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As you all might know we have a long lasting
beta testing program going on at Lionhead Studios. Up to 3 people are coming
in every single week for work experience, to test the latest build of a game and
give their feedback and ideas on them. Only very recently a well known community
member came to Lionhead Studios; we bring you an interview with NeXuS!
Tell us a bit about yourself; who are you and why did you come to Lionhead Studios?
My name is Jesper Nielsen and I'm an 18-year-old Viking (also known as Dane in some
parts of the world :P). Beside school, I usually spend my days working for a Danish
games site and magazine, Gamereactor, playing lots and lots of games, biking (whenever
time and weather allow me to) and what every other 18-year-old Dane would do - sail
to Britain, steal their goods and rape their women. It's hard work, but pays off!
How's been the work experience then?
Outstanding is the best way to put it I guess. I got to see -
and play! - a lot of great games. It was also a pleasure to finally get a real peak
inside Lionhead Studios (the webcams make it look so more sane - it's really not!)
and meet great people. Hopefully, I'll find the money and the time to return once
more!
What did Lionhead Studios show you while you were here?
I spend most of my days playing Fable at the main office at Lionhead, but
Aaron from Intrepid took me to see B.C. over at Intrepid, and I also got a chance
to test The Movies and Black & White 2 as well.
What did you think of Fable?
I've been waiting to play Fable for almost 3 years, and since I've spend
that time reading previews, interviews and diaries as well as watching. Although
I only had 2½ day with the game (and a lot of that was playing the same parts
again, as crashes still occur from time to time) I had a very pleasant
time with it. The game is, and that's what's most important, very fun. There are
so many things you can do and it all seems to work very well. Of course the game
still needs a lot of balancing and tweaking, which will make it even more interesting.
The game was not exactly as I had expected. There were different things here and
there, but since I've built a lot of my thoughts of the game on the released information
mixed with a little imagination, I could expect nothing else. But as I said,
Fable was great fun and I still have a lot to explore
in it. I can't wait to get my hands on the final version, that's for sure!
What was your biggest surprise?
Difficult to say really. I was very positively surprised with B.C. Although
I had very high expectations, perhaps even higher than Fable's, it made a great
impression on me, but maybe it was Aaron's incredible presenting skills? :)
I was also suprised that many Lionhead employees actually work that late. I was
sure the webcam was nothing but a scam and that you just looped the same sequence.
Guess I was wrong... ;)
What - if you have any - was the biggest disappointment?
Difficult to say as well. The week was really awesome, although it was
rather sad that no one were in Friday since my flight back was booked for Saturday.
Well, thanks to Starsky & Hutch, I made Friday pass by pretty fast...
For games such as The Movies, B&W2 and B.C., you're not really able to tell
just yet whether the game will actually end up as you expect, because a lot is still
missing though. But so far, it all looks very promising. Fable, which is
of course much nearer completion, was a lot easier to judge. Was I disappointed
with anything? Sure, but I was at the same time pleasantly surprised with
a lot else.
Did you have a change to talk to some of the people over at Lionhead Studios?
I talked to Peter Molyneux of course, although it was a very short greet and his (and my) plans for the next couple of days ruined the chance for any other
conversations. Maybe another time :)
I also had a good chat with Simon Carter and, as many might have seen, I also hung
out at Sam's desk and talked quite a bit with him. And then the testing department,
which I greeted every morning, said goodbye to every evening and talked to whenever
fit :) A great bunch of guys - a little too addicted to Call of Duty though.
Is there anything you would like to share with the world?
If anyone ever sees the chance to take a week or two off, then go visit Lionhead for some work experience. It was an expensive trip for me, but it was worth
it all down to the last penny. You get to try a lot of awesome games and get to
meet a team of arguable the best artists, programmers, animators and community pets
(:P) in the world. Especially if you want to work in the industry as I do, it's
a great way to establish some good contacts.
Then I want to thank God, without him none of this would be possible. And Jesus
because he rocked in the Passion of the Christ! And my family and my friends, without
their support I could not have done this!
Peace, love and strawberry juice! All power to the Vikings!
Thanks for this interview Jesper, and we hope to see you back some time in the
future...
NeXuS had to sign an NDA when he came in for work experience, which prohibits him
to talk in any possible way about what he saw or thought about his time at Lionhead
Studios. While we thought it might be an interesting feature on the site, we still
hope no one will start asking the poor Dane questions. He can't answer them...
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