppleganger to name a few across multiple platforms. I was part of a great team such as the Tiger Team at EA. and worked on other games such as Jonny Moseley, Lord of the Rings, Vside, Tiger Woods PGA, The Godfather: The Game, just to name a few, as well as stinker Afro Samurai 2 on mobile, consoles, and web.”
We all have a stinker or two in our portfolios.
“Amen to that.”
I didn’t know you worked on Jonny Moseley Mad Trix. I started on that project. I think the only thing left that I designed were the character names. Maybe the core of a backstory or two.
“Yeah, that’s where we we met, at 3DO back in the day. Fun times.”
So, what does a freelance artist do? Can you describe your typical workday?
“Well it’s like being a lead artist in house, but you only interface with and Art Director or Creative Director. I’m still doing game but for profit and on my time.”
“So I build everything at time from soup to nuts, concept, layout, lighting, props, environments and characters and if a client gets in a pinch I do some low level coding.”
“At the moment I’m working with two clients in the mobile game space and the other in the VR space.”
“I have work in the Smithsonian Museum for VR for a project I helped out on while at Multigen, The USS Iron Side.”
Freelance is different than being in house and on the development team. What would you say are pros and cons to being freelance?
“Ah. The difference that I notice is the time that you put into things. Deadlines and the chances to get it right is very close when freelancing. There are very short ramp up times to know the team you maybe working with pipeline. And sometime they don’t have one and you’re making It up as you go.”
I see, you are called in to do it quick and within a particular budget.
“Yes, at times, or if i’ve worked with them before, I have an asking price for the job load or more so duties.”
Well, let’s go back in your history.
“Sure.”
Where did you grow up?
“I’m a bay area native, south bay! Los Altos to San Jose.”
How did you become a digital artist? Did you go to school?
“I grew up drawing, but in the early 80’s when I was kid I was big into ThunderCats, Macross and Transformers…. you know the good stuff. [Laughs]”
“So I start to draw and draw and landed a few rag tag comic books, so top Cow type of stuff. Then went to Masters Institute tech and SJU to learn all that I could. At that time, there wasn’t much.”
You were a comic book artist? Any specific books are was it short side trip into comics?
“Yeah, one off’s, one of my buddies’ own October black press.”
So, the Masters Institute and San Jose State taught you the digital arts?
“Yes and no, State was more for the brick and mortars drawing, networking, underground programing. Masters was more a introduction to the computer graphic world. So I didn’t get much out of that place other than more networking and how to find user groups. To where I could go and train with working professionals. I met a lot of great people from all over the industry that way.”
“I learn all my heavy graphics on the job or at home.”
How did these connections translate into your first game development job?
“A, I was out of school, my first GDC’s I showed my work to a company called Multigen based out of San Jose. They liked my stuff and asked if I would like a contract to do some QA Eng for the 3D Software. That led me to more projects on that team to where I was being flown overseas to demo their product, as well as Demo God for GDC and E3 and the like for the time.”
“The flagship game product was San Francisco Rush for Atari, so, from time to time I got to help out. So, that gave me the thirst to keep at it, I wanted to go straight into films. That is where I thought I wanted to be; It is all history from there.”
You’ve focused on character art in the past, correct? But it seems like you are skilled in many other aspects of art creation.
“Like many gigs, sometimes you got to get what you can take. That in the end makes you a stronger, more well rounded team asset, not just artist. Yes, I’ve worked on and currently work on characters, environments, and props. I’ve had the blessing to have had been everything from a texture artist to an art director on a few projects, across a wide spectrum of platforms and media. As well as just meeting some of the coolest and interesting people you would want to meet.”
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“I have work in the Smithsonian Museum for VR for a project I helped out on while at Multigen, The USS Iron Side.”
That’s amazing! It is a part of history.
“Yeah, that’s what still tickles me, even today.”
“Just enjoy what you do and learn everything that you can, things and tech changes so fast.”
What is the one thing that got cut during production that you wish you could have saved?
“Design on this last Afro Project, so, in a nutshell, Redacted Studios was a very small group. We had to cut back on design staff because of funding. The loss of design made the game suffer immensely.”
As a designer, I understand what impact we can have on a project. It’s the loss of a dedicated set of eyes to ensure the fun is not lost during the development of the game.
“The fun factor wasn’t there, no art in the world can save that and then art gets cut and pushed and pulled to make up for the lack game.”
What are your favorite/most used development tools or plugins?
“I use Maya and Zbrush on a day to day basis, for play and work.”
What is the one game that influenced you the most?
“Metroid, I loved that game growing up, just the replay factor, you know? I beat it maybe about a handful of times, but a lot of great dying along the way.”
Tech is constantly changing in our industry. What upcoming trends or tech interest you the most?
“I’m glad you asked that, as a creative person here in the SF bay area and around the world, VR and the like is making its comeback. My first real gig at Multigen was and still is a VR company. Google, Samsung,Sony, Verizon just to name a few are Jumping into the market. For the ‘Game artist’ is it’s a windfall at times. They need what we have, 3D knowledge and how to deliver it properly. Using everything we have been doing for years and baking it down into wearables, AKA, 3D industrial designer. As well at 3D UI UX. There are so many new application uses and so many areas that have come from game to everyday use. It’s going to be a very exciting year.”
How do you like to spend your free time?
“Music and my family when I do have free time. I listen to just about anything as long as it feels good.”
Do you play an instrument?
“When I was younger I played the sax and the trombone. It was something to do and my dad always wanted a boy band [Laughs].”
What advice would you give to someone pursuing your career?
“Just enjoy what you do and learn everything that you can, things and tech changes so fast.”
If people wanted to reach you, how can they find you? Twitter? Email?
“I don’t chirp, TerrenceJHicks@yahoo.com”
If you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what would you say? What is your tagline?
“I’m the constant in the creative storm.”
Thanks for your time!
Terrence Hicks – Freelance Digital Artist
By We Are Game Devs. Published on March 8, 2016. 0
“I’m the constant in the creative storm.”
Terrence, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat.
“Thanks for having me.”
What is your job title?
“At the moment, I’m a freelance digital artist.”
What are some of the game titles you’ve worked on throughout your career? What companies have you worked for?
“I have worked with big and small companies Sony, EA, Redacted, and Doppleganger to name a few across multiple platforms. I was part of a great team such as the Tiger Team at EA. and worked on other games such as Jonny Moseley, Lord of the Rings, Vside, Tiger Woods PGA, The Godfather: The Game, just to name a few, as well as stinker Afro Samurai 2 on mobile, consoles, and web.”
We all have a stinker or two in our portfolios.
“Amen to that.”
I didn’t know you worked on Jonny Moseley Mad Trix. I started on that project. I think the only thing left that I designed were the character names. Maybe the core of a backstory or two.
“Yeah, that’s where we we met, at 3DO back in the day. Fun times.”
So, what does a freelance artist do? Can you describe your typical workday?
“Well it’s like being a lead artist in house, but you only interface with and Art Director or Creative Director. I’m still doing game but for profit and on my time.”
“So I build everything at time from soup to nuts, concept, layout, lighting, props, environments and characters and if a client gets in a pinch I do some low level coding.”
“At the moment I’m working with two clients in the mobile game space and the other in the VR space.”
“I have work in the Smithsonian Museum for VR for a project I helped out on while at Multigen, The USS Iron Side.”
Freelance is different than being in house and on the development team. What would you say are pros and cons to being freelance?
“Ah. The difference that I notice is the time that you put into things. Deadlines and the chances to get it right is very close when freelancing. There are very short ramp up times to know the team you maybe working with pipeline. And sometime they don’t have one and you’re making It up as you go.”
I see, you are called in to do it quick and within a particular budget.
“Yes, at times, or if i’ve worked with them before, I have an asking price for the job load or more so duties.”
Well, let’s go back in your history. “Sure.”
Where did you grow up?
“I’m a bay area native, south bay! Los Altos to San Jose.”
How did you become a digital artist? Did you go to school?
“I grew up drawing, but in the early 80’s when I was kid I was big into ThunderCats, Macross and Transformers…. you know the good stuff. [Laughs]”
“So I start to draw and draw and landed a few rag tag comic books, so top Cow type of stuff. Then went to Masters Institute tech and SJU to learn all that I could. At that time, there wasn’t much.”
You were a comic book artist? Any specific books are was it short side trip into comics?
“Yeah, one off’s, one of my buddies’ own October black press.”
So, the Masters Institute and San Jose State taught you the digital arts?
“Yes and no, State was more for the brick and mortars drawing, networking, underground programing. Masters was more a introduction to the computer graphic world. So I didn’t get much out of that place other than more networking and how to find user groups. To where I could go and train with working professionals. I met a lot of great people from all over the industry that way.”
“I learn all my heavy graphics on the job or at home.”
How did these connections translate into your first game development job?
“A, I was out of school, my first GDC’s I showed my work to a company called Multigen based out of San Jose. They liked my stuff and asked if I would like a contract to do some QA Eng for the 3D Software. That led me to more projects on that team to where I was being flown overseas to demo their product, as well as Demo God for GDC and E3 and the like for the time.”
“The flagship game product was San Francisco Rush for Atari, so, from time to time I got to help out. So, that gave me the thirst to keep at it, I wanted to go straight into films. That is where I thought I wanted to be; It is all history from there.”
You’ve focused on character art in the past, correct? But it seems like you are skilled in many other aspects of art creation.
“Like many gigs, sometimes you got to get what you can take. That in the end makes you a stronger, more well rounded team asset, not just artist. Yes, I’ve worked on and currently work on characters, environments, and props. I’ve had the blessing to have had been everything from a texture artist to an art director on a few projects, across a wide spectrum of platforms and media. As well as just meeting some of the coolest and interesting people you would want to meet.”
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“I have work in the Smithsonian Museum for VR for a project I helped out on while at Multigen, The USS Iron Side.”
That’s amazing! It is a part of history.
“Yeah, that’s what still tickles me, even today.”
“Just enjoy what you do and learn everything that you can, things and tech changes so fast.”
What is the one thing that got cut during production that you wish you could have saved?
“Design on this last Afro Project, so, in a nutshell, Redacted Studios was a very small group. We had to cut back on design staff because of funding. The loss of design made the game suffer immensely.”
As a designer, I understand what impact we can have on a project. It’s the loss of a dedicated set of eyes to ensure the fun is not lost during the development of the game.
“The fun factor wasn’t there, no art in the world can save that and then art gets cut and pushed and pulled to make up for the lack game.”
What are your favorite/most used development tools or plugins?
“I use Maya and Zbrush on a day to day basis, for play and work.”
What is the one game that influenced you the most?
“Metroid, I loved that game growing up, just the replay factor, you know? I beat it maybe about a handful of times, but a lot of great dying along the way.”
Tech is constantly changing in our industry. What upcoming trends or tech interest you the most?
“I’m glad you asked that, as a creative person here in the SF bay area and around the world, VR and the like is making its comeback. My first real gig at Multigen was and still is a VR company. Google, Samsung,Sony, Verizon just to name a few are Jumping into the market. For the ‘Game artist’ is it’s a windfall at times. They need what we have, 3D knowledge and how to deliver it properly. Using everything we have been doing for years and baking it down into wearables, AKA, 3D industrial designer. As well at 3D UI UX. There are so many new application uses and so many areas that have come from game to everyday use. It’s going to be a very exciting year.”
How do you like to spend your free time?
“Music and my family when I do have free time. I listen to just about anything as long as it feels good.”
Do you play an instrument?
“When I was younger I played the sax and the trombone. It was something to do and my dad always wanted a boy band [Laughs].”
What advice would you give to someone pursuing your career?
“Just enjoy what you do and learn everything that you can, things and tech changes so fast.”
If people wanted to reach you, how can they find you? Twitter? Email?
“I don’t chirp, TerrenceJHicks@yahoo.com”
If you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what would you say? What is your tagline?
“I’m the constant in the creative storm.”
Thanks for your time!
Andrew Augustin – Indie Game Developer / Creative Director | We Are Game Devs
Andrew Augustin – Indie Game Developer / Creative Director
By We Are Game Devs. Published on March 29, 2016. 0
Andrew, thanks for joining me today.
“Thanks for having me.”
Can you tell me what is your current job title? You have your own company right?
“Right now, I am basically working solo on a project under Notion Games. So, I am doing the art, logic/programming, and design for a game called Team Notion. When I do work with others, I generally take the role of Creative Director and lead artist.”
Astro Vault from Notion Games
Is Notion Games your own studio?
“Yes, Notion Games is my own studio. The team sizes vary depending on the project and funding available.”
What are some of the titles you’ve worked on in your career?
“I have worked on The Sims 3: Pets for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 as the character designer and a world builder. I have also worked on Up Up Ubie, Up Up Ubie Remix, Astro Vault, Super Ubie Land, Super Ubie Island Remix, Sushizoo, and Team Notion as the creative director, programmer, and designer.”
Wow, that’s a lot of titles with a lot of different roles you’ve held.
“Yes, each one on different platforms. From console to mobile to PC. But each project was fun and challenged me to constantly step out of my comfort zone and learn new skills.”
What would you say is your primary trade? Artist? Or do you see yourself as a jack of all trades?
“My passion lies in art. But over the years, I feel like I’m becoming more and more a jack of all trades. There’s just way too many hats that you have to wear when trying to create projects with 1-3 man teams, especially with little to no funding.”
“To be honest, I just want to feel like I’m not wasting my life… It has to be something because I refuse to be 40-years old and look back wondering what I have done with my life.”
How would you describe your typical workday as an indie developer?
“A typical workday as an indie developer is pretty much all over the place. For me, I try to plan out the week and what it is that I want to accomplish and work at it day by day until the particular task is complete. Solo, I’m pretty random on what I work on. It just depends on what I feel like doing that day. I generally think that as long as I’m making progress, then I’m doing fine. But on a team, I make sure to have tasks assigned to each person with deadlines.
To paint a better picture though, I usually head to the studio and play a bunch of music on YouTube or watch a bunch of game walkthroughs to get inspiration and I start to work on various tasks from creating new assets, to creating layouts for new menus, updating the design document, all the way to implementing the ideas into the game. I rarely sleep, especially having two children. So I tend to nap for a couple of hours and either get back to work (in bed sometimes) or do whatever it is I need to do for my children. So it’s a really mixed bag since my schedule generally consists of doing what I want to get the project(s) finished.”
So, you like to consider your workload in week long chunks?
“For the most part, yes. It keeps things small enough for me to complete and allows for enough flexibility to update and create new tasks for the next week.”
SushiZoo from Notion Games
How do you stay motivated? As an indie with varying team sizes, I’m sure you have to be self motivating in most cases. What works for you?
“To be honest, I just want to feel like I’m not wasting my life. I have been drawing since I was a child and I always wanted to create things that people could enjoy and grow up watching, reading, and/or playing. The motivation really comes from me knowing that time passes regardless and when it does, I always like to feel like I have accomplished something. There’s been plenty of times where I have set out to do something by a particular date and the date passes and I’m stuck with a bunch of excuses. I hate that feeling and have molded my way of thinking to where I need to make sure that I am progressing no matter what. If it isn’t progress in finishing a game, then it better be with networking. If not networking, then it must be school. It has to be something because I refuse to be 40-years old and look back wondering what I have done with my life.”
That’s real talk. You started as an artist and moved into other areas. Did you have a formal education in art or other field of interest? Did you attend a school?
“I am a self-taught artist, programmer, and designer. I did get a full scholarship to attend the Denius-Sams Academy at the University of Texas at Austin to learn about team management in all roles including Creative Director, Producer, and Art Director.”
What were your primary resources to teach yourself what you know now? YouTube vids? Specific websites? Tutorials?
“I looked around for tutorials but didn’t really find much, besides teaching the basics. A big tool for me was YouTube. I learned by looking closely to gameplay videos. I would watch how characters interacted with enemies, items, environments, etc. I would listen to how sound was implemented and just paid close attention to many things that most players don’t realize are there but greatly impact the overall feel of a game. I still have a lot of learning to do though.”
How did you come about your first game job? Did you get paid to make games before you went indie?
“I was attending a community college for a semester and met some artists there who were going for game art specialization. So I would try to get to know them and befriend them. I dropped out from the school and about a year later, one of my friends from the college called me up telling me he was working for Electronic Arts and that he remembers my work and mentioned me to the Art and Creative Director. I soon got an interview and started working on the Sims.”
Where did you grow up?
“Born in Mt Vernon, NY but I grew up in Austin, TX.”
Where do you live now?
“Austin, TX.”
“I am pretty proud of getting on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. I never saw myself being able to accomplish something like that especially after being in the industry for 3 years.”
When did you decide to pursue game creation as a profession? How did you come to that decision?
“After I got hired and worked on The Sims, I really saw it as something I loved to do. Prior to that, I didn’t really have a true direction that I wanted to go. I was doing comics before as Notion Comics and once I worked on The Sims, I immediately thought to start learning how to create my own games.”
What is your favorite program or plugin to use?
“I use Construct 2 for most of my projects. I jump back and forth between GameMaker using the GM scripting language but I like the event system workflow that Construct has more.”
I’ve heard Construct2 is pretty good. I’ve yet to look at it. I’ve done a fair amount of things in GameMaker myself. I like it well enough. What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“I am pretty proud of getting on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. I never saw myself being able to accomplish something like that especially after being in the industry for 3 years. It definitely blew me away and is something that I will forever be proud of.”
Team Notion from Notion Games
That is an amazing accomplishment. I didn’t know that you made that list. Amazing.
“Thank you. I was fortunate enough to make various lists and be featured in an assortment of magazines. I always wanted Notion to get noticed but didn’t think I could do it with 3 or less people and almost no funds to create the projects.”
I’m sure it feels good to know that someone noticed your hard work. Hard to see the potential results when you are knee deep in code and the build is crashing and all the textures aren’t rendering correctly.
“I remember working on Super Ubie Island and wondering when I would ever finish it. It felt like a never ending journey. It took about 14 months, but around month 7 of putting 6-14 hours a day on it, it just felt like it would never get finished.”
Super Ubie Island recently released on Steam, right? What was one of the most challenging parts of creating Super Ubie Island? Were there tech challenges? Design challenges?
“The most challenging part of Super Ubie Island was the entire thing. I never made a game on my own before. So everything from learning to draw art for games to getting it functioning was a brand new thing for me. Ubie Island represents my first full dive into games and I think it shows when it comes to the simplicity of the gameplay. I didn’t give him any power ups, or any sort of melee attacks or things to shoot. I had plenty of ideas for various abilities and game mechanics but since I was making something like this for the first time, I decided the best course of action was to scale back to the core mechanics of what makes Ubie Island ‘Ubie Island’.”
That was a very smart decision to keep the complexity down and focus on completion. Big ideas can be a rabbit hole of unfinished ideas.
“A ton of new developers jump into an idea that they’re not experienced enough to bring to fruition.”
Even with keeping complexity down, I assume you must have had to cut some things. What is the one thing that got cut during production that you wish you could have saved?
“Ubie uses a balloon to glide and slow fall as a way of extending his mobility. I wanted to give Ubie different balloons that would allow him to do different things. One of them being a water balloon that could destroy fire enemies and a helium balloon to allow him to float up in certain levels. I also wanted to give him the ability to spawn a balloon under him to keep him bouncing in the air for a short amount of time before popping and sending him falling to his demise or a platform below. There were many more ideas, especially with bosses but I couldn’t do those things at the time and I didn’t want to make it a 3 year project.”
Andrew Augustin – Indie Game Developer / Creative Director
By We Are Game Devs. Published on March 29, 2016. 0
Andrew, thanks for joining me today.
“Thanks for having me.”
Can you tell me what is your current job title? You have your own company right?
“Right now, I am basically working solo on a project under Notion Games. So, I am doing the art, logic/programming, and design for a game called Team Notion. When I do work with others, I generally take the role of Creative Director and lead artist.”
Astro Vault from Notion Games
Is Notion Games your own studio?
“Yes, Notion Games is my own studio. The team sizes vary depending on the project and funding available.”
What are some of the titles you’ve worked on in your career?
“I have worked on The Sims 3: Pets for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 as the character designer and a world builder. I have also worked on Up Up Ubie, Up Up Ubie Remix, Astro Vault, Super Ubie Land, Super Ubie Island Remix, Sushizoo, and Team Notion as the creative director, programmer, and designer.”
Wow, that’s a lot of titles with a lot of different roles you’ve held.
“Yes, each one on different platforms. From console to mobile to PC. But each project was fun and challenged me to constantly step out of my comfort zone and learn new skills.”
What would you say is your primary trade? Artist? Or do you see yourself as a jack of all trades?
“My passion lies in art. But over the years, I feel like I’m becoming more and more a jack of all trades. There’s just way too many hats that you have to wear when trying to create projects with 1-3 man teams, especially with little to no funding.”
“To be honest, I just want to feel like I’m not wasting my life… It has to be something because I refuse to be 40-years old and look back wondering what I have done with my life.”
How would you describe your typical workday as an indie developer?“A typical workday as an indie developer is pretty much all over the place. For me, I try to plan out the week and what it is that I want to accomplish and work at it day by day until the particular task is complete. Solo, I’m pretty random on what I work on. It just depends on what I feel like doing that day. I generally think that as long as I’m making progress, then I’m doing fine. But on a team, I make sure to have tasks assigned to each person with deadlines.
To paint a better picture though, I usually head to the studio and play a bunch of music on YouTube or watch a bunch of game walkthroughs to get inspiration and I start to work on various tasks from creating new assets, to creating layouts for new menus, updating the design document, all the way to implementing the ideas into the game. I rarely sleep, especially having two children. So I tend to nap for a couple of hours and either get back to work (in bed sometimes) or do whatever it is I need to do for my children. So it’s a really mixed bag since my schedule generally consists of doing what I want to get the project(s) finished.”
So, you like to consider your workload in week long chunks?
“For the most part, yes. It keeps things small enough for me to complete and allows for enough flexibility to update and create new tasks for the next week.”
SushiZoo from Notion Games
How do you stay motivated? As an indie with varying team sizes, I’m sure you have to be self motivating in most cases. What works for you?
“To be honest, I just want to feel like I’m not wasting my life. I have been drawing since I was a child and I always wanted to create things that people could enjoy and grow up watching, reading, and/or playing. The motivation really comes from me knowing that time passes regardless and when it does, I always like to feel like I have accomplished something. There’s been plenty of times where I have set out to do something by a particular date and the date passes and I’m stuck with a bunch of excuses. I hate that feeling and have molded my way of thinking to where I need to make sure that I am progressing no matter what. If it isn’t progress in finishing a game, then it better be with networking. If not networking, then it must be school. It has to be something because I refuse to be 40-years old and look back wondering what I have done with my life.”
That’s real talk. You started as an artist and moved into other areas. Did you have a formal education in art or other field of interest? Did you attend a school?
“I am a self-taught artist, programmer, and designer. I did get a full scholarship to attend the Denius-Sams Academy at the University of Texas at Austin to learn about team management in all roles including Creative Director, Producer, and Art Director.”
What were your primary resources to teach yourself what you know now? YouTube vids? Specific websites? Tutorials?
“I looked around for tutorials but didn’t really find much, besides teaching the basics. A big tool for me was YouTube. I learned by looking closely to gameplay videos. I would watch how characters interacted with enemies, items, environments, etc. I would listen to how sound was implemented and just paid close attention to many things that most players don’t realize are there but greatly impact the overall feel of a game. I still have a lot of learning to do though.”
How did you come about your first game job? Did you get paid to make games before you went indie?
“I was attending a community college for a semester and met some artists there who were going for game art specialization. So I would try to get to know them and befriend them. I dropped out from the school and about a year later, one of my friends from the college called me up telling me he was working for Electronic Arts and that he remembers my work and mentioned me to the Art and Creative Director. I soon got an interview and started working on the Sims.”
Where did you grow up?
“Born in Mt Vernon, NY but I grew up in Austin, TX.”
Where do you live now?
“Austin, TX.”
“I am pretty proud of getting on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. I never saw myself being able to accomplish something like that especially after being in the industry for 3 years.”
When did you decide to pursue game creation as a profession? How did you come to that decision?
“After I got hired and worked on The Sims, I really saw it as something I loved to do. Prior to that, I didn’t really have a true direction that I wanted to go. I was doing comics before as Notion Comics and once I worked on The Sims, I immediately thought to start learning how to create my own games.”
What is your favorite program or plugin to use?
“I use Construct 2 for most of my projects. I jump back and forth between GameMaker using the GM scripting language but I like the event system workflow that Construct has more.”
I’ve heard Construct2 is pretty good. I’ve yet to look at it. I’ve done a fair amount of things in GameMaker myself. I like it well enough. What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“I am pretty proud of getting on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. I never saw myself being able to accomplish something like that especially after being in the industry for 3 years. It definitely blew me away and is something that I will forever be proud of.”
Team Notion from Notion Games
That is an amazing accomplishment. I didn’t know that you made that list. Amazing.
“Thank you. I was fortunate enough to make various lists and be featured in an assortment of magazines. I always wanted Notion to get noticed but didn’t think I could do it with 3 or less people and almost no funds to create the projects.”
I’m sure it feels good to know that someone noticed your hard work. Hard to see the potential results when you are knee deep in code and the build is crashing and all the textures aren’t rendering correctly.
“I remember working on Super Ubie Island and wondering when I would ever finish it. It felt like a never ending journey. It took about 14 months, but around month 7 of putting 6-14 hours a day on it, it just felt like it would never get finished.”
Super Ubie Island recently released on Steam, right? What was one of the most challenging parts of creating Super Ubie Island? Were there tech challenges? Design challenges?
“The most challenging part of Super Ubie Island was the entire thing. I never made a game on my own before. So everything from learning to draw art for games to getting it functioning was a brand new thing for me. Ubie Island represents my first full dive into games and I think it shows when it comes to the simplicity of the gameplay. I didn’t give him any power ups, or any sort of melee attacks or things to shoot. I had plenty of ideas for various abilities and game mechanics but since I was making something like this for the first time, I decided the best course of action was to scale back to the core mechanics of what makes Ubie Island ‘Ubie Island’.”
That was a very smart decision to keep the complexity down and focus on completion. Big ideas can be a rabbit hole of unfinished ideas.
“A ton of new developers jump into an idea that they’re not experienced enough to bring to fruition.”
Even with keeping complexity down, I assume you must have had to cut some things. What is the one thing that got cut during production that you wish you could have saved?
“Ubie uses a balloon to glide and slow fall as a way of extending his mobility. I wanted to give Ubie different balloons that would allow him to do different things. One of them being a water balloon that could destroy fire enemies and a helium balloon to allow him to float up in certain levels. I also wanted to give him the ability to spawn a balloon under him to keep him bouncing in the air for a short amount of time before popping and sending him falling to his demise or a platform below. There were many more ideas, especially with bosses but I couldn’t do those things at the time and I didn’t want to make it a 3 year project.”
Team Notion: The Game from Notion Games
The industry is constantly changing. Are there currently any new trends or new tech that interests you?
“I am interested in the VR space but not interested in developing for it. I’m still pretty new to game development and I am working my way up with the ideas I’ve had set to attempt. I want to create a horror game similar to Clock Tower from SNES. One of my favorite games is Resident Evil and for the longest, I’ve wanted to see if I could make something scary. I think it would be a serious challenge and would make me feel extremely accomplished if I pull it off properly. I also want to create a game around love but not in the way you may think. I’m actually writing the game right now with a couple friends and I think it will surprise people. It’s almost like my first step in the horror game genre but not the traditional horror that people expect.”
I’m very interested to see how the “love game” comes about. Make sure you let me know when you are farther along.
“I can tell you now that the working title for it at the moment is Paramour. Part of me is afraid to create this project because I’m not sure how people will take the major twist. But I also feel, some will appreciate the taboo nature of it.”
You have to create something before people will know if they really like it. I don’t believe people really understand a game until they play the game. “Create it and they will come.” What one game inspires you the most?
“If I had to choose one… I would have to say… I have to say two [Laugh]. Streets of Rage 2 and Metal Gear Solid. I can’t really choose between the two.”
It’s like trying to choose between your children. You just don’t. I get it.
“Streets of Rage has the great music and cool combat that I loved as a child. Metal Gear Solid had the great voice action, movie style cinematics, and great story. I just can’t choose [Laugh].”
Super Ubie Island Remix from Notion Games
If you could go back in your career, would you have done anything differently?
“I don’t think I would redo anything. I have loved the journey thus far. I’ve had to put in a lot of work to get where I am and I still have a long way to go. The struggles and the successes seem to come at the right times and always challenge me when I’m getting too comfortable.”
What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue game development as a career?
“Don’t. [Laugh], no seriously. You have to really give it your all when working on games. The final days until completion may seem forever away, but it will come. Being proficient in one skill in my opinion is an outdated way of thinking. The internet and all of the resources available to everyone for FREE is absolutely there for you to take advantage of. I love to say that I attended Google University. I seriously have learned so much from the net that I think with the right amount of dedication, you can learn more than you can in school… again, for free.”
“Networking is probably the second best thing you can do. You will find yourself in many amazing opportunities by going out and meeting people in the industry. There are so many people willing to help you and want to see you succeed.”
Yeah, when I try to tell someone it’s hard work, they sometimes look at you crazy. “You just play games all day, right?” If people wanted to find you, where would they look? Twitter? Instagram? Website?
“Twitter: @DatBoiDrew and @NotionGamesLLC
Instagram: Nin10Drew
www.NotionGames.com”
How do you stay up on the latest news and trends?
“I read a lot of the gaming news on various websites and I listen to a ton of gaming podcasts and watch a million shows related to gaming on YouTube.”
How would you describe yourself in one sentence? What is your tagline?
“A self-motivated, hard working artist who will learn whatever he needs in order to accomplish every goal towards a major dream.”
Thanks Andrew. I really enjoyed chatting with you. I can’t wait to see Team Notion come together and what is next for Notion Games.
“Thanks for having me [looks at the camera] #Dab”
Developer profile: Kawan Welth
Developer profile: Kawan Welth
Vikram Rangraj
April 5, 2016
This post is the first in our series profiling interesting people in the Pacific Northwest's Indie gaming community.
“Black people aren’t kowtowing to other people’s ideologies anymore…. It’s beautiful.”
Kawan Welth
">
Kawan Welth
Kawan Welth thinks there’s a New Harlem Renaissance taking place. It’s not a difficult case to make: the ascendancy of Black Lives Matter and the power of social media have allowed people who were once voiceless to begin to have their story told. Mainstream popular music, for one, has increasingly been forced to make room for unapologetically black voices—Beyoncé’s "Formation"and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly seem like harbingers of a true sea change, one which is likely to resonate with black creatives in all of the arts.
Fire Water Steam
">
Fire Water Steam
Kawan’s contribution to this wave is a game called Fire Water Steam. Written immediately post-Ferguson in something of a fugue state, it’s a story about the unreality of racism—that surreal disconnect that happens when you’re targeted by bigotry. You start wondering how no one else sees it, and begin to question your own memories, and Kawan's game delivers that unease with a beautifully anti-racist message. Although anti-racist voices are often met with vitriol, Kawan has found that Indie game communities in Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver have largely been supportive and welcoming, and as an added bonus have increasingly become home to, as he says, many “awesome people of color.”
Seattle’s Indie games community tends to be a pretty eclectic bunch, and Kawan epitomizes that variety. In addition to being an outspoken activist, he’s a storyteller, a community organizer, and a good bit more besides. He’s a game designer too, of course. Most of his games are visual novels (other than an actually-pretty-good Flappy Bird style game) and if you ask himwhat’s most important about the work he’s done to date, he’ll tell you that he’s brought people together who’ve done some really great things. As a former community organizer and a current coordinator of regular game jams throughout the greater Seattle area, Kawan’s main focus is bringing people together to tell their stories.
Think Love Dream Cool
">
Think Love Dream Cool
His current projects fit with that theme of connection. Think Love Dream Cool an episodic visual novel, and Recalcitrant Dead Smile is an uplifting game with some pretty dark subject matter (CW: suicide). It’s the story of a “bunch of good people in a fukked up world” coming together to make each other’s lives better and build a better world together. Smile boasts some really pretty artwork and speaks in the two fundamental languages that most of Kawan’s work does: community and anime.
It’s no surprise that someone who works largely through visual novels is an anime fan, and many of his favorites, such as Toradora! and Iron Blooded Orphans are notably subversive. In fact, many of Kawan’s favorite works across genres have a dark-but-idealistic tone, which is present in most of his catalog as well. Honestly, Spike Lee by way of Hideo Kojima (two of his major influences) is a pretty accurate description of his potential as a storyteller, and while he hasn’t made the game deserving of that label yet, you can clearly see elements of it scattered throughout his work. Whether it’s a visual novel about industry working conditions for game testers or a Meyers-Briggs test as administered by a Rashomon plot, Kawan has a narrative voice that is strikingly unique. It’s unapologetically black, but delivered through the tropes and aesthetics of a distinctly Japanese medium, and it acknowledges the darkness of the world but is unmistakably hopeful. It’s the voice of a budding auteur.
You can check out Kawan’s work on gamejolt, his website, and very soon, right here on dropleaf!
Developer profile: Kawan Welth
Vikram Rangraj
April 5, 2016
This post is the first in our series profiling interesting people in the Pacific Northwest's Indie gaming community.
“Black people aren’t kowtowing to other people’s ideologies anymore…. It’s beautiful.”
Kawan Welth
">
Kawan Welth
Kawan Welth thinks there’s a New Harlem Renaissance taking place. It’s not a difficult case to make: the ascendancy of Black Lives Matter and the power of social media have allowed people who were once voiceless to begin to have their story told. Mainstream popular music, for one, has increasingly been forced to make room for unapologetically black voices—Beyoncé’s "Formation"and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly seem like harbingers of a true sea change, one which is likely to resonate with black creatives in all of the arts.
Fire Water Steam
">
Fire Water Steam
Kawan’s contribution to this wave is a game called Fire Water Steam. Written immediately post-Ferguson in something of a fugue state, it’s a story about the unreality of racism—that surreal disconnect that happens when you’re targeted by bigotry. You start wondering how no one else sees it, and begin to question your own memories, and Kawan's game delivers that unease with a beautifully anti-racist message. Although anti-racist voices are often met with vitriol, Kawan has found that Indie game communities in Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver have largely been supportive and welcoming, and as an added bonus have increasingly become home to, as he says, many “awesome people of color.”
Seattle’s Indie games community tends to be a pretty eclectic bunch, and Kawan epitomizes that variety. In addition to being an outspoken activist, he’s a storyteller, a community organizer, and a good bit more besides. He’s a game designer too, of course. Most of his games are visual novels (other than an actually-pretty-good Flappy Bird style game) and if you ask himwhat’s most important about the work he’s done to date, he’ll tell you that he’s brought people together who’ve done some really great things. As a former community organizer and a current coordinator of regular game jams throughout the greater Seattle area, Kawan’s main focus is bringing people together to tell their stories.
Think Love Dream Cool
">
Think Love Dream Cool
His current projects fit with that theme of connection. Think Love Dream Cool an episodic visual novel, and Recalcitrant Dead Smile is an uplifting game with some pretty dark subject matter (CW: suicide). It’s the story of a “bunch of good people in a fukked up world” coming together to make each other’s lives better and build a better world together. Smile boasts some really pretty artwork and speaks in the two fundamental languages that most of Kawan’s work does: community and anime.
It’s no surprise that someone who works largely through visual novels is an anime fan, and many of his favorites, such as Toradora! and Iron Blooded Orphans are notably subversive. In fact, many of Kawan’s favorite works across genres have a dark-but-idealistic tone, which is present in most of his catalog as well. Honestly, Spike Lee by way of Hideo Kojima (two of his major influences) is a pretty accurate description of his potential as a storyteller, and while he hasn’t made the game deserving of that label yet, you can clearly see elements of it scattered throughout his work. Whether it’s a visual novel about industry working conditions for game testers or a Meyers-Briggs test as administered by a Rashomon plot, Kawan has a narrative voice that is strikingly unique. It’s unapologetically black, but delivered through the tropes and aesthetics of a distinctly Japanese medium, and it acknowledges the darkness of the world but is unmistakably hopeful. It’s the voice of a budding auteur.
You can check out Kawan’s work on gamejolt, his website, and very soon, right here on dropleaf!
Larry Charles – Senior Game Designer | We Are Game Devs
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Larry Charles – Senior Game Designer
By We Are Game Devs. Published on April 12, 2016. 0
“Hopeless romantic who believes everything that is impossible just hasn’t been done, yet.”
Mr. Larry Charles, thanks for chatting with me today!
“Of course, no problem. I’m glad to be a part of this. Thank you for having me.”
Can you tell me your current job title, and where do you currently work?
“[Laughs] Well as of exactly this moment, I am a Level Designer at Obsidian Entertainment. As of Tuesday March 1st, I’ll be a Sr. Game Designer at Section Studios in Los Angeles.”
Nice! The fluidic employment of a game developer. I know this phenomenon too well. Senior Designer implies a long history in games. Can you give a list of some of the previous titles you’ve worked on?
“Sure, currently I’m working on Armored Warfare at Obsidian. Before that, I was at Sledgehammer Games working on Call of Duty Advanced Warfare. My previous titles before that were, Lost Planet 3, Yar’s Revenge the reboot, and then many various iOS games.”
Nice, that Yar’s Revenge reboot was something to see.
“Alright! A fan! It was a long road getting that one out the door, but the ones who were a huge part of getting that game done all know who they are and they indeed have my respect forever.”
“I think a great designer can be effective working on any of the platforms, and can carry over a lot of their previous experiences from platform to platform.”
I remember being a bit jealous that I was not able to work on that game. When I was at Backbone, we prided ourselves on creating reboots of older properties. So, you’ve worked on a few different platforms. From console to PC and even mobile. Some might say the design sensibilities vary between them all, what do you think?
“I think a great designer can be effective working on any of the platforms, and can carry over a lot of their previous experiences from platform to platform. The problem I see the most is people not respecting the platform’s own identity while making or porting games over. Many people think they can just drop a game that was successful on console into a mobile marketplace and do well, or vice versa. They don’t take time to think about how the player interfaces differently between the hardware and leave out opportunities to really make their game work on the platform. IE putting many buttons on a small screen where people’s hands will cover anyway. Easiest way to get me to super hyper combo delete your game. [Smiles] Respect the platform.”
Well said. Of these platforms you’ve worked on, did one interest you more than the others?
“As a designer, and a tinkerer, I believe that I’ll always have the most love for the mobile marketplace. It’s where I got my ‘professional’ start as a designer and due to what the popular expectations are for a complete experience in mobile, I see myself being most interested in delivering there. Mobile game developers have the freedom to take risks, and develop whatever they want it feels like. Some games are just a simple idea or mechanic with polish and they can do well. You don’t see a lot of that originality or risk taking in the console marketplace and you’re kind of already adopting some sort of formula to making your game in those areas. I guess it’s just smaller, so it’s easier and less risky to innovate on your product when so much less is at risk. So I guess for now, mobile is my favorite.”
The lower barrier to game creation is allowing more creators to come to market. Mobile is a great home to test your chops. You mentioned you got your start in mobile. I want to talk about how you got started in the game industry. Where did you grow up?
“Sadly that depends on the year. Pretty much, I was born in Connecticut and lived all over the east coast.”
So, how did you find a game job, living on the east coast? There are a few game companies I know over there.
“After deciding that I did indeed want to be a video game developer, I moved to Orange County California to attend the Art Institute there. I figured, I may as well move to CA where all the game companies are, but at least, since I’ll have a few years of college to get through first, I can learn the area, make friends, and network first. Then, after graduation if I get a job, at least I’ll already have some roots in place and familiarity with the area. It turned out to be a good decision.”
Lost Planet 3
It sounds like you didn’t always want to be a game developer. How did you come to that decision?
“The thing is, I had always been playing video games and making my own paper RPG’s, comic book heroes, and stories, ever since I was a kid. Anytime I found a book on (learn programming, or make games with basic) or something like that, I would buy it and study it. Even in high school, taking AP Computer Science, which was a C++ class. Instead of trying my hardest to learn how to write banking software, I kept asking “how do you add color, how do you add sound, how can I get some graphics going”). I’m sure my teacher had a headache. Fast forward a few years at Penn State… I just wasn’t enjoying myself there anymore. I knew I liked business as well, but I was an entrepreneur, not so much a candidate to work for a fortune 500 company as a Regional Manager overseeing logistics or something like that. I want my own company. So, I stopped going to class, and kept making games, wondering what I should do instead of continuing to waste time not earning a business degree. That’s when I packed up and headed west.”
Brute force learning is a trait many game developers have. One most must keep to remain competitive in the game industry. Did you finish any of those games you were trying to make? Were these mobile games or paper games?
“That’s a great question to ask right now, so yes, I finished nearly all of the games that I started making. But I quickly realized I was often making very small endeavors. I say that because I was designer, programmer, artist, sound designer, QA tester and project manager all rolled into one. With that many hats, my games were quite small. Simple executions of an idea or mechanic with polish. [Smiles] They were mostly pen and paper or computer games. No console or mobile at that early age. Thankfully, I did eventually get Unreal Tournament which came with the Unreal Editor and man, did things change after that.”
UE2 to the rescue! So, you went to the Art Institute in Orange County. Did you finish your degree there? And if so, what was your major?
“Yes, I graduated with a Bachelors of Science – Game Art & Design in 2007.”
Have you found your experience at the Art Institute helpful in your professional career?
“Yes and no, to be completely honest. I loved the people I met and the networking opportunities I had access to being in Orange County, very close to many developers. Hell, I got my first job at Obsidian and that was because I got an opportunity to interview there through my career service advisor at the time. The no being, the way I feel some of the college programs are set up, you will do a lot of ‘general practice’ time before touching the real stuff that you actually want to learn about. IE as a student who wants to be a Level Designer, I also know how to model, animate, rig, light, texture, perspective drawing, foundational drawing, english, math, etc.
I hate to say it, but, it’s just hard to swallow the school forcing you to pass classes that don’t directly relate to your interests. I actually failed my first 2D portfolio review and it set me back financially because I had to pay for another class. I’m coming from the standpoint of a guy who simply wants to design levels and games. Those abilities weren’t even part of the test. [Smiles] Such is life. As a designer now, I do not animate, rig, use mel script, model characters or anything like that, but I sure am still paying for those classes. [Laughs]”
In the early days, a “game school” wasn’t really a thing. I have to believe there was a lot of experimentation to find the right criteria for student who didn’t fit the mold. In a collegiate environment, that can be costly. So, Obsidian was your first job out of school. How did your job search go as you were closing in on graduation? Did you apply at multiple places?
“Yeah, I blame it on wanting to be accredited. They can’t just offer a bachelor’s degree without giving you all the general and foundational study as well. I just wish that wasn’t the case. I could honestly care less about the degree, I wanted the education. As for my first job, yes, they were my first application first job. I was in school when I had the interview, and after graduation I had a job available for me, I think about a month later.”
Yar’s Revenge
Fast forwarding to now, you are a Level Designer, about to become a Senior Game Designer. Can you describe what your typical work day is like? I haven’t done level design in a while. So, refresh my memory.
“Well on the project that I’m currently on, I’ve been building a feature level for about 4 months straight. It’s come a long all the way from a paper pitch, to where it is today. So right now, it’s all about iteration and playtesting. First thing I do every day is play the map, even if the last thing I did the day before was play the map. When my energy is the highest and my eyes the freshest, I play the map. I look for things that need to be fixed or adjusted first and get those out of the way while I warm up for the day. After that it’s usually about lunch time. After lunch, I come back and do the heavy lifting. If there is a known feature that I need to push on, or some external department work I need to check in on and get updated these are the hours I do so. Most of my meetings or interaction time falls between 2 to 5pm. As a company, at 5pm we all play the game and give feedback or look for bugs. 5 to 6pm you get another hour to iterate or bug fix what other people may have found before people start to roll out for the day after 6pm.”
What tools are you using to build your level?
“Crytek.”
Nice, I think you are the first developer I’ve spoken with who is using Crytek. How do you find the program?
“It’s good for making the type of game we are. I think if your game is doing anything outdoors and you’re using Crytek, you’ve made a very wise choice on the art side. (Then again, I’m not a pro artist) but I love what the artists have done with the engine especially for our game. As for designing in that engine, I find myself requesting feature support more often than I have with other engines. Flowgraph has its limits, and sometimes I find things about the engine I believe could have been designed / implemented better.”
Are there any other tools or plugins that you like to use in your daily work?
“Photoshop, and Outlook are tied for second place.”
What trait or skill do you think is most important as a level designer?
“Being a good communicator is paramount in my opinion. Communicating your ideas to your teammates in a way that they can understand your vision and know what they’ll need to do to execute it. Communicating to the player through your designs and decisions (via gameplay). Communicating the rules, boundaries, and hints to the player in a way that doesn’t feel like literal communication.”
“Mike Tyson’s punch out taught me everything I know about communicating and boss fight design, I love that game.”
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“Interestingly enough, starting and shutting down GoPlay Games. It was a team of young and talented developers who came together to make iPhone games. None of us made anything worthy of retiring off of, but we all have springboarded further into our careers. At that time, that’s exactly what we were hoping for I believe. So I’m proud of GoPlay, the little company that made iPhone games.”
That’s amazing. What were some of your favorite titles you created at GoPlay?
“My favorite game to come out of that company was Super Smoothie, it was a match three game with a big twist, pun intended because we used the accelerometer in the iPhone to allow you to manipulate the direction that your fruit would fall. This opened up the strategy element. Fruit could fall left, right, up or down depending on how you were holding the phone. So it required you to look beyond just matching three and thinking of how the fruit would fall ‘down’ afterwards. Great fun!”
Home
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Larry Charles – Senior Game Designer
By We Are Game Devs. Published on April 12, 2016. 0
“Hopeless romantic who believes everything that is impossible just hasn’t been done, yet.”
Mr. Larry Charles, thanks for chatting with me today!
“Of course, no problem. I’m glad to be a part of this. Thank you for having me.”
Can you tell me your current job title, and where do you currently work?
“[Laughs] Well as of exactly this moment, I am a Level Designer at Obsidian Entertainment. As of Tuesday March 1st, I’ll be a Sr. Game Designer at Section Studios in Los Angeles.”
Nice! The fluidic employment of a game developer. I know this phenomenon too well. Senior Designer implies a long history in games. Can you give a list of some of the previous titles you’ve worked on?
“Sure, currently I’m working on Armored Warfare at Obsidian. Before that, I was at Sledgehammer Games working on Call of Duty Advanced Warfare. My previous titles before that were, Lost Planet 3, Yar’s Revenge the reboot, and then many various iOS games.”
Nice, that Yar’s Revenge reboot was something to see.
“Alright! A fan! It was a long road getting that one out the door, but the ones who were a huge part of getting that game done all know who they are and they indeed have my respect forever.”
“I think a great designer can be effective working on any of the platforms, and can carry over a lot of their previous experiences from platform to platform.”
I remember being a bit jealous that I was not able to work on that game. When I was at Backbone, we prided ourselves on creating reboots of older properties. So, you’ve worked on a few different platforms. From console to PC and even mobile. Some might say the design sensibilities vary between them all, what do you think?
“I think a great designer can be effective working on any of the platforms, and can carry over a lot of their previous experiences from platform to platform. The problem I see the most is people not respecting the platform’s own identity while making or porting games over. Many people think they can just drop a game that was successful on console into a mobile marketplace and do well, or vice versa. They don’t take time to think about how the player interfaces differently between the hardware and leave out opportunities to really make their game work on the platform. IE putting many buttons on a small screen where people’s hands will cover anyway. Easiest way to get me to super hyper combo delete your game. [Smiles] Respect the platform.”
Well said. Of these platforms you’ve worked on, did one interest you more than the others?
“As a designer, and a tinkerer, I believe that I’ll always have the most love for the mobile marketplace. It’s where I got my ‘professional’ start as a designer and due to what the popular expectations are for a complete experience in mobile, I see myself being most interested in delivering there. Mobile game developers have the freedom to take risks, and develop whatever they want it feels like. Some games are just a simple idea or mechanic with polish and they can do well. You don’t see a lot of that originality or risk taking in the console marketplace and you’re kind of already adopting some sort of formula to making your game in those areas. I guess it’s just smaller, so it’s easier and less risky to innovate on your product when so much less is at risk. So I guess for now, mobile is my favorite.”
The lower barrier to game creation is allowing more creators to come to market. Mobile is a great home to test your chops. You mentioned you got your start in mobile. I want to talk about how you got started in the game industry. Where did you grow up?
“Sadly that depends on the year. Pretty much, I was born in Connecticut and lived all over the east coast.”
So, how did you find a game job, living on the east coast? There are a few game companies I know over there.
“After deciding that I did indeed want to be a video game developer, I moved to Orange County California to attend the Art Institute there. I figured, I may as well move to CA where all the game companies are, but at least, since I’ll have a few years of college to get through first, I can learn the area, make friends, and network first. Then, after graduation if I get a job, at least I’ll already have some roots in place and familiarity with the area. It turned out to be a good decision.”
Lost Planet 3
It sounds like you didn’t always want to be a game developer. How did you come to that decision?
“The thing is, I had always been playing video games and making my own paper RPG’s, comic book heroes, and stories, ever since I was a kid. Anytime I found a book on (learn programming, or make games with basic) or something like that, I would buy it and study it. Even in high school, taking AP Computer Science, which was a C++ class. Instead of trying my hardest to learn how to write banking software, I kept asking “how do you add color, how do you add sound, how can I get some graphics going”). I’m sure my teacher had a headache. Fast forward a few years at Penn State… I just wasn’t enjoying myself there anymore. I knew I liked business as well, but I was an entrepreneur, not so much a candidate to work for a fortune 500 company as a Regional Manager overseeing logistics or something like that. I want my own company. So, I stopped going to class, and kept making games, wondering what I should do instead of continuing to waste time not earning a business degree. That’s when I packed up and headed west.”
Brute force learning is a trait many game developers have. One most must keep to remain competitive in the game industry. Did you finish any of those games you were trying to make? Were these mobile games or paper games?
“That’s a great question to ask right now, so yes, I finished nearly all of the games that I started making. But I quickly realized I was often making very small endeavors. I say that because I was designer, programmer, artist, sound designer, QA tester and project manager all rolled into one. With that many hats, my games were quite small. Simple executions of an idea or mechanic with polish. [Smiles] They were mostly pen and paper or computer games. No console or mobile at that early age. Thankfully, I did eventually get Unreal Tournament which came with the Unreal Editor and man, did things change after that.”
UE2 to the rescue! So, you went to the Art Institute in Orange County. Did you finish your degree there? And if so, what was your major?
“Yes, I graduated with a Bachelors of Science – Game Art & Design in 2007.”
Have you found your experience at the Art Institute helpful in your professional career?
“Yes and no, to be completely honest. I loved the people I met and the networking opportunities I had access to being in Orange County, very close to many developers. Hell, I got my first job at Obsidian and that was because I got an opportunity to interview there through my career service advisor at the time. The no being, the way I feel some of the college programs are set up, you will do a lot of ‘general practice’ time before touching the real stuff that you actually want to learn about. IE as a student who wants to be a Level Designer, I also know how to model, animate, rig, light, texture, perspective drawing, foundational drawing, english, math, etc.
I hate to say it, but, it’s just hard to swallow the school forcing you to pass classes that don’t directly relate to your interests. I actually failed my first 2D portfolio review and it set me back financially because I had to pay for another class. I’m coming from the standpoint of a guy who simply wants to design levels and games. Those abilities weren’t even part of the test. [Smiles] Such is life. As a designer now, I do not animate, rig, use mel script, model characters or anything like that, but I sure am still paying for those classes. [Laughs]”
In the early days, a “game school” wasn’t really a thing. I have to believe there was a lot of experimentation to find the right criteria for student who didn’t fit the mold. In a collegiate environment, that can be costly. So, Obsidian was your first job out of school. How did your job search go as you were closing in on graduation? Did you apply at multiple places?
“Yeah, I blame it on wanting to be accredited. They can’t just offer a bachelor’s degree without giving you all the general and foundational study as well. I just wish that wasn’t the case. I could honestly care less about the degree, I wanted the education. As for my first job, yes, they were my first application first job. I was in school when I had the interview, and after graduation I had a job available for me, I think about a month later.”
Yar’s Revenge
Fast forwarding to now, you are a Level Designer, about to become a Senior Game Designer. Can you describe what your typical work day is like? I haven’t done level design in a while. So, refresh my memory.
“Well on the project that I’m currently on, I’ve been building a feature level for about 4 months straight. It’s come a long all the way from a paper pitch, to where it is today. So right now, it’s all about iteration and playtesting. First thing I do every day is play the map, even if the last thing I did the day before was play the map. When my energy is the highest and my eyes the freshest, I play the map. I look for things that need to be fixed or adjusted first and get those out of the way while I warm up for the day. After that it’s usually about lunch time. After lunch, I come back and do the heavy lifting. If there is a known feature that I need to push on, or some external department work I need to check in on and get updated these are the hours I do so. Most of my meetings or interaction time falls between 2 to 5pm. As a company, at 5pm we all play the game and give feedback or look for bugs. 5 to 6pm you get another hour to iterate or bug fix what other people may have found before people start to roll out for the day after 6pm.”
What tools are you using to build your level?
“Crytek.”
Nice, I think you are the first developer I’ve spoken with who is using Crytek. How do you find the program?
“It’s good for making the type of game we are. I think if your game is doing anything outdoors and you’re using Crytek, you’ve made a very wise choice on the art side. (Then again, I’m not a pro artist) but I love what the artists have done with the engine especially for our game. As for designing in that engine, I find myself requesting feature support more often than I have with other engines. Flowgraph has its limits, and sometimes I find things about the engine I believe could have been designed / implemented better.”
Are there any other tools or plugins that you like to use in your daily work?
“Photoshop, and Outlook are tied for second place.”
What trait or skill do you think is most important as a level designer?
“Being a good communicator is paramount in my opinion. Communicating your ideas to your teammates in a way that they can understand your vision and know what they’ll need to do to execute it. Communicating to the player through your designs and decisions (via gameplay). Communicating the rules, boundaries, and hints to the player in a way that doesn’t feel like literal communication.”
“Mike Tyson’s punch out taught me everything I know about communicating and boss fight design, I love that game.”
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“Interestingly enough, starting and shutting down GoPlay Games. It was a team of young and talented developers who came together to make iPhone games. None of us made anything worthy of retiring off of, but we all have springboarded further into our careers. At that time, that’s exactly what we were hoping for I believe. So I’m proud of GoPlay, the little company that made iPhone games.”
That’s amazing. What were some of your favorite titles you created at GoPlay?
“My favorite game to come out of that company was Super Smoothie, it was a match three game with a big twist, pun intended because we used the accelerometer in the iPhone to allow you to manipulate the direction that your fruit would fall. This opened up the strategy element. Fruit could fall left, right, up or down depending on how you were holding the phone. So it required you to look beyond just matching three and thinking of how the fruit would fall ‘down’ afterwards. Great fun!”
Turning the phone around is a wonderful mechanic that seems to have been lost as mobile development has become a bit more mature. What is the thing that got cut during production of any of your game projects that you wish you could have saved?“[Pauses] I believe that would be the goal beacon design we used in Aero GP. It was an airplane racing game that we made. I remember being uninterested in the design we had at the time which was to have the airplanes hit a pole design for the beacon. This design had a very small profile and controlling an airplane isn’t as precise as you’d think (hell that was some of the challenge of the game). If you missed a pole though, you pretty much lost the race because you had to turn around and try again. I pushed to have a goal zone instead but the team pushed against making a change that late in the game. I get it, fatigue had set in and they wanted to finish, but yea, I still carry that one with me I guess. [Smiles] I still wish we went with the goal zone. Gameplay should have won that one and I should have ponied up a reward or some sort of thank you for the change. That was my fault for not trying harder to reach common ground.”
It’s hard to cut ideas and let them go sometimes. Especially if you feel you really didn’t get the chance to exhaust the possibilities.
“Indeed, but it’s part of life especially in the life of a game developer. You at least need three tools as a designer… Pencil, paper… and scissors. [Smiles]”
After chatting with you it really does seem like you have a soft spot for mobile game development, or at least the exploration of bite sized game ideas. Mobile seemed like a trend that may have faded out, but it is definitely growing and is here to stay. Are there other trends in the game industry that interest you right now?
“I’m really excited about Augmented Reality (AR) gaming. Most people would say Virtual Reality (VR) but I am actually more interested in what we can do with AR. Adding a game layer on top or real life. Virtual reality is awesome in concept but on a root level it’s a screen that’s in front of my face showing me a game world that I can interact with. It’s awesome, it really is, don’t get me wrong. But fundamentally, I feel like I have played games with a screen in front of my face with interesting ways of interfacing with that game already. I’m more excited personally with the idea of being in the real world, with a game layer added onto it.”
Armored Warfare
I think AR is neat as well. Not sure when it will really take off, but hopefully soon! Last few questions. I like to reflect on my career and think of how to improve my skills and choices. Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently? I definitely would have spent more time in the computer lab.
“Ditto on the computer lab. As a youngster in college it was easy to think, I need to be the best at this school! That is setting the bar way too low! You need to be the best you possibly can be because who knows how good the devs in training outside of your school are.
Second, I would tell myself no matter what sock away at least 10% of your earnings. No matter what! Find a way to make it work. Either earn more money, spend less, or both.”
What is the one game that has influenced you the most?
“Mike Tyson’s punch out taught me everything I know about communicating and boss fight design, I love that game. Still haven’t beat Tyson without cheating.”
No shame in that. Many have yet to beat the champ.
“I will though, trust me. Nintendo and legit copy sitting next to my computer right now! Next time I’m between jobs I’m going HAM.”
How do you like to spend your free time?
“I like to wind down after the day playing Heroes of the Storm or Hearthstone for a while. Competitive gaming is ‘all the rage’ these days and I’m hooked. If not that, I’m either working on my business (gameschoolonline.com) or my podcast (gamedevunchained.com). Either way, I keep busy usually doing something game / development related. When all of that is finished I hit the gym and facebook a little before bed.”
I’ve listened to a few of your podcasts. Good stuff. How do you keep up on the latest trends and industry news? Are there particular websites or Twitter accounts you follow?
“I bounce between Kotaku and Gamasutra. Kotaku usually keeps me informed on what the consumers will likely come across news wise, from day to day and I find Gamasutra feeds my developer interests quite well. They’re the only two sites I visit every day. Often I’ll read a Polygon article but that’s when it gets linked to me by someone else. Those sites and word of mouth from co-workers or colleagues usually keep me covered and in the know.”
Final question. I like to ask all the featured developers this question… How would you describe yourself in one sentence? What is your tagline?
“Hopeless romantic who believes everything that is impossible just hasn’t been done, yet.”
Perfect. Thanks, for your time, Larry!
“Again man, nice to meet you and I’m more than honored to be a part of this. So thank you for extending that opportunity.”
Justin Woodward – Creative Lead Chef | We Are Game Devs
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Founder/Indie
Justin Woodward – Creative Lead Chef
By We Are Game Devs. Published on May 3, 2016. 0
“Cool, calm and resilient.”
Justin, thanks for your time today.
“Thanks for having me.”
Can you tell me your current title and what company you work for?
“Creative Lead Chef at Interabang Entertainment. I work with my fellow chefs and kitchen engineers at our video game bakery to cook up some tasty flavors of awesomeness that hungry gamers can sink their teeth into, possibly smuggle seconds.”
What titles have you worked on?
“We have helped to cook up a few amazing treats but as far as full released titles our team released an iOS title Shinobi Ninja Attacks and then moved onto Super Comboman with our collaborator Adult Swim Games. After the initial release we teamed up with Flashman Games to release our delectable treat Super Comboman: Don’t Mash Edition on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Our next project is a game based on the film characters called, Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch.”
Super Comboman
I love the look of Super Comboman. I watched some speedruns of the game. They were nuts. What are the responsibilities of a Creative Chef? Can I get more insight into what your typical workday looks like?
“Thanks, glad you dig the eye candy! Let me put down my spatula for a minute. That one is tough. I lead the team in order to formulate a plan to create a tasty treat. I helped by adding spice to the combat, pushed the team to add sweet movement and delicious art and animation, ya dig?”
“Also, I am the co-founder and have multiple aspects of the business I have to attend to. Washing dishes, sharpening knives, taking out the trash, raising funds, business development. You name it I have done it.”
“My typical day is meeting with the team, sponsorship meetings, publisher meetings, interviews, production planning, feedback on a range of items where I need to taste test the new elements baked in from the team as well as work with the artists on pushing the style forward, to help the resonance of emotion and resonance of the characters and environments in game.”
Whatever you need to do to keep the food slanging out of the kitchen. That’s a lot of different things. You have to wear different hats and have different perspectives depending on the needs and challenges in front of you. Let’s go back a bit. You didn’t just become the Creative Chef overnight. You started somewhere. Where did you grow up?
“Definitely did not build the company overnight. Burnt a lot of hot dogs and served a lot of hard biscuits before releasing our first meal. I was born in Columbus, Ohio and retreated with my single Mom at the age of 6 to Sunny San Diego, where I grew up . She wanted me to have opportunities she did not have when she was growing up.”
I’m midwest born as well and also raised there. I’m no stranger to snow. In San Diego, can you remember your first experience with a video game?
“The first experience is difficult to remember, I remember playing games since I was 4 in New Jersey on Atari. I do however remember the first game I owned. One Spring a friend of my Mom’s bought me a Nintendo out of gratitude for teaching her son how to read and although it came with Mario Bros. I begged them to buy me Contra because of the amazing box art. I was hooked! I also remember convincing my Mom to let me go with her to fold clothes at the laundromat with the not so secret agenda of smuggling the extra quarters to play Bad Dudes and Street Smart. I also remember her keeping an eye on the games that I liked at the local game store and even though she couldn’t afford it, she surprised me with Megaman 2 for Christmas. I have a ton of fond memories of games which brought me to my life’s mission.”
“I think that my greatest accomplishment is learning how to successfully cultivate a team. That takes iteration, learning and understanding of what vision you want for your company and team dynamics to be.”
Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right B, A, Start. Begging for quarters is a right of passage few get to experience nowadays.
True, definitely a more tactile experience that involves more than just a download. Back in my day I tells ya!
How did you get your first game job? If I remember correctly, you were right out of school (or maybe still in school) and you were part of a “reality game dev show”, right?
“Nah, I was in the business 3 years prior to that after graduating with a degree in game art and design. We were at an incubator at IGN and that as where we did the pilot for the reality game dev show, The Next Game Boss, which we actually came up with. [Laughs] At that time I was in my masters program for game production and business management. I worked pretty hard at game art in college, built up my portfolio, made connections and networked my way into the AAA game market. The hustle is real! [Laughs]”
It sure is. What school did you get your initial degree from?
“Don’t really want to say, ugh. I will say that I received my Masters at UAT which was a great experience.”
Jay & Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch
That school was that good, huh? Ok, how did you get your first game job? Where was it and what were you hired to do?
“I made a lot of friends during college, some of which helped me start Interabang and work with me to this day. I don’t regret going to that particular school, but I would have planned out my education a bit better.”
“People knew me as a dude who really hustled and worked hard. I went to school after hours to work on my portfolio, asked the teacher questions and began to put together industry events where I could meet people who were either hiring or could become mentors to me. Through that networking, I was able to establish relationships with HR from various companies. When they were looking to hire and I started to meet with them on a casual or a professional business tip, they already knew who I was and they knew that I possessed soft and hard skills and were down to take a chance. The first place was at THQ in San Diego where I did a 3-4 month bid before things stopped working out and I started on my independent grind.”
You made your first real game job. That’s awesome. Your key ingredient seems to be “hustle”.
“Yeah for sure, first is Hustle. Second is Resilience coupled with a willingness to die before you quit. Also a realization that you won’t die before you have some success that will help to fuel your passion to succeed.”
You have to drive yourself. No one else is going to kick you into gear. With all your self-motivation, what professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“[Pauses] That is tough as I am still learning and evolving. I think that my greatest accomplishment is learning how to successfully cultivate a team. That takes iteration, learning and understanding of what vision you want for your company and team dynamics to be.”
Building the right team dynamic is difficult. Maintaining it is harder. But I believe it is essential to creating the best product. How do you like to spend your free time?
“I completely agree. With my free time I like to explore. I love to draw, make music, write and study film in my free time. I like to do all of the above with friends and family.”
Shinobi Ninja Attacks
How do you stay up on the latest trends? Are their websites you frequent? Twitter hashtags you follow?
“I use Feedly to fast track content that I want to checkout on a daily basis. I play games on the regular, attend meetups and also put together events with my company The MIX. I love connecting with people in order to see what they are interested in.”
“I am not super big into Twitter but I check my Facebook feed for trends as well as Instagram and blogs.”
Are there any new trends in the game industry that have peaked your interest?
“Emotion based storytelling interests me. Immersive VR and AR experiences are very intriguing to me as I feel there will be an interesting intersect in the near future with the emergence of technology that stems from experimentation.”
VR and AR are the new frontier, for sure. What one game has influenced you the most?
“Can’t say a particular game as I love the art form. Sounds hippie I know but there a few that stand out as landmarks. Heavy Rain, Street Fighter 2, Megaman 2, Ninja Gaiden Black, Final Fantasy 6.
How can people find you? Email, twitter, instagram?
“You can holler at me through Twitter: @icjman @interabangent. IG: ICJMAN and Interabangent.”
How would you describe yourself in one sentence? What is your tagline?
“Cool, calm and resilient.”
I know as a chef you have many pots to watch and keep from boiling over. I want to thank you for your time, Justin.
“Thank you for having me! You are awesome! Gotta go, the crème brûlée is bubbling in the pot!
Home
Founder/Indie
Justin Woodward – Creative Lead Chef
By We Are Game Devs. Published on May 3, 2016. 0
“Cool, calm and resilient.”
Justin, thanks for your time today.
“Thanks for having me.”
Can you tell me your current title and what company you work for?
“Creative Lead Chef at Interabang Entertainment. I work with my fellow chefs and kitchen engineers at our video game bakery to cook up some tasty flavors of awesomeness that hungry gamers can sink their teeth into, possibly smuggle seconds.”
What titles have you worked on?
“We have helped to cook up a few amazing treats but as far as full released titles our team released an iOS title Shinobi Ninja Attacks and then moved onto Super Comboman with our collaborator Adult Swim Games. After the initial release we teamed up with Flashman Games to release our delectable treat Super Comboman: Don’t Mash Edition on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Our next project is a game based on the film characters called, Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch.”
Super Comboman
I love the look of Super Comboman. I watched some speedruns of the game. They were nuts. What are the responsibilities of a Creative Chef? Can I get more insight into what your typical workday looks like?
“Thanks, glad you dig the eye candy! Let me put down my spatula for a minute. That one is tough. I lead the team in order to formulate a plan to create a tasty treat. I helped by adding spice to the combat, pushed the team to add sweet movement and delicious art and animation, ya dig?”
“Also, I am the co-founder and have multiple aspects of the business I have to attend to. Washing dishes, sharpening knives, taking out the trash, raising funds, business development. You name it I have done it.”
“My typical day is meeting with the team, sponsorship meetings, publisher meetings, interviews, production planning, feedback on a range of items where I need to taste test the new elements baked in from the team as well as work with the artists on pushing the style forward, to help the resonance of emotion and resonance of the characters and environments in game.”
Whatever you need to do to keep the food slanging out of the kitchen. That’s a lot of different things. You have to wear different hats and have different perspectives depending on the needs and challenges in front of you. Let’s go back a bit. You didn’t just become the Creative Chef overnight. You started somewhere. Where did you grow up?
“Definitely did not build the company overnight. Burnt a lot of hot dogs and served a lot of hard biscuits before releasing our first meal. I was born in Columbus, Ohio and retreated with my single Mom at the age of 6 to Sunny San Diego, where I grew up . She wanted me to have opportunities she did not have when she was growing up.”
I’m midwest born as well and also raised there. I’m no stranger to snow. In San Diego, can you remember your first experience with a video game?
“The first experience is difficult to remember, I remember playing games since I was 4 in New Jersey on Atari. I do however remember the first game I owned. One Spring a friend of my Mom’s bought me a Nintendo out of gratitude for teaching her son how to read and although it came with Mario Bros. I begged them to buy me Contra because of the amazing box art. I was hooked! I also remember convincing my Mom to let me go with her to fold clothes at the laundromat with the not so secret agenda of smuggling the extra quarters to play Bad Dudes and Street Smart. I also remember her keeping an eye on the games that I liked at the local game store and even though she couldn’t afford it, she surprised me with Megaman 2 for Christmas. I have a ton of fond memories of games which brought me to my life’s mission.”
“I think that my greatest accomplishment is learning how to successfully cultivate a team. That takes iteration, learning and understanding of what vision you want for your company and team dynamics to be.”
Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right B, A, Start. Begging for quarters is a right of passage few get to experience nowadays.
True, definitely a more tactile experience that involves more than just a download. Back in my day I tells ya!
How did you get your first game job? If I remember correctly, you were right out of school (or maybe still in school) and you were part of a “reality game dev show”, right?
“Nah, I was in the business 3 years prior to that after graduating with a degree in game art and design. We were at an incubator at IGN and that as where we did the pilot for the reality game dev show, The Next Game Boss, which we actually came up with. [Laughs] At that time I was in my masters program for game production and business management. I worked pretty hard at game art in college, built up my portfolio, made connections and networked my way into the AAA game market. The hustle is real! [Laughs]”
It sure is. What school did you get your initial degree from?
“Don’t really want to say, ugh. I will say that I received my Masters at UAT which was a great experience.”
Jay & Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch
That school was that good, huh? Ok, how did you get your first game job? Where was it and what were you hired to do?
“I made a lot of friends during college, some of which helped me start Interabang and work with me to this day. I don’t regret going to that particular school, but I would have planned out my education a bit better.”
“People knew me as a dude who really hustled and worked hard. I went to school after hours to work on my portfolio, asked the teacher questions and began to put together industry events where I could meet people who were either hiring or could become mentors to me. Through that networking, I was able to establish relationships with HR from various companies. When they were looking to hire and I started to meet with them on a casual or a professional business tip, they already knew who I was and they knew that I possessed soft and hard skills and were down to take a chance. The first place was at THQ in San Diego where I did a 3-4 month bid before things stopped working out and I started on my independent grind.”
You made your first real game job. That’s awesome. Your key ingredient seems to be “hustle”.“Yeah for sure, first is Hustle. Second is Resilience coupled with a willingness to die before you quit. Also a realization that you won’t die before you have some success that will help to fuel your passion to succeed.”
You have to drive yourself. No one else is going to kick you into gear. With all your self-motivation, what professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
“[Pauses] That is tough as I am still learning and evolving. I think that my greatest accomplishment is learning how to successfully cultivate a team. That takes iteration, learning and understanding of what vision you want for your company and team dynamics to be.”
Building the right team dynamic is difficult. Maintaining it is harder. But I believe it is essential to creating the best product. How do you like to spend your free time?
“I completely agree. With my free time I like to explore. I love to draw, make music, write and study film in my free time. I like to do all of the above with friends and family.”
Shinobi Ninja Attacks
How do you stay up on the latest trends? Are their websites you frequent? Twitter hashtags you follow?
“I use Feedly to fast track content that I want to checkout on a daily basis. I play games on the regular, attend meetups and also put together events with my company The MIX. I love connecting with people in order to see what they are interested in.”
“I am not super big into Twitter but I check my Facebook feed for trends as well as Instagram and blogs.”
Are there any new trends in the game industry that have peaked your interest?
“Emotion based storytelling interests me. Immersive VR and AR experiences are very intriguing to me as I feel there will be an interesting intersect in the near future with the emergence of technology that stems from experimentation.”
VR and AR are the new frontier, for sure. What one game has influenced you the most?
“Can’t say a particular game as I love the art form. Sounds hippie I know but there a few that stand out as landmarks. Heavy Rain, Street Fighter 2, Megaman 2, Ninja Gaiden Black, Final Fantasy 6.
How can people find you? Email, twitter, instagram?
“You can holler at me through Twitter: @icjman @interabangent. IG: ICJMAN and Interabangent.”
How would you describe yourself in one sentence? What is your tagline?
“Cool, calm and resilient.”
I know as a chef you have many pots to watch and keep from boiling over. I want to thank you for your time, Justin.
“Thank you for having me! You are awesome! Gotta go, the crème brûlée is bubbling in the pot!
Tony Barnes – Design Director | We Are Game Devs
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Design
Tony Barnes – Design Director
By Daniel Padilla. Published on May 17, 2016. 1
“The biggest thing you’ve never heard of.”
Hey Tony! It’s been a long time.
“Hey.”
Can you tell me your current title and what company you work for?
“Tony Barnes, Design Director, Amazon / Double Helix Games.”
Can you name some titles you’ve worked on in the past?
“Well, there’s a good 30 years there to choose from, but we’ll go with the highlights; Madden 94, Medal of Honor 2010, Legacy of Kain, The Strike Series (Desert, Jungle, Urban, Nuclear), Buffy (OG Xbox) and most recently Strider 2014.”
Legacy of Kain
30 years? That’s a really long time. You are currently a Design Director, can you give me some insight into what a Design Director does day to day?
“Well, without getting into specifics of my day-to-day at Amazon (that’s hush-hush, for now), in the past, as Design Director, I’ve lead the entire team design-wise, held the vision for the game and in many cases, rolled up my sleeves and provided actual levels, art, cinematic direction, music direction, etc.”
How many projects do you direct at a time? I assume at director level you have to juggle multiple projects.
“It’s not really that kind of role. Not ‘Director of Design’, but ‘Design Director’. I’m hyper-focused on one project at a time, just engrossed in every aspect of the entire project.”
What is your favorite part about your job?
“I really enjoy seeing the product come to life. For me, there’s a point where it all clicks in my head and I can see every aspect of the game. That’s usually early on in the project and so there isn’t an actual ‘game’ for people to react to. So, the team has to trust what I’m saying up until the point that it actually happens on the screen. I get warm & fuzzy when people see what I see.”
30 years ago, there were no game schools to speak of. No colleges that had formal game development programs. How did you learn your craft? Did you go to college? Are you self taught?
“I started in 6th grade. They dumped a bunch of Apple II’s in schools and the teachers didn’t know what to do with them, so anyone with apptitude basically ran the class. I wanted to be an animator (stop-motion, etc), so I jumped at the chance to move things without hours of camera work. Back in those days, there were barely books to teach you and no internet. So, you just jumped in and broke other people’s games; reverse engineering them. I started with BASIC on the Apple and Atari/C64, then quickly moved into assembly language, because I wanted to make games as cool as the ones I was playing. Back in those days, you did everything; art, programming, design, QA, promotion, everything. You were lucky if your friends and family played it before you unleashed things on the world.”
Where did you grow up?
“I grew up in the mecca of game development, San Francisco, in the 80’s. I often wonder if I would’ve had a game career, had I grew up somewhere else. Luckily for me, I grew up somewhere that enabled me to fulfil my destiny, as a game maker.”
Tell me how you got your first game job?
“I grew up with magazines for info on games. Compute, Analog, Antic, were the world to me. After making a lot of little games for my friends or user groups, I decided to submit a couple to Antic Publishing. They were located in SF and had magazines, game distribution/publishing, etc. I put a couple of games I had made on a disc and literally walked it into their offices in downtown SF. They eventually sent me an acceptance letter to sign. I sign away all my lovely rights and they published my game; Escape from Hell. I had made that game in one night and was only 15. I needed my mother to cash the check I got from the game. Lol. After that, they brought me on board to make games for them, as well as sole tech support for a programming language they published.”
“The best Designers take in all ideas and are able to sift through them, to see what fits the overall vision.”
I would pay good money to play Escape from Hell. Does it exist anywhere?
“You can play it and shouldn’t have to pay. It’s out there, in emulator land, along with a bunch of my other Atari 8-bit games; Escape from Hell, Doomed, Shutdown. They are cute little platformers. Pretty clunky, by today’s standard. One day, I’ll probably remake them.
Self taught programmer, well, I guess it’s better to say “game creator” because in those days, programmers were designers as well. You had to understand coding to make games, but now you are designer. Did you ever consider moving into programming instead?
“There was a point where I thought about going fully into programming (circa ‘91), but at that time, larger teams (say more than 5 people) were forming. The roles were becoming defined and the programmers weren’t the top of the food-chain. Programmers are integral and hold a lot of power, but they didn’t control the creative. I wanted to control the stories, the mechanics, the tuning of the experience, not just the systems that enable the Designers. So, I chose to go down the Designer path, right about the time The Strike Series started.”
Jungle Strike
What is your most proud professional accomplishment? I bet it’s hard to choose just one.
“[Thinks]… true… each one of these things are your babies… even the ugly ones. [Laughs] But you know, it’s a toss-up between Jungle Strike and Strider 2014, for me.”
“With Jungle Strike, it’s the fact that so much of myself is in that game. Desert is the standard, but Jungle ran with that and blew it up. Everything is bigger, better, tighter. I even did pixel work in that one.”
“Strider also has a lot of myself in there, but the big thing that makes me most proud of Strider is the fact that I wrote a bucket list for myself back in 1996. It contains everything I want to do with my career, before I kick and #3 on the list is; “Make a Strider-like game”. The opportunity to actually have a dream come true and it actually BE Strider, not a “Strider-like” was amazing. I’m also happy that I was able to give back to the Strider fans, on that one.”
Strider is such a beloved franchise. I know that trying to please the fans is hard. Nostalgia is a fickle mistress. What were some guiding principles in the bringing the franchise back to players?
“Bringing that one back was not only tough, for fans, but all the stakeholders (money people). It was important to be true to the franchise… the ENTIRE franchise. Not just one of the games, but incorporate all that was Strider, while making it feel like one modern package.”
“With ‘retro-revivals’, you need to please fans by giving them things the way they remember them, not necessarily the way they were. You analyze and make sure you retain what’s core, then see where you can spruce things up. For Strider 2014, the core tenant was; fast and fluid. If anything went against that, it was removed, simple as that. A prime example is Hiryu’s signature cypher attack. It goes as fast as you can press the button. There aren’t really any ‘combos’ with his cypher, because Strider Hiryu cuts through everything like butter. Juggles and combos turn him into another character.”
Thinking back on games you’ve worked on in your career, what is one feature you wish you wish you could have saved from being cut?
“There really are so many, to be honest. We could do an entire article on that alone. Every game has them.”
There has to be one that just stings when you think about it.
“OH, LOTS. But, probably in Strider again. We got down to the wire and the save system is probably my biggest regret. There’s only one save slot and no game-plus on Strider 2014 and that makes me a very sad panda.”
Madden 94
That’s painful I’m sure. What skill or trait do you think is most important as a Design Director?
“There are a lot of skills Designers should cultivate, including studying psychology, ergonomics, architecture, etc. But for a Design Director or any Senior/Lead Designer, it’s incredibly important to have perspective and vision. A lot of Designers think they are ‘the fountain of ideas from which all greatness flows’. The best Designers take in all ideas and are able to sift through them, to see what fits the overall vision. Some work, some don’t. Some can be bent to fit. This can be your own ideas or external. Either way, a Design Director or Lead needs to be able to synthesize all of these things and guide the team to bring them to fruition.”
Yeah, it’s not about having all the ideas, but refining them into actionable concepts. You are working in different tools and programs all day. Do you have a favorite tool or plugin you like to use in your workflow? What can’t you live without?
“My weapons of choice are; Word and Excel, of course. I’m a whizz at making pretty docs, although I’ve toned down from 300+ page bibles, to; at-the-ready 1-5 page docs. But the one thing I can’t live without and have been using steady since 2004 is Sketchup. I LOVE it. It’s great for 2D in docs, 3D block-outs… hell, there’s even geo that’s shipped in some of my games, that was directly from Sketchup.”
I love Sketchup. I’ve yet to use it fully in production, but I have used it for mockups and proof of concept. It seems like it is underused, although some might say it’s better just to learn Maya. What do you think?
“I get crap from artists, all the time. ‘Why do you use that toy?’ I retort, ‘Have you used it? Does Maya have [X]?’ They say ‘no’ or show me a cumbersome plug-in. It’s an excellent tool for blocking things out and getting ideas out and into an engine, quickly. Maya is great and I know the tool, but it’s often like using a sledgehammer to drive thumbtacks and discounting anything that makes your life easier is a missed opportunity for many closed-minded people. Viva la Sketchup. [Laughs]”
As a designer, you just want to get to the creative and not be bogged down with process and tools.
“Exactly. You want tools to enhance your creativity and bring it to life, as fast as possible. If Maya does that for you, so be it, but for me, Sketchup gets the job done and does it very well.”
How do you stay relevant? How do you stay up on the latest trends and such? Twitter? Websites?
“I spend an ENORMOUS amount of time aggregating data. I’m all over social media, in tons of sites, on forums. I lurk the hell outta the net. I don’t get out there and talk that much, though, because of the nature of what I’m working on means I have to be careful with my presence. But I’m always there… looking… watching… studying. If there’s a day that I don’t have Twitch, Youtube, NeoGAF, along with 20 other browser tabs, it’s a day the network is down [Smile]”.
Wow, NeoGAF? I haven’t check that in awhile. It is a place for the gamer mind.
“NeoGAF is good for seeing trending topics, sifting through, looking for gems, etc. There are a lot of good sites; like Gamersyde, but their forums are hit and miss. NeoGAF always is moving, so if something stays on the front page, you know it’s hot shyt (at least, topic-wise).”
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Design
Tony Barnes – Design Director
By Daniel Padilla. Published on May 17, 2016. 1
“The biggest thing you’ve never heard of.”
Hey Tony! It’s been a long time.
“Hey.”
Can you tell me your current title and what company you work for?
“Tony Barnes, Design Director, Amazon / Double Helix Games.”
Can you name some titles you’ve worked on in the past?
“Well, there’s a good 30 years there to choose from, but we’ll go with the highlights; Madden 94, Medal of Honor 2010, Legacy of Kain, The Strike Series (Desert, Jungle, Urban, Nuclear), Buffy (OG Xbox) and most recently Strider 2014.”
Legacy of Kain
30 years? That’s a really long time. You are currently a Design Director, can you give me some insight into what a Design Director does day to day?
“Well, without getting into specifics of my day-to-day at Amazon (that’s hush-hush, for now), in the past, as Design Director, I’ve lead the entire team design-wise, held the vision for the game and in many cases, rolled up my sleeves and provided actual levels, art, cinematic direction, music direction, etc.”
How many projects do you direct at a time? I assume at director level you have to juggle multiple projects.
“It’s not really that kind of role. Not ‘Director of Design’, but ‘Design Director’. I’m hyper-focused on one project at a time, just engrossed in every aspect of the entire project.”
What is your favorite part about your job?
“I really enjoy seeing the product come to life. For me, there’s a point where it all clicks in my head and I can see every aspect of the game. That’s usually early on in the project and so there isn’t an actual ‘game’ for people to react to. So, the team has to trust what I’m saying up until the point that it actually happens on the screen. I get warm & fuzzy when people see what I see.”
30 years ago, there were no game schools to speak of. No colleges that had formal game development programs. How did you learn your craft? Did you go to college? Are you self taught?
“I started in 6th grade. They dumped a bunch of Apple II’s in schools and the teachers didn’t know what to do with them, so anyone with apptitude basically ran the class. I wanted to be an animator (stop-motion, etc), so I jumped at the chance to move things without hours of camera work. Back in those days, there were barely books to teach you and no internet. So, you just jumped in and broke other people’s games; reverse engineering them. I started with BASIC on the Apple and Atari/C64, then quickly moved into assembly language, because I wanted to make games as cool as the ones I was playing. Back in those days, you did everything; art, programming, design, QA, promotion, everything. You were lucky if your friends and family played it before you unleashed things on the world.”
Where did you grow up?
“I grew up in the mecca of game development, San Francisco, in the 80’s. I often wonder if I would’ve had a game career, had I grew up somewhere else. Luckily for me, I grew up somewhere that enabled me to fulfil my destiny, as a game maker.”
Tell me how you got your first game job?
“I grew up with magazines for info on games. Compute, Analog, Antic, were the world to me. After making a lot of little games for my friends or user groups, I decided to submit a couple to Antic Publishing. They were located in SF and had magazines, game distribution/publishing, etc. I put a couple of games I had made on a disc and literally walked it into their offices in downtown SF. They eventually sent me an acceptance letter to sign. I sign away all my lovely rights and they published my game; Escape from Hell. I had made that game in one night and was only 15. I needed my mother to cash the check I got from the game. Lol. After that, they brought me on board to make games for them, as well as sole tech support for a programming language they published.”
“The best Designers take in all ideas and are able to sift through them, to see what fits the overall vision.”
I would pay good money to play Escape from Hell. Does it exist anywhere?
“You can play it and shouldn’t have to pay. It’s out there, in emulator land, along with a bunch of my other Atari 8-bit games; Escape from Hell, Doomed, Shutdown. They are cute little platformers. Pretty clunky, by today’s standard. One day, I’ll probably remake them.
Self taught programmer, well, I guess it’s better to say “game creator” because in those days, programmers were designers as well. You had to understand coding to make games, but now you are designer. Did you ever consider moving into programming instead?
“There was a point where I thought about going fully into programming (circa ‘91), but at that time, larger teams (say more than 5 people) were forming. The roles were becoming defined and the programmers weren’t the top of the food-chain. Programmers are integral and hold a lot of power, but they didn’t control the creative. I wanted to control the stories, the mechanics, the tuning of the experience, not just the systems that enable the Designers. So, I chose to go down the Designer path, right about the time The Strike Series started.”
Jungle Strike
What is your most proud professional accomplishment? I bet it’s hard to choose just one.
“[Thinks]… true… each one of these things are your babies… even the ugly ones. [Laughs] But you know, it’s a toss-up between Jungle Strike and Strider 2014, for me.”
“With Jungle Strike, it’s the fact that so much of myself is in that game. Desert is the standard, but Jungle ran with that and blew it up. Everything is bigger, better, tighter. I even did pixel work in that one.”
“Strider also has a lot of myself in there, but the big thing that makes me most proud of Strider is the fact that I wrote a bucket list for myself back in 1996. It contains everything I want to do with my career, before I kick and #3 on the list is; “Make a Strider-like game”. The opportunity to actually have a dream come true and it actually BE Strider, not a “Strider-like” was amazing. I’m also happy that I was able to give back to the Strider fans, on that one.”
Strider is such a beloved franchise. I know that trying to please the fans is hard. Nostalgia is a fickle mistress. What were some guiding principles in the bringing the franchise back to players?
“Bringing that one back was not only tough, for fans, but all the stakeholders (money people). It was important to be true to the franchise… the ENTIRE franchise. Not just one of the games, but incorporate all that was Strider, while making it feel like one modern package.”
“With ‘retro-revivals’, you need to please fans by giving them things the way they remember them, not necessarily the way they were. You analyze and make sure you retain what’s core, then see where you can spruce things up. For Strider 2014, the core tenant was; fast and fluid. If anything went against that, it was removed, simple as that. A prime example is Hiryu’s signature cypher attack. It goes as fast as you can press the button. There aren’t really any ‘combos’ with his cypher, because Strider Hiryu cuts through everything like butter. Juggles and combos turn him into another character.”
Thinking back on games you’ve worked on in your career, what is one feature you wish you wish you could have saved from being cut?
“There really are so many, to be honest. We could do an entire article on that alone. Every game has them.”
There has to be one that just stings when you think about it.
“OH, LOTS. But, probably in Strider again. We got down to the wire and the save system is probably my biggest regret. There’s only one save slot and no game-plus on Strider 2014 and that makes me a very sad panda.”
Madden 94
That’s painful I’m sure. What skill or trait do you think is most important as a Design Director?
“There are a lot of skills Designers should cultivate, including studying psychology, ergonomics, architecture, etc. But for a Design Director or any Senior/Lead Designer, it’s incredibly important to have perspective and vision. A lot of Designers think they are ‘the fountain of ideas from which all greatness flows’. The best Designers take in all ideas and are able to sift through them, to see what fits the overall vision. Some work, some don’t. Some can be bent to fit. This can be your own ideas or external. Either way, a Design Director or Lead needs to be able to synthesize all of these things and guide the team to bring them to fruition.”
Yeah, it’s not about having all the ideas, but refining them into actionable concepts. You are working in different tools and programs all day. Do you have a favorite tool or plugin you like to use in your workflow? What can’t you live without?
“My weapons of choice are; Word and Excel, of course. I’m a whizz at making pretty docs, although I’ve toned down from 300+ page bibles, to; at-the-ready 1-5 page docs. But the one thing I can’t live without and have been using steady since 2004 is Sketchup. I LOVE it. It’s great for 2D in docs, 3D block-outs… hell, there’s even geo that’s shipped in some of my games, that was directly from Sketchup.”
I love Sketchup. I’ve yet to use it fully in production, but I have used it for mockups and proof of concept. It seems like it is underused, although some might say it’s better just to learn Maya. What do you think?
“I get crap from artists, all the time. ‘Why do you use that toy?’ I retort, ‘Have you used it? Does Maya have [X]?’ They say ‘no’ or show me a cumbersome plug-in. It’s an excellent tool for blocking things out and getting ideas out and into an engine, quickly. Maya is great and I know the tool, but it’s often like using a sledgehammer to drive thumbtacks and discounting anything that makes your life easier is a missed opportunity for many closed-minded people. Viva la Sketchup. [Laughs]”
As a designer, you just want to get to the creative and not be bogged down with process and tools.
“Exactly. You want tools to enhance your creativity and bring it to life, as fast as possible. If Maya does that for you, so be it, but for me, Sketchup gets the job done and does it very well.”
How do you stay relevant? How do you stay up on the latest trends and such? Twitter? Websites?
“I spend an ENORMOUS amount of time aggregating data. I’m all over social media, in tons of sites, on forums. I lurk the hell outta the net. I don’t get out there and talk that much, though, because of the nature of what I’m working on means I have to be careful with my presence. But I’m always there… looking… watching… studying. If there’s a day that I don’t have Twitch, Youtube, NeoGAF, along with 20 other browser tabs, it’s a day the network is down [Smile]”.
Wow, NeoGAF? I haven’t check that in awhile. It is a place for the gamer mind.
“NeoGAF is good for seeing trending topics, sifting through, looking for gems, etc. There are a lot of good sites; like Gamersyde, but their forums are hit and miss. NeoGAF always is moving, so if something stays on the front page, you know it’s hot shyt (at least, topic-wise).”