Don’t let the title fool you, I rarely nowadays have a chance to sit down and actually make art for the game, but I do get to work with a team of talented artists day in and day out. Check out Adam Gershowitz’s job description in an earlier Developer Profile to get a fairly good idea of what I deal with now that I’ve taken his former position. I spend most of my days working with the character team to make sure the visual style of the player and monster art is consistent, writing up work orders and daily feedback for the various off-site character artists we have working with us, and coordinating with different teams on the project to make sure everything involving player character, monster and weapon systems are on track.
What is your background? College? Degree? Has it helped with the job? 1st job out of school?
Mythic is my first and only job in the game industry so far, which I landed about two and a half years ago after I graduated from college with a bachelor’s in “Media Arts and Animation”. Which quite honestly, I think I could have probably done without. I’m not saying going to school hurt (other than financially, hehe), but the most important thing an aspiring game artist can do is learn as much as he can about the current technology and techniques, and practice, practice, practice.
What other titles have you worked on in the past? In what capacity?
I was hired at Mythic as a character artist for Imperator, and briefly worked on the
Darkness Rising expansion for DAoC before transitioning to the WAR project. So officially,
Darkness Rising is my only released title where I worked on a couple demon boss monsters
and a handful of epic weapons. That was quite fun actually, because I got to design the
weapons myself.
What was your “welcome to the game industry” moment when it hit you that you were
really making games for a living?
I was in a Japanese bookstore near my home town looking through some game magazines,
and there was an article about Imperator with a screenshot of one of the models I’d done.
It was kind of surreal! This was the first time it really hit me that people were
seeing the stuff I worked on and would actually be running around in a game world
with a character of mine some day. I just recently started playing the WAR Beta
with my brother, and it’s been very cool to jump in the game with him and just
have fun playing something I’ve been working on for so long.
What excites you about the Warhammer property? What makes it perfect for an MMO?
What cool things in the Warhammer universe do you hope to bring to life?
Warhammer has a rich background with a multitude of visual and idealistic themes to
choose from and explore. With a universe in such a constant and endless state of war,
I think it’s perfectly suited to base an ongoing, massively multi-player game around.
Do you collect Warhammer figures? What army do you play?
When I was much younger I got into painting 40k minis, but was always more interested
in the art and background than the actual game. I kick myself now for throwing out
all the minis I bought back then. I do have a small Slaanesh Chaos army that I plan
to paint within the next century, if I ever actually find time. I don’t know that
I’ll ever have a chance to actually play the game, but I’d like to very much.
What are your hopes/goals for the game?
Honestly, I’d just like to help make a great game that I enjoy playing with characters
that are true to the Warhammer universe.
What are your key influences when making the game? Anything besides Warhammer?
There’s so much to draw from the Warhammer universe that visually there’s not much
need to look elsewhere; it’s all about refining the ideas we have and trying to
make the best art possible. When it comes to game art in particular, I’m always
examining how other games have handled similar problems or systems that we have to
deal with. It’s always inspiring to look at how another game has done something
really well then try to incorporate that technique or quality into our game.
What is the biggest problem with current MMO’s you hope to fix with WAR?
There are A LOT of fantasy MMO’s out there, and I think a lot of them look very...generic.
Warhammer has such great character and personality; we really need more of that in MMOs,
especially if you want people to come back again and again.
What are your favorite video/computer games of all time? What games are you playing
right now? What game should the reader be playing if he’s not?
I’m not sure that’s a fair question, but a few that come to mind that I can always go
back and enjoy; Shadow of the Colossus, FF IV, LoZ: Link to the Past, Tenchu, and the
Monster Hunter Series are a good group. I’m sure I’d get beaten with a pillowcase of
doorknobs around here if I didn’t mention Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, since I’ve
hooked quite a good number of my team on it.
Most recently I’ve been playing Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii because it’s portable and quick to pick up and play. I’ve been trying to get into Odin Sphere, but just haven’t had the time yet. I’d love to be able to play Monster Hunter Frontier...but I’ll just have to settle with MH2 portable for now. And of course, I’m always up for a few rounds of 3rd Strike.
Monster Hunter, Monster Hunter, a thousand times Monster Hunter! I know a lot of us at Mythic have been saying it, but it’s for a good reason! Yet another game I’ve infected quite a few people with. Seriously, spend some time to check out these games if you can. If Monster Hunter 3 for PS3 isn’t released stateside, I place the blame squarely on you!
What music are you listening to right now?
I haven’t really been listening to much music recently. I used to listen to a lot while
I worked, but I’m rarely able to sit down and do that anymore. I’ve actually been
listening to various language learning lessons as I walk to work. I just finished a
very basic Romanian course and I’m moving back into studying Japanese again.
Is there a recent movie you’ve seen or book/comic you read that you’d recommend to others?
Nothing really that pops out at me, and that kind of makes me sad. Going to the movies
recently has been a pretty big let-down. The last one I saw in the theatres that had a
lasting impression with me was Pan’s Labyrinth, which just came out on DVD, so go check
that out if you haven’t. Beautiful story, design and visuals. As for books, the Song of
Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin.
Anything else you want to add?
“Mmmm! Looks tasty!” – Monster Hunter
