News Meet the Team #5: Mike Evans (Game Designer)

[Darren Grey]

I'm well aware of angband and it's many variants Never any good at them so I tend to play more sedate games like Brogue these days

Ah, the modern classic, and one of the best games in terms of raw game design ever made. Have you seen the recent tileset made for it?

If you want a *band that's a bit more like Brogue in terms of fairness and tight design maybe check out Sil. Just, uh, wait till after E: D is out

Any other favourite roguelikes? They're kinda my thing, so it's good to know there's a roguelike fan on the design team!

 

[Alien]

What are your feelings about photoshop... and popular culture mainly movies... any particular favourite movies?

Mike, let me guide you in answering this question ...
From Dad's Army ...

"Vot ist your name?"
"Don't tell him Pike!"

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Nice to hear that someone on team also share my child like awe for procedural generation potential in this game.

This week we also will have video dev diary, no?

 

[Zplintz]

You'd be very welcome if you fancy it and can clear it with the boss

We can redress the balance of the amount of credit you get...

@Michael Brookes - Please say yes. I know he [Mike Evans] is very busy but there is so much information to be gained from an actual conversation and it was great to hear Ashley on LaveRadio.

...... What are your feelings about photoshop... and popular culture mainly movies... any particular favourite movies?

Careful how you answer these questions Mike - I think you know what's coming next.....

 

[Mike Evans]

Ah, the modern classic, and one of the best games in terms of raw game design ever made. Have you seen the recent tileset made for it?

If you want a *band that's a bit more like Brogue in terms of fairness and tight design maybe check out Sil. Just, uh, wait till after E: D is out

Any other favourite roguelikes? They're kinda my thing, so it's good to know there's a roguelike fan on the design team!

I know exactly who you are Darren, been a listener of roguelikeradio from the start I was very tempted to go with Michael to Lavecon just to talk to you about roguelikes but figured I wouldn't really get the chance as you'll all be talking about Elite instead!

I prefer brogue in ascii form to be honest. The only tilesets I like are for games that truely support them from the ground up so that they're animated and well integrated into the game. But I have been spoilt by Brogues incredible use of animated colours and UI design. So much so I have a hard time playing roguelikes that don't do things similarly.

As for favourites I love FTL, Dweller, Hyperogue III, Pixel Dungeon and The Binding of Isaac to name a few (many of which I play on my tablet). I also watch many lets plays of over roguelikes I don't immediately want to play myself but enjoy watching others play them.

I would love nothing more for the games industry at large to take on board more features found in typical roguelikes and fortunately their seems to be some stuff bleeding through, no doubt thanks to all the lovely indies out there spearheading such an operation. It can sometimes be difficult to explain in words or show people how good perma-death and item identification is in games until they try it themselves. I've managed to convince a few people this way at least.

You'll also be delighted to hear Sandy is a big roguelike fan. However he just lost a character several months in the making to a version of angband so he's having a break from them at the moment

Anyway I've literally just installed and completed the tutorial for Sword of the Stars: The Pit which I picked up in the steam sale after a very informative episode of roguelikeradio caught my attention and want to give it a go before bed. Going to play the engineer in the hopes of getting a good handle on the crafting side of things

 

[G.T]

Worst.
Interview.
Ever.

Just kidding fascinated by the game play/dog fighting, I imagine it to be like a ww2 dogfight with not gravity. How does it feel at the moment?

 

[Josh Atack]

Hi Michael,

Great interview.

I was curious, is your preference twin strike or nimble strike?

I wish they would stop slowly moving our desks further apart.

 

[matthewdbenson]

Once I’m back at my desk I usually check out the game to see if it’s stable and playable and to see what new features have been implemented.

Oh, don't tease us. Just give us screenshots. Or better, videos. Or maybe pull forward the Alpha testing.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Oh, don't tease us. Just give us screenshots. Or better, videos. Or maybe pull forward the Alpha testing.

So seconded (on video and screenshot account)

 

[Slawkenbergius]

Oh, don't tease us. Just give us screenshots. Or better, videos. Or maybe pull forward the Alpha testing.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure Mike is laughing because he knows we've all zoomed in to look at what's on his screen, and are trying to make something out of the blur. Personally I think they're just random shapes, arranged so that people make silly guesses.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Great interview as usual. This is a really good idea to Ashley. Thank you.

• Ashley Barley : Looking to the future, Is there an element of Elite: Dangerous that you’re personally most excited about?
• Mike Evans : Personally I’m a massive fan of procedural content generation and can’t wait to see more and more of this being used in the game and how our team of talented artists can utilise the tools to create truly stunning scenery across the galaxy in ED.

We will be marveled. Planetary landing and overflight of the planets at low altitude should be extraordinary for the pleasure of eyes.

• Ashley Barley : What is your favourite ship from the Elite series?
• Michael Brookes : I’m a classic Elite player so there is only one ship – the Cobra Mk III.

+1

• Ashley Barley : To end on, what is your favourite ship from the Elite series?
• Mike Evans : Cliché I know, but I love the Cobra Mark III from the original Elite. For its simple, but iconic shape.

+2

 

[SnowGhost]

Have there been any DDF discussion outcomes that you've thought "Well, that is just crap" Or the inverse "Crap, why didn't we think of that, it's so obvious".

Could you (would you?) tell us what they are?

 

[Darren Grey]

I know exactly who you are Darren, been a listener of roguelikeradio from the start I was very tempted to go with Michael to Lavecon just to talk to you about roguelikes but figured I wouldn't really get the chance as you'll all be talking about Elite instead!

Wowsers! That's very cool to hear Yeah, woulda been great to chat roguelikes - as you know I can talk about them for hours on end But I would have more interested in pressuring you to reveal details of the some of the procedural stuff going into E: D, and then you'd probably lose your job

But I have been spoilt by Brogues incredible use of animated colours and UI design. So much so I have a hard time playing roguelikes that don't do things similarly.

Haha, that can happen easily. I find it very hard to get into most *Bands or Nethack because of their poor UI. Just because a game is keyboard controlled with ASCII graphics is no excuse for really painful UI design :/

I would love nothing more for the games industry at large to take on board more features found in typical roguelikes and fortunately their seems to be some stuff bleeding through, no doubt thanks to all the lovely indies out there spearheading such an operation.

The problem is the obsession with story-driven movie-esque titles, leading to expensively made linear games with no allowance for failure. So many games seem afraid to have gameplay any more, afraid to give the player experiences outside the developer's tight control. We are treated like children in the Garden of Eden, protected from pain but denied the taste of joy at the same time. But hurrah for the indie snakes with their delicious apples, leading us to a better life!

You'll also be delighted to hear Sandy is a big roguelike fan. However he just lost a character several months in the making to a version of angband so he's having a break from them at the moment

He'll be back. They always come back

 

[X2Eliah]

Ooh, another Alastair Reynolds fan! Great.

Out of interest, what do you think of his further-future stories (e.g. House of Suns, Terminal World) vs. the relatively lower-tech near-our-Earth stories (frex, Pushing Ice, Blue Remembered Earth)? Any particular preference to one or the other side, or...?

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

He'll be back. They always come back

Damn right ! I have kept returning to Angband over the years - Might give Sword of the Stars a try though - just watched someone on YouTube do a "lets play" and it look alright. It has all the basics plus crafting!

Will also have to check your site out - love rogue games too.

 

[Sterlino]

Hey Mike, nice to meet you.
You did a good job with Kinect, ED will be a wonderful job for you to do.

btw..

what, ''in the name of the great Canis Majoris'' is that ? :

...ahh game designers... complicated people (lol)

 

[Geraldine]

Y'know, I can picture the Frontier devs sitting at their PC before the interview photo thinking, "right, what image can I put on the screen that will keep them all guessing"

Oh and speaking of guessing, Hey Mike that black controller you have sitting next to the XBox one, is that some funky PC controller or is it for a radio remote? Just sitting here imagining you have small helicopters flying around the FD offices.

 

[Mike Evans]

Hi Michael,

Great interview.

I was curious, is your preference twin strike or nimble strike?

I wish they would stop slowly moving our desks further apart.

Twin Strike, obviously

 

[Mike Evans]

Yeah. I'm pretty sure Mike is laughing because he knows we've all zoomed in to look at what's on his screen, and are trying to make something out of the blur. Personally I think they're just random shapes, arranged so that people make silly guesses.

They're not random shapes, that is the game running

 

[Ashley Barley]

Y'know, I can picture the Frontier devs sitting at their PC before the interview photo thinking, "right, what image can I put on the screen that will keep them all guessing"

Oh and speaking of guessing, Hey Mike that black controller you have sitting next to the XBox one, is that some funky PC controller or is it for a radio remote? Just sitting here imagining you have small helicopters flying around the FD offices.

It is indeed the controller for a tiny helicopter and that is almost the exact conversation we had before taking the picture