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Things You Were Too Afraid to Ask: John 'Nifty' Molloy
Despite rumors to the contrary, our series of staff interviews did not, in fact, win the lottery and emigrate to a warm, sandy beach in the Carribbean. Here to prove it is our very latest installment featuring none other than Designer of Games John 'Nifty' Molloy who, prior to joining Splash Damage, game-designed away at Lionhead Studios on Fable II and its downloadable content. He's now part of Brink's design team and wields a variety of deadly tools including Microsoft Word and Excel to make sure Things Are As They Need To Be.
To find out more about John, his work, how he ended up in the industry and, indeed, at Splash Damage, and why you should be cool and stay in school, have a gentle browse over to the full interview in John's profile.
Comments
'Favorite movie' :
The Fifth Element
- Oh yeah, this guy has it all
"LEELOO DALLAS MULTIPASS"
Also, John, I know this theoretical guy who...
Right on right on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m60Gd...eature=related
(this scene killed me... well ... among the others - have a laugh
Does that answer your question?
Reading a book a week seems like an insane amount of reading! :}
*And yes, Secret of Mana is awesome - I still have it
I haven't done any martial arts in a very long time. I keep meaning to take it up again but I need to see a physio about some knock and bumps I took first.
When I was training it was kenpo karate style
Everyone else has told me that design courses are very generic, not very focused, with too much time spent on loose theory with few case studies and not enough hands-on development, and that the practical/technical courses are also too generalised, too basic and out of touch with current-day industry practices; not to mention being taught either by experts who have no teaching skills or teachers who have been out of the loop for too long to claim to have the necessary technical expertise.
That's the UK specifically, mind. I hear the situation is far better in the US and certain parts of Europe, such as the Nordic countries. So how does Brunel compare to the general experience people seem to be having?
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Funny, I'm currently playing through Secret of Mana at the moment with two mates, though we're making slow progress because we have to wait for a day that we're all free to play it. My friends tell me we have barely scratched the surface.
My favourite feature has got to be the weapon charge system (you hold down a button to do up to 100% damage, and hold it longer to charge up a higher level attack), taking 1 button and 1 weapon and giving 9 different attacks without it being complicated in the slightest, not to mention the depth of hitting an enemy with a <100% charged-attack just to make them flinch long enough for your ally to land a fully-charged attack. Do any other games have this? If not why not? It's ace!
I'd also be tempted to say it's the first example of a 'drop-in, drop-out' co-op system. I know arcade machines had drop-in for 2P, but I can't think of any that had drop-out. It's quite refreshing to be able to go grab a round of beers while the AI takes control of my character in-between new areas.
1) Courses will always be slightly out of touch. The cutting edge stuff in our industry stays behind closed doors until the last possible moment. When Brink hits the shelves other developers will pick it up and learn from it, just like we take note of innovations in other games. Universities are playing catch up just like we are, but where a games companies sole purpose is to make games universities have to spread their resources across many different areas.
2) Technical or practical elements of courses, IMHO, should be generalised. You need to understand your role from first principals. Imagine studying level design just before games (in general) made the jump from 2D to 3D. If you were taught the principles of timing, positive/negative space, risk/reward, flow etc. then you'll make the transition comparatively easily. If you were simply taught to make levels in 2D-Engine-Alpha then you've suddenly lost the majority of your expertise.
3) When it comes to games courses you really have to do your research first. Look at what is being taught and who is teaching it. Look for industry ties as well. My personal preference is a course with a strong academic core and contacts to current industry knowledge.
4) Know what you want to study. Design is different to art, both are different to code and they're all different to production. Its best to know the workings of them all, but don't do a games programming course expecting to come out a designer. That being said you can always use the course as a base and expand your knowledge outside of the course plan.
In answer specifically to the Brunel question. Brunel was the perfect fit for what I wanted to get out of a games course. It was 50% academic study and 50% design/production. The campus is in London so I could attend events and meet people. I had just completed 2 years at Ballyfermot and already had my basic development skills. Finally the course I took at Brunel was a masters degree, so it was very much about my drive and determination.
I was in the inaugural class of that Masters so there was to performance record to consult. But if you look at it now, I believe it has a very strong graduate employment record coupled with an impressive rate of progression on to Phd study.
1 button combat, I wonder where I've heard that recently
I think you may be right about the drop out feature. Of course it wouldn't have been desirable in arcades, why would I pay to play and stop before I was knocked out? Although perhaps some of the Neo-geo games may have featured it since you could save your progress.
your thoughts about the degrees in game-related areas these days (bachelor or master, or whatever...)
I'm currently in studying Art, hoping to get into Media Art & Digital Technology (which has animation, programming & 3D stuff (like 3DsMAX etc.) in it)... and I wonder what your ideas about these degrees, courses etc. are... =)