Gods And Heroes: Developer Profile: Scot Tumlin - Art Manager

Developer Profile: Scot Tumlin - Art Manager
Posted:Jul 18, 2007 6:24 PM Reply

Name: Scot Tumlin
Job title: Art Manager

When did you first know you wanted to be a game developer?

In 1981, when I bought my first computer and Atari 800

How did you get into the games industry?

Started in Tech Support at a software development company

What exactly do you do on Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising ?

I schedule and track the art production of player characters, exotics, creatures, weapons and the User Interface

What three activities do you do every day?

1 - Follow up with members of my team to get schedule updates

2 - Make adjustments to the schedule

3 - Attend meetings, meetings and more meetings

What is your favorite part of your job?

Seeing the results of my team's work in game

What is the least favorite part of your job?

Meetings

What's it like having to completely revamp something you've spent days, weeks, months building?

Par for the course, this is the nature of working on videogames. You can get 99% of the work done and the last 1% causes you to go back and change something, you thought was done. This is common with the virtual ecosystem nature of MMOs, where all the components affect all the other components.

What or who are your biggest professional inspirations?

The games Wolfenstein 3D and Doom , which created the FPS genre and paved the way for 3D gaming.

How many years have you been doing what you do?

21 years, I started in 1986.

What is your favorite thing about G&H ?

Squad combat

What character class are you most looking forward to playing?

Scout, 1 shot, one kill J .

What mythical creature are you most looking forward to smiting?

Which ever have the bad luck of getting too close to my squad

What do you do when you're not working on G&H ?

Spend time with my wife and son...sniff.

What do you feel the community brings to MMOs?

The community provides us with valuable feedback, from our potential audience.

What are some of your favorite games, past and present?

Missile Command, Battle zone, Infocom Text Adventures, Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander, Rainbow Six Las Vegas

Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands?

I don't have any band favorites, I like pop, R&B and rap genres.

What are some of your favorite books/authors?

Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror are my favorite genres. Currently, my favorite author is George R.R. Martin for his Song of Ice and Fire Series.

What are some of your favorite movies/directors?

Lord of the Rings , The 300 .

Are there any books or guides you could recommend for someone looking to get into Art Production Management?

Any books that cover project management or game production will help. In addition, familiarity with Excel and Project for tracking team tasks. Any additional advice? Follow up with your team daily, if possible, and in person, don't count on technology to do the tracking for you.

Is there anything you know now that you wish you knew before getting into game development?

As with many people in the industry, I was a victim of the occasional layoff and some companies I worked for, abruptly closed shop. So if anything, I wish prepared better, for the unstable nature of the games industry.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

Yeah, when I started in the games industry, EA employed a handful of people, working on games like "Archon". I wish I bought stock!