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10 questions :: 10 game industry questions - andy chrysafidis

10 Game Industry Questions - Andy Chrysafidis

AUSTRALIAN GAME INDUSTRY Q and A - 10 Questions with Andy Chrysafidis - Lead Designer at Fuzzyeyes Studio


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Fullname: Andy Chrysafidis

Nickname: Greek or something original like that

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Current Company: Fuzzyeyes studio

Current Project: Edge of Twilight

Gaming Systems Owned: Amiga 500, Megadrive, Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox360, PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, Gamecube, GB SP


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

I’m the lead designer for a new Fuzzyeyes game called ‘Edge of Twilight’, an action adventure of sorts. My responsibilities for this role cover a number of game development aspects such as overseeing the overall implementation of the game, fleshing out new gameplay systems for use within the game, figuring out the storyline and the game progression, going over level designs, using level editor tools to implement scripted events, pretty much everything design-wise.

The cool thing with Fuzzyeyes is that a lot of decisions are made collectively as a group so we get a lot more input and creative freedom with almost all aspects of the game’s design and the whole team is involved in varying degrees. The bad side is that our responsibilities increase tenfold and any feedback, good or bad, comes back to us to deal with. It’s a stressful job no doubt about it, but its really rewarding sometimes, and its immensely creative. Every day brings a new challenge and I like to think we have grown stronger because of that.



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

I was brought in as a tester for Hotdogs Hotgals, Fuzzyeye’s previous tycoon/sim game. It’s not what you’d call a smashing start to game development but it was a funny/bizarre niche game that was quite amusing to work on. It gave me the chance to get to get into design so I’m thankful for that.





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

Being half aussie (guess the other half!) I came to Australia about 2.5 years ago after having completed a master degree on games technology in the UK. I knew what I wanted to do but I came to Brisbane without any knowledge of the local industry. Lucky for me Brisbane is the city with the most studios in the country. I quickly realized that it’s a tough little industry to get into and education is not really something they look at over here. They prefer hands on experience, experience I didn’t have yet. Being considered a foreigner (even though I’m not) didn’t help either. The previous designer at Fuzzyeyes was nice enough to offer me a job and it went from there. So yeah, a bit of luck and a lot of perseverance.



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

Being part of a great group of people in a start-up company that has survived numerous lows and desperate situations only to come out alive and kicking at the end. It’s a tough business and you can’t rely on anyone but yourself, something we found out the hard way too many times. It’s really rewarding when positive feedback comes about a project you have been slaving on for such a long time, and it makes you want to work even harder to get it right.





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

Personally I’d say my career is too short-lived to have any real negative experiences. As a studio however we have often come up against a brick wall over the last few years. This industry doesn’t exactly favor small upcoming studios and we knowingly chose this difficult path. We knew a lot of things were out of our control and often times we have kept going purely on blind faith that we’ll make it there some day. I think the risks we’ve taken doing our own IP and trying to grow out of this small studio image have started to pay off. It is certainly worth giving a shot and I think most people in the studio thrive on this continuous challenge we face.



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

It’s all about perseverance and a bit of clever thinking. I won’t say the obvious about talent because I’ve seen talented people come and go. It’s about making the right choices and making up your mind that this is what you want to do. There’s a million ways to get into the industry and not all of them lead to a great career. As far as game design goes I’d say making another multiplayer map using Unreal or Source is probably not the best way to get attention. Be more creative, do something different. It doesn’t even have to be using a level editor or writing up a 10.000 word design document, that means nothing and I doubt anyone would even consider reading over it. The best way is to try and do something that’s original in whatever way, whether it’s a multiplayer map with a twist (I mean a real twist) or learning flash to do a short game or story. I don’t exactly know but personally I’d be far more impressed if I saw something like that instead of another FPS map.



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

It’s obviously small and I don’t know if it’s really growing but there are definitely a few more interesting games in development at the moment, stuff that you can look forward to. A few original IPs and a lot of licensed stuff but its all needed and hopefully the quality of the next-gen games ready to come out of Australia will solidify it as a strong market. That’s about all that comes to mind really. There’s nothing revolutionary going on here that hasn’t already happened elsewhere.



8. Got any good stories you want to share?

The release party for Hotdogs Hotgals in Germany was held at a strip joint. Don’t believe me? Here’s a pic of a dirty old man on a bike to prove it.





9. What are your favourite games and why?

  • Monkey Island 1 & 2 – This series is just awesome in so many ways, and to think I played this when I was like 12 on my Amiga, what a game to start with! I loved all the Lucasarts adventures but these were seriously badass.
  • Grim Fandango – Kinda sad cause this was the last great adventure in my opinion. The characters were amazing, the soundtrack was mesmerizing, and despite the clunky tank controls this was the pinnacle of adventure games, lets leave it at that.
  • Resident Evil 2 – Best RE by far, forget RE4 and all that new school crap about better controls, when it came to atmosphere and big action (giant crocs!) this game was king back in the day. It also had a storyline that didn’t involve the US president’s daughter and that’s a plus.
  • Team Ico games – Played Shadow of the Colossus first and it blew my mind, then only recently played Ico and wondered how the hell I missed this piece of art when it was first released.



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

    Guybrush Threepwood from Escape from Monkey Island so I could punch him in the face for ruining all my childhood memories of what he really looked like. I mean seriously he went from this awesome-looking wannabe pirate:



    To this douchebag:



    Great stuff Lucasarts!


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