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10 Game Industry Questions - Prasant Moorthy

AUSTRALIAN GAME INDUSTRY Q and A - 10 Questions with Prasant Moorthy - Senior Designer at The Creative Assembly

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Fullname: Prasant Moorthy

Nickname: Pras

Gender: Male

Age: 30

Current Company: The Creative Assembly

Current Project: Unannounced

Gaming Systems Owned: PC / PS2 / Xbox / X360

1. What is your job role where you work and can you explain what it entails?

After the release of Medieval II: Total War, I changed job roles and for the last 9 or so months have been Senior Designer working on a currently unannounced title. Unlike some of the other studios we don�t officially split our design team in any way, so we all get to muck in where needed. So whilst people will have personal specialities, we get the chance to broaden our skill set, be it coming up with gameplay concepts, writing background stories, naming our characters, researching facts or helping word a pitch. That said, our primary responsibilities will reflect our strengths, mine being game mechanics and mathematical modelling. This means I�m currently spending most of my time trying to come up with cool new rules sets as well as modelling how we expect all the different variables to interact.

2. What games have you been directly involved with previously?

Spartan: Total Warrior � Bassist (less than an hour of work but I got a credit!!)
Medieval II: Total War � Producer / Additional Musician

3. How did you get your start in the gaming industry?

Was one of those right place, right time things. Throughout my teens and whilst at uni my two dream jobs were making computer games or being a professional musician. The uni I went to though was pretty much a breeding ground for Investment Bankers, so I ended up dropping straight into that when I graduated. The initial plan was to get into an IT department, get them to pay me whilst training me up and then start making computer games when I was ready. Somewhere along the way though I managed to get sidetracked from programming into mathematical analysis and project management, both of which happen to be almost as much fun as they sound.

After four years of that I came out to Oz for what was supposed to be a four month holiday, but got into a band, met a girl, and figured I liked it enough to try to stick around. So I got another finance job and spent most of my salary on board and computer games. After three more years climbing career ladder we had pretty much decided that Sydney wasn�t for us and were trying to work out where to go. The girlfriend was an artist, and as luck would have it I noticed job ads at Creative Assembly for artists. At this point Shogun was one of my favourite games of all time, so I convinced her to apply for the job, figuring I should have no problems getting a finance job wherever we moved. While she was waiting to hear back, they posted more ads looking for a producer and designers. This time the girlfriend figured it was right up my street and convinced me I should apply, this coupled with the fact that the studio manager was an ex-accountant who�d made the leap from finance to games cemented the deal.

The interview was an experience in itself. Despite most banks having a casual dress policy if you�re not client-facing, there�s an unwritten rule that if you don�t wear a suit to interviews you don�t respect the job. So I turned up to my interview dressed to the nines only to be greeted by our studio manager in boardies and a thong saying �I knew it!� He leads me into a meeting room containing two other similarly dressed people laughing about how he�d told them I�d show up dressed like that and how nobody believed him. Luckily the rest of the interview went well and they offered me a job.

4. What has been the most positive experience of working in the games industry so far?

As you can imagine, getting your first game credit is a great feeling, especially since Spartan made the Xbox charts so I got to tell friends I played bass on a top three hit. Walking into EB last November just after Med II got released and seeing a queue of people tightly clutching their copies felt awesome too.

The most positive thing for me though is the people I get to work with and meet on a regular basis. The community here is really tight-knit, with a lot of cross-fraternisation going on between studios, especially with Brisbane events like SupaNova and GCAP bringing the game community together as well as giving us a chance to talk to fans directly.

5. What has been the most negative experience of working in the games industry so far?

I�ve been pretty lucky so far, the first (and only) game I really worked on was a AAA title and won a whole bunch of awards, so from a purely personal point of view I haven�t had anything particularly negative. Like in any job you have your good days and you have your bad days, but thus far I haven�t encountered anything worth writing about.

From a broader perspective, hearing the horror stories when studios close and their employees are desperately hunting around for new jobs is pretty sobering. Before we expanded I used to answer the phones a lot so heard a lot of first-hand accounts of the aftermath. The scariest part is just how little warning the average employee has, one day they have their dream job, the next day their entire team doesn�t. On a slightly lighter note, at least Brisbane has enough local developers that if one closes there are a fair few other options to try before you need to pack your bags and emigrate.

6. What advice can you give to other people looking to get into a position such as yours?

Firstly, make sure you really want to be in the industry. A lot of people assume that it will be all fun and games whereas in reality it�s a lot of hard work, with the potential for extremely long hours. It�s definitely not the job for people who�d rather do something else since the biggest reward isn�t the bonus, it�s the satisfaction of seeing one of your products get to market and sell well.

Next read up on all the positions available and work out what exactly you want to do. Games studios are getting bigger and bigger which allows for a more eclectic group of people. Don�t just play games, think about them � what makes them good, what do you like, what don�t you like, what would you change.

Sort out your resume and your portfolio, it�s usually your first point of contact with a company and can make or break the deal. Also, and this goes back to the previous paragraph, work out what you�re applying for! Although interviewers like well-rounded people, we don�t want to see generalist applications either. Usually suggests the candidate either hasn�t made the effort to work out what they want to do or is desperate and just trying to get a foot in the door which can potentially result in them jumping ship for a better offer.

Try to talk to people already in the industry either for general advice or finding out what the prospects are like at their company. If you�re lucky they may even refer you to some of the other studios � I usually keep an ear to the ground regarding who is hiring what so will pass people on to friends at other studios if I think they�ll fit.

7. How do you see Australia as a market when compared to the rest of the world?

Depends whether you mean as a consumer market for game players or as a job market for developers. For the former, not so hot. We�re pretty far away from pretty much everywhere else, and given the size of the population, there�s only so many copies of a game you can expect to sell. Add to that the fact that there�s no equivalent of an �R� rating for games means that we can miss out on stuff that sells well elsewhere.

As far as a job market goes, it�s a whole different story. There are a number of strong studios out here now, especially in Brisbane, and we�re still growing. Although there is some competition for talent, the strength of the local industry is making it a more attractive place for industry professionals to move to, since they�re not throwing all their eggs into one basket. As fatalistic as this sounds, if one goes under there are other options out there. The Queensland Government�s also committed to championing the games industry, especially with regards to validating it as a genuine career choice � up till the first time she saw my credits on a game box my mum was always asking when I�d be making �serious programs�. Couple this with the awesome weather (probably the only thing I don�t miss about London) it�s no surprise there is a substantial influx of new, foreign and returning talent.

8. Got any good stories you want to share?

Got thousands of stories but very few are appropriate and even fewer are relevant and they�re generally covered by NDA�s so here�s one that�s pretty safe and vaguely connected to what we�re talking about. I�ve made it a personal sub-mission to induct as many people in the Oz gaming industry into the Flaming Sambucca club. Basically you have to knock back a shot of Sambucca, hold it in your mouth, light it and then swallow, all without panicking or burning off your facial hair. Which explains the reason behind my mutton-chops. There�s at least a couple of members at each Brisbane games studio currently. One of our most recent inductions was a few weekends back, when an unnamed gaming website guY managed it, although he did send me a whiny message a few days later complaining about the state he was left in.

And before I forget � kids, please don�t try this at home.

9. What are your favourite games and why?

Way of the Exploding Fist � the first great beat �em up, pretty much defined a whole new genre and paved the way for Streetfighter, Soul Calibur and the rest.
Shogun: Total War � although I�m slightly biased given that a) I work for CA and b) it�s the reason I joined the games industry. I�m a huge board game fanatic and to me it was a great blending of two diverse genres, almost like playing Risk but getting to command the action directly.
Speedball II � used to absolutely love this when I was at school, and is a great example of how games have gotten more complex. This is probably the most fun �sports� game ever yet it managed it with one button. Rather than being a hindrance it ties into the gameplay, since if you have the ball your action is to throw it, giving the player an immediate choice to make � keep the ball and score goals or throw it away and hit people.
World of Warcraft � coming from a finance perspective I think this is a genius idea, almost like how Magic created the collectible card games market. Totally changes the business model into something a lot more attractive to developers and investors by generating an ongoing revenue stream. I realise Blizzard was by no means the first, but they�re definitely the most successful.

10. If you could meet any gaming character in real life, who would it be and why?

Xavier Stone from Guitar Hero II � when I grow up I want to be him. Although I think the second iteration is the only one I really approve of. First one was too beefcake and while not as bad, am also not so keen on his Guitar Hero III makeover, too much hippy, not enough funk.

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