You can also find this interview at the Pixelfunction Turnpike: PixelFunction Advanced : : Interview Exclusives Interview with Morgan Jaffit: Game Designer on Homeworld 2 01/08/03 Here''s another Pixelfunction Advanced exclusive interview with Relic Entertainment bound game designer, Morgan Jaffit; Currently working on Homeworld 2. Pixelfunction: So, just who are you in the games industry and what''s your background? Morgan Jaffit: In short, my name''s Morgan Jaffit and I design games. In long, I''m working on Homeworld 2 for Relic Entertainment at the moment and I''ve previously worked on Freedom Force for Irrational Games. Prior to that I was involved in a lot of pen & paper RPG design, coming up with my own ideas for board games etc etc. I also write an occasional column discussion on game design for the boys at Penny Arcade because I like them and secretly aim to get into their comic sometime. PF: What led you to wanting to become a Game Designer? MJ: I love games. Everything that even looks like a game. I play games for fun, I analyze games, I make up my own. Board games, roleplaying games, card games, chess, go, magic the gathering, warhammer, battletech, settlers of catan and more. Gimme a set of rules and a scent of competition and I''m all over it. PF: What is it like working for a commercial game studio? MJ: Great. You get respect, a check, and a chance to make your dreams come true. Seriously. Does it get any better than that? It''s like making movies that people play. It''s like writing books that come alive and screw around with your brain while you''re trying to turn the pages. It''s also a lot of hard work, because the damn ideas refuse to flow like liquid from my forehead and congeal upon the platter of my drive without me actually doing anything. PF: As a game designer, what''s an average day like at Relic? MJ: It varies, a lot. That''s part of the reason I love it so. However, a rough day would consist of coming in, checking my email, drinking a coffee and waking up. From there, I''m likely to write some conceptual design documents (ie - this is how resource collection works in Homeworld 2), have a discussion with programmers to iron out some stuff I''ve previously written, have a meeting with the other designers to work out what needs to be done in order to improve the stuff I''m currently working on (and likewise to critique the stuff they''re working on), do some level design and layout, some practical implementation of design, play some multiplayer and chat with the other designers. A lot. A single day won''t necessarily contain all of those elements, but most of them will crop up most days. PF: What are some of your Game Design or personal Philosophies to share with the indy dev community? MJ: Play. Write. Communicate. Talk about games to whoever will listen. Listen to whoever will talk. Relentlessly suck the mind of any talented individual whose path you cross. Never wear white as it stains easily and treat women right. From a Game Design perspective, the player is always right. Make things easy to get into and offer depth. Never assume your player is stupid but always make concessions in case they are. Rewards are fun, use them liberally. Not every experience has to be difficult but they all have to be satisfying. PF: What do you see as the main potential of the indy scene? MJ: To blow the socks off the big boys by being faster and more creative than they are. Look at the Indy film market to see where you should be taking your cues from, not the big boys of mass market gaming. Go out, kick ass, take names. Make your games small, unique and fun. Don''t take shit from anyone. Indy gaming is more than a way to get your foot in the door, it''s a way to do what you want. You may well be the next Blair Witch Project, so get ready to roll in cash. PF: From your own experiences, what have been your greatest/worst lessons learned in the gaming industry? MJ: Good teams make good games. That''s definitely the most important lesson I''ve learned. Working with people who are absolutely magical at what they do is satisfaction in and of itself. You can''t always get what you want and if you can''t explain why you want it, you''ll probably never get it. PF: Any suggestions for wanna be Game Designers? MJ: Play a whole lot of games and THINK about them. If you don''t, you won''t make it in this industry. Take a creative writing course or two and brush up on your english. Shower at least twice a week. Write really scathing reviews of incredibly popular games and make them so compelling that when you submit them to game review websites or magazines they have no choice but to be so awed by your talent that they publish them immediately. Don''t be too ambitious when working on personal projects - better to make a small, fun game than a big, sprawling, dull game. Thanks Morgan! Copyright 2002 Team Morning Star Inc. Liquid Moon Team X2: Official Site

Also, we have many more interviews with industry Game Designers coming up, are there any questions you all would like to hear?

thanx

I think it would be interesting to get a bit more in-depth interviews, this one isn´t boring, but it doesn´t take a HW2 Game Designer to give you that information... anyone would have done. Maybe something relating to current or past projects, insights learned, biggest mistakes, etc...

good idea, I''ll keep that in mind for the next one