Game Industry Insiders #2

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<p><span>In this second interview in a series of articles about people in the gaming industry we will meet Michael Anderson, Level Artist at Ubisoft Massive.</span><span><br /><br /></span><strong></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src=";http://www.CyberGamer.com.au/users/18806/articleimages/515/michael.jpg" alt="Michael Anderson at Ubisoft Massive" width="300" height="264" /></p>
<p><strong><span><br />Could you introduce yourself to our readers?<br /></span></strong><span>My name is Michael Anderson, I&rsquo;m 27 years old and I&rsquo;m one of the Level Artists employed by Ubisoft Massive, creators of the World in Conflict and Ground Control series of real-time strategy games.</span><span><br /><br />I&rsquo;ve lived most of my life here in Sweden, though originally I am from England, and moved here with my family during the 80&rsquo;s.<br /><br /></span><strong><span>What are you doing at Massive?</span></strong><span><br />As a Level Artist my job is to create the artwork for the maps designed by our level designers. This includes a great amount of real-world research as well as coordination and planning with our team of modellers and texture artists so that we have all the set-pieces we need to create our games.<br /><br /></span><span>Ultimately it is the Level Artist who is responsible for the overall look and feel of each level, so in many ways my job is to be on top of everything from the design of landscapes and vegetation to skies, clouds and the setting of lights and atmospheric effects.</span><strong><span><br /><br />How long have you been working for Massive?<br /></span></strong><span>I&rsquo;ve been working for Massive in various capacities for a bit more than 2 years now. Before that I worked a few jobs at other companies, including Siemens.<br /><br /></span><strong><span>What has led you to your current position?<br /> </span></strong><span>I began my career in games as a result of having studied IT and Communications at university, focusing on the production of multimedia and software. I&rsquo;ve always had an interesting in drawing and painting (and games), so I naturally gravitated towards the visual aspects of multimedia projects including of course the production of 3D-art. <br /> <br /> I started my work at Massive as a fairly lowly generalist artist assigned to assist with whatever was needed, from modelling 3D-objects and architecture to helping with the planning of our levels. <br /> <br /> After much time spent becoming familiar with the tools and technology the studio has developed in-house my responsibilities have expanded to include much of the production of our level-art.<br /> <br /> <strong>Could you give us some details on your workflow? What kind of PC do you use at work?<br /> </strong>Sure, I can talk a bit about workflow. The one thing that I would always hold above all else as key to great CG artwork is research, research, research. For me this is a given since I work primarily with re-creating real world locations, but I would claim that the same is true even if one is to work on a fantasy or sci-fi project. <br /> <br /> When I'm assigned the task of creating a new environment I'm typically paired with a Level Designer who is an expert at designing the flow of gameplay. We will talk briefly to see if our initial visions of the environment are in conflict with each other (no pun intended).<br /> <br /> Once we have a basic idea we tend to separate our work so that the Level Designer can create the gameplay he or she wishes without the constraints of my input which will be based off the limitations of our technology and the universal constraints of game graphics.<br /> <br /> During this time I will be researching the intended environment, searching the internet and the local library for image references that can be useful. On rare occasions we may even send Level Artists on reference trips to specific parts of the world, in fact this was done extensively for World in Conflict.<br /> <br /> Then we will begin to merge our work as I start to create assets, texture the world and create the atmospheric effects we need. It's not uncommon, given the constraints of time, that the workload of the Level Designer is highest at the very beginning and that subsequently the workload of the Level Artist is highest at the very end.<br /> <br /> Our workflow is highly iterative so it is important for the Level Artist to avoid locking himself to a single idea or solution as an early gameplay focus-test might lead the Designer to want something completely different in order to make the map more fun to play.<br /> <br /> As for the PC I use it has;<br /> AMD Phenom 9859 Quad Core Processor 2.50 GHz<br /> 8GB of RAM<br /> Windows Vista 64bit<br /> nVidia GeForce 8800GT graphics card<br /> 2x 19"EIZO LCD Monitors<br /> WACOM Intuous4 A4 Pen tablet<br /> <br /> <strong>What do you believe is the core element in the current game you are working on?<br /> </strong>Well, I'm currently working on an as-yet un-announced title, so I'm not permitted to give any information. However I can talk about the previous project, World in Conflict.<br /> <br /> The core element of WiC that lies most closely to my area is the sheer joy of starting in a crisp, beautiful environment and watching it descend into the depths of a war-torn battlefield. We tend to call them post-card views and destruction views and in the case of WiC it is literally like building two separate levels and creating a smooth crossover as war progresses. In my experience this is a fairly unique approach to level design and one that is quite challenging to work with.<br /> <br /> Another part of the visual core of WiC is an incredibly high level of realism, so intense in fact that it has almost become expected of us that we deliver near carbon-copies of real world locales. It's great fun to create a game level and then find on the Internet an analysis of how well it compares to its real world counterpart.<br /> <br /> <strong>How do you see the area of level design developing in the future?<br /> </strong>A very interesting question and a topic that I think will be critical to game development in the near future.<br /> Typically the creation of levels has been divided into design work done by Level Designers and then the artwork done by the Level Artists (or Environment Artists as the title sometimes is referred to as).<br /> <br /> It has become increasingly clear to me that the evolution of editing tools for game engines is beginning to merge these two disciplines into one. The industry seems to be moving at rocket-speed towards allowing developers to design levels inside the game itself and seamlessly moving between creating and play testing.<br /> <br /> Another trend that is very much on the rise is the use of procedurally generated content for game levels, especially in the area of terrain creation and placement of ambient art assets such as vegetation. This has a huge impact on the way artists will approach the design of a level.<br /> <br /> These are all factors that will have significant impact on the work of Level Designers and Level Artists and it will be a lot of fun to see where it all ends up.<br /> <strong><br /> What were you like during your student days? Did your studies help you to where you are now?<br /> </strong><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal;">Great question! Even before my university days I was a geek, so I would be lying if I said that picked up my bad habits there. Of course a certain amount of time inevitably ended up being dedicated to games of Command &amp; Conquer when I should have been paying attention to other things. <br /> <br /> All in all I was fairly serious about my studies, but I always spent more time on the practical and lacked patience for the academic world and overly theoretical classes. <br /> <br /> In the end it turned out that my 2 years of studying Maya would decide pretty much everything in my future and left the previous 3 years of project management, programming and systems analysis in the dust. Though in recent times I have come to also appreciate that knowledge more and more and I&rsquo;m increasingly grateful that I took the time to also get a more traditional education.<br /> <br /> </span></strong><strong>Is there any particular experience that has made you especially suited for your current position (work wise or other)?<br /> </strong>I would say that the main skill required for the work I do is versatility. I have to at any given time be able to analyse what will make an entire game environment work, both from the perspectives of the aesthetic and of gameplay. Having the passion for creating virtual worlds and for paying attention to all the small flaws that make up the personality of any particular place is a must.<br /> <br /> Oddly enough it&rsquo;s often the experiences that I&rsquo;ve gained while working outside the industry that have been most valuable to me and which let me look at things in different ways and gain insights that other at the company may not possess.<span>&nbsp; </span>You could say that my experience is that people sometimes become insulated within the game industry and forget how others who are not involved in games see and experience things. <br /> <br /> <strong>What is the best thing about working in the gaming industry?<br /> </strong>The best thing about working with games is that it&rsquo;s an ever-changing occupation. I never know from month to month what I will be asked to create and the anticipation of challenges to come is a major driving force for me. Working in the gaming industry is very hard work and it takes a certain kind of individual to appreciate the organised madness of it all.<br /> <br /> A development studio is very much like a creative playground, monitored by the adults who manage the projects, the finances and the business. I would say that few other workplaces are ever as fascinating.<br /> <br /> <strong>Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Will you still be in the gaming business?<br /> </strong>It&rsquo;s highly possible that I will still be in the industry, though it is likely that I will eventually wish to move on from the hands-on development of games to focusing on the management of productions and working more towards the business itself.<br /> <br /> On the other hand, by its very changing nature the gaming industry might in 10 years time be not at all what I&rsquo;ve come to expect and I may wish to do something completely different.<br /> <br /> <strong>Name a few of your favourite games of all time!<br /> </strong>A tough question! There are so many good games to choose from. A few of my favourites would certainly include Command &amp; Conquer: Generals, Planescape: Torment and Dawn of War. I&rsquo;ve always been an RTS-gamer at heart and though I love many other types of games my list will always be dominated by strategy titles.<br /> <br /> <strong>What game are you currently playing the most?<br /> </strong>At the moment I&rsquo;m mainly playing Dawn of War 2, though occasionally I&rsquo;ll get tired of sitting by the PC and I&rsquo;ll go for the console and play some Resident Evil 5 or Dead Space.<br /> <br /> <strong>Thanks for your time Michael!<br /> </strong>M</span>y pleasure!<br /> <br /> <span>Coming up next is an interview with a game designer, also at Ubisoft Massive. Feel free to direct any questions regarding game design in the comments! You can read the first interview in the series here:<br /> <br /> <strong><a href="/article/504/Game-Industry-Insiders-1"><span>Game Industry Insiders #1 - Barrie Tingle, Associate Producer at DICE</span></a></strong> </span></p>
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