Avid readers of PC Powerplay will be aware of the fact that editor Timothy C. Best shipped off to Perth last month, leaving his post on the PC gaming magazine. Associate Editor Anthony Fordham has since filled the role and, if you cast your mind back four years ago, you’ll remember that it’s a position Fordham has held before.
Tim decided that writing about games probably wasn’t as fun as making them. As such, he’s now over at Interzone Games. No doubt he’ll be working on their BigWorld-based and currently nameless MMO.
I recently hit Tim with a few questions regarding his shift from journalism to games development. Hit the jump for the interview!
PS. Any readers of PCPP out there? What do you think of the changing of hands? Probably a better question is: Do you read gaming mags? Let us know.What is it you’ll be doing at Interzone?
My official job title is Researcher. The guys at PCPP joked that I’d be “researching” a lot of coffee, but luckily that hasn’t been the case (I make lousy coffee).
The main thrust of my role is making sure that the rest of the team has all information to get the details right in the game. I might have to look up things like: how many thrusters are there on a space shuttle or how long was a Spartan’s knife?
That’s the most basic level of what I do. Questions can get a lot more complicated. I might get something more like this: we’re looking at using a teleportation system in the game, how do other games handle instantly moving people around and how’s that going for them?
Sometimes I get to look up pictures. I like pictures. Beyond that, Interzone is pretty fluid and I find I get to lend a hand in all sorts of fun stuff.
Have you always wanted to be a games developer? What attracted you to Interzone?
Doesn’t everyone? I have always been interested in stories and ways to tell them. Writing about games was good, making games will be even better.
Everything just fell into place for me to move across to Interzone. The company is new enough for me to feel like I was getting in on the ground floor, it has big plans so I could jump right into triple-A game development, it has some amazing people and seems to find more every week, has secured enough funding to make sure the game has every chance at success, I’m excited about what they are working on, and, as an added bonus, it happens to have its studio in my hometown.
Other than Interzone, there’s only one new(ish) company in Australia that shows a similar level of ambition that I know of – Team Bondi, with L.A. Noire – and Interzone is just a better fit (which is lucky since it’s the company that offered me a job). Interzone is still playing it fairly low-key, but I’ve snuck up an article on the front page of its website (www.interzonegames.com) that goes into why it’s a company you’d want to watch (or work for).
We’re not so sure that Team Bondi is making a great deal of headway at the moment Tim, considering its need for employees, but Interzone sounds like a sweet gig.
What’s your favourite game?
All time? It’s probably a tie between Master of Orion 2 and X-Com.
Do you like caffeine and in what form do you usually take it?
Strangely, I’m not a huge fan. This partially accounts for my zombie-like state most mornings (the rest comes from the strange bite mark on my left elbow). When I do hit the ‘ffeine V is probably my favourite poison. I blame Glen (PC PowerPlay’s art director) for that one.
Nothing wrong with V Tim, it’s made in NZ so it gets my vote (yes, dear readers, I’m a Kiwi).
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