With a title like “Lead Character Artist” you would think I spent my day modeling, or texturing. Sometimes I wish I was that lucky! Generally I spend most of my time managing a team of very talented people (10 guys now). What this means is I spend a lot of time talking with them, solving issues, approving/critiquing artwork, and checking out how things look in the game. From time to time I get a chance to sit down with a piece of artwork, most of the time just to fix bugs or do a bit of touchup work. In the end though it is my responsibility to make sure every piece of character and creature art that makes it into the game is the best we could make it.
My other primary responsibility is to make sure all of the character systems are designed well and working properly (from an art standpoint). So I’m regularly involved with the design of things like armor systems, art tools, character customization, guild customization, mounts, monsters, dungeons etc. Since Warhammer is such a character driven experience, I tend to find a way to get involved in almost everybody’s business. So far I haven’t gotten dragged outside and beaten for sticking my nose in, so I’d like to assume I’ve been making beneficial contributions across the board. =)
What is your background? What other jobs have you held in the industry?
I’m an educated artist. I studied computer science at Georgia Tech, then after a year of programmer hell
I went back for my second degree and got a BFA in Computer Animation from AIA (Art Institute of Atlanta).
Like most artists I’ve been poking around in the industry doing freelance work for almost 6 years.
After a few failed start-up companies I landed my first full time position at Turbine working on
Middle Earth Online. A year or so after that, I joined Mythic and the Dark Age of Camelot team. I’ll
have been with the company 3 years in October.
What other titles have you worked on in the past? In what capacity?
It would be hypocritical to list the freelance work I’ve done, since I tend to rag on people for
listing a “Title” for every box and barrel you might have done for $100. In the past 4 years I’ve had
significant contributions on Middle Earth Online, DAOC: Catacombs, and DAOC: Darkness Rising.
What was your “welcome to the game industry” moment when it hit you that you were really making games
for a living?
When the cleaning crew at my first full time job rammed my head with a vacuum cleaner because she didn’t realize
I was asleep under my desk. Game developers tend not to work “normal” hours and some times you realize
that commuting an hour home at 3 or 4 am in the morning just won’t work when you have to be back in by
9. Besides it was insanely hot that summer and the little loft room I was renting didn’t have AC. I’m
not a workaholic; I just like air conditioning I swear.
What excites you about the Warhammer property? What makes it perfect for an MMO? What cool things
in the Warhammer universe do you hope to bring to life?
It’s WARHAMMER! Need I say more? Really, if you had to pick a fantasy (Or Sci Fi for that matter)
setting for an online game Warhammer has to be one of the top picks. The IP in general has had
so many talented and visionary individuals work on it. As a result you have this insanely rich
world to draw from with tons of interesting people and creatures inhabiting it.
While I love the concept art, and illustrations for Warhammer, and 40k my ultimate goal is to bring a lot of the character in the miniatures to life. First and foremost Warhammer has always been a game about toy soldiers. It’s those insanely cool sculpts created by the sculptors and painters at GW that really drive the IP, and I hope we can bring a measure of that to our game world.
Do you collect Warhammer figures? What army do you play?
My office and my living room are pretty much overrun by miniatures in various stages of construction.
The sad thing is I’m an artist and most of them aren’t painted yet! I tend to get a bit overambitious in
my paint work which results in not enough time to actually get them all finished (although I do a good job
when I do paint them). Paint jobs aside my Tzeentch Chaos Army, and Wood Elf armies regularly show up at the
office weekly gaming group. I also play Necrons in 40k, and about to start on my next project which is
a “Nuns with Guns” Sisters of Battle Army. Hmm maybe I should completely finish something first? Maybe
not....
What are your hopes/goals for the game?
Pretty simple actually
1. Make a Fun game! (MOST IMPORTANT)
2. Make a visually appealing game!
3. Do not incur the wrath of GW from bad art, and an abusive use of the IP!
4. Using the above 3 goals to ensnare people, convert them to the glory of Warhammer. In doing so take ownership of their soul and have them play our game till the end of time.
What are your key influences while making the game?
I’m a fairly hardcore MMO player (when I have the time) so I’ve managed to max out characters in most
of the games out there. (I’m currently working on L2 *shudder*.) So naturally I’m influenced by the
features I like and dislike in those games. In general though, I tend to look at any game with
exceptional artwork and break it down, trying to figure out what they did and how they did it.
Hopefully adding to the repertoire of tools and ideas we use to make our work better.
Artistically I’ve always been a fantasy and sci-fi fan (big surprise) so I’ve always admired people like Frazzetta, Brom, Jon Foster, and Phil Hale. Paul Dainton and Adrian Smith are no brainers for when it comes to Warhammer. I also grab Spectrum and other annual art books and find dozens of new pieces that just blow me away. There are so many talented guys out there it is impossible to list them all.
What is the biggest problem with current MMO’s you hope to fix with WAR?
Artistically I think MMO’s in general have lost sight of the big picture when it comes to characters.
Everyone is so concerned with the number of minute options they give players that they have lost sight
of the quality of the selection and the personal identity of the character, and who they are supposed
to portray.
The big improvement that I hope to bring to the table (with the help of the rest of our talented art
staff) is meaningful artwork options for everyone, regardless of class, race, or gender. If this
means sometimes we might sacrifice some variety in order to make sure the imagery is spot on, then
so be it. The ultimate goal artistically is to ensure that each and every character in the game
stays as true to their individual identity as possible. There should be no confusion over who is
what class, and how bad ass they might be. I’ve also never been a huge fan of sliding features on a
character. Why allow people to play with eye size, and nose size, when we can spend more time making
impactful artwork that will be seen from a distance.
That means in general less minute options in exchange for more big stuff!
What are your favorite video/computer games of all time? What games are you playing right now?
What game should the reader be playing if he’s not?
Currently Playing: Kingdom Hearts 2, God of War, Dawn of War, Monster Hunter,
and LLineage 2
All time Favorites: Shadows of the Colossus, System Shock, Final Fantasy II (US), Chrono Trigger, Gradius (any), Soul Caliber (Dreamcast), Mario Bros 3, and Half Life
Would like to play list: Metroid Prime: Hunters, Half Life Episode 1, Sin Episodes, EVE
My top recommendation of the moment: Monster Hunter! It’s not a new release or anything, and it takes some getting used to but this game really kicks ass online with friends.
What music are you listening to right now?
None, I can’t actually listen to music and concentrate on typing at the same time. My grammar has devolved
enough since college, no reason to make it worse. The last two songs on my play list before I started this
diary were Velvet Revolver – Slither, and Audioslave – Gasoline.
Is there a recent movie you’ve seen or book/comic you read that you’d recommend to others?
For the Warhammer fans I’d recommend Horus Rising by Dan Abnett, it’s interesting to see 40k’s greatest
villains when they were still living the lives of the noble good guy hero types. Abnett is definitely
one of the best Black Library authors out there.
For the cult film buff I recommend “Lost Skeleton of Cadavra” and “Evil Cult”. Neither is an Oscar worthy flick (not even close). However “Evil Cult” is an all time favorite for some of us B movie buffs around the office, so it’s a highly recommended bad movie and “Lost Skeleton’s” popularity is definitely on the rise around here.
Anything else you want to add?
Remember whenever you find yourself in a sticky spot. Just ask yourself, “What Would Neil Do?”
