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Interviews:
Sean Baity
[Jason]
For how long have you been working at Maxis?
[SMB] I have been at Maxis
for a little over a year now, but previously I worked at Electronic
Arts for three years as a game tester.
[Jason]
What do you get to do at Maxis?
[SMB] Well I don't program,
I don't market games, I don't make strategic sales plans,
I don't keep all the computers running, I don't hire all the
employees, I don't create the data pathways, I don't manage
or create the websites and I don't make art or sound but I
do everything else. Ha ha ha just kidding. Some days it feels
that way though. My official title is Assistant Producer.
Along with Roxy Wolosenko, I wrote most of the text in The
Sims and Livin' Large and am responsible for sound production.
That means I figure out what sounds and music is needed, how
long it needs to be, and how many variations there should
be, but I also have to leave room for creative improvisation
from the sound programmers and musicians. I also answer a
lot of email from the web site and try and get into the chat
room and on the BBS to answer questions and help people. But
in between all that there are a gazillion little things I
have to all the time. Like test downloadable objects, put
together readme's and FAQ's and of course, lots and lots of
game testing.
[Jason]
What do you like most about working at Maxis?
[SMB] Well aside from
the obvious, getting to work on cool video games, I would
have to say the thing I like the most are the people I get
to work with...the environment. It is as close to pure games
research and development as I have experienced. Everyone is
a perfectionist and everyone loves their work. People are
thrilled to be working here. Plus the people running the show
have been in the business for years and really know what they
are doing. That gives the creative teams a lot of confidence
and let's us concentrate on making killer games. Plus I like
that fact that 30%-40% of my coworkers are female. And NO
it's not just because I like girls...it's because it is more
representative of the population as a whole. Another thing
is the freak factor. While I would not say we are encouraged
to be lunatics...it is expected, appreciated and accepted
that some of us are lunatics. Lunatics are fun...if sometimes...difficult
to work with. And I still really enjoy testing the games.
[Jason]
How much are you involved with the production of Livin' Large?
[SMB] Well are basically
three producers on it: Melissa Bachman-Wood, Chris Baena and
myself, along with Chris Trottier and Will Wright as designers.
I got to write all the text and design the look of many of
the new objects. Plus I was the main contact and leader of
the testing effort. So I was quite involved. But it was huge
team effort as usual. I was very excited to help make Livin
Large...it's crazy!!!
[Jason]
In Livin' Large, is the gameplay essentially the same as in
The Sims?
[SMB] Heh heh heh...you
could say that.....we did not modify how the motives decay
or how mood is improved or how the finances work. It is essentially
the same game. However, there are certain new objects that
will DRAMATICALLY alter reality for your Sims. I don't want
to give it all away, but people who have been torturing their
Sims may find they get a visit from an unwanted guest this
time around. By the same token, players that have been taking
care of and tending happy Sims will have some uh ..*looks
over shoulder* some uh...new "interactions" available
on the bed we included.
[Jason]
How will player-created characters be able to interact with
Non-Player Characters?
[SMB] There are several
new NPC's in Livin' Large: the Tragic Clown, the Genie, the
Grim Reaper, the Madame Blahbatfry crystal ball, the Aliens
and the robot Servo. I'm not giving anything away besides
their names!!! But you can interact with them.
[Jason]
Do you plan to have a "skin" exchange on TheSims.com
where users can exchange skins?
[SMB] We originally wanted
to do this but after the release of our SimShow tool, we saw
that players were posting hundreds of skins on their own sites
within weeks. In addition, we already support the Sims Exchange,
and skins are uploaded along with the houses so it already
operates as a sort of skins exchange now. Simply upload a
custom skin in your house and anyone else will get it when
they download your house! I just got some very cool science
fictions skins this way today. I truly love the extents that
fans go to in making their skins and floors and wallpapers.
It really amazes us. Our next step will be to make the whole
customizing process even easier, so that even my mom could
make a skin of herself if she wanted.
[Jason]
How many different neighborhoods will there be?
[SMB] There will be five
neighborhoods. The first one is reserved for the neighborhood
that people already have on their computers. Neighborhood
two will have a few houses we made to highlight Livin' Large.
3,4 and 5 are empty, but super-gamers can read our instructions
and make up to 99 neighborhoods...that's 990 houses! I hope
we don't hear any complaints about a lack of lots! But seriously,
this was one of the most requested features. Now if your brother
or sister wants to play too, they can just switch to neighborhood
number 4 instead of playing in YOUR neighborhood. In fact,
unless you have 98 people in your immediate family, everyone
can have their own neighborhood!
[Jason]
Will families from a different neighborhood be able to interact
with another neighborhood?
[SMB] Sorry but no. That
is limitation of the neighborhood switching system. BUT, you
can download a family off the exchange to any neighborhood
you specify. So technically, you could upload your family
from neighborhood one and download them to neighborhood two
and have them show up there. Super-gamers can figure out how
to copy families from neighborhood one to neighborhood two
as well.
[Jason]
What about user created objects? There's already The Sims
Transmogrifier,
which allows you to change only the color, price, and description.
Are there plans where users can actually make real time objects?
[SMB] Maxis would love
to let people do that. Our goal is to enable the players to
be the designers in the long run. Transmogrifier is just another
little step on that journey. But all these tools take a long
time to make, a long time to document and a long time to test.
Eventually there will be a way to make and program your own
objects, but this may have to wait until the next Maxis game.
This is still under heavy discussion and debate. There are
as many pros as there are cons.
[Jason]
Ok, we just for fun, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?
[SMB] Oh why did you have
to ask that? This question always makes me sound so boring.
Ok, my favorite ice cream flavor is Vanilla. French Vanilla.
That's right...plain old vanilla. But it has to be the right
kind of vanilla. It has to have the little black specs of
the ground up vanilla beans in it...not the air-injected,
cheap vanilla flavored kind. There is a big difference. My
favorite used to be coffee ice cream...but I haven't been
able to find a good one recently...so I sort of always get
vanilla. Plus you
know what? Vanilla is also extremely versatile. You can just
eat it as ice cream...but what are you going to put in a root
beer float? Strawberry? Yuck! You know where else it is good?
Stick some vanilla ice cream on your pancakes or on crepes.
That is delicious! Would you do that with mint chocolate chip?
No...it would overpower the natural goodness of the crepe
or pancake. Plus what about milkshakes? Bubble gum flavored?
Toffee-cheery crunch? Hmm actually those sound pretty good
so I guess that doesn't count. I also really LOVE chocolate
ice cream. But for some reason, when I'm at the store at 3
am for my ice-cream fix, I always grab a can of Ben and Jerry's
French Vanilla. Does that answer your question? Unless of
course you mean
gelato ice cream. In that case I would have to go with Espresso
gelato. Man...too bad we didn't have deserts in The Sims...I'll
go add ice cream to our next game!! Hey thanks for the ideas!!!
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