RUL Interview: Steve Scott from Bungie

***Greenskull*** · May 16th, 2008

This time I interviewed my good friend Steve Scott from Bungie. He's been real busy so it finally came in just now. ENJOY!

Introduce yourself and tell me what exactly do you do?

I’m Steve Scott, the Effects Art Lead at Bungie. My group is responsible for all of the explosions, blood splatters, muzzle flashes, smoke, plasma, and confetti you see in Halo 3.

Exlosions and gore: Possibly the best part of video games. In detail, describe a typical day for you at Bungie.

Fortunately there really is no typical day at the office. I meet frequently with all of the animators, designers, and artists on the team to determine their needs and react accordingly. One day I may be working on effects for a grenade explosion, the next I am making crazy cinematic effects. I love the variety.

Mixing it up is good. Boring jobs suck. What is it like working with the other Bungie employees?

We are an extremely diverse group. There are different kinds of people from literally all over the world. We have artists, architects, programmers, writers, musicians, designers , etc. Everybody has their area of focus and unique interests, but the one common denominator in our studio is passionate for the final game. We all bond over that. And of course when you are working until 3 in the morning with people you get to know each other pretty well. Sometimes too well.

How long have you been working there?

I joined Bungie in early 2004 to help out on Halo 2. I have been a Bungie fanboy since the Pathways into Darkness days, so it was a dream come true.

Do you enjoy your job?

I get paid to blow stuff up all day and nobody gets hurt. Who wouldn’t love that?

Fun stuff. What made you want to be a part of the video game industry?

I have always loved art and games. When I realized that I could combine the two and get paid for it I knew I never wanted to do anything else.

Did you game a lot as a kid? What was(were) your favourite game(s)?

I was a serious gamer when I was a kid. The 80's were the decade of the arcades and I spent many hours (and countless quarters) hanging out and playing whatever was new and shiny. When I was at home my Atari dominated my free time. I remember Adventure for the Atari 2600 left the biggest impression on me from that era. It told a rudimentary story- like a primitive RPG - and it had one of the classic Easter Eggs in it. You could find a secret room that credited the game's designer, Warren Robinette. Prior to that game designers were rarely credited. Publishers at the time preferred that games were created anonymously. Adventure introduced me to the concept that there were individuals behind the pixels who left their creative mark on the game. Beyond being fun to play it was influential in inspiring me to what I do now.

Kids these days don't get to experience that quarter popping action. Do you get a truckload of random messages and friend requests? What was the funniest message you've gotten?

A number of people here at the office are constantly bombarded with friend requests and game invites. The messages and invites are generally polite, but I hope people understand that we can’t accept every invitation or respond to every message. We’re happy to chat with you if you catch us in a game of Halo though.

I know how you feel. How often do you get to play games other than the project that you are working on?

All the time. Just because I am working on a game as my job doesn’t keep me from gaming in my free time. You may think this is strange, but the game I played the most through the rough parts of Halo 3’s Crunch was Viva PiÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â±ata. When you are immersed in an epic, violent space opera all day you need to unwind with something a little… different. I became a bit obsessive about the game, and somehow managed to get all 1000 Achievement Points while finishing work on Halo 3. I needed my Viva PiÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â±ata downtime to stay sharp at work!

If you are familiar with it, I made the Grunt Birthday Party effect as tribute to our friends at Rare for their great work on that game. They were kind enough to loan us their piÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â±ata-breaking ‘Yaaayy!!!’ sound for the effect.

I KNEW IT! Does anyone on RUL remember playing H3 with me and me saying "It sounds like it's from Viva Pinata"? Will the next Bungie game rock my socks?

If I were a betting man I’d say you could get good Vegas odds on ‘sock rocking’.

Lol! As of right now, what is your favourite Xbox 360 game?

My favorite game is generally the one I am currently playing. I recently polished off Mass Effect, and I loved it. It’s a fantastic experience- very cinematic. Now I have a stack of 6 or 7 games that I need to play. There aren’t enough hours in the day!

Yeah I have a few games that I will probably never finish too. What is your most anticipated Xbox 360 game?

Fallout 3. I loved the first two Fallout games, and I’m drooling with anticipation for the third. I’m looking forward to Gears of War 2 as well.

Yeah I'm stoked for Fallout also! Out of all the achievements you've earned, what was the most difficult to get?

I don’t have it yet. I’m still trying for that ‘survive 1,000,000 points without dying’ achievement in Geometry Wars. It’s been over 2 years now.

What do you recommend to people who want to be in the industry?

Find your niche and excel at it! Modern game production requires all kinds of people; you could come in from just about any professional angle. If you are smart, focused, and passionate chances are you can find your way into the games industry. Oh, and we’re hiring. http://www.bungie.net/inside/jobs.aspx

Any words of wisdom for Ready Up Live?

One of the key elements that makes Bungie great is our community, and you guys are off to a good start with yours. Keep focusing on building the Ready Up Live community and set your sights on world domination!

Thanks, Steve!

**Harflin** · May 16th, 2008

WORLD DOMINATION FTW

but seriously, that was pretty cool, i haf a feeling the RUL will become a pretty large site in due time

EDIT BY GREENSKULL: Harflin there's an edit function. No double posting.