As you know, Irrational Games (Boston and Australia) are now 2K Boston and 2K Australia respectively. Please head over to those sites for all news and job postings related to our studios!
Hi everyone. We've just come back from E3 where we were showing Bioshock for the first time.
We were overwhelmed by the response. In particular, we won 'Best of Show' from IGN, GameSpot and GameSpy!
As the holidays fade into memory, Irrational continues to be showered with late gifts to kick off the New Year.
First and foremost, Irrational was named by IGN as “Best Developer” of 2005 in the PC category.
The folks over at IGN were also kind enough to honor both SWAT 4 and Freedom Force vs. the 3rd Reich with a
few distinguished nominations and one dubious award. SWAT 4 walked away with “Runner Up” in the “Best First-Person
Shooter” category, while FFv3R scored a “Runner Up” in the “Best RPG” category. Not too shabby. Meanwhile, both
FFv3R and SWAT 4 made two of “The Editors’ Top 10” lists.
Over at Gamespot, SWAT 4 earned a nomination for “Best A.I."
Also, the polls are open for the “Readers’ Choice Awards”, so go rock the vote and represent for Irrational. Man-Bot would want it that way.
And who could forget the delicious distinctions from Gamespy? Once again, SWAT 4 and FFv3R proved to be a one-two PC
powerhouse punch as they ranked number 9 and number 8 respectively on their “Top 10 PC Games of 2005”.
Thanks for all the journos for noticing our hard work!
22 July 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
New FFV3R Walkthrough!
There is a great article on Gamespot called
"So You Wanna Be a Game Designer."
Author Bob Colayco interviewed four game designers (one of whom happens to be Ken) on how they got
into the industry, their day to day jobs, what they love about designing, how to get into the industry,
and more. Also, Ken reveals to the public how he has some unfulfilled romantic longings for "that green chick"
from Star Trek…
Also, GameBanshee
has an excellent walkthrough of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich. For each mission they have included
recommended heroes, a map, a mission overview, a list of the primary and secondary objectives, and an
enemy list. I highly recommend this if you are stuck at any point in the game or just want an easier trip
through.
--- Meredith Levine
15 July 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
SWAT 4 Mod Madness
Irrational Associate Producer Joe Faulstick brought to my attention the huge amount of new
content on the (unofficial but very complete) SWAT site 10-David.
By the way, although I really like 10-David and it has a lot of fantastic stuff, Irrational is not affiliated
with the site. In other words, if you break your computer by downloading any mod I point out to you,
Irrational Games can not be held responsible. You do, however, have my sympathy since that would seriously suck.
On that note, 10-David has six new mods up on the site.
I hear very good things about Code 11 in particular.
Other recent 10 David goodies include a poll about the
release of the patch. Around 86 percent are happy with the patch and as you all know, it’s hard to get 86% of
gamers to agree on anything. I don’t mean that in an insulting way. Obviously I’m into the whole gamer thing.
So yeah, people like it so congrats to the team. Somehow the thread related to the poll devolved into a lengthy
discussion about dingoes: what they are and if they did or did not eat your baby.
Have a good weekend!
--- Meredith Levine
8 July 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Hot Irrational Team Pic!
So, we’re up and running in our new space. We have so much room, it’s insane.
Irrational has traditionally been a very cozy group so this is new. Plus the AC works,
which is always a good thing. Working in the Southie space while it was being demolished
wasn’t always sunshine and lollipops. We took a final group picture in the old space. A
few people are missing but you get the idea:
SWAT is now available to purchase online. So if you are living in a tree house in the
jungles of Ecuador and can’t get to an EB (or if you just haven’t gotten around to buying
it yet) try Direct2Drive.
There is also a free one-hour trial of the game on
Gamespot so if you have
trouble committing you may want to try the game first.
I was looking around the fan art forum on FreedomFans.com
and there is a ton of amazing stuff in there. Be sure to check out anything by NORVANDELL. He
(or she?) has some very creative and original versions of many of the Freedom Force characters.
I particularly like this version of Minuteman
but all his stuff is great.
---Meredith Levine
30 June 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Irrational Moves!
That's right, as of July 5 Irrational Games will be in its shiny new space in Quincy, MA.
Our new information:
Irrational Games
1515 Hancock St., 3rd Floor
Quincy, MA 02169
Tel: 617-657-0799
Fax: 617-657-0548
The new space has more than twice the square footage as well as T access,
free parking and a giant deck. So, although I am sad to leave our South Boston
school house, the new place has a lot to offer. Hopefully one of the offerings will
be no bodies in vacant lots. Since moving to Southie this has happened twice. Twice!
I would like to thank our lovely Operations Manager, Kate Kellogg. Kate has
orchestrated this move while kicking butt at the rest of her extremely complicated
and time consuming job. The woman literally never sleeps and never, ever complains.
She is amazing and we are very lucky to have her.
Happy 4th!
---Meredith Levine
24 June 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
IG Biz Dev guru, Joe McDonagh speaks about life and game
development in Australia!
I should really call this one "This Week at Irrational with Joe". He wrote
the whole thing and gives some fantastic insight into the life of a game developer
in Australia. Frankly, it sounds nice. Really, really nice…:
--- Meredith Levine
I had the most terrific shock the other day. I switched on the TV and
saw a weatherman announce, with considerable glee, that it was going to
rain tomorrow. It doesn't happen very often you see. I'm English and I
know I've got a hang-up about the weather, but this isn't first time
that I've thought that Australia is more than just geographically upside
down.
I used to be a game developer in Camden Town in London for five years.
As the second most expensive city in the world, London is best enjoyed
with a fat wallet, which isn't something you associate with game
development. After one crunch too many, I jacked in the job, packed up my
bags and went to Australia for six months to watch cricket and drink beer.
I had modest expectations of what I might find in Australia. I expected
sunshine of course, a welcome antidote to London's unremittingly grey
skies. I wanted to find a lot of sport. As for the people, I had low
expectations. You see I was slightly prejudiced in this respect. My only
previous experience of Australians had been with the half a million
young Australians who visit London every year and see it, not
unreasonably, as a twenty first century walkabout, complete with booze, birds and
bad behavior. Don't get me wrong, I'm no shrinking violet myself, but as
a foreigner with limited exposure, it's easy to dismiss Aussies as a
crude and unsophisticated bunch
(Age old Anglo-Australian rivalry dictates that I must perpetuate this
stereotype, of course, but please don't tell them that).
So you can imagine my surprise that I’m still here three years later.
Why? It's very simple: my life is overwhelmingly better here than it was
in England. Firstly the people: Australians are a cheerful, funny and
unfailingly generous and supportive bunch. It's impossible not to like
them, and believe me I try, particularly when they beat England at sport
(which is all the time). Secondly, it's not very different from home. I
once lived in sub arctic Northern Japan, where it snowed for six
months, in a town closer to Vladivostock then to Tokyo. Oh, and there was
only one other person in town who spoke English. Having been there, I
appreciate how much easier the shared language and cultural values have
made my life here. There are some important differences though,
particularly over colloquial use of expressions like 'root' and 'fag' but -
somewhat miraculously - I've managed to overcome these without a visit to
the local infirmary. Thirdly, the weather is outrageously good. Canberra
has a reasonably temperate climate by Australia's standards but it's
still like living in Hawaii as far as I'm concerned. I acknowledge that
as a prisoner of 30 years of London's soul-sapping drizzle I may have a
particularly skewed view on this. All I know is that 300 days a year of
sunshine has done wonders for my world view, and I no longer have
"Falling Down" style fantasies about gunning people down because you're
sniffing someone's arm pit on a crowded tube train on a humid summer's day in
London.
Oops. That didn't mean to come out.
Of course, this would all be the stuff of fantasy if I couldn't earn a
living. The fact is, I like making games and I didn't want to do
anything else with my life, no matter how good the lifestyle might be. After
a lot of graft, cold calling and contract work, I got a job at a
leading Australian games company. This is what I've learnt since I've been
here:
The industry is tremendously well
organized down here. The GDAA (Game Development Association of Australia) has
done a remarkable job of lobbying state and federal government for
support. Australian developers enjoy significant tax subsidies and grants,
allowing the industry to compete effectively against US and European
competitors. My previous company received a $4 million technology grant
which it successfully turned into a leading piece of middleware. British
developers can only dream of such largesse, as studio after studio
disappear into oblivion.
But what about Australian game developers themselves? Are the working
conditions different? How is it different? Pleasingly, it isn't. I
remember walking into a studio here and feeling instantly at home, aware
that I could be in a games studio anywhere in the world, complete with
action figures, dusty copies of the Monster Manual and the wardrobe
malfunctions masquerading as programmers.
There are some differences of
course. One is that Australians still cling to baffling idea that work is a
means of economic subsistence. Luckily the Anglo-American live-to-work
virus hasn't infected them yet. Coming from London, I found this
refreshing to say the least. It also made me look like a human dynamo, a
Pommie Stakhanovite, frothing at the mouth for more, yes please more crunch.
I soon had that beaten out of me. Australians have a healthy respect
for the importance of real life, wives, kids and other trivial stuff like
that and are happy to communicate this to you in no uncertain (usually
expletive ridden) terms. Aussies, I salute you.
Am I going home? No. I've discovered food that hasn't been cooked for
ten hours, chucked in a pie and served with gravy and chips. I have a
healthy color in my skin. I drink cold beer. I celebrate Christmas on the
beach. My mother now thinks I'm great because she only sees me once a
year. The people I work with are earthy, cheerful and talented and we're
working on a next generation console title. An American publisher who
recently visited us really hit the nail on the head when he described
Australia as "California done by the British." As long they don't elect
the Crocodile Hunter as ACT state governor, I think I'll be staying
here.
--- Joe McDonagh
21 June 2005 -- Midweek Update
S.W.A.T. 4 Patch Released!
That's right, the patch is out and it brings a whole slew of improvements to the
game. We fixed a whole bunch of issues, improved security and even added multi-player
versions of three missions. So check out the details and download it here
http://www.swat4.com/us/site.html
--- Meredith Levine
17 June 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
No News is Good News.
Well, it's summer here in lovely South Boston and winter over there in lovely Canberra
and well, all is quiet on both fronts. Not really quiet, just the kind of quiet that falls
under those pesky non-disclosure agreements. Under the surface there is a whole buzz of
activity. Think of us as wasps or something. You never quite know what they are really doing
in those nests of theirs…
--- Meredith Levine
10 June 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Interview with IG Lead Designer Ed Orman!
I was lucky enough to get Lead Designer Ed Orman to take time out of his busy schedule
to answer some questions about his job. Ed works out of Irrational's Australia office and
played a key role in Tribes and Freedom Force. He offers some great insights into the life
of a game designer and reveals some unresolved issues involving yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.
First of all, I assume you are a gamer? What is your favorite game? When did you start gaming?
Did your parents let you play games and if not were you horribly traumatized? Do you spend a lot of time
gaming now even though it is now kind of work related?
Ed: Arg, what a question to start with: I like a lot of games in lots of different genres
and eras. Given the amount of time I spent playing it, my most recent favorite would be Prince
of Persia: Sands of Time.
The earliest videogame I can remember playing is some iteration of home-video pong or other,
which must have been around '78. I also got a dual-screen Game and Watch version of "Donkey Kong"
for my 8th birthday (I think), which was the first game I over-played to the point where it turned
up in my dreams. Plus my dad worked for IBM, so we were one of the first people in our area to get
a PC and I still remember booting up "Adventure" off a very large floppy disk.
I currently spend 10-16 hours a week playing computer and console games. The larger proportion
of that is for research - playing a game to pull it apart is always fascinating but tends to suck
the fun out of it. Recently I've been trying to spend even more time playing other types of games
such as board and card games.
How does one get into game design as a career? What made you decide that this was the right
path for you?
Ed: My path was a little weird - the short version is I got a job doing illustration for a games
company. Because of my background in running paper-based role-playing games (and because there was
no-one else at the time to do the job), I was given the opportunity to try my hand at design.
Game design is a chance to create little worlds for people to mess around with. That's essentially
what I was doing with role-playing and illustration, but games are far more direct and rewarding (for
my money, anyway) so I stuck with it.
What kind of educational/work background is desirable and/or helpful for the job? Is a degree
necessary? What skills are useful for the position? How did your previous experience prepare you for
the job?
Ed: One of my previous jobs was in advertising and entertainment. While it wasn't directly related,
it did get me used to the concepts of dedication, long hours and hard work. It also put me in positions
where I had to deal with people on a daily basis, be it clients or my colleagues or my boss. Being able
to talk with all those people was challenging, but it's an invaluable skill to develop if you're going
to be a designer, where communication is most of what you do. I'm still working on being a better
communicator.
I don't exactly know what kind of degree would be most useful, although I understand that there are
places in the U.S. that offer formal game design training now. Regardless, if I was hiring another designer
I'd expect them to:
be able to work within a team
have good analytical skills, and be practiced at pulling apart other games to see what makes them tick
have the ability to clearly document and communicate ideas
have a real passion for games.
It helps to have at least some understanding of the other disciplines involved in game production, as well.
What is the overarching role of the designer in game development?
Ed: To force an analogy, a designer is like a map-maker and a navigator and that guy that yells
all the orders all rolled into one. And a bit like a pirate.
When I first started, I thought it was my job to come up with all the ideas. It's not - every
member of a team has ideas, and lots of them are good. The Lead Designer's job is to establish what
the overall philosophy of the game is, and to vet all those ideas (including their own) against that
established philosophy as development progresses. Then you have to communicate to everybody why an
idea does or doesn't fit, which tends to be the hardest part.
Ok, so not much like a pirate.
What do you on a daily basis? Describe a typical day.
Ed: That differs depending on where we are in the life cycle of a project. Broadly speaking:
At the beginning of a project, I tend to have a BUTT-LOAD of meetings which are the first pass
at establishing that philosophy I mentioned before. These involve the publisher, the team members,
pretty much anyone who has an interest in the game, and invariably result in a document of some kind.
There's also a lot of analysis of similar games at this point, seeing what established expectations are
and what ideas do or don't work. Typically, all the crazy ideas get put on the table at this point, and
over the course of a few months we whittle them down to the ones we think make the best fit.
In the middle of a project, most of the core detail of the design has been established, so it's a
matter of keeping that communication going, updating people on anything that's changed and making sure
that what's being created fits the game. There can also be some hands-on work, as in Tribes: Vengeance
where I built levels as well as managed a team of designers.
At the end of a project, all the systems should are implemented in some form, so there's more hands-on
time in playing the game and fiddling with the balance. There are cool moments in earlier stages (for
example, when you see a brand new idea working for the first time), but this phase tends to be the most
satisfying to me because the game has matured enough that you can make all your tweaks with a full
understanding of how it will affect everything else.
Throughout this whole process, there's a liberal amount of communication between disciplines to make sure
the direction is clear, there's communication with the publisher, and there's communication with the community
(if one exists) and the press. That last one tends to be the most difficult since in most cases you're using
email or forums which are not the best communication tools in the world.
(And if we're between projects, my typical day involves drinking coffee, writing pitch documents for
the next project, and sussing out the competition by playing lots of game demos)
Can you talk about how you and your team interface with the artists and programmers to get a game
done? When does the design team come into the planning process of a game and how do you as lead designer
run the process, figure out what to delegate where, etc.?
Ed: Design is involved in planning from the very beginning, and in my experience tends to be the driving
force. But that's not to say it all flows in one direction - any project has production, technical and
artistic constraints that extend beyond the basic design of the game. So all of that tends to come together
right at the start - if I'm writing a pitch document, I'm doing so having already been informed what my
practical boundaries are.
Beyond that, there are regular meetings between the leads of each team to discuss whatever is being created
for the current milestone. Plus I do my best to just visit each department and talk to another lead when I have
a problem I want to thrash out (as do they when I haven't explained a particular feature of the design clearly
enough).
Delegation is a tricky one. We had an unusual team structure on Tribes: Vengeance (for me at least) where the
Single and Multi player design responsibilities were split between two people. In the future, as our teams grow
larger, I expect that level of delegation to go even more fine-grain, with one designer being in charge of a
specific system. I think that will be a pretty challenging exercise.
Are certain types of projects more or less desirable from a design standpoint?
Ed: Absolutely. There's a certain amount of professional interest in analyzing and designing any type of
game (believe me, in this job I've played far more games that I didn't like than those I did), but just as
with other forms of media, I have my preferences.
Specifically, I enjoy working on more open-ended games, where the player is given lots of choice in how
they want to play. I'm pretty lucky that Irrational puts a lot of emphasis on that kind of design.
How does the IG development process differ from your previous experiences?
Ed: I've been working at Irrational for nearly four years. The development process is quite different to
my last job, as it is far more clearly structured and the people I'm working with are more experienced. We
also commit a lot of time to refining our processes as we learn something new with each game.
As a company Irrational is very focused. The founders have a stated direction for the types of games they
want to make, and they've stuck to that with every product they've created. That's a really valuable attribute
from my point of view because there's always something against which you can measure your ideas.
What do you find most satisfying/enjoyable about your job?
Ed: There are two answers to this one. The "nice" answer is watching somebody play your game for the first
time, maybe in a focus test, and seeing them totally grok what some concept is about. It might be something
as simple as understanding how a particular movement system is supposed to work. That's pretty cool.
But the real answer is meeting someone who has played one of your games and who tells you that it
took over their lives. I dig that.
What do you find most challenging?
Ed: Keeping everybody informed and paying attention to what everybody else has to say, too. Everybody
has to be a communicator in this business - Design, Programming, Art, Production - so you have to dedicate
a lot of mental bandwidth to what's going on at all times.
What has been your favorite game to work on and why?
Ed: Probably Freedom Force. Although I only got to work on it for the last 6 months or so, I was lucky
enough to score the task of writing all the funky text descriptions for the objects in game. I'm a comic
collector and I have some of the classic stuff on my shelves, so that was a lot of fun.
--- Meredith Levine
3 June 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Help!
That's right, Irrational is looking for help.
So check out the postings and send us your resume if you qualify. The
Australia office is also hiring.
Irrational is a great place and you can wear whatever the hell you want to work.
It is a very challenging environment and everyone works really hard but you'll get
to work on some amazing projects. Oh, and you must live in or be willing to relocate to
Boston or Canberra. Boston is really nice though so it's not like we're asking you to
relocate to some sketchy place. I hear Canberra is amazing although I haven't been there yet.
In reviews, (yes, they are still coming out!) RPG Vault's Richard Aihoshi wrote
about Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich and well, he liked it. Here's a snippet:
"If you've played any or all of System Shock 2, Freedom Force, Tribes: Vengeance
and SWAT 4, you'll be familiar with one of Irrational's defining strengths as a company,
which is the quality of the writing in its games."
There is also a brand new review of SWAT 4 on GameAxis.
Author Benjamin Fong gives a lovely review and wraps it up with:
"Combining the complexities of a tactical FPS with the simple controls
of an arcade shooter and topping it off with gorgeous graphics and addictive multiplayer,
Irrational Games have crafted the best SWAT game yet. Daryl F. Gates would be so proud"
For some reason, I don't see Daryl Gates casually showing up at the Irrational office
with a six pack and hearty congratulations, but you never know!
--- Meredith Levine
27 May 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Our Mod Communities Completely Rock (and yes, that is actually how I talk)
Best wishes to Bill Gardner who is getting married this weekend to Amanda,
his hot gamer chick counterpart.
It seems that the mod communities for SWAT and Freedom Force Vs. the 3rd Reich
are both really thriving out there in the wide world of the Internet. For SWAT mods
check out the community site
to see some amazing fan-created SWAT maps and gameplay tweaks. People have done some
really great work. In the New Map Releases section I recommend C Block and MP Clear
(both by Wurst), which people seem to love. A few maps in the "New Map Previews" section
that look promising are Brentwood Reloaded by DeAdMaN, Operation Firefly by SWATDOG, and
The Old Prison by Wurst. Clearly this Wurst guy is doing something right. Someone even
professed their (non-sexual) love for him on the forums.
There are scores of great Freedom Force mod sites so go check out the
forums and I promise they will lead
you to mods of just about anything/anyone you could imagine playing as. We have some
seriously creative fans and it is really fun to see how people ran with what the team
created for both games.
In other news, Ken did an interview
with GameCloud in which he discusses the fun filled process of releasing three games in
six months. In case it was unclear I would like to highlight the sarcasm in the previous
statement.
Also, I was not going to post any reviews this week but this one from
Worthplaying was just
too good to pass up. I love this review! The author gives SWAT 4 a 9/10 and an Editor's
Choice award and has the following brilliant and flawlessly accurate insights:
"Irrational Studios has truly been working magic."
"Irrational Studios has a winner on their hands with SWAT 4. The game offers what
may be the best single player experience in the tactical FPS genre and exceptional
multiplayer gameplay."
"In terms of quality, SWAT 4 is definitely Häagen-Daaz-grade goodness and
certainly not the low cost, low quality store brand."
--- Meredith Levine
20 May 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
E3 Sucks the Life out of the Games Industry
Seriously, it is all E3, all the time and this week not much else really
matters. E3 just draws gamers to it and if you are a serious gamer, or work
in the industry, either you are there or you wish you were. Having just shipped
3 games, Irrational is actually sitting out this E3 and focusing on, you know,
working on games.
So, that's it for this week. Go see Revenge of the Sith if you haven't
already because really, I know you want to. I'm off to read the history of
the Sith because Ken and I are going tonight and I need some background.
This movie better suck because Ken bet Associate Producer Bill Gardner 100
bucks that it would be terrible.
Update: We just got back from the movie and damn you Gardner, you've
foiled us again! Ken's 100 bucks poorer...
--- Meredith Levine
Updated Jobs at Irrational!
Irrational Games is seeking talented individuals for a variety of job positions at
our Boston, Massachusetts and Canberra, Australia studios! For information on
available jobs please visit the
company page on Irrational's website.
13 May 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
SWAT Awarded Game of the Month!
Much has happened in the last two weeks. First I would like to say thank
you and goodbye to Micha Van Hessen who served as VUG's SWAT 4 Community
Coordinator. Micha was a volunteer who managed the forums and worked very
hard to spread the word about SWAT. According to Irrational Associate Produce
Joe Faulstick, "Micha has managed to generate a ton of buzz for SWAT and help
form a bridge between IG and the fan community". So thanks Micha!
There are lots of great new SWAT reviews out there along with a brand new
SWAT trailer http://www.gametab.com/news/267536/ available for your viewing
pleasure.
Best of all, SWAT was named IGN's PC Game of the Month
. Congrats to the team, this is fantastic news and a real honor:
"Why We Picked It: The bar is very high in the tactical shooter
rena right now. Back when Rainbow Six and SWAT first burst on to the scene,
they stood apart merely on the basis of their concepts -- ultra realistic,
squad-based games that emphasized real tactics. A host of imitators have followed
this same model over the past few years but this latest sequel from Irrational
Games should send them running scared.
(Irrational is) not known for making games that are anything less than
spectacular. The attitude of this game never wears thin, and the excitement
of each level never wavers, even after you've played through them a dozen
times. (Trust us; we know this to be true.) Trying to get through a mission
with as little loss of life as possible for both you and the criminals makes
for some really exciting gameplay."
Additionally, Tom's Hardware Guide has a lengthy, detailed
review
with lots of great screen shots and Adrenaline Vault
gives the game 4/5 stars.
I am very pleasantly surprised that reviews of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich are still coming. Here are my favorites:
GameAxis
gives the game a 9/10 and says "Irrational's out to bring another runaway success
with this one."
Gaming Nexus gives
FFV3R a 9.1/10 and author Tyler Sager awards it an Editor's Choice. He also
addresses the eternal dilemma of "do these tights make my ass look big?"
(No Tyler, your ass looks great.) Tyler also says "this game is a complete blast.
I highly recommend this to fans of the original, and to anyone with even a mild
interest in superhero games. Heck, it's also quite a solid squad-based strategy
game, so those leery of the superhero genre could be brought into the fold. In
short, give this game a try."
Game
Chronicle Magazine also gives the game a 9/10 and an Editor's Choice award.
"Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich is one of those titles that truly show the love
and affection of a development team, and with a large community of fans- Irrational
had to deliver again. Thankfully with beefed-up graphics, added multiplayer support
and another solid storyline filled with classic comic goodness, they came through
in heroic fashion."
--- Meredith Levine
6 May 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Interview with Irrational Lead Programmer Chris Kline
Chris Kline, Lead Programmer on SWAT 4 took time out of his very, very busy
schedule to speak with me about his work. Chris took a leading role during the
beginning of SWAT and also led (with Rowan Wyborn in Australia) the code-sharing
effort that helped make development of both SWAT 4 and Tribes: Vengeance go smoothly.
What is the overarching role of the lead programmer in game development?
The lead programmer is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game's
technology development process. At a high level, this means I'm the guy who
gets his butt kicked if the tech team doesn't deliver. But on a more day-to-day
level, it means that I do the boring stuff so that my amazing team of programmers
doesn't have to deal with it and can focus on building the cool parts of the game.
Ideally, if I do my job right, the tech team will be able to deliver the
features that the other teams need, on time, without having to work overtime.
What do you on a daily basis? Describe a typical day.
Well, over the course of the project it could include any and all of the following:
Making sure that all the crazy ideas the artists and designers are planning can
actually be achieved from a technology standpoint. I try to explain what our tech
can currently do, what it might be able to do if we devoted some time to it, and what
we definitely will not be able to do. Sometimes I'm the good cop, and sometimes I'm
the bad cop (people at my last company used to call me "Dr. No").
Building a 2-year task schedule for our 7-person programming team, to ensure
that pieces of technology come online before they are needed by the rest of the
team, and monitoring/updating this schedule on a weekly basis.
Building the Technical Design Document, which outlines the "big picture"
problems the game will have to solve, defines possible approaches, and enumerates
the risks and risk mitigation plans for each problem.
Working with the lead artist, lead designer, and project lead to solve problems
as they arise, to keep the team working at maximum efficiency.
Working with Rowan, my counterpart lead programmer in the Australian office,
to coordinate technology shared technology development.
Working with the programming team to help them solve problems they are encountering,
such as software design conundrums, scheduling issues, and sometimes even interpersonal
conflicts.
Coordinating with the QA team, triaging bug reports, and making sure vhe game
remains as stable as possible during development. Managing code development branches,
cross-integrating changes, and releasing both internal builds and external (milestone)
builds of the game.
Occasionally doing little bits of coding. This is usually really boring stuff, like
fixing bugs, or implementing little features that I forgot to put in the 2-year schedule.
Are certain types of projects more or less desirable from a programming standpoint?
Definitely! I'd rather clean the floors of all the Orange Line trains with
my tongue than write a cell-phone game.
From a purely geek-chic standpoint, every programmer has their own preferences as
to what's a desirable project and what isn't. Some of the guys on my team would love
to optimize low-level microcode on the PS2, and some enjoy high-level systems
architecture. Others geek out on developing tools in the latest scripting language,
and still others are all hot for the [unmentionable hardware capability] in the
[next-gen console which may or may not exist]. Personally, I'm in it for the visuals--
if I can work with talented artists to make a game with beautiful 3D graphics and
animation, then I'm sold.
But in the end it's the game itself that ends up on the shelves, so the most
desirable projects are the ones that allow us the chance to focus on making a
great game. These are the projects in which the technology requirements are very
challenging but achievable, the visual aesthetic is distinctive, and the gameplay
is innovative, fun, and open-ended. That pretty much describes every project
Irrational Games has ever undertaken.
Can you talk about how the programming team interfaced with the artists and
designers to get SWAT 4 done? When does the programming team come into the planning
process of a game and how do you as lead programmer run the process, figure out
what to delegate where, etc.?
Sure. SWAT 4 was a great project because we had a clear vision for it from the
beginning, and from the very start of the project the programming team was involved
in all aspects of the design.
The first thing that happened was that everyone on the team played SWAT 3 at
work if they hadn't already played the bejeezus out of it on their own time.
Then the entire company brainstormed about what aspects of SWAT 3 were great,
which ones sucked, and how we wanted to take the SWAT concept and "make it our own".
In the end we decided that we wanted to take most of SWAT 3 and improve it with
better AI, better graphics, an improved command interface, the feeling of being
immersed in a dark, gritty, miserable world.
Paul Hellquist, our lead designer, worked with the design team to create a
very thorough (120 pages at last count) Master Design Document that explained
every feature in the game and how the design team thought it should work. I then
broke that down into a schedule of tasks that I then assigned to individual
programmers based on a variety of factors:
How soon did the feature needed to come online?
How important it was to the core game experience?
How closely did the feature match the skill set of a particular programmer?
This included both technical and interpersonal skills.
Was a similar feature needed for the project in the Australian office (Tribes:Vengeance),
and could we share the technology?
How much did a particular programmer want to "own" a particular feature?
Once the high-level tasks (e.g. "build a weapons system", "implement room
clearing for AIs") were assigned to programmers, those programmers were responsible
for working with a designer or artist to gather detailed requirements (e.g. "weapons
use ammunition, which is stored in clips, which can be reloaded", "AIs need to be
able to aim in all directions while moving"), break the task down into sub-parts,
and begin implementation. Usually we did features in multiple "passes", where we'd
try to implement the major components of each feature (e.g., , "bullets cause damage
when they hit things", "AIs can move through doors in a coordinated fashion") first,
and then later on iron out the smaller, less important details like "when you turn
on the flashlight, the tiny texture on the weapon that represents the flashlight
needs to glow".
During development the programming met every Monday afternoon for about two hours.
During that meeting each programmer would talk about what he accomplished during the
previous week, whether he was ahead of schedule or behind schedule, and what kinds of
problems he was encountering. Based on that I would adjust the programming schedule
to make sure that the most critical tasks got done first, and try to get the programmers
the resources they needed to finish their tasks. We did a lot of "discussion" (read:
arguing) in those meetings, but they were instrumental in making sure that each
programmer knew what his colleagues was up to, and helped ensure that the system that
one programmer was building would meet the needs of the other programmers who had to
use it.
How does one end get into programming as a career?
What made you decide that this was the right path for you?
There's a thousand different ways to get into programming as a profession. How
did I end up in game programming? Well, it's a long and convoluted story.
I was a bit of a pasty-faced geek when I was a kid (I'm still a geek, but a
little less pasty). Sometime in the early 1980s my dad brought home a Franklin Ace
1000 computer (an Apple II+ clone), and he and I taught each other to program it.
Dad worked the night shift, so while he was asleep during the day I would program
and leave it for him to see; then when he came home he would program while I was
asleep and leave it running for me to see. We would continually try to one-up each
other, which was a fun way to learn. My pièce de résistance was an interactive tour
of the Earth's crust, with music, written in BASIC, that I did for my science project
in 4th grade. Let me tell you, that was a big hit with the ladies.
In junior high I got bored with computers and didn't touch them for a couple years.
In high school I started programming again, teaching myself Pascal and C at the same
time, and graduated to an Apple Macintosh. During that time I worked in a Macintosh
computer store as a technician supporting their high-end graphic design and pre-press
customers. This introduced me to graphic design -- a profession for which I have great
interest and absolutely no talent -- and got me excited about the intersection of
computers and art. Then, mostly because I had no idea what else I wanted to do, I went
to Cornell University to study computer science.
I got really disillusioned with plain-vanilla computer science during my undergraduate
years, and was almost ready to quit until I discovered the magic of "independent study"
classes. I took a computer graphics class, nearly failed it because I'm slow at math, and
then somehow convinced that professor (
Dr. Bruce Land, an amazing man) to take me on as
his research assistant. He encouraged me to follow my interests, and I ended up spending
a few years working in 3D graphics and virtual reality (remember that?). Then one fateful
day in the fall of my senior year I realized that I needed to take several
"engineering-related" classes in order to graduate, and on a lark I signed up for
Neurobiology and Behavior because my friend Greg Pass was taking it. As it turns out,
this was one of the most interesting classes I had ever taken. To continue working in
that area I started an independent study project wherein I attempted to study the role
of reproductive sharing as it relates to cooperation among female wasps by trying to
simulate them in a computer and evolve them using genetic programming techniques. It
didn't work, but it was a hell of a lot of fun.
At this point I still didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew that
I enjoyed working on computational animal behavior models, so I ended up going to the
MIT Media Lab to work with Dr. Bruce Blumberg
in the Synthetic Characters Group. This
research group was attempting to study models of animal behavior by building simulations
of actual embodied animals. The idea was that by building artificial animals and observing
why they didn't behave like real animals, you could learn something about the nature of
thought and behavior. This was the period of my life where I learned a lot about artificial
intelligence, computer animation, and traditional animation.
After MIT I went to a small startup company called Nearlife, where I got to work on all
sorts of cool projects involving artificial intelligence, computer animation, computer
vision, and human-computer interaction. I worked on the giant interactive Virtual Fishtank
that is in the Boston Museum of Science, an interactive children's playroom called the
KidsRoom2
in London's Millennium, and
giant interactive touchscreens in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Finally, after leaving Nearlife I ended up at Irrational Games. All the skills I had
learned in the past -- animation, A.I., 3D graphics, simulation architectures, interaction
techniques -- were the same skills needed in the games industry, so it seemed like a
good fit for me.
So, to answer your question: how did I decide that game programming was the right path
for me? Basically, I didn't. I just followed my interests and somehow I ended up in a
challenging, fun, and rewarding job. Pretty lucky, eh?
What kind of educational/work background is desirable and/or helpful for the job?
Is a degree necessary?
Probably the easiest way is to study computer science in college. A degree is not
always necessary (a few programmers on our team never finished college), but it is highly
advised. Not because a C.S. degree will teach you how to be a good software engineer,
because it won't (dirty secret: computer science is actually about mathematics, not
computers!). But if you go to a good school and study C.S. you will learn something more
important than how to program -- you'll learn how to approach, analyze, and solve problems.
What skills are useful for the position?
I would say that the following are the most useful skills:
Math: Game programming is becoming increasingly more math-intensive. So don't fall asleep
in math class, like I did, because then you'll just have to learn it all over again later.
Pay special attention in Linear Algebra.
Art: Take as many art classes as you can. Study animation, drawing, acting, and music.
As a game programmer you'll have to work with artists all the time, and the more insight
you have into their profession, the better you'll be at designing systems to make their
artwork come alive.
Communication: As a game programmer, you will need to be able to communicate clearly,
both in person and on paper, and also work well with other people. Especially smart,
quirky, opinionated people.
Passion: If you don't love making and playing games, you won't do well in this industry.
So experiment with things on your own -- build your own games, then rip them apart and
make them better. Learn what you like and dislike about games, and be able to discuss these
things intelligently.
Don't be a dork: Don't spend all of your time in front of a computer. Get a hobby.
Make friends. Exercise. Read non-technical books and study non-technical subjects.
Become an interesting person.
You are a relative newcomer at Irrational, how does IG's development process
differ from your previous experiences?
I've been at Irrational for 3 years now. The fact that I'm still a "newcomer"
says a lot about the company and our team!
I would say that there is a lot more exploration in our development processes here,
and a lot more opportunity for every individual to contribute to the final product in a
unique way. That's because it's almost impossible to define what makes a game "great" or
"fun" before you start building it. The best you can do is start with a talented team and
a good idea based on a lot of experience. From there the process is iterative, and at any
point in time *anyone* might come up with that one idea that really makes the game shine.
Making games is not like stamping widgets. I like the idea that we know roughly what
kind of game we're building, and when it will be done, but it's a giant mystery as to
exactly how or when it will stop being a piece of technology and start being a game, or
why iv will be fun. Every day when I walk in the door someone could say "hey, come look
what I did" and show me something amazing and unexpected. It keeps me motivated.
What do you find most satisfying/enjoyable about your job?
I love working with the people at Irrational. All of them are smarter, funnier, and
infinitely cooler than me. It's exactly the kind of place I want to work, because it
keeps me on my toes.
I also really enjoy the development process, seeing a game go from concept to completion
in little tiny stages. That first time your own game makes you laugh, or jump in surprise,
or sigh in amazement -- that's magic.
What do you find most frustrating?
Eventually you have to finish the game and kick it to the curb. And no matter how good
it is, there's always that one little feature, that little bit of polish that could have
made it in the game if you'd only had a day or two more to work on it.
--- Meredith Levine
29 April 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
SWAT MAKES THE TOP 10!
First I would like to apologize for last week's column
not being up until Monday evening. Things got pretty insane
over here and well, the whole thing just slipped. Better
the column than the games!
Now, onto bigger and much, much better things. That's
right folks, SWAT 4 made the NPD Group's list of the top
ten best selling PC games for the week of April 16th!
Congratulations to the team on this fantastic news.
Irrational Lord of Programming, Chris Kline brought
to my attention the very interesting comments
of Scott Straub, a real live member of the Fort Wayne Indiana SWAT Team:
"SWAT 4 has some great realism. I was
impressed with the training session. Some of the advice
from the "instructor" was very true to life. The weapons
are accurately reproduced. The characters reactions and
actions are great too...Thankfully not every operation
we are on has so many hardcore, and out of control psychos
to deal with. …Since SWAT 4 would not be as entertaining
without the diehards, I have to say that it is a fairly
accurate representation of worstcase scenarios. The fact
that you can successfully "soften-up" your targets and
make apprehensions without always resorting to lethal force
makes it a thinking game as well as an action game. The
combo really hits the nail on the head."
For European fans of Freedom Force, FFV3R just came
out over there and is getting great reviews. One lovely
article in
GamesRadar (the online version of the PC Gamer UK)leads with
"PC Gamer needed a hero. It found twelve…" and goes on to
even bigger and better things like "Freedom Force vs the
Third Reich is brilliant, one of the best games of the year
so far. For the past days I've been giggling at my PC,
demanding everyone in the office watch as I bash men, tanks,
and brains-in-jars. They don't need the encouragement." And
"Freedom Force is stylish. Freedom Force is witty. Freedom
Force is clever. Freedom Force is... fun…It's inspired. It's
genius. It's superb"
Oh, sweet, mysterious British reviewer, you're the real genius.
--- Meredith Levine
22 April 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
The
Reviews Keep Coming!
It’s been a kind of slow week in the wide world of
game reporting. Not slow here at IG though. People are
keeping up the usual mad pace that is game development
but yeah, I still can’t talk about any of that. So
here’s what I dug up in reviews this week:
Game Informer Magazine reviewed SWAT 4 in their May
issue and awarded it the PC Game of the Month:
"The level of immersion here is unbelievable,
exhibiting way more substantive edge of your seat
thrills than anything Hollywood has offered up."
Console Gold
has
an excellent, very detailed, and very complimentary
review of SWAT 4. It earned a 90% and comments like:
"Sierra and Irrational (Games) have done a fantastic
job with SWAT IV. The gripping levels, native
difficulty, realistic (and sometimes disturbing)
situations, and all around fun gameplay combine into a
fantastic game. Add in multiplayer support (and the
ability via other programs to include voice chat), and
you have a team based FPS that’ll keep you entertained
for a long time."
GameSpot has an
interesting interview
with some of the SWAT team so check it out if you like to hear the
inside scoop on what goes on in game development.
As for Freedom Force, a few reviews are still trickling in. My
favorite of the week
was 3D
Accelerated’s in which reviewer Matthew Prato rated FFV3R a 4.4
out of 5 and "Awesome"
"The story line and humor will all suck you into the
storyline like a bee to its hive."
"If you are looking for an extremely fun, cartoon
based game, this is definitely going to be one of the
best."
That’s all for this week but I will leave you with
this marginally relevant
article from Slate. It relates to SWAT teams (the real ones) and
monkeys. It’s an obvious lame attempt by me to fit monkey information
into this column but trust me, it’s interesting.
--- Meredith Levine
15 April 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
SWAT 4 Number 1!
I'll get right into it this week, no pre-amble necessary: As of
Wednesday SWAT 4 was Number 1 on Gamespot's
list of top PC games and Number
2 on their list of Games on all platforms. Yay Irrational!
Our lovely European friends over
at EuroGamer
SWAT
"one of the most macho games I've recently played; all
guns, tactics and difficulty"
and say they would like "to shake the developers by
the hand." Now, being 5'2'', owning about 30% pink
clothing, and just all around about as un-macho as
humanly possible, I take a lot of joy in being even
remotely connected with "one of the most macho games".
My absolute favorite bit of insane Irrational news
from this week concerns a SWAT 4 hidden bonus that a
gamer found while innocently shooting up bad guys. Our
friends over at 10-David
report a video of Irrational employees "wandering their offices
half naked in boxer shorts and vests, surfing on chairs and acting
like a SWAT equivalent of The Village People." If you really want to
see Irrational employees half naked, by all means check it out. Those
Europeans might not be knocking down any doors to shake Irrational
developers’ hands after seeing this one. By the way, I mention the
site all the time so for any SWAT fans, 10-David is an excellent place
to go for a ton of SWAT information, articles, news, and forums. So
if you want to know more about the game I highly recommend taking a
look at the site.
I was very pleasantly surprised to see that there is
still a ton of press coming out on Freedom Force Vs.
the 3rd Reich. Generally by the time a game has been
out a month, things have really slowed down in the new
review department.
Robert Berry of RetroCRUSH
, which in case you were unaware, is the "World’s
Greatest Pop Culture Site" says
"The overall quality of the game is just beyond
impressive."
G. Christopher Williams over at PopMatters
wrote a very interesting review of Freedom Force,
which basically centers on people’s love of watching
good overcome evil. This is a totally different kind
of review and it’s interesting to look at Freedom
Force from this perspective. To give you an idea of
what I am talking about, here is a small sampling from
the article:
"Such brilliant and chilling ironies are not simply
found in the dialogue of the heroes, though, they are
embedded in the plotline itself."
"Within the innocent naivety and blustery melodrama is
a romantic appreciation for justice, freedom, and
heroism."
I will warn you that the review contains spoilers, so
make sure to avoid this one if you haven’t played the
game through.
There is a nice interview with Ken at PCGameWorld
Andrew Bub who I called my hero a couple of weeks ago
for his Yahoo!Games review, apparently has an
alter-ego names Gamer Dad
As Gamer Dad, Andrew brings us yet another stellar review of
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich, this time complete with a section on
its suitability for children. According to Andrew Freedom Force has
"The kind of love for its subject matter that's infectious,
replayable, and memorable. For just half the price of a hardcover
Marvel Masterwork, Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich is a comic book
guy's dream come true, a delight for strategy/RPG fans, adults, kids,
and wannabe super-heroes all over the world."
Gaming Illustrated
has a brief but detailed review of FFV3R which includes such gems
as: "With rich comic-book style graphics, excellent storylines,
complex characters, and superb construction, FREEDOM FORCE VERSUS THE
3rd REICH is a great RPG. Certainly this is one of the best games
released in the past six months, and raises the bar on quality and
content. A great value for your gaming dollar."
And finally, my favorite quote of the week is from Magikahn over at
GameHelper
"I can’t get enough of this game, and it pains me now
to even stop one moment and write this review."
And one more thing, there are some updated mod tools
available at FreedomFans.
"These
updated tools fix the issue with importing bundles and
putting files in the wrong place."
-- Meredith Levine
-->
8 April 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
SWAT 4 in Stores! Yeah Baby!
That’s right folks, SWAT 4 can now be found in your very own
neighborhood game store, or online of course. If you happen to go to
an EB you will notice that our distributor Vivendi has been thoughtful
enough to include our games as part of the Vendor of the Month. This
means that there are big SWAT 4 cutouts and lots and lots of copies of
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich and SWAT 4 in highly prominent
locations.
Everyone at the company and all their husbands/wives, etc. are out
partying as we speak. I however, have a cough that sounds like I have
a serious problem with unfiltered cigarettes so I am home watching
movies and eating cake. Lovely, I know. But anyway, I am sure someone
will pass out on a retro arcade Ms. Pacman anytime now and seriously,
they deserve to. The group worked incredibly hard on SWAT and damn,
that game looks good!
Although it was mysteriously not mentioned to me by any of my usual
in-company sources, I happened to glance at FilePlanet and noticed
that a group called Clan Unseen Threat completely kicked Irrational’s
butt on the SWAT 4 ladder. Or, to use File Planet’s term, we got
obliterated". All the trash talk at IG, all the threats and we got
beaten at our own game! Seriously guys, how humiliating! You can read
a Q & A with the winners
at 10-David
In better news, SWAT continues to get excellent reviews (I guess
the IG team can do something right.) In the interest of space, I am
going to limit myself to my absolute favorites this week:
GameArena GameArena was
nice enough to say "SWAT 4 is an exquisitely crafted gem that deserves
your money"
IGN has a video review which calls SWAT 4 a really great game with
good environments, good sound, good graphic, and really exciting
gameplay. This is definitely something I would recommend to anyone who
likes tactical shooters.
Vivendi is running
a very cool
sweepstakes in which in the winner gets a trip for 2 to a Las
Vegas resort for SWAT training. I highly recommend that you enter
because seriously, how fun would it be to tell your boss you need some
time off for SWAT training?
In Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich press:
WorthPlaying
has a new review of FFV3R, a review that made me so happy with its 9.7
that it gets two quotes:
Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich is such a fantastic
game that I've missed sleep, meals, outings, and very
nearly missed writing this review by the deadline all
so I could keep "testing" it.
Freeedom Force vs. The Third Reich is not just the best superhero
game to date, but it defines what a fantastic superhero game should
be.
Today we are going on a field trip to see Aliens of the Deep on
IMAX, something I have been looking forward to for an embarrassingly
long time. Working for a game company rocks.
-- Meredith Levine
1 April 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Swarm! Swarm!
Ken and I got back from vacation to a swarm of great press and a shiny
new PSP waiting in the office. I know this is an Irrational Games
column but that thing is seriously amazing. It plays movies, and they
look really, really good!
In internal news, Irrational will soon have a brand new home in lovely
Quincy, MA, conveniently located next to a comic book store, which I
am sure we will all be frequenting for business reasons only.
As most of you know, SWAT is shipping soon, as in go to your local EB
or Gamestop on Wednesday and buy the damn thing! As for the swarm of
great press that I referred to, the first reviews have started to come
out and I will warn you that as Bill pointed out, I am one to "throw
around quotes" although I will try to keep them brief!
Dan Adams of IGN says
"SWAT 4 is a terrific game from a company that simply keeps gaining
trust in my mind."
Our friends over at 10-David have posted scans of the
UK PC Zone review of SWAT. PC Zone says "Irrational has done an
absolute bang up job"! Sal Accardo at GameSpy gave the game a 4.5/5!
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich is still going strong:
Our European distributor, Digitcl Jesters has just launched a fun
little Freedom Force game, which is free on their site
Also, be sure to check out this BioWare interview
with Ken. It's all about Modding in Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich.
Shawn Sines of FileFront
was nice enough to give the game a 5/5 and say that "Freedom Force
Vs. the Third Reich is a great strategy game, a great RPG and most of
all the best super hero game on the market."
Robert Coffey Computer Gaming World hands us Five out of Five stars! Robert says "Like a
great movie, Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich is the rare product
that leaves you glowing with delight long after you've finished
it. Twice."
GameShark's James Fudge
calls Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich "the kind of game that makes
you want to go out and buy a geeky t-shirt... with the logo prominently
displayed to let the world know that you love this game."
And finally, Andrew Bub of Yahoo!Games
has this to say: "One of the finest story-driven role-playing games
available on the PC." And "a comic book guy's dream come true, a
delight for strategy/RPG fans, and wannabe superheroes all over the
world."
Mr. Bub... you're a hero to me... (Sigh).
-- Meredith Levine
25 March 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Lev.. Bill Gardner!
Is it getting hot in here?
Gardner here, back by popular demand. OK, maybe you didn't exactly
demand me to write another TWAI article, but Ken and Mer are
off taking a much-deserved vacation somewhere in paradise. As jealous
as that makes us all, there is a bright side: things are definitely
looking up. On several levels. The end of what was one of the worst
winters I can remember has finally given way to spring and one of the
most exciting times in Irrational's history.
For the 3+1/2 of you out there that weren't already aware, we just
finished publishing our first title, Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich.
I can't even begin to tell you how nervous the entire process made
us. It was a huge step to say the least. Thankfully, the part that I
view to be the most nerve-racking - waiting for the reviews and
feedback from our fans - has been about as positive an experience as
can be. The fantastic reviews continue to pour in and the dark cloud
of anticipation has finally broken up. Kind of like this winter
purgatory.
As if that wasn't hot enough, SWAT 4 is a mere two weeks away from
hitting stores. I suppose I should have nerded out and used some sort
of PR speak and said something like: "SWAT 4 is ready to breach bang
and clear its way into stores on April 5", but I figured I'd spare the
lot of you. However, I will NOT spare any of you from a thorough
beatdown online when this game comes out. Trust me, you won't even
know where you're getting tased from.
In all seriousness, I cannot wait to play some new people and see what
cool tactics you all have lined up. It's always a huge reward to see
people playing your game in ways you never imagined. I picked up some
interesting tidbits from jumping into the beta from time to time.
Stuff that I'll surely be using in the SWAT 4 Ladder that Meredith
discussed in last weeks column. That is, if I'm good enough to make
the cut here when we have our internal contest to figure out who's
going to compete in the official ladder. Keep your fingers crossed
for me; it can get pretty brutal in here when we play.
Speaking of brutal, Jason Ocampo gives brutally awesome hands-on
impressions with the final build on gamespot today. How was that
for a transition? Anyhoo, I'm not one to throw around quotes like
Meredith, but I found one particularly sexy:
"Like some of
Irrational's other recent games, SWAT 4 seems very promising right out
of the box. And once again, Irrational is looking like it's one of the
most versatile development studios in the industry with its ability to
develop games in so many different genres."
I don't care what Mother
Nature has planned, it's quotes like that that leave little doubt that
things are heating up at Irrational.
--- Bill Gardner
18 March 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Butt Heads with Irrational!
In the wide world of SWAT 4, Irrational and Gamepsy are running a SWAT 4 Ladder. This
means that throughout March players battle each other in the SWAT 4
Beta to earn the chance to play against Irrational. I would be very
afraid, from what I have seen the IG team will be some hard-core
competition. Also, given how seriously humiliating it would be to lose
your own game, I think the guys are going to be prepping for this
one. According to Joe Faulstick, "We're gonna eat 'em alive!". In
SWAT interviews we have GamersInfo.net with a brief but informative SWAT 4 Q&A with
Bill Gardner. Also, 3D Avenue talks with aforementioned
cannibal Joe Faulstick about SWAT 4.
Also, on the other small screen, SWAT 4 was featured on the show
X-Play which appears on G4. The
next showing is on the 19th at 7pm EST so be sure to tune in.
We're are still on our post game release buzz. That involves mainly
waiting with high levels of anxiety as each review comes out and going
to various stores to see if the game is in stock. It's a little
ridiculous but I think when we put so much of ourselves into something
it is just really satisfying to see it on an actual shelf in an actual
store.
Since there is no rest for the weary game developer, Irrational is
already off on new and exciting stuff. As you have likely guessed, I
am not allowed to talk about any of it yet but I promise it's all good
and I swear you will know absolutely as soon as I am allowed to
divulge anything.
So, back to what I can discuss! Here are the latest reviews:
MyGamer
gives
Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich a
9.4/Marvelous. Author Brandon Whipple says:
"Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich is tremendous
fun. The graphics, sound, story, and customization are top-notch. Most
importantly, however, the gameplay is amazing. Everything else just
comes together, and it turns out terrific...Comic lovers and game
lovers alike will be entertained for hours by this super hero-themed
title. Definitely pick this one up."
On InsideGamerOnline
author
Kevin VanOrd gives the game a 9.0 and say it has an
"incredible embarrassment of pleasures" and:
"Our recommendation
really couldn't be more glowing: there is nothing not to like about
Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich. It's colorful, funny, and an
absolute blast to play, offering more gaming thrills than the
proverbial barrel of monkeys."
I've never personally experienced a barrel of monkeys although I
imagine they would be quite a lot of fun. I like monkeys-a lot. We
have this essentially all-monkey zoo near us and poor Ken has to take
me there several times a year. They train helper monkeys there, it's
a brilliant cause and really, I was surprised to find out that helper
monkeys actually exist. Who would have thought?
Ok, that was WAY off track, back to gaming. There have been a lot of
interviews lately, which is a great thing. For people interested in
the gaming industry these are an excellent way to get a peek
inside. You can learn tons about the developer, the game itself, and
the process of production. That said, there were two interviews with
Ken this week:
Ken talks about Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich
and the development process. I thought it was really interesting, and I
hear this stuff all the time! The second one over at GameShark focuses more on the game itself and is also quite interesting.
--- Meredith Levine
11 March 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
No Sophomore Slump for FFV3R!
Ok, I do realize it is more than a bit self-aggrandizing to put
that on a company's own Web site but I can't help it. I am very
psyched that Freedom Force came out to such nice reviews. So far the
critics completely get the story, the aesthetic, the way we did the
voices, the whole magilla.
I get very nervous before a game comes out so the past few days have
been a huge relief for me personally and probably for Ken too since me
being tense about a game release doesn't exactly help him. So now we
just hold our collective breath and hope that all the Irrational fans
love the game.
Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the game. It was a huge help to
Irrational (both psychologically and for store sell-ins) to boost
those numbers early on. You guys doing that helps ensure that
Irrational will continue to make the slightly off-beat games that we
really want to work on and that hopefully you will really want to
play! Remember, you can still order the game on the
Irrational Site and get the bonus disk with 3 exclusive characters
and a whole handful of concept art and wallpapers!
Check out yesterday's press
release --- the Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich Beta mod tools
are now available on www.FreedomFans.com! We're can't wait to see
what the FF community's got cooking!
And now here's my Freedom Force Week One Review Roundup:
ActionTrip
gave the game a 92% and an Editor's Choice. I tried to find the name
of the author to thank him for the following quotes but I couldn't
seem to locate it:
"Add the fact that the game has all the addictiveness and offers just
as much fun as its predecessor and it has a rather lengthy and
challenging main campaign and the prettier visuals and enhanced 3D
features feel like icing on the proverbial cake.
I am sure that this game isn't perfect, only I cannot think of any
possible flaws that could significantly mar my overall impression."
Go and buy the damn game, you'll thank me later. If you don't like it,
you're an ass. In other words, kind reader, "Thwack!"
Russ
Clow at Club Skill has claimed the identity of "Review Man" for
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich and I personally like this Review
Man., I like him very much:
"You will absolutely adore Freedom Force Vs the Third Reich"
"This game is quite simply fantastic."
Over at GameSpot,
Greg
Kasavin has both a written and a video review of the game and gives it
a "Great" rating:
"The incredible thing about Freedom Force is that this cast of
characters is so good that it in some ways rivals the classics to
which the game pays homage."
UnderGroundOnline
has an overview of the heroes and villains of Freedom Force and
Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich and a review coming soon. I'll keep
you posted.
In other news, it's completely dead in the office. Half the company
is at GDC this week showing off SWAT 4 and the other half are
too busy to do anything but work. I was in the office today and since
there was no one to talk to I found myself reading a booklet called
"Combat Knife Throwing". I love what we have lying around the office!
So since everyone's away there's not a whole lot to report but I did
dig up the following SWAT 4 tidbits:
Double Whammy For Fans of Freedom! Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich Now Available! New Beta Mod Tools available at WWW.FREEDOMFANS.COM
Irrational Games is proud to announce that Freedom Force vs. The
3rd Reich, the follow up to the popular heroic tactical
RPG Freedom Force, is now on store shelves and shipping
directly from www.freedomfans.com . Freedom Force vs. The
3rd Reich is being distributed to retail stores by Vivendi
Universal Games throughout North America.
The robust new Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich beta mod
tools are now also available at Freedomfans.com! With these tools,
fans of the game will be able to add to the already huge Freedom Force
mod community.
A huge thank you to everyone who pre-ordered from our brand new store at
www.freedomfans.com!
We are very happy to announce that all pre-orders from our website
have been processed.
Look to receive your newly minted Freedom Force vs The
3rd Reich in the next couple of days (if you have not
received it already.) USPS Priority doesn't give us exact delivery
dates, so please bear with us as your game is on its way to you right
now.
One side note: there is a delay between order processing and the charge
appearing on your credit card. So, if you pre-ordered with us, your shiny
new game is en route, and the charge will appear on your card directly.
If you have any further questions, or would like to tell us how
phenomenally wonderful the game is, please email us at
customerservice@www.freedomfans.com
4 March 2005 -- This Week at Irrational With Meredith Levine
FFV3R In Stores Wednesday, March 9th!
The very first review of
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich is up on IGN and we got a 9.0 and
an Editors' Choice award to boot! Thanks to Steve Butts for
his in-depth look at the game and such gems as:
"No one can do it as well as Irrational can. They broke the superhero
curse with the first title and proven it wasn't a fluke by releasing a
follow up that's every bit as good. The design here is just as amazing
as it was in the original game and the presentation is as solid and
slick as ever. The story's great and full of more comic book
conventions than you can imagine... one of the best games around."
As you have probably already gathered from the first paragraph,
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich went gold last week. Needless
to say we are all very excited. I have been running around to various
stores and surreptitiously moving pre-order boxes to eye level. I
realize that it is most likely pointless but hey, it makes me feel
good! I got in a bit of a spat at a local Best Buy when I noticed they
didn't have the correct amount of boxes on the shelves. It was not my
finest moment...In more productive endeavors, Ken has been busy
chatting with the press lately. GameSpot is running an
interview with him about the game. Game Guru has a brief
interview and Belgian site Gamesplanet is running an (English) "Interview
Met Ken Levine". The site also has a preview of the game but
frankly, my Dutch ain't what it used to be...
Be sure to check out Penny Arcade's Freedom Force ad.
Yes, I know it's an ad and I should not be sending people to look at
ads but they drew it and it is very, very cool. You may need to
refresh a few times to see it but look on the right side of the page.
In the non Freedom Force world, things are moving along on SWAT 4. The
programmers are looking significantly less vampiric than they were a
mere week ago. Some of them even have a hint of color in their faces
and a glint of hope in their eyes. Seriously, it was getting kind of
scary in the programming pit. These guys are working their butts off
to bring you the best game possible and SWAT 4 continues to look
amazing. Someone even suggested that it be in the lineup for
Irrational's gaming night. As anyone who has ever worked on a game
knows, that is some serious dedication.
Response to Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich has been even better
than we expected, and the pre-orders have been rolling in! We're so
happy with this, that we want to give an extra thank-you to our loyal
fans. The first 500 pre-orders will still get the exclusive signed
and numbered concept art print by Robb Waters. BUT! We have decided
to print up a bunch of extra copies, and give them away (unsigned)
with pre-ordered copies until our supply runs out. So even if you
missed the initial 500 cutoff, you can still get this extra "thank
you" from us.
Thanks again for all your support. For Freedom!
25 February 2005 -- This Week at Irrational With Meredith Levine
Calling All Heroes Runners Up Revealed!
This week's column is dedicated to the creepily smart, funny and
talented runners up in the Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich "Calling
All Heroes" contest. I can't reveal too much about Richard Iacono,
the first place winner, because there will be a story in the very near
future in the actual gaming press about his character, The Bard. I am
not snubbing Richard, the Bard kicks butt, I just don't want to scoop
the real press and piss anyone off.
Now that I have that out of the way, I have done my best adapting
these characters to fit in the space so I hope the winners will
forgive me for any omissions. So here are the runners up, in no
particular order:
From Richard Tingle we have The London Fog, a WWII era British
spy. One very foggy night the spy followed a suspected member of the
Third Reich down a London street. The man he was following
accidentally dropped a strange, glowing canister which he picked up
thinking he had found a new weapon. The canister sickened him and he
passed out on the street where he was eventually rescued by friendly
agents. When he woke the spy found that he suddenly had the ability to
become intangible, a skill that the British government found extremely
useful in the war. From that day on he was known as The London
Fog. The government increased his duties and outfitted him with a gas
gun, which he used to protect England from the Nazi threat. After the
war the London Fog became a British hero and used his powers to
protect the citizens of his beloved country.
James Malcomson brings us a character known as Panic (real name:
Earnest Maxwell) who has the enviable ability of creating what James
calls "surrealism fields" which alter standard quantum resonance. He
therefore has the ability to conjure objects as needed, although due
to the character's wild imagination, these objects don't always turn
out quite as planned...Panic got his start as a starving artist who
adored progressive art and tired of Patriot City's love of
classicism. One night his surly landlord set fire to Earnest's
apartment in an attempt to collect insurance money. Earnest's
supplies and his work went up in flames. He was crushed but leapt out
the window to safety where he landed in a mysterious pool of metallic
liquid where he felt a strange energy pulsing through him. He looked
up and spotted one of the thugs the landlord had hired to set the
apartment on fire. When the police found him, he was hallucinating and
trying to eat his own brain. It was then that Earnest realized he had
to use his new power over reality to fight crime, he had to make
criminals everywhere know Panic.
Thomas La Chac, who happens to run an excellent Web Site about his
creation Doctor Manbot, conceived a character called Screaming Eagle
(real name Migisi Tonasket). Migisi was a member of the Cheyenne tribe
and faced discrimination although his family tried their best to
assimilate into the day to day life of 1940's America. Migisi felt
deeply connected to his roots and spent time with his grandfather on
the reservation learning about the history of the Cheyenne. At the
start of WWII Migisi joined the Army where he was assigned to the
101st Airborne known as the "Screaming Eagles". As he left for
Normandy his beloved grandfather presented him with a necklace that
glowed eerily and was said to have mystical powers. Indeed it did, it
was imbued with Energy X which soon transformed Migisi into Screaming
Eagle, a man with unusual strength, speed and agility. He also boasts
an incapacitating screaming attack
Jeff Niebres sent us Chan Lee, an evil demon who, attracted by a stray
canister of Energy X, entered a sacred cave in China where he
encountered and a monk. The demon and the monk battled for days but
the monk was ultimately victorious. He did not kill the demon but
instead was merciful and taught the creature about the wonders of
tranquility and meditation. When the monk died the demon dedicated
himself to meditation until he sensed the same energy out in the world
that had once drawn him to the cave. He took on the disguise of a man,
pretended to be a teacher named Chan Lee and went out to search for
the Energy X. Chan Lee, also known as Oni has a variety of powerful
martial arts skills as well as demonic powers like "death touch" and
"demon form". Oni wears a hideous demon mask complete with fangs and
horns.
From Paul Callahan we have The Sherman Tank. Sherman was trapped in a
wheelchair from a young age. Desperate to escape his dreary life,
Sherman became fascinated by experiments conducted in the 40's by his
grandfather, Mark Shields. Mark was a professor involved in a secret
project to create a man/machine super soldier to defeat the Nazis. The
project failed but Mark's research remained. Sherman used his
grandfather's notes to experiment on his own body, performing
dangerous feats of science. At last he was successful and a ten-foot
tall, fully armored Sherman emerged from the lab with a cannon for an
arm and the ability to withstand immense damage. From that day forth
he was known as The Sherman Tank!
I hope that the runners up with make sure that their characters get
into the game through Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich's character
creation feature. They are all great characters and I personally would
love the chance to play as any one of them. Thanks again to everyone
who entered Calling All Heroes. You all gave the Irrational team a
great treat, we loved going through all those entries. We are truly
lucky to have such a dedicated, creative fan base.
--- Meredith Levine
22 February 2005 -- Announcements
PRESS RELEASE: Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich Goes Gold!
New Freedom Force patch available now: fixes Windows
XP SP2 problem, and more!
Irrational Games is pleased to announce the release of the Freedom
Force version 1.3 Patch! You can download
the patch from us.
This patch is intended for use by users of the US or European
version 1.0 or higher of Freedom Force. It includes all fixes made in
previous patches 1.1 and 1.2 and can be installed on an unpatched
installation of the game or over an already patched version.
Freedom Force version 1.3 fixes a problem where the game would
not run successfully under Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Please note that this patch is released "as is" and no
representation is made about its fitness for any specific
purpose. THIS IS A BETA PATCH so use at your own risk.
18 February 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with
Meredith Levine
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Demo
Available Today! and "Calling All Heroes" Contest Winners Announced!
Check out the Freedom
Force Vs. The 3rd Reich Demo on Fileplanet
and when you're done with that, head on over to GameSpy
for their take on the game so far. Author Allen Rausch has lots of
nice things to say and if you need him, he will be at his desk
"trying to figure out whether four giant ants can take down a
30-foot-tall toy robot." I am betting they can, Allen but let me
know.
And our favorite line from the preview: "If the purpose of a demo
is to convince you to get the full version, color us convinced."
Also be sure to check out IGN's take on the
demo by Steve Butts. Steve says "We've had a chance to play
through the demo already and it's only made us hungrier for the full
game." So thanks to both Steve and Allen for their kind
words. Today was a big deal for Irrational. People put a lot of
emotion and hard work into this game and a demo release can be scary.
According to IG's Bill Gardner, there is usually very little
info on demos. So while we don't want to give too much away and ruin
it for you, I will give you a little info:
The demo level comes from the middle of the game and is set in Berlin
smack in the thick of World War II. All sorts of malarkey is taking
place at the hands of those pesky Nazis and you are there to stop them
from burning some very precious books. Book burning is always a good
sign in a society! On the mission you will encounter a whole slew of
enemies ranging from Nazi riflemen to Roman Legionnaires and a whole
lot more. You may even find yourself battling a certain very
overweight opera singer. Watch out for collateral damage since
Fortissimo's voice has been known to result in some serious
knockback.
Bill also promises "multiplayer goodness" and "enough
lederhosen to last a life time!" I am not willing to back that
last one up since for all I know you require a large amount of
lederhosen. Maybe you are wearing them right now.
Thanks to the folks over at Penny Arcade for their truly
lovely words about Irrational and Freedom Force. We have great respect
for what they do over there so it is a real honor to be spoken of so
highly.
In other Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich news, the trailer is
up and running on several sites, including
Fileshack.
I just played a new build of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich
and I know I have very little credibility with Ken being my husband
and all but damn the game is fun. I tend to be on the girly side but I
do love to smash a building or two with a traffic light. Seriously,
who wouldn't? Plus I really like Green Genie, one of the new
characters. I even got a Green Genie valentine. How many girls can say
that?
In other news, check out RPG Vault's
three page SWAT 4 interview with Joe Faulstick. It has a
lot of interesting detail and comes complete with six exclusive
screen shots. Joe knows a lot about SWAT and a lot about the company
in general. He also picked me and Ken up at the airport after that
hideous snowstorm. He's super nice so read his interview.
And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for: The unveiling of
the "Calling All Heroes Contest". I know that Irrational and
Freedom Force had fantastic fans, but after seeing the response we got
from the contest, I'm truly impressed. We received many incredible
and inspired characters.
After careful consideration, Freedom Force is pleased to welcome the
latest member of the team... The Bard!
The Bard was submitted by Richard Iacono who walks away with
his very own copy of Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich and a
personalized sketch from character designer, Robb Waters. As if
being able to say that your creation made it into a game wasn't
enough.
You can get a glimpse of The Bard in the demo's
title screen. We'll have lots of juicy details on his powers this
coming week.
The runners-up in the contest in no particular order are:
Richard Tingle "The London Fog"
Paul Callahan "The Sherman Tank"
James Malcomson "Panic"
Thomas La Chac "Screaming Eagle"
Jeffrey Niebres - Oni
The runners-up will also receive a copy of the game. We'll also be
sending Richard and the runners-up signed Issues #1 and 2 of the
Freedom Force comic.
Congrats to all!
--- Meredith Levine
11 February 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Team Interviews, Press and Penthouse: IG is all over the place!
The press situation has been out of control lately. That, of
course, is a good thing but given the QA interview posted last week I
am way, way behind on keeping the community up on Irrational in the
press.
So, starting with Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich, Ken wrote an article
for IGN titled "Adventures in Self Publishing" which outlines why
Irrational opted to self publish Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd
Reich and how they did it. For those of you looking for more
insight into the inner workings of Irrational, this is a great
article.
GamesDomain on Yahoo also has a
brief preview
which includes the following gem:
"The game oozed love for its subject
matter with Jonathan Chey's perfectly posed heroes, and Ken Levine's
humorously hyperbolic and well-written wordplay. The sequel looks like
more of the same, only better. And with the addition of Nazis as the
bad guys, and time travel as the plot propellant, this should make
comic book fans squeal."
In internal FFV3R news, the team has been working very hard putting
the final touches on Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich. I recently saw
the box, it looks beautiful and was of course designed by Irrational
concept artist, Robb Waters.
And while we're on the subject of employee articles, congrats to
Irrational programmer Terry Cohen, whose article "Moment of
Impact: Designing an In-Game Effects System" will appear in the
March issue of Game Developer Magazine. Check it out and learn about
the effects systems used in SWAT 4 and Tribes:Vengeance.
As for SWAT 4 in the press, well, there's been a lot of that too
but first, I have been working a lot in the office lately and had the
opportunity to overhear the very heated play-testing that is going on
for SWAT 4. I am talking about screaming, swearing, all-out battles,
which unless I am completely out of touch, seems like a lot of fun and
bodes well for the final product!
For an inside look at the development process, SWAT fan site 10
David is running a Developer
Interview series where you can read what Paul Hellquist (SWAT 4's
lead designer) and Chris Kline (lead programmer) have to say about the
game.
Gamespot has a
SWAT preview which goes into a fair amount of detail concerning
the gameplay. My favorite quote from this one: "With its combination
of excellent graphics and tense, realistic gameplay, SWAT 4 looks very
sharp".
Vivendi was nice enough to take SWAT 4 to Sundance where the game
was set up for ten days in a hospitality lounge for an invite-only
celebrity and film exec. extravaganza. We don't have the details yet
but apparently lots of celebs got a chance to play the game. Lots of
TV reporters showed up from shows like Entertainment Tonight, E!, CNN,
Access Hollywood, and Extra so we're hoping to get some coverage.
And for the weirdest PR coup ever, SWAT 4 will soon be showing up
in the May issue of Penthouse (yes, you read that correctly). "Dear
Irrational...I never thought this would happen to me, but there I was
playing SWAT coop and there was a knock on my door..."
Personally, I just read it for the screenshots...
--- Meredith Levine
4 February 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Inside Irrational Edition Featuring a Look at the Wide World of QA
One night not too long ago, the entire company was enjoying a variety of fine fried foods and a bit too much alcohol when the lovely and talented Joe Faulstick mentioned that I should do an interview with the QA team at Irrational. It was perfect, a job most people have heard of but just don't know that much about. I mean, I knew they tested the games but seriously, there is so much more depth to every job, and since this is a game industry job it is actually interesting. So here's an inside look at Quality Assurance at Irrational Games as told by Swat 4 QA Lead, Joe Faulstick and Swat 4 QA Tester, Keith Smith (also lovely and talented):
What is the overarching role of QA in game development?
Joe: The overarching role of QA is to assure the best quality for the game when it reaches the end of it's development phase. A common myth is that we play video games all day which, unfortunately, is far from true. Common QA tasks involve testing the game's features in order to ensure that they work as intended, general bug reporting, playtesting the game to help balance the difficulty or increase funfactor. QA is typically provided by the publisher, though with Swat 4 we are fortunate to also have an on-site testing team at Irrational to go along with the wonderful team at Vivendi Universal Games.
Keith: To troubleshoot during development, and to help the developers/design team with any ideas involving improved gameplay mechanics, level enhancement, and the overall fun factor.
What do you on a daily basis, describe a typical day?
Joe: One of my primary tasks is to work with my counter-part at Vivendi Universal Games so that reported bugs can quickly reach the programmers, artists, and designers with all of the information needed to fix them. VUG uses a database to track of the status all bugs found and reported for Swat 4. Bug reports are constantly jumping from one person to another as they are found, assigned to an owner, fixed, and ultimately confirmed and closed. Someone's got to keep track of these bugs so they don't get lost!
I also work with the internal test team at Irrational in order to create a test plan for that day so that we can focus our efforts in the right area. If we implement any new features we need to test them to make sure that the feature functions properly. Any bugs we find must be reported into our own internal database with enough information for it to be tracked down and fixed. Fixed bugs have to be double-checked in order to confirm the fix as well as to ensure that no new bugs appear as a result of the change. There's always plenty to do!
Keith: I generally look for any outstanding bugs, check the status of bug fixes in progress, and beat on the latest builds of the game, looking for anything that may have fallen through the cracks. We also spend many hours in multiplayer, quadruple checking online functionality (And beating the crap out of each other in-game...).
Are certain types of projects more or less desirable from a QA standpoint?
Joe: In my opinion, in order to be an effective QA tester a person must have a certain level of interest in the title they are testing. If someone doesn't like the style of game that they are testing then they really can't give good feedback on funfactor or game balance. With this said, children's titles are on my less than desirable list. From a technical standpoint, the more complex the game, the tougher it is to test. That doesn't always make a title more or less desirable though, sometimes testers like a challenge!
How does one get into QA?
Joe: Before trying for a job in Quality Assurance, you should make sure that testing is something that interests you. Saying that 'testers play fun video games all day" is not the best way to sum up the job description. QA work involves a lot of repetitive tasks, problem solving skills, and database reporting.
With that said, the best way to start is to get involved with beta tests through the Internet. Massively Multiplayer RPG's almost always have a closed beta test cycle at some point during their development and these beta tests are a great way to get exposed to working on an unfinished title, bug-hunting, and bug-reporting. Having this experience goes a long way toward separating you from regular gamers on a job application.
Keith: Everyone I know asks me that!! First, I'd say you have to truly love playing many different kinds of videogames, and be good at them as well. It helps to be a well versed, and a well-rounded player as well. Besides, it never hurts to know the potential competition inside and out. Secondly, you have to live somewhere where there are gaming companies. And lastly- Good luck!!! QA jobs are fairly rare and hard to come by, as there are always a hundred people ahead of you that want the same job. But it's good work if you can get it.
What kind of work background is desirable and/or helpful for the job? What skills are useful for the position?
Joe: Beta testing experience goes a long way because of the similarities of the tasks involved. Strong problem solving and writing skills are definitely needed in order to find glitches in the game and document their steps to reproduce. One of the most important traits is to have a love for games. People who know games, play games, and love games make much better testers.
Keith: Specifically related to QA? I'd say you need a healthy knowledge of various types of games, and what makes them "tick". Basic computer skills never hurt. But I think the most important qualities would be adaptability, and the ability to keep an open mind, as well as having an eye for subtle details and a nose for things that just "feel" wrong in a game. Lots of gamers come across occasional bugs in a game, but few can diagnose the cause and reproduce it. And fewer still can figure out how to intentionally "break" a game. When you can do that, you have what it takes to be QA...
What is the most satisfying aspect of the job? The most fun?
Joe: As a former publisher QA tester I often felt that my feedback and suggestions did not matter to whatever developer we were working with at the time. At Irrational, the most satisfying aspect of my job has to be seeing some of my own ideas implemented into the game. Everyone at Irrational Games can provide their two cents to the design team. In a sense we're all junior designers!
Keith: Well, the most satisfying part is seeing something you've worked on for a long time finally be released to the public, and know you helped make it what it is. People have no idea how much work goes into making a game. The overall man hours, quadruple checking EVERYTHING with a fine tooth comb while working with the programmers and designers to bring the consumer a fun, enjoyable, well made product.
The most fun part for me is getting everyone in the office in on big multiplayer good guy/ bad guy games. Splitting up into teams and going at it full tilt. Then you get to just run around freely in a finished virtual world you saw created from the ground up. That's a blast, literally!!
What do you find most frustrating?
Joe: Tracking down those ever-elusive bugs that just won't go away and have no rational cause or explanation. These can get very annoying for everyone involved!
Keith: Every now and then you come across a bug that refuses to die. They're almost always game stoppers that seem to come out of nowhere. And just when you think it's fixed, BAM!! It pops up somewhere else. But when they finally do die it's a beautiful thing.
What has been your favorite game to work on and why?
Joe: Swat 4, of course. I am a big fan of tactical shooters so I could instantly connect with the style of gameplay before I even really played game. From a work perspective, Swat 4 has so many things to test and even now the game still surprises me. I keep finding myself logging time on the Multiplayer Demo during my off-hours at home. It's very rare to have the opportunity to test a game that's so fun to play.
Keith: I'd have to say SWAT 4. First off, it's just a really fun game to play that adds some cool dynamics to the whole squad based shooter genre, and it doesn't get old. It also looks beautiful. But when you add in all the outside things we did to research the game, like real SWAT training, trips to firing ranges, and epic paintball battles, it's an experience I'll never forget. In general, working for Irrational is just plain fun. It can be hard, and make you want to pull your hair out sometimes, but in the end it's a great job, with great people. How could anyone hate playing/making videogames for a living?!
--- Meredith Levine
28 January 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Freedom Force Comic Earns Critical Acclaim and
"Is being 'big in Europe' like having a girlfriend in Canada?"
First I want to thank everyone for pre-ordering Freedom Force
Vs. The 3rd Reich on the Irrational site. We have had a great
response and everyone here is very excited for the game to come
out. So keep those pre-orders coming, it's worth it for those
exclusive Bronze Age characters! Plus if you hurry you could still get
in on the signed concept art!
Ken and I are back from a crazy trip to Europe where we visited
something like 8 cities in one week and showed Freedom Force Vs. The
3rd Reich off to the press in Germany, France, and England. It was an
insane week but very exciting to see how well the international press
responded to the game.
Thanks to the lovely weather in New England, we were trapped in
London for an extra day. What would you do with a free day in one of
the most exciting cities in the world? Theater? Music? Fine dining?
Well, we went to a comic book store, a really nice one, but
still... While there I caught my first glimpse of the finished Freedom
Force comic and it is awesome. I realize I have expressed that opinion
before but the whole finished thing just rocks and I was unreasonably
excited to actually see it on the shelf. Reviews have started to come
in and so far so good! Check out this
one
from on the 4th Rail by Randy Lander. A few of my favorite quotes:
"A great comic, in fact one of the best I read this week." ..."if
you like your villains super and your heroes wearing bright gaudy
costumes and shouting out slogans as they pummel their opponents to
the tune of giant sound effects, than boy are you in for a treat."
Sean Fahey of Chud.com calls the
comic a "personal dream come true" and says:
"Writer Eric Dieter skillfully manages to capture the essence and
personalities of these amazing characters"
"Visually, you could not have a more inspired choice for this book
than Tom Scioli. His Kirby-esque style is perfectly suited for this
material"
"It's a real joy to finally see the likes of The Minuteman, El Diablo,
Man-Bot and The Mentor grace the pages of an actual comic book and I
would love to see these characters eventually get their own monthly
series."
In other news, Bioshock was #1
on GameSpot last week. That's for unique users, mind you!
Also, SWAT
4 and Freedom Force
vs. The 3rd Reich both made GameSpy's Most Wanted Games of
2005. We also couldn't help but notice while in England that both SWAT
4 and BioShock had made PC Zone's top games of 2005 list, too.
Crikey!
--- Meredith Levine
21 January 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Mered... Bill Gardner!
Ooo la la---Freedom Force Pre-order details revealed
Bill Gardner here, filling in for Meredith. "Where is my favorite
bubbly industry persona," you ask? Well, Ken and Mer decided they
were too good for us plebeians and took off for Europe. OK, that's
not entirely fair; they're on a whirlwind press tour promoting Freedom
Force. Hope you enjoy your fancy Parisian cheese and wine, guys. So,
it looks like this week you'll have to make do with me. While I might
not be as cute (careful Bill, that's your boss' wife) or have quite
the same Hello Kitty collection, I come bearing good news.
We're proud to officially announce that Freedom Force vs The 3rd
Reich is now available directly from Irrational Games. Visit our brand new store at
Freedomfans.com to order today. I know what you're thinking.
"How is that tidbit worthy of these hallowed headline halls?" Well,
when you order directly from Irrational, you will receive our bonus
disk with three exclusive Bronze Age characters. PLUS, the first 500
orders will receive signed concept art from our own Robb Waters! Oh
my! Talk about sweetening the deal. As if getting your hands on one
of the most anticipated games of '05 wasn't enough, we're giving you
all kinds of delicious extras.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go tell all my friends to
pre-order so they get some of that sweet, sweet plunder and you don't.
They're so much more hard-core than you.
Gardner out.
14 January 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Let's start this week with the "Nice Things People
Are Saying About Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich" Section:
I am about ready to trade in my Jennifer Garner crush for Allen
Rausch of GameSpy, who wrote a simply fabulous preview of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd
Reich after getting his hands on the demo. The lovely Mr. Rausch
calls the game "incredibly enjoyable" but that's just the
beginning. Here's what else he has to say:
"The detail level of the cityscapes and battlefields in Freedom Force
vs. the Third Reich is extraordinary"
"Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich's storyline is insane, and I mean
that in the best way possible."
The game "should it be manna from Krypton for strategy gamers
looking for a fun, light-hearted title, but if it achieves the kind of
success it deserves -- well, the sky's the limit!"
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich is on GMR's list of
the top 50 most exciting games of 2005. They note that "Science
has speculated that fighting Nazis is the world's most gratifying form
of videogaming." Duh! There weren't too many PC games on the list
so we feel extra honored.
Check out this
interview with Ken on Eurogamer.net. The questions are slightly
different from the usual fare, which allows Ken to share a bit of
insight into the development process and gives some other info you may
not have read before.
Digital Jesters (the
European distributor of Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich) is putting on
a Create
A Comic contest The winner gets an expensive graphics card and a
copy of the game. Check it out, it sounds like fun and the rules
generously allow for people who can't draw!
Andrew Park of GameSpot gets a hands-on look at the game and
gives fans his
first impressions and says "The game seems to be coming along
extremely well."
And finally, here is
a preview by Vince Massa on ActionTrip.com. I respect a man who
admits that he loves nothing more than wearing a cape. In fact, I am a
bit of a closet cape fan myself. I am still mourning the loss of the
Wonder Woman cape I had as a child. I think my relationship with it
may have worried my parents. But anyway, check out the preview and
have a wonderful week!
In SWAT 4 news, Tom McNamara of IGN took a good hard look at
the demo and was kind enough to share his
views. He noted that SWAT 4 "looks darn good, with detailed
character models, subtle bloom effects, and high-res textures" and my
personal favorite "judging from Irrational's previous titles, I expect
to see a strong single-player mode and attention to story in addition
to the promising multiplayer we just got a taste of."
This forum
features some very nice and educated opinions of SWAT 4 Beta testers
like "Avean" who says "after 15 minutes with this game in multiplayer
my feelings were, 'Is this the greatest game i have ever played?'" and
"This is 11 out of 10 possible since you guys have redefined what a
FPS game should be like. I am out of words!"
-- Meredith Levine
7 January 2005 -- This Week at Irrational with Meredith Levine
Pre-Ordering Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich
straight From Irrational Will Make Your Life Complete! (or at the very
least, snag you a whole bunch of exclusive FF goodies!)
That's right, Fans of Freedom! The brand new online Irrational
store is in testing and should be ready very soon. That means you can
pre-order Freedom Force vs. The 3rd Reich, which when you get
it right from Irrational comes with a very cool bonus disk. I will be
sure to let everyone know as soon as the store is good to go. And
remember, ordering from the online store is the only way to get the
bonus disk. And what's on the disk? Something you won't find in
stores, something you won't find anywhere but here. Stop teasing us,
you say? Watch this space, Fans of Freedom...
Freedom Force Vs. The 3rd Reich was named one of the top RPGs of
2005 by
