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        <h1><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><a href="../../index.html">loonygames</a><br>
          <font size="1">a <a href="http://www.bluesnews.com">blue's news</a> 
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<p>&nbsp;</p>Vol. 
                2, Issue 1<br>
                November 8, 1999<br>
                </b>
              <b> 
                </b>
              
                <b><i>Through 

                  the Looking Glass</i></b></p>
                An 
                  interview by Russell &quot;RadPipe&quot; 
                  Lauzon</p>
              
              

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               <i>Old-schoolers 
                like myself remember American McGee for his beautiful words of 
                wisdom concerning llamas (and their care), but it was at id Software 
                that he really earned a name for himself. His mapping work can 
                be found on some of the all-time great First Person Shooters including 
                Doom2, Quake, and Quake2. Some of his best levels are still routinely 
                played on DM servers across the Net.</i></p>
              <i>American 
                McGee left id Software in the spring of 1998 with a cryptic message 
                about a plan to start an online gambling adventure. But clearly 
                gaming was in his blood, for not long after McGee was back in 
                the game and working for Maxis. But he wasn't there long. An opportunity 
                arose at Electronic Arts to work on a game, a new game following 
                the most unlikely of children's stories, &quot;Alice in Wonderland&quot;.</i></p>
              <br>
                <br>
                <b>What prompted 
                you to leave id Software?</b><br>
                </p>
              <br>
                
              I left 
                id Software after finishing Quake II. I think that after so many 
                years it was just time, and I'm actually very thankful to the 
                id guys for the chance they gave me and for the time I spent there.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>Is 
                it true you did a stint at Maxis before settling into EA? What 
                did you work on there?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              I did 
                start out with EA at Maxis.&#160; I spent some time there while 
                deciding what I wanted to work on.&#160; The opportunity to work 
                on Alice came up at EA and I grabbed it.&#160; One project I spent 
                some time on at Maxis is still in development so I can't talk 
                about it.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>Did 
                you do any level designing in your spare time, or was it purely 
                a dry period after your departure from id?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Since 
                my departure from id I've worked on a number of DM maps purely 
                for fun and exercise. Just recently I completed a Quake III map 
                called "The Gibhole". I'll release that to the net as soon as 
                Quake III is out.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>When 
                you left, you mentioned that you were going to go work for an 
                online gambling company. What happened there?&#160; Is this something 
                you'd like to return to someday, or are your plans for the future 
                purely in video games?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              This 
                is a pretty long story. The short of it was that I thought I wanted 
                to get away from the gaming industry and try something new. A 
                few friends and I took a stab at starting a company based on online 
                and on location based gambling. After a while I realized that 
                I was missing video games. I looked around at where the industry 
                was, saw an opportunity to work with some really great people 
                inside EA and took it.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>Why 
                Alice? Is this an idea you've been working on for awhile? </b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Alice 
                was conceived during the course of work last summer. It came out 
                of discussions with friends and separate game ideas that I was 
                working on at the time. A lot of credit goes to the brilliant 
                people I was surrounded by at the time.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>What 
                sort of liberties are you taking with the source material?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Quite 
                a lot actually. A person could create many different types of 
                games using the characters and spaces in Wonderland. Anything 
                from a children's game to a full-on death and destruction fest. 
                The real challenge is to stylize Alice in such a way that the 
                existing 1st/3rd person market really gets into it. I'm trying 
                to go for more of a 'Nightmare Before Christmas' type feeling 
                with my version of Alice and so far it's working out really well.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>Was 
                Alice ever conceived as purely a first person game, or was third 
                person the idea from the start?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              I've 
                been wanting to work on a 3rd person game for some time now. Alice 
                has lent itself beautifully to being in 3rd person. First person 
                is great, and it will be available in multiplayer, but single 
                player is going to be 3rd person only. I think that the Alice 
                design called for 1st person for about a week. Then I realized 
                that the Alice character and the Wonderland environment were much 
                better served by a 3rd person perspective.<br><br>
              <b>Rogue 
                Entertainment has always been a company that's spoken softly yet 
                carried a big stick.&#160; In other words, they say very little 
                but consistently produce great work.&#160; How did they get involved 
                in the Alice project?&#160; Was it your experience with them in 
                previous projects (such as mission packs for Quake and Quake II) 
                that led you to them?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              I've 
                know the guys over at Rogue since my first days at id. The fact 
                that they are now working on this product is one of the nicest 
                examples of serendipity I've ever seen.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <br>
                
              
                
                   
                     
                      
                    
                  
                   
                     
                       <i></i></p>
                    
                  
                
                <b>Using the Q3A engine 
                for Alice seems like an obvious choice considering both your and 
                Rogue's experience with id-engine games, but since its focus is 
                on multiplayer play, how do you see it as a development tool for 
                single-player?&#160; Are there any obvious enhancements you're 
                planning to make that you can talk about now?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              We've 
                already made enhancements to allow us to immediately start single 
                player development, but we're not ready to go into it yet.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>What 
                variations of multi-player play are you considering?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Lots! 
                But we're not going to go into it yet.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>The 
                multiplayer game is from a first person view, while the single 
                player is played from a third person view. Can you explain why 
                you made this decision?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Well, 
                this comes mostly from talking with various people in the industry, 
                the players, and online community, and from my own personal preference. 
                It just doesn't seem that a proper <b>DOOM/Quake</b> style deathmatch 
                can take place in 3rd person. This does not mean that you won't 
                be able to run a 3rd person server, but multiplayer will default 
                to 1st person.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>Will 
                the weapons be identical in both the single and multiplayer games? 
                How will the difference in perspective change them, if at all? 
                </b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              The 
                weapons will be identical. You can see how the 1st/3rd person 
                switch works in the current version of Q3.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>Since 
                the game is based on the Alice books (which are fairly tame), 
                who will you be fighting against? Will the game's emphasis be 
                on pure action, or exploration?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              I'm 
                hoping that we can recapture the action adventure feel of the 
                original DOOM. The characters you will be fighting against are 
                a mixture of original characters (Mad Hatter, Tweedledee, etc) 
                and new characters that we've designed just for the game.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>What 
                prompted the decision to have two geographically separate teams 
                to work on the single-player and multi-player aspects of the game?&#160; 
                What challenges do you foresee in communication and shared development? 
                </b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              The 
                decision was based on the fact that this solution offers us the 
                best chance at creating a solid product on time and on budget. 
                The Rogue guys have Quake-based game development down to an art. 
                We also have internal support from large group of very talented 
                people at EA who are focusing an amazing amount of creative energy 
                on this product.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>Since 
                you're the Game Designer, how do you plan on communicating your 
                vision to the troops (friendly people at Rogue) when you live 
                in a different city? Will you be sending anyone from EA to Rogue 
                to help? How much time are you spending at Rogue's office?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              This 
                is one of the best parts about working with Rogue. Since we've 
                all known each other for so long the communication issue is almost 
                non-existent. The vision was communicated a while back when I 
                spent a week in Dallas working with the Rogue guys. They are as 
                much a part of the creative process as I am, and we've really 
                come together on the design of this product.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>What 
                will your role at EA entail in addition to Game Design?&#160; 
                Will you also fill the slot as Lead Level Designer?&#160; How 
                about Project Manager?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              At the 
                moment my official title is "Creative Director". Under that guise 
                I find myself doing everything from game design to level design 
                to project management. Again, I'm also surrounded by a great group 
                of people here at EA who are constantly helping with every facet 
                of production.<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>What's 
                the best thing that you learned at id Software that you've carried 
                over to EA?</b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Wow, 
                that's a really difficult one. id taught me so much about games, 
                work, and life in general. I think the most important lesson I 
                learned there is the one that I take with me even when I'm not 
                at work: "Never take yourself too seriously."<br>
                
              <br>
                
              <b>What's 
                the work environment at EA like?&#160; </b><br>
                
              <br>
                
              Just 
                amazing. And speaking of which... I need to get back at it now 
                :)<br>
                
              <br>
                
              
                <p><b>Thanks American 
                  McGee!<br>
                  <br>
                  </b></p>
                <i>- 
                  Russell &quot;RadPipe&quot; 
                  Lauzon is currently exhausting all his free time researching 
                  Beer Goggles.</i><br><br><p>&nbsp;</p> 
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