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CJ is, as always, thinking about LEGOs in this photo.Job Title: Senior Designer
Years at Zipper: 8.5
Years in the Industry: 8.5
Favorite Zipper Game: SOCOM II
Favorite Non-Zipper Game: Even though I've probably spent more time with World of Warcraft than anything else, I've got to say it was Contra (on the original NES).
Motto: Get out of your head.
What is it that you do specifically, and can you walk us through your typical day?
I'm currently assisting the SOCOM 4 team, working on several missions of the single player campaign. Most of my days start with syncing the latest data and build before I move right into mission iteration. Mission iteration usually consists of fixing and tweaking combat encounters, adjusting VO calls, and tuning objectives until the mission plays more like it should when it's released. The other half of this iteration comes after the fixes are made, when I run it in-game to test it out and make sure it worked as intended, without breaking anything. Now just picture this series of events cycling over the next several hours, and you've got my typical day.
This isn't supposed to sound monotonous. It's considerably more relaxing than my day-to-day on MAG, and I appreciate "the break".
How did you get into the industry?
I got a call from a relative, telling me they "knew a guy that worked on games, and that the company needed to hire some testers". I really had no idea at the time what I was getting into, but I loved playing games, and working on games seemed like a dream job. After a few calls, I went in to Zipper for a quick interview and they offered me a QA position working on SOCOM. (I'm not sure if the interview and approval process was normally supposed to be that fast, or if it was because I was interviewing on the morning of September 11, 2001, and everyone was too stunned to notice.)
QA involved testing and bugging the game, which is pretty standard, but at the time, Zipper was still a small company, and QA was constantly approached for feedback, opinions and usability-related questions. Having that level of communication and interaction with the rest of the team was really important because it made me visible and dependable. Eventually I was moved into a design position to start work on SOCOM II, and I've been working as a designer at Zipper since then.
Huge thanks to David Sears (Creative Director at the time) for seeing something in me and getting me started with design.
What are some other games or projects that you've worked on in the past?
I've worked on SOCOM, SOCOM II, SOCOM 3, SOCOM: Combined Assault, Fireteam Bravo, Fireteam Bravo 2, MAG and now SOCOM 4.
What's your proudest moment?
Getting married to my wife and then moving to the West Coast a few days later, homeless and jobless, and somehow making it all work. Also, I'd be a terrible person if I didn't mention the birth of our daughter, but really, that's more of a surreal moment than a proud moment.
One of my proudest gaming-related moments happened right after we released the original SOCOM. I was in the checkout line at a Best Buy, and right behind me was a young boy with SOCOM in his hands (probably too young to be playing it, but I certainly wasn't going to stop him), telling his mom all about how great it was, with the headset, the online play and the realism. Hearing someone get that excited about a game that we'd created was a great feeling.
Is there anything you'd like to say to the fans?
I'd consider myself to be a SOCOM II elitist, but from what I've seen so far, SOCOM 4 has the most potential to be something amazing.