It is my job to make sure the development team is staying on target, making good decisions, delivering on schedule, and, most importantly, building a really cool game that lives up to the Warhammer name. I also deal directly with our friends at Games Workshop. In fact, I'm writing this from a hotel room in Nottingham, England, headquarters for GW, where I've spent the week working closely with them on the game. I spend much of my time making the rounds at Mythic discussing all aspects of the game and trying to ensure that our talented team has everything they need to do the best work that they can.
How did you get into the gaming industry?
I graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Computer Science. Some years later I woke up and realized I no longer wanted to be a programmer. Eventually, I even managed to convince people I was an artist. I came into Mythic's offices for a visit one day nearly seven years ago and was hired on the spot. Being extremely clever people, they had immediately recognized my potential ;) I've been an artist, lead artist, art director, and, most recently, producer of Dark Age of Camelot,
before becoming the producer for Warhammer.
What was your "welcome to the game industry" moment when it hit you that you were really making games for a living?
When I finally saw one of my grand character creations rendered in a game engine. That celebrated moment didn't last long as I was promptly ordered to make changes. Now I get to do that to other people!
What excites you about the Warhammer property? What cool things in the Warhammer universe do you hope to bring to life?
The Warhammer world is so intriguing and fully realized that I find it to be a perfect subject for an MMO. Twenty-some years of Warhammer material makes our lives so much easier when developing an MMO – it's all right there to draw from! The emphasis on battle, conflict, strife, mayhem, etc. is a natural. I look forward to rampaging through [oops, can't say where that is just yet] and ending the lives of many irritating [sorry, deleted reference to those guys]!! The moment I see a [just stop now!] in the game, I know my life will be complete.
What are your hopes/goals for the game?
My main goal is to build a game that is both fun to play and true to the Warhammer property. It needs to entertain as well as provide compelling, competitive Realm vs Realm (our take on PvP) game play.
What Warhammer Fantasy Battles army are you collecting?
I'm currently trying to find time to complete a Tomb Kings army.
What are your favorite video/computer games of all time?
Off the top of my head: Civ, Ultima Underground, Red Baron, Wing Commander(s), Half-Life, Dark Age of Camelot, KOTOR, Half-Life 2, WoW. I'm playing Civ4 right now and if you even remotely enjoyed earlier versions, you should be playing this game.
Is there a movie you've seen or book/comic you read that you'd recommend to others?
Jabberwocky! Terry Gilliam's 1977 film has quite a few Warhammer-like bits in it.
