XGC Brittany
New member
What role did you play in the Gears project?
Lead the design and implementation of the environment through the game, set up combat scenarios, worked with LDs to generat the level geometry, scripting, and audio. Basically, working with LDs to create a game world. Also, loads of boss combat, weapon function, mini-game, and gameplay prototyping.
Give the readers an idea about your day-to-day tasks.
This changes greatly throughout the course of a project. early-on, the tasks involve groundwork design and developement. later in the project, the load shifts to oversight and management of the team, and making decisions about the work that's being done. Lots of meeting, lots of email.
What was your favorite aspect of the project?
Seeing the various approaches to game systems come online and eventually shape something we all found really fun to play. It was also great working with the scripting tools to get much of the early design in a playable form before people has to spend real time implementing ideas.
After the complete the game, what so you expect (or hope) players will say?
"Dude! Lets get online!"
Well, and I hope they walk away missing our core gameplay in future games. i want them to play a run-of-the-mill chooter after Gears and think, " wow, it's pretty stupid to be running around in the open like this..." That would probably be a marked evolutionary step in shooting across the board.
What was the trickiest task assigned to you and how did you solve it?
Probably getting everything in the game to load off disk in a streaming manner and within memory. The levels were blocked in and underway when the decision to make them stream was made. So, we had to retrofit levels to make that happen, as well as adjust all the action, scripting, and ever-evolving gameplay to work with those layouts. However, doing this after the levels were laid out helped make the environments noot seen as contrived, or "door-hallway-door-hallway: in layout.
What did the Unreal Engine 3 allow you to achieve in Gears that you couldn't have accomplished without it?
This tech has been fantastic! the tool were instrumental in allowing us to design and implement gameplay scenarios without having programmers sholder that load. If we wanted a complex series of events to happen, we could do it as a designer and see it working before we ever had to commit to it. It represented a fundamental change in how we designed things. Before, we would ahve designed so many theoretically fun scenarios on paper; with these tools, we could just try it to see how it worked and iterate on the results.
Despite the advances XBOX 360 hardware, were there any gameplay elements that just weren't feasible whith today's current state of technology?
Not particularly. i know it's a great tagline to say we're not pushing the 360 as far as it can go but the reality is there is a huge space for improvement. By the end of the project, we find that we could easily push substantially more detail than we are in some areas. I grin from ear to ear when I think of what we'll be doing that really will be pushing it as far as it can go.
What are you most proud of concerning the game?
The core gameplay look. i think we really got something there. It's difficult to ask or expect players to adapt to a different style of gameplay than what they're used to...You really have to offer something spectacular as incentiver to relearn how you should play a shooter. We were massively nervous about this through much of the production, but once we had it in place and saw that people really were able to pick it up and adapt after only a level worth of exposure, the tension was released greatly-you could hear the sighs of relief from the East Coast to Seatlle.
What originally attracted you to the video game industry, and how did you get your start?
I've always wanted to be a game designer-nothing else has ever been on my radar. I started my career as an artist, knowing that people simply aren't looking to hire someone to design a project...You have to work your way into it from another angle. Back in the early '90s, virtually noboday was doing 3D work, but I picked it up as a skill and found myself a slingshot into the industry. More than a decade later, I'm, finally getting where I want to be.
What keeps you in the game industry?
The work environment, the creative outlook, the chance to do what I love and support my family with something I'm passionate about.
What titles have you worked on?
UT2003, UT2004, Anachoronox, R&D, and cinematic projects at Squaresoft, a fistful of Playstation and PS2 games.
What can we look forward to in the future with the Gears franchise?
More than you'll expect. We got the core down, now its time to have some fun!
Do you have a pet tactics or any tips you'd like to share with the readers?
FLANK!! this is the one game you're likely to play wher it actually counts for something. You can stay behind cover and play whack-a-mole for 10 minutes with a given enemy, or look around for a second and descover there's almost always a side route to make his cover useless...and this goes triple for multiplayer. Don't gt sucked in-get behind that sucka!
Favorite movie?
Conan, Aliens, Better Off Dead, Matrix...no, I refuse to answer!
Favorite food to snack on while gaming?
I'm partial to chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, actually-try 'em!
Current gaming obsession (aside from Gears)?
Oblivion cought me for a long time...so fun!
Favorite All-Time game?
Ouch! Um...Puzzle Fighter? Cyberball? Shadow of th Collosus? Carnage Heart? Kings Quest 3? Can and real gamer answer these?
Stranded-on-a-desert-island CD?
Bob Marley and hammock-FTW!
Favorite Book?
Game of Thrones currently
Hobby?
Woodworking and crashing RC planes.
Secret?
Watch the Credits.
Lead the design and implementation of the environment through the game, set up combat scenarios, worked with LDs to generat the level geometry, scripting, and audio. Basically, working with LDs to create a game world. Also, loads of boss combat, weapon function, mini-game, and gameplay prototyping.
Give the readers an idea about your day-to-day tasks.
This changes greatly throughout the course of a project. early-on, the tasks involve groundwork design and developement. later in the project, the load shifts to oversight and management of the team, and making decisions about the work that's being done. Lots of meeting, lots of email.
What was your favorite aspect of the project?
Seeing the various approaches to game systems come online and eventually shape something we all found really fun to play. It was also great working with the scripting tools to get much of the early design in a playable form before people has to spend real time implementing ideas.
After the complete the game, what so you expect (or hope) players will say?
"Dude! Lets get online!"
Well, and I hope they walk away missing our core gameplay in future games. i want them to play a run-of-the-mill chooter after Gears and think, " wow, it's pretty stupid to be running around in the open like this..." That would probably be a marked evolutionary step in shooting across the board.
What was the trickiest task assigned to you and how did you solve it?
Probably getting everything in the game to load off disk in a streaming manner and within memory. The levels were blocked in and underway when the decision to make them stream was made. So, we had to retrofit levels to make that happen, as well as adjust all the action, scripting, and ever-evolving gameplay to work with those layouts. However, doing this after the levels were laid out helped make the environments noot seen as contrived, or "door-hallway-door-hallway: in layout.
What did the Unreal Engine 3 allow you to achieve in Gears that you couldn't have accomplished without it?
This tech has been fantastic! the tool were instrumental in allowing us to design and implement gameplay scenarios without having programmers sholder that load. If we wanted a complex series of events to happen, we could do it as a designer and see it working before we ever had to commit to it. It represented a fundamental change in how we designed things. Before, we would ahve designed so many theoretically fun scenarios on paper; with these tools, we could just try it to see how it worked and iterate on the results.
Despite the advances XBOX 360 hardware, were there any gameplay elements that just weren't feasible whith today's current state of technology?
Not particularly. i know it's a great tagline to say we're not pushing the 360 as far as it can go but the reality is there is a huge space for improvement. By the end of the project, we find that we could easily push substantially more detail than we are in some areas. I grin from ear to ear when I think of what we'll be doing that really will be pushing it as far as it can go.
What are you most proud of concerning the game?
The core gameplay look. i think we really got something there. It's difficult to ask or expect players to adapt to a different style of gameplay than what they're used to...You really have to offer something spectacular as incentiver to relearn how you should play a shooter. We were massively nervous about this through much of the production, but once we had it in place and saw that people really were able to pick it up and adapt after only a level worth of exposure, the tension was released greatly-you could hear the sighs of relief from the East Coast to Seatlle.
What originally attracted you to the video game industry, and how did you get your start?
I've always wanted to be a game designer-nothing else has ever been on my radar. I started my career as an artist, knowing that people simply aren't looking to hire someone to design a project...You have to work your way into it from another angle. Back in the early '90s, virtually noboday was doing 3D work, but I picked it up as a skill and found myself a slingshot into the industry. More than a decade later, I'm, finally getting where I want to be.
What keeps you in the game industry?
The work environment, the creative outlook, the chance to do what I love and support my family with something I'm passionate about.
What titles have you worked on?
UT2003, UT2004, Anachoronox, R&D, and cinematic projects at Squaresoft, a fistful of Playstation and PS2 games.
What can we look forward to in the future with the Gears franchise?
More than you'll expect. We got the core down, now its time to have some fun!
Do you have a pet tactics or any tips you'd like to share with the readers?
FLANK!! this is the one game you're likely to play wher it actually counts for something. You can stay behind cover and play whack-a-mole for 10 minutes with a given enemy, or look around for a second and descover there's almost always a side route to make his cover useless...and this goes triple for multiplayer. Don't gt sucked in-get behind that sucka!
Favorite movie?
Conan, Aliens, Better Off Dead, Matrix...no, I refuse to answer!
Favorite food to snack on while gaming?
I'm partial to chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, actually-try 'em!
Current gaming obsession (aside from Gears)?
Oblivion cought me for a long time...so fun!
Favorite All-Time game?
Ouch! Um...Puzzle Fighter? Cyberball? Shadow of th Collosus? Carnage Heart? Kings Quest 3? Can and real gamer answer these?
Stranded-on-a-desert-island CD?
Bob Marley and hammock-FTW!
Favorite Book?
Game of Thrones currently
Hobby?
Woodworking and crashing RC planes.
Secret?
Watch the Credits.