You asked him questions and he answered! Here are the answers to the questions you and your fellow players posted to Artist Allen "Lebounde" Bond.
Beatslayer: What type of items on a résumé help in getting hired by SOE (in your opinion)? What education or degrees do you have that are relevant to game design?
I have an Associates in Graphic Design. Other items that help on a résumé if you are just getting started are any completed projects, like a mod for a game that is a complete level or map. It shows you can stick with something until completion.
BlueShaded: Do you ever get ideas from your camping or hiking trips which translate into the game environments?
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Yes, I do! Green Valley Hills/village was inspired by Yosemite. I take my camera everywhere to get new textures. Examples: The dirt/rock texture on the ground in Brell's Rest is from one of my hikes. The sails in Hate's Fury are from a piece of canvas from my mom's backyard.
Thulack: How closely do you work with artists who design weapons or other artistic aspects of the game? Do you folks design art more from inspiration or direction for what is needed?
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Everyone on the team has made weapons. It starts off with what type of weapons the game designers require. From there we make a few concepts. Design then chooses which of the concepts to go with. But if anyone of us comes up with a better idea or modification as we're working we are flexible.
Nolrog: Is it true that your photo above is not really from Halloween, but it's actually the way you show up to work every day?
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Yes, it's true that's the way I show up to work. At least I don't show up everyday dressed as The Humungus like Phathom does! It's bad at meetings. Every time someone has an idea he doesn't like, we all cringe knowing he's going to say, "What a puny plan."
Aydindryl: What zone that you have been involved in designing are you most proud of? Which building design are you most proud of? Would you be excited to tackle a water based zone, and how would you approach it?
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For zone I'd have to say Volska's Husk. I couldn't find a decent image of snake vertebrae so I ordered one so I could see how it worked. I then built the zone like a real snake and laid it out flat. So when I started to twist and turn the zone I could do it all at once and the spine twisted along with everything else. I also like the lighting in that zone.
Favorite building would be Brell's Temple. I like how cohesive the architecture is and Diane Gerard did awesome work on the textures in there.
A water zone would be a blast to make. But with the limits we have to work with it would be really difficult to do currently. If we had all the tools to work with water zones, I'd love to see a bunch of water zones. One with an underwater base like the Atlantis in The Spy Who Loved Me as a starting city. Another with a series of Caves and canyons. One based under the ice. Underwater volcano! Fun stuff.
Thanks Allen!
