Dev Box Interview: Blitz Arcade’s Design Manager Ed Linley

Written by 2.o | November 18, 2009

It usually takes a small army to create the video games that we play, and, most of the time, all of the focus gets put on the game itself, and not on the people that came together to make it. Our Dev Box interview series takes a look at some of the unsung heroes that have committed their lives to entertaining all of us. In this week’s expanded Dev Box we are letting Blitz Arcade’s Design Manager Ed Linley provide us some insight into who he is as a gamer, and how he ended up working in the game’s industry.

Name: Ed Linley
Title: Design Manager
Company: Blitz Arcade
Job Description: I oversee the design teams working on Blitz Arcade titles, giving various levels of support, from managing manpower to creating game design documentation and gameplay feedback. I’m involved in the pitch process for Arcade titles and also give design advice to the participants in the Blitz 1UP programme.
First title worked on: “Test Drive: Off Road” (PC/PSone)
Most recent title worked on: “Encleverment Experiment” (Xbox LIVE Arcade)

What game has most influenced you, and why?
“Elite” still stands out as a game that proves you can make a hugely impressive game world and experience without going completely overboard with production. I like games that have a simple set of rules and then go on to use them in ingenious ways. We’ve definitely employed this with “Encleverment Experiment.” Each of the game’s 16 minigames tweaks its rules to create four levels of difficulty that’ll catch out even the most enclevered players!

What are you playing right now?
“Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days” (DS)

What was your first break in the games industry?
I came out of University with a degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics, which involved a huge amount of note taking. Most of my notes were covered in doodles of spaceships and aliens, and that was far more instrumental in landing my first industry job as an artist, than the rest of the degree (although my science background helped with the lab-based setting of “Encleverment Experiment”!).

While I was an artist, I’d often write up the results of internal meetings, which gradually turned into documenting designs, which then led to me becoming a fully fledged designer. I’d say I’ve never looked back, but I do like to indulge myself by having a hand in the art side of our games, although most of my work is within design—mainly high level structuring, narrative and pitching these days.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
My careers advisor helped me choose whether to take a physics or an art degree. He asked, “If you do a physics degree, will you do art in your spare time?” The answer was yes. Then, “If you do an art degree, will you do physics in your spare time?” Obviously, the answer was no. So I did the physics degree and got an art job – the best of both worlds!

Where do you look for inspiration?
The non-obvious. I try to think of ways to surprise people; to give them one thing and then twist that thing to give it more life and to raise a few eyebrows. In “Encleverment Experiment,” I’m particularly proud of how the Professor’s commentary adapts when you come up against him in the Single Player mode…

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about game development?
That sometimes it’s necessary to go with decisions you might not fully agree with. On the other hand, you’re often handed ideas you may not have thought of yourself. Having an open mind and not being overly precious can help you retain your sanity in the long run!

Having said that, I don’t follow the above myself at all! I conversely believe that if you aren’t having fun making a game, the game itself won’t be fun. Fight your battles – the game comes first! Since “Encleverment Experiment” is Blitz Arcade’s first self-published title, we could put all of the ideas we were passionate about into the game.

Who do you think will come out on top this console generation?
The Xbox360 is winning out over the PS3 and the Wii is in a league of its own.

What do you think is the biggest problem current games suffer from?
Personally, I’m not a fan of the drive to make games look realistic – it takes a huge amount of time and resources that I’d prefer to see go into gameplay and effects. It very rarely actually does look real and then tends to be the focus of a lot of negative commentary that could be avoided by taking a more game-y, stylized approach. “Street Fighter 4″ used the advanced graphical capabilities of modern hardware in a way much more to my liking.

Imagine if “Encleverment Experiment” was set in a realistic looking lab. It’d be more like being at school than playing a fun game!

What is the most important thing that has happened to gaming in the last 10 years?
“Encleverment Experiment”!

Seriously, probably the Wii’s opening up of the market to a never-before-tapped audience. But I feel there is still room for targeted games that are intended for a specific audience – Blitz Arcade is a great way to do that, as the variety of our releases shows!

Where do you see gaming in 5 years?
In space! There’s nothing that can’t be improved by adding “in space” on the end. Try it!