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Tell us a little about yourself and what your job is with respect to Empire Earth.
I really enjoy creating and animating characters. Over the last two years I have
created over 140 animated units for Empire Earth. I find myself referring to all
walks of life as "units". An unfortunate by-product of countless hours spent
creating little men, women, and animals for a massive RTS game.
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What task will you be working on next?
Currently I'm in the process of evaluating which units need to be updated to
bring them up to the same high level of quality as some of the newer units
I've created. A lot of things change during three years of development,
including technology and personal tastes. I'd like to say they were all perfect
to begin with, but... they weren't. There's always polish....
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What's the best thing about working at SSSI?
Without a doubt it's the group of people I work with. A bunch of talented-misfits
who are capable of seeing their peers through the ups and downs of a lengthy
development process. Yikes. It's not always pretty, but it works.
Oh yeah... I can also bring my dog, Renko, to work. ;)
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What game(s) are you currently playing just for fun? What do you like or dislike about it (them)?
Er... Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament (yes, still), Virtua Tennis, Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 2,
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo. (What? No RTS?) I have to admit logging more hours
on Counter Strike and THPS 2 than the others as of late. I love C-S because of
the team concept combined with shooter action. When I go back to UT I'm amazed
at how fast it is. THPS 2 is just incredible and speaks to the "inner-me". Super
Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo is simply the best 2 player puzzle game ever. Not sure
what to say about Tennis. I saw it at E3 and it looked fun. It's a really great
4 player console game if you can find four people to play console tennis with
you (hard to do).
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Are you a morning person or a night person, and why do you think so?
I am without a doubt a morning person. It's helpful for me (psychologically)
to always feel like I have the whole day in front of me. I usually get to work by
7am and have my best work done before noon. Issues anyone?
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Besides games, what other hobbies or interests do you have?
I'm an avid mountain-biker, beach-comber, and dog-ball-thrower. I'm planning on
oil-painting and designing and building modern furniture when I have more time
(hehe). I used to paint every day, but that side of my brain can only take so much
abuse. I love functional designs in furniture and I want to try to make some of my
personal designs a reality before IKEA steals them all. I'm also planning on restoring
an old Vespa scooter or two in the next year or so.
