Farewell, The Agency

Its been a couple of days since it was announced that The Agency was no longer in production and the Seattle SOE studio was being closed. I probably would have jumped right on here and posted about it considering my past involvement with the game, studio and company, but instead I spent my time getting old friends new job recruiter contacts, and taking people out for a beer to commiserate.

In a few months it will be a year since I left the team, and to be honest I've felt the sting of the layoff many many times since then. In fact, I went from a still avid EQ2 player to someone who has logged in twice since then, just because I was being a baby about it.

Now that The Agency will never see the light of day, a million thoughts run through my mind on how I feel about it. As soon as I heard that something might be happening with the studio it was like reliving my departure all over again. I can't help but feel terrible for everyone that lost their job this week, that includes other companies that I've heard about this week. It's a tough deal to be right in the middle of doing something you love and just have the power switch turned off.

Sometimes I wonder if I had never decided to take the job up here, leaving my comfy and fun job on EQ2. I had a good gig there, a great game to work on, fantastic fans, the whole 9 yards. What more could a designer ask for? To have that decision to come up here end up in the game never releasing even after I left hurts. I had faith in The Agency, and I thought it was going to be an awesome game. I would have never uprooted my family and left my friends behind if I weren't 100% into the idea. Now, its gone, and that dream has withered away in so many people who are left heart broken this weekend. It's a tough thing to swallow.

I hope someday someone spills the beans and shows off how cool this game was turning out ala duke nukem. I won't be that person of course, because it developed almost a year further from the last time I ever saw it, but I sure would like to see where they got to on it.

Cheers to the ex Agency team, I wish you all the best of luck.

Saavedra's Fan Faire Recap

So, I'm MOSTLY recovered from the SOE Fan Faire as I write this. I say mostly, because my voice has only partially recovered, and my feet still "kinda" hurt from standing around at the booth so much.

I had such a good time this year! At least I think I did! To be honest, I didn't have alot of time for recreation, as I was almost exclusively chained to our kiosk demoing The Agency! I don't know how many times we ran through the gameplay that we were demoing, but I do know that I lost my voice over it.

Besides all of the demoing, the panels, and the SOE related events I really didn't get to do all that much in terms of extraneous activity. I have friends who live out there, but never got a chance to call them, I think I spent all of my free time talking to guildies or potential Agency players.

As I put it to Dan, our producer that was there, we only really took naps the entire time we were there. We are talking 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night. In fact, I never left the building even once during the event, and didn't see daylight for 3 days. The only time I saw the outside was when I arrived and when I left.

Anyways, this was a great Fan Faire for me. I thought our game was well recieved, the crossroads area was trafficked much more than in past years. I was enjoying all of the affection that EQ2 was getting, despite my not being on the team anymore. Overall it was a good time.

One really cool thing for me, that I'm not sure most of you can relate to is the fact that this new Odus expansion will be the first EQ2 expansion where I don't know about everything that is going into it before I get to play it. For the first time I'll be able to experience it purely as a player instead of a developer, so I really look forward to that. I'm also looking forward to some of the cool features that are coming and probably anticipate it as much as the next EverQuest 2 fan!

This time around, I quite enjoyed The Agency panels, despite the rocky start we had with the first one. I got to field quite a bit of questions about Pvp and it made me so happy to see all of the interest in it. We got to show some footage and images that no one has seen before, so that was pretty cool as well. I thought it was pretty fun watching people with their cameras snapping shots like fiends as we showed some of it.

I saw some really fantastic costumes this time around as well. There must have been double the number of entries this year! I was so impressed by the fact that some people chose to make costumes of things that were not particularly their avatars, so that was so cool. Big props to the girl dressed as a Siren, not only because she wore the costume well (and I mean very well!) she did such a great authentic job with it.

Anyways, I had a great time and look forward to doing it again, God willing. I always feel so blessed to meet the people who keep me employed and always feel so grateful for their enthusiasm. It makes coming back to work such an exciting thing.

Learning is Often a Painful Experience

A long time ago, a great programmer that I knew by the name of Steve Ranck told me that learning is painful. At the time, I think it was around when I was learning to use 3d Studio Max when I was a track designer for the arcade game Hydro Thunder, and I was having a rough time with it. Hell, I was having a rough time with all the tools we were using, despite the fact that they were fantastic.

The bottom line is, alot of game design is painful to some extent. Putting ideas on down on paper is one thing, but executing them is another. That's why you hear about all of these developer horror stories where an executive or producer that isn't close to the actual production of his game makes outrageous demands of his designers, artists and programmers, leading up to an implosion of sorts for the game. They just don't understand that some tasks are difficult to the point of being "painful".

For just over a week now, I've been learning some new design stuff for The Agency, and boy oh boy have I been pinging the pain threshold! The work I'm currently doing is super cool, and fun to do, but man oh man, It is rough when you make n00b mistakes. I'm the kind of guy that likes to get really good at one thing, then move on to the next, and I'm in that "next" transition right now.

The point of this is, you aren't going to learn anything unless you get out of that comfort zone. Those of you that are picking up unreal ed for the first time for example, you are going to find it almost insurmountable in how complex it is. What I want to say to you guys is, don't give up! You have to break through the wall before you can really get comfortable with the tools of the trade.

I'm by no means an expert in the realm to be truthful. I am a great tool user when it comes to game design, but I require a certain amount of ramp up time before I really get comfortable with it. I'm blessed in the aspect that I have a job that I can go to that practically forces me to learn these things... Things that I'm already interested in on a hobby level, where I have to get results in X amount of time, therefore I'm forced to persevere through that tough learning stage. Those of you out there that are just getting started, sitting in your bedroom dreaming of becoming a game designer, you have to buckle down and blast through the roadblocks, it's the only way it's going to happen.

E3 From a Distance: Through a Dev's Eyes

My brain has been steeping in the E3 waters all week, and I think I've taken in just about all I can handle. Being up here in Seattle way from the hustle and bustle of E3 (which is very different for me, considering I've attended at least 8 or 9 of these things) is both a curse and a blessing.

I'm consuming E3 as most consumers do, through various web portals, through the consoles that have updates on them, and through my friends. I might have a closer inside scoop than alot of you, but for the most part, I've been reading the exact same stuff as you, and finding out about it just like you are, including the Sony stuff.

Based on what I saw, I saw alot of exciting stuff coming out in the near future. There were definitely some Meh moments for me as well though, and I'll try to get to that too. I think the hardest thing to do is to separate the wheat from the chaff, because it's so hard to figure out what is real and what isn't at E3. I can assure you that the footage getting around on various sites about The Agency is quite real, but I'm a bit disappointed that we couldn't see any real quality footage beyond that of external cameras showing the game. It really is more vibrant in person, than any of the footage i've seen hit the internet.

Stuff I'm excited about:

• I'm excited that the PS3 looked so good this year. I think development for this console is really coming into it's own, and I'm glad to see it being embraced as a game console on top of being a media machine.
• I couldn't believe how good Uncharted looked. I saw previous PvP footage that made me pretty excited for it, but the demo they showed at E3 was amazing. That had to be the most exciting game at E3, hands down.
• I also loved Assasin's Creed II. I never played the first one, but now I want to go buy that to be ready for the new one! I love the setting in the game, and I was floored with how fluid the movement was.
• DCUO is really starting to come together too, and I'm getting excited for that game as well. Lucky for me, that I can log into that right now and play =D
• I was blown away by the visuals of Gran Turismo 5. I want that game so bad it hurts!
  
• I want to play Forza 3 very badly as well, but I felt like the video they had of the cars spinning around was pretty lame and silly looking, which was kind of a turn off. I would have preferred they went a more serious approach like Gran Turismo did. Right now it looks like Gran Turismo is going to dominate.
• Gran Turismo PSP. DO WANT
• God of War III looked awesome, of course. All of the God of War games are awesome. My wife is going to hate it though, because when God of War 2 came out, I told her that I'm the God of War, and the God of War does not take out the trash or change the kitty litter.
• PSP Go! There is no way my wife is going to let me get this when I have a PsP. I'll have to convince her that I need it for work somehow lol.
• I'm stoked a new Professor Layton is coming out. My wife loves those games, and I have to admit, I'm pretty happy when she asks for help on a puzzle, because that means I get to pry it from her fingers from time to time.
• Metroid made by Team Ninja. They wouldn't have to even show me a screenshot and I'll buy this.
• The more I look at the New Super Mario Bros. Wii gameplay, the more I want to buy it. I wish they would just stick to this series and go with it instead of doing another Mario Galaxy.
• Modern Warfare couldn't get into my 360 fast enough. WTF man! Get me a copy of this!
  
• I will be buying Brutal Legend, and I will be awesome.
  
• Castlevania is my favorite game series of all time. Hideo Kojima. Need I say more?
• Lego Harry Potter might be my first lego game purchase. It's too cute.
• I think I'll be picking up Halo ODST. I'm interested to see how they play that story out. I think this one I'll have to keep an eye on.

The "Meh's" of the show:

• As I stated before, I'm excited to PLAY Forza 3, but man oh man was that trailer with the cars flipping around dumb to me.
  
• I'm not sold on Natal. I thought the demo looked hokey on the stage of the conference, and I couldn't help but feel like the actions were really off from what was going on on screen. I'm trying to imagine some of the scenarios played out in the pre made video, like where the family is all on the couch while a racing game is going on, and I just can't see that playing well at all. I don't see myself waving my arms long distances just to scroll through my friends list on my xbox either. Maybe I'm just not getting it. Then again, I haven't bought into the wii controller too, I feel like the waving around motions have ruined more games then helped them so far.
• Milo. I'm sorry, but who cares? I have no interest in helping an 11 year old boy do his homework. I think it's neat that he can see facial expressions, but where is the fun? HAL 9000 could see facial expressions too you know... Anyways, I just wasn't as floored by this as some people seem to be. It all comes back to wildly gesticulating my arms to get something done in a game. I want accuracy I guess.
• Where are the real MMORPGS? Heroes of Telara, that's about it? If the right people (IE my friends) are working on that project, I'm 100% positive that game is going to be good. But other than that, where are the rest of them? They must have eluded me or something. What a disappointment though.
• Left 4 Dead 2. Seriously? Already? The first one didn't have enough content to last a full year, and that was totally OK! We knew what we were getting! But another one at full price already? I really doubt I'll pick this up at full price.
• No real gameplay footage of FFXIII makes me a sad panda. I can't figure out if I want this game yet or not. I've seen part of like one fight or so, but that's it. Is the game linear? I can't tell if there is a whole world out there or what.
  
• I didn't see any good old school shooters announced at all this year. That's a shame, it's one of my favorite game genres. I would love to make one.
• Nintendo's pulse taker thingie. I mean seriously guys? YAWN
• Nintendo is really screwing this up man... I love these guys, but they are making it hard to love them. Where are the GAMES people? That's great, I can do leg lifts with my Wii, and count calories. I can look at the weather. Where are the fricken games mang!!??
• Deep down inside my soul I hoped there would be some update or attachment that would allow 720p to be on the Wii. Every time I turn my system on, it's so obvious that I'm not getting an HD resolution. I'm thinking of pulling the system out of the living room and putting it elsewhere, because really, It's becoming an eye sore to play games that look fuzzy like that. I'm a gaming snob man.

That's all I can think of for now.

The Agency In Game Footage @ E3

Massively.com, one of my favorite websites has footage of the in game demo for The Agency, which can be found here: http://www.massively.com/2009/06/03/e3-2009-the-agency-in-game-footage/

Or, you can just look at the embeded video instead!

The Agency Website Get's A Facelift

Just in time for E3, The Agency website on Station.com gets a facelift. If you want to check it out, feel free to drop in.

http://theagency.station.sony.com/

If you are feeling extra sassy, add yourself to The Agency twitter list. I am not a twit who tweets, probably because I'm old and a curmudeon who doesn't get it's appeal, but if you are interested I think its under The_Agency_Game on there.

A Bunch of The Agency News

A bunch of The Agency news is getting around the intarwebs, so I thought I would share what I've dug up.

Here is a CG trailer that was on G4tv last night:

Video Games - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

Here is their preview: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/695816/First-Impression-The-Agency.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed

and a few more:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/developer-interview-the-agency/49457

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/985/985619p1.html

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3174394&p=37&sec=PREVIEWS

http://ps3.gamespy.com/playstation-3/sony-online-mercenary-mmo-untitled/986091p1.html

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/theagency/video/6210156/the-agency-hal-milton-interview

http://blog.seattlepi.com/digitaljoystick/archives/169295.asp?from=blog_last3

It's That Season Again

Christmas always comes early for us gamers doesn't it? So much to play and so little time.

The curse really amplifies when you are a game developer, let me tell you. Our deadlines are almost always falling around these dates without fail, whether a game is being released or not, but we want to enjoy the fruits of everyone elses labors in the game industry at the same time.

I've been trying to be "good" and not buy a zillion games, but somehow they keep sneaking into my shopping cart anyway. I didn't intend to buy Dead Space right after it came out, but lo' and behold I'm still playing it one hour at a time.

I also intend to buy Left 4 Dead, whether or not I have the time to play it is yet to be determined.

I've told myself that I can't keep buying games unless I either beat some of them, or cancel memberships to them if they are MMOs. Somehow, I just can't part ways with EVE yet, because it's just so damn good. I get all of my SOE games for free, so there is no reason to quit playing them (hehe), and I haven't gotten burned out on Warhammer Online yet, but I've definitely slowed down my play due to my work habits.

As far as work has been going, well, it's been going amazing. We have made huge strides with The Agency, and I've been really enjoying how things are progressing with the game. It keeps getting more and more fun, and I am really proud that I have had a nice impact on the game since I've joined the team.

I still feel these twinges of sadness though when I think about EverQuest II. The expansion is coming out very soon, and they just celebrated their 4th year anniversary, so it's a bit tough on me in a way because I not only miss my friends who are still on that team, but I miss being immersed in that game as much as I was. I look forward to seeing how the dungeons I initially designed before I left for The Agency turned out, because most of them were empty shells or just lines on map in a wiki page when I last saw them. I have seen some of the Miragul's stuff, which I'm really stoked to see, because the concept behind that content was a long time coming before it saw the light of day. Some of the ideas that sparked those zones were things I wrote up almost 3 years ago right after I finished writing the Splitpaw Saga quests, so it's wonderful to see it come to life finally. I'm sure alot has changed from those initial ideas, but it's nice to see a little bit of me in there somewhere even still.

I'm Going To Fan Faire

Yesterday it was confirmed that I will indeed be going to Fan Faire in Las Vegas next week. I will be with Hal and a few others to help represent The Agency and hang out.

'm particularly excited to go because I miss my EQ2 family, and want to see my player friends and my developer friends. I think this will be a good time, especially since it's at the Hilton, which remains to be my favorite Fan Faire location so far. I especially look forward to going to Quarks one last time before they bring down the Star Trek Experience.

I'm not sure if I'm in any panels or anything, I guess I'll find out soon though =P. I find them to be fun but nerve wracking. Luckily for me, Hal is an incredible public speaker, so I probably won't have to say much if anything at all hehe.

Don't shoot the VIP

Friday, I got to meet with some really interesting people to talk about shooters and The Agency, which was pretty fricken cool.

I never knew that Fatal1ty used to play Teamfortress for Q1 way back in the day. I probably paired up against him and his clan a dozen times over all of the tournaments we played back in the day. That was pretty fun going down memory lane.

I'm pressed for time, so I can't get into depth about all that we talked about it, but it was certainly an interesting day for me. I even got to go to the shooting range with Hal Milton (my boss!), Matt Wilson (the boss of my boss!) and a bunch of VIPs. I've only fired a gun once in my life, so this was a pretty good time for me. I'm also a pretty good shot peeps! Watch out!

Getting Settled In

I'm sitting at a new computer in a new office, in a new town, in a new state. It's strange for me to say the least. I lived in San Diego for 20 years, and all of the sudden I live in Seattle working on a different game.

The Agency team seems to be charged up based on my second day of work here. They are a likable bunch of people, and they are really into the game, so I have high hopes! Recently, I've been assigned to watching certain movies with the classy elements of espionage to get me prepped for the feel of the game we are trying to make here. It's going to be interesting to say the least.

The office here is pretty interesting. We are on the bottom floor of a business building that houses some other work places as well. We are all on one floor and have to use the bathrooms in the lobby. The team is still relatively small compared to the amount of people working at SOE in San Diego, so its not too bad. I guess we are getting tight on space as the team ramps up though, which would explain my "interesting" "office" situation.

Right now my desk is placed directly between two U shaped desk configurations. I have just enough room for both of my 22 inch monitors and that's about it. I don't even have any cubicle walls, but oh well, at least I have a window to gaze out of throughout the day. It's a little gloomy looking right now, but It's been sunny every day since I got here for the most part.

The kitchen here is pretty awesome. They have it decked out with free drinks of all kinds and a fridge stocked with fruits and such for the taking. I like that they provide these things, because it's annoying to have to go somewhere to buy a stockpile of drinks and stick fridge under your desk.

I've gotten one piece of schwag already since my arrival, a nice looking martini glass with the words the agency logo etched into the side. =)