Jumpgate Evolution: Developer Profile: Producer Hermann Peterscheck

Ten Ton Hammer gives us a closer look at Jumpgate Evolution's producer Hermann Peterscheck, who touches on his education, involvement with video games, and much more:

TTH: What kind of schooling have you received? What was your educational focus? Has it helped you with the development of MMOGs?

Hermann: Yes and No. As with many people in the industry, games and working on them was more of a distraction from school than it was a benefit. When I was young my parents moved around a lot so I got to see all kinds of different schools and meet all kinds of people. This probably helps in some small way when it comes to being sensitive to what people like and don't like and being comfortable in uncomfortable situations.

After high school I studied English Literature for a while and I think that helped with regard to knowing fiction and stories. Honestly I think that everything you learn can help you with developing games, especially MMOGs. It's one of the few fields where lots of random useless knowledge seems to help rather than hurt - which is one of the reasons I like it so much. Art history, math, science, architecture, cooking, economics, they can all be useful in game making. It always helps to have some kind of hard skill (programming, modeling, writing, etc.) as well, of course.

TTH: Has your gaming history influenced your work on Jumpgate Evolution? How has it helped your work?

Hermann: Yes. From a playing point of view it's great to be able to remember all kinds of experiences because chances are if you can remake those you will be more likely to have a successful game. In terms of working on games, that helps you learn what works and what doesn't and you become better at "smelling" the future. You don't ever know when something will or won't work, but the more you do it the better your senses become and you can trust them more. I'm a big believer in intuition and simplicity. Things that just make sense and are easy to explain and understand are usually the best ideas... and most fun.

Read the full interview at Ten Ton Hammer.