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chiQ - Big
news! Paul, you and id are parting company. I imagine that, since you're
the face and voice of id for so many users, both in the game editing and
the player communities, this has come as a big shock. But how do YOU feel?
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PaulJ - I'm sure it is coming as a shock. I'm still getting used
to that idea myself. Everyone I shared the information with privately
took it like a ball peen hammer to the forehead. Multiply that by the
entirety of the Quake 3 community and I can only imagine the result. But
I'm comfortable that I've made the right decision. I'm not quite the in-forum
presence that I was, say a year and a half ago. That's probably a good
thing. Part of my goal in working with map makers using the Q3A engine
and later, with model makers, was to make them self sufficient as Q3A
engine content makers. I wanted to get some of them to point where the
experienced folk would know how to go about helping newcomers. That meant
teaching as much as I knew about the tools AND convincing everyone to
treat even newcomers with respect.
And I think that's been accomplished. The editing community no longer
needs an "id guy" in their midst to teach them the basics of
Q3A engine mapping, or to remind them not to use Q3A content in other
games. On the other hand, I do know that they are going to lose that feeling
that someone from their favorite game maker enjoys taking the time hang
around with them, to be there to answer questions about the making of
the game, give them insights into the company, listen to (and sometimes
argue about) complaints, or to help resolve problems. I don't intend this
a negative comment, but I don't see anyone at id stepping in to fill that
role in the community. Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised.
But on the other hand, while I may be stepping out of my role as "voice
of id", I don't plan on simply abandoning the community. I have to
say that I've made some of my closest friends through that online community
and I treasure each one of them. It's personally comforting to me that
leaving id doesn't mean leaving my best friends behind. Besides, I have
a standing invitation to drop in and see the guys at id any time.
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chiQ - During
your time at id you contributed to two Quakes, Team Arena, and some add-ons,
and you got a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from your work. You haven't
responded to the new Doom in the same way. Can you share your feelings
regarding this project?
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PaulJ - I may be one of the few people actively involved in the
computer gaming industry who has absolutely no nostalgia for the original
Doom. Sounds shocking, yes? But I didn't have access to a computer that
played it during its heyday. I've gotten my FPS enjoyment from later games
like Quake 2, Quake 3 Arena, Team Arena and Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
So, on that day in June in 2000 when John Carmack suddenly decided to
switch id's development focus away from our next scheduled project and
turn it towards a new version of Doom, I can't say I was very happy about
it. Before that event, I was excited about the project we were supposed
to do next, and was looking forward to working along with Graeme Devine
on it as a game designer. The sudden decision to drop our next project
and make another version of Doom was a real emotional slam to me. I'm
not sure I ever really got over that. I was still committed to getting
Team Arena done and was able to stay excited about that project. But after
that, I'd have to say I just lost heart for FPS game design and development
... regardless of how exciting or innovative the technology behind it.
I did my best to rekindle enthsiasm for Doom, but the spark never caught
in me. In retrospect (life is always easier to judge in retrospect), I
probably should have made a decision to leave after Team Arena shipped
-- while I was still satisfied with the work I was doing.
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chiQ - With
id behind you what are you doing next?
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PaulJ - At this point, I really can't even discuss what I'm doing
as far as projects or tasks. |
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chiQ - Can
you tell us where you're going?
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PaulJ - When I started my search for another job situation, I
knew that I no longer wanted to work on first person shooters. With Quake
2 and Quake 3 and Team Arena and what work I'd done on Doom, I'd pretty
much worn out my interest in full time developing for FPS style gaming.
And while I know other companies do fps differently than id, I've decided
to make a clean break from it. With that in mind, I started looking at
companies that made other kinds of games and might have use for someone
with my wide-ranging background. Most all the companies in the Dallas
area do first person shooter style game content. I contacted a friend
at one of the ones that didn't, more to let him know what was going on
with me than anything else. To the best of my knowledge, then, they didn’t
have any openings. When he heard I was looking, he let another of my friends
at the company know and pretty soon I was talking with some producers
and then going in for a first interview with company management and then
a couple more much longer interviews with the REST of the company, and
finding out how well I got along with that seemingly endless stream of
interviewers and filling out job applications. And while it seemed to
take forever, before I knew it I was offered a position as a Content Designer
at Ensemble Studios here in Dallas.
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chiQ - The
Quake 3 game editing community has come to consider you as curiously
its own, but with the move to Ensemble the emphasis you can put on this
group will probably have to change. What would you like to say to them
right now?
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PaulJ - Like I said earlier, you're really only losing my direct
connection to id. A good share of my involvement with the community has
been encouraging personal and professional development, and that's not
necessarily company, game or even skill-package dependent. I still plan
on hanging out in places like the forums at http://www.map-center.com
and even the http://www.polycount.com
forums. However, I’m still in discussions with my supervisors as
to what kind of help I can actually provide.
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chiQ - You're
very passionate and dedicated to your work, and you've always thrown your
heart into the associated communities. What is it about Ensemble that
has drawn you to them, and do you think there will be such an emphasis
on community with your new role?
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PaulJ - That's a hard call to make right now. As I understand
it, Ensemble has someone who handles community relations and I've no interest
in actively finding toes to step on in that regard. This is probably a
better question to ask when my next project nears completion and we have
a better understanding of what kind of community may be able or willing
to grow up around it. For now, I plan to keep some involvement in the
FPS content creation communities, but probably not as much as I have been.
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chiQ - You're
a very talented artist, and you've marked your work at id with some examples
of this side to you. Will we be seeing more of this side of your skill
set in the future?
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PaulJ - My focus for the future in employment is likely to be
more game design and development and not so much art. That being said,
I think I'd like to find time again to be an artist (as opposed to an
illustrator), if only for my own well-being and sanity. Over the years,
I've produced very few traditional media art pieces that were done simply
to be art, not illustration. Might be nice to investigate that. Having
a pleasant and fulfilling hobby would be good (especially one where I
already own all the tools and supplies). The challenge would be to avoid
commercializing it and turning it into work again.
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Totemic Spirit - graphite
pencil - 8” x 9” (20.32 cm x 22.86 cm) Copyright ©1994
Paul Jaquays.
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Elder Dragon - graphite pencil
- 8” x 8” (20.32 cm x 20.32 cm) Copyright ©1994 Paul Jaquays.
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chiQ - You've
had a long and varied career with games, but few know of you as anything
but "Paul Jaquays, Designer, id Software". Can you tell us about
some of the other productions and places that you have contributed to?
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PaulJ -Typically, I find that unless you’re notorious for
committing some heinous crime, people know you only for what you do while
they’re watching you, not for what you’ve done off camera (from
their perspective). My boss at TSR, the guy who hired me to be a book
cover painter, knew me as a department head when we worked together at
Coleco. He had no clue back then that I was also an illustrator. People
who know me from my work at id often have no clue that I’ve done
anything other than 3D level design (which begs the question of how I
managed to survive in the 20+ years of my career prior to the invention
of 3D game level design).
For starters, I’ve spent a good share of my working life as an illustrator,
primarily doing SF and fantasy art (more the latter), including a number
of covers for adventure game magazines and books. I’m pretty decent
at it, but I’m not up there at the superstar level. There are only
a handful of my art pieces that have made it into online art collections
… and one usually sees the same three pieces (or so) over and over
again.
I’ve done a few traditional role playing game adventure books for
games like Dungeons & Dragons and Runequest, including a couple that
were nominated for, but did not win industry awards. Two of them, Dark
Tower and Griffin Mountain have recently been brought back into print.
I’ve designed and developed tabletop electronic arcade games like
Table Top Pac*Man and Donkey Kong while with Coleco. I was a part of
the first video game age, back in the ‘80s, designing games for ColecoVision
and the ADAM computer, and leading Coleco’s video game design group.
The ColecoVision WARGAMES cartridge was my design (along with Joe Angiolillio)
and one of the few original game pieces that were allowed to come out
of the internal development group.
In the late 80s I wrote the design specs and created encounters for a
few computer games, including a truck racing game from Epyx and Lord of
the Rings volume 1 from Interplay.
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chiQ - Recently
a piece of your work was put up for
sale on eBay. How does it feel to see your work still in circulation,
and do you get the urge to purchase any of it back?
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PaulJ - It was more amusing than anything else. It looked to me
like the auctioneer got his original investment back out of the art and
a little more (based on my memory of how much it sold for the first time
around). I sold so much of my black and white art that I’d be hard
put to remember it all, let alone want it back. If a work really meant
that much to me, I wouldn’t have sold it in the first place. There
are a few pieces that I’ve done that I wouldn’t mind having
back, but even if I had them, they’d probably just gather dust or
lay trapped in packing for years. Even so, most of the wall decorations
in my house are my original paintings. Cheap way to decorate, eh? Though
none really match the furniture.
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chiQ - Is there
any one individual who has been an influence and inspiration to you, as
you have been to those of us you've adopted and nurtured from the community?
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PaulJ - Ah, an easy question. Most definitely. One of my college
professors, Bill Bippes III, who started teaching at the school the same
year I started attending there, became both mentor and friend to me over
the years. He was and is an all around talented artist with classical
drawing skills, great graphic skills, sculpture talent and above all an
equal passion for both teaching art and sharing and living his faith.
He is still teaching at that college, now a university, and I couldn’t
recommend a better teacher for a young artist.
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chiQ - when
making a barbecue hot dog, do you the sausage across the bread horizontally
side to side, or diagonally corner-to-corner?
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PaulJ - Obviously a trick question. A properly made a barbecued
hot dog is grasped with tongs (never forked!) and placed into a specially
pre-sliced bread roll called (and cleverly so) a “hot dog bun”.
The seasoned grill master knows to be prepared with far more of these
rolls than he ever might use. Only in the event of there being the odd
sausage remaining would the chef resort to placing it on a plain piece
of bread. In such a case, he should feel obligated to lay personal claim
to said sandwich and consume it himself, where none can see him or his
unprepared shame. Even in this act, the grill master would know to bisect
the longitude of the bread slice and never the latitude. And diagonal?
Inconceivable!!
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chiQ - [aside]
Bloody foreigners! Everyone knows that a true BBQ hotdog is based on a
sausage wrapped in a slice of bread!
Anyway, thanks Paul. Best wishes for your new chapter
at Ensemble. May all your endeavours be rip-roaring successes :)
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| You can discuss this interview here. |
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