Hello! (update from Randy Smith)

[Randy]

Hello everyone! This is Randy Smith, dropping by to give you an update. Mostly I’ve been goofing off, traveling, and visiting with my family. I moved back to Vermont, and I spend a lot of time outside for a change. Camping, biking, that kind of thing. Recharging the batteries.

Professionally, though, I’ve been consulting for a little over a year now. It’s been a fantastic experience; I get to be involved with lots of different projects and teams in lots of different capacities but always helping great people realize their creative visions. I’m really into that kind of collaboration.

I’ve been working with Arkane Studios on their upcoming release for Ubisoft: Dark Messiah of Might & Magic. I think it’s going to be an amazing game. Already it features some great emergent action gameplay accomplishments that we tried for at Ion. And the immersion and exploration are totally compelling as well. The team is very talented, and I’ve learned a lot from them. Definitely a title to keep your eye on.

I started writing game reviews for fun and to keep my skills sharp. You can check them out here if you’re inclined: http://www.RoninGameDeveloper.com/Reviews.html If you’re under 18 and have protective parents, then be warned that they’re a little surly.

I’m going to stick with consulting for now, as I’m learning a lot and broadening my range. But I’m putting thought into my next full-time role as well. Ultimately, I’d like to be in a position to direct innovative titles with a great creative team, doing our part to push game design forward, but, you know, one step at a time.

Hope everyone is well. Take care!
Randy

[twisty]

Great to hear that you've been keeping busy. What sort of involvement did you have in Dark Messiah?

[Randy]

General design consulting, some emphasis on level-building and the combat system. I also became practiced at drinking cafe and eating crepes.

[scumble]

Glad you took the time to drop in Design consulting seems a very interesting occupation by the sound of it. Are you usually involved continouosly through development or is it often a relatively short contract?

[Biohazard]

Thanks for the update Randy! Glad to hear everything is going well for you.

[Randy]

scumble - I usually work for about 2 weeks at a time, although I return to some projects (such as Dark Messiah) repeatedly.

[fett]

Cheers Randy! I was screwing around in LotP and thought of you. Have you played T2X yet? HUH??