Commander Blog

Tell us a little about what you do at Hi-Rez Studios.

I’m a Senior Game Designer at Hi-Rez Studios. I make levels for PvE and PvP, and contribute to designs for new features, but mostly I work with the character art pipeline designing and implementing thebots and bosses that you fight in PvE missions. A typical day for me involves meeting with artists and other designers to discuss and flesh out new concepts, writing documents outlining gameplay or technical elements that artists and animators need to create the art and animations, and combining those art assets with the weapons and minds of the bots, which I create by configuring devices and creating AI scripts in the game’s vast database. I also know all the cheat codes in the game. Did you know if you’re on the title screen and press Up, Down, Left, Right, Up… well, I should probably let you figure it out yourself.

How did you get into the gaming industry? How did you get to Hi-Rez Studios?

My first game development job was during college, interning for minimum wage at a company in California that makes educational games for young kids. I spent the summer designing and building prototypes for music-themed minigames to teach young kids how to read music and understand concepts like rhythm and note length values. I’m not sure if the prototypes I made were ever used in the final game, but they were much more fun and educational than most of the existing stuff at the time. I spent the next summer interning at a company that makes lottery games, designing online instant win games for the UK and Denmark lotteries and learning the complex math behind lottery odds and returns. During that time, I also started working part-time at Hi-Rez as a level designer, after learning of the company and the awesome sounding project they were working on at the time, and submitting a design test for an unpaid intern position. I kept working part-time a couple days a week at Hi-Rez throughout my final year of school, and started as a full-time Level Designer when I graduated.

Describe your video game experience. When did you start playing / making games?

My most vivid early memory of a video game was one Christmas break when I was very young and my older cousin brought over his Commodore 64 to set up in the basement at my Grandma’s house. We played all kinds of games, from Donkey Kong to flying space shooters. A year later when the same cousin brought over his new Nintendo, I knew for sure these video games were going somewhere, and once I got a Nintendo of my own, I was hooked! I’ve spent the majority of my life since then fascinated by videogames and the idea of telling stories by creating my own interactive worlds. I was drawing layouts for new Mario 3 levels in Elementary school when I should have been paying attention in class, or drawing monsters, weapons, or writing up character descriptions, abilities, and design docs for RPGs I would have loved to make. In high school, I taught myself some basic programming and started to focus more on school (saving most of the game design for my spare time outside of class) and went to Georgia Tech to study Computer Science where I could learn to program like an all-star, so I could understand the technical back-end and write code for games – knowledge which has been extremely valuable to me as a game designer.

What is your favorite class / build to play in Global Agenda?

That’s a tough call. As a designer, I play all classes and try to keep them under my fingertips, but I tend to cycle through favorites. Medic was my first love, and I enjoy the versatility of Robotics and sheer destruction power of Assault, but lately I’ve been pissing off coworkers with my uber Sniper Recon. It’s teh win in PvP if you have good team support and know what you’re doing, and I’m always top damage in Defense missions.

What are you most excited for in Global Agenda?

The high level PvE content I’m currently working on, hands down. I can’t say much about it yet, but there should be some awesome stuff in the next expansion that is going to really raise the bar for what players expect (and receive) from PvE.

What experiences do you draw from when creating content for the game?

I often draw from my experiences playing other games or interacting with other media, depending on what’s the most relevant at the time. I tend to recall my own favorite experiences in other games when thinking of things that would be cool in games I’m working on, or the way plot unfolds or characters and environments are presented in film when I’m looking for mood reference. It’s not uncommon to describe new ideas in terms of commonly understood content from other media, so referencing the creepy look and feel of Alien or describing an environment or character idea from Bladerunner or referring to an awesome boss experience in Shadow of the Colossus or World of Warcraft can be a great way to find common ground to share ideas with others. I am also always considering the “how” not just the”why” and pull a lot from my computer science background when considering how feasible an idea is in practice.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to break into the gaming industry?

It’s a very competitive industry and most of the people in it are very passionate about their work, so you’ve got to have a strong drive and be devoted to what you do if you want to stand out. I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for my willingness to work hard and passion for what I was doing, while at the same time being willing to work for peanuts or even free in some cases to get the experience needed to eventually get the job I wanted. If you want in, be prepared to have to work for it, and probably swallow your pride (but not your ambition) in the process. It’s especially not going to be easy to break in right out of school, so I would recommend applying for internships to get professional experience, or working on mods and personal projects to hone your skills and get experience on real, tangible projects early on. Shipped titles and playable demos are a big plus. I know when I’m interviewing new applicants, in addition to the obvious skills with the tools, I’m looking to see if they have the fire to devote themselves to what they’re doing, and the work ethic and patience to get it done, and seeing that a recent graduate has done serious work on projects not related to class is always a big plus. If you can show that you’re the kind of person who’s willing to applying yourself even when there was no real compensation (aside from personal pride) to be had, that can help you get a foot in the door. Dabbling here and there or being a casual weekend hobbyist isn’t going to get you nearly as far as diving in and getting your hands dirty, and with the amount of competition for jobs (especially in today’s market), you really need to find ways to set yourself above the rest.

Favorite game(s)?

This is probably the most difficult question. I like a lot of games and genres, but at core, I’m kind of an old-schooler in many ways. I think the games focused more on fun simple gameplay, innovation, and story telling without being able to hide behind crazy visuals, fast-cut trailers and cinematics, and (usually) awful VO. That said, my list looks something like:
Final Fantasy 3 (US), Chrono Trigger, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,  Diablo 1 and 2, FF7, Final Fantasy Tactics, The Simpsons Arcade Game, Doom 1 and 2, Super Mario World, Super Smash BrosMelee (Brawl just didn’t live up), Sonic 2, D&D: Shadow Over Mystara (an awesome classic arcade game), and the Megaman series.

What do you do in your free time?

When I’m not playing or creating videogames, I enjoy playing piano, drawing, cooking, going on bike rides, playing or running table top RPGs, smoking hookah, playing UNO, and spending time with my lovely lady and our ridiculous cats.

What is on your iPod/MP3player?

I listen to a wide variety of music. Lately it’s been a combination of Bonobo, Mux Mool, Ratatat, and Megadeath, but you can almost always find me with Aphex Twin and the three ‘B’s (Bach, Beethoven, andthe Beatles) on hand.

What is your favorite quote / meme from the office or game?

When a new feature, bot, or game type works for the first time without a hitch – “Ship it!”

Personal Work

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Refer friends to Global Agenda, and get bad-ass in-game head flair. It’s that easy!

All Global Agenda players that have purchased the game now have a set of coupon codes that they can give to friends to encourage them to buy the game. These codes give a 15% discount in the Global Agenda Store. Give these codes to your friends and once 5 of your coupons are used, you will get the boonie hat head flair! (Flair will be awarded starting Monday, August 23).

Note: Coupons are only valid in the Global Agenda Store.

Where can I find my coupons?

Log into your Account and click on the Coupon Codes tab. Give the coupon code to your friend to use during the purchase process.

How can I tell if a coupon has been used?

Look at the Used column in the Coupon Code tab. It shows whether the code has been used or not.

I’ve given away all my coupons. Can I get more?

Yes! Your coupons will be replenished once a day. You should always have 5 unused coupons in your account.

Five people have used my coupons! How do I get my flair?

We’ll start awarding flair on Monday, August 23 to anyone who has 5 coupons used. Starting Monday, the system will update your account to give you the flare promotion. After Monday, your account will be automatically updated once you reach 5 coupons.

I already used some of my coupons. Do they count?

Yes! Any coupons used from your account count towards the flair.

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