HorizonsVault has spotted an interview with Shawn Carnes at The Devoted Dryad. They are - of course - talking about Artifact Entertainment's upcoming MMORPG Horizons. Here's a bit:
How do you guys at AE decide on a course of action on a game feature?
Well, from the game design side of things, I can give you an example of how it works for me. A while back, my Creative Director (David Bowman) told me, "Shawn, I need you to get trade skills in shape for when we shift into production." I took that project and worked it over, detailing what I wanted to see trade skills in Horizons be. When I got it to a point where I wanted/needed outside input to proceed, folks started pouring in their thoughts. It was then my job to weigh the good and the bad, rehashing my ideas. From there, the tech folks then needed to look at it, saying "Yeah, we can do that," or "Nope, stop smoking crack," or "We can't do that, but have you thought about approaching it from this angle?" That's huge, having that check-and-balance in there; it ensures that you don't promise the farm without having done a lick of farm work before hand.
Meanwhile, everyone else has their own project that they are handling. It all gets compiled, with David making sure we keep our eye on the prize, and Steve Snow making sure we don't "screw the pooch". I don't know everything about Horizons... or every single detailed game feature. I try to know as much outside of my area of expertise as possible without sacrificing the focus and effort I need to give my projects. |
Horizons: Interview at Devoted Dryad
