Lead Engineer
Demiurge Studios

by Jay Acevedo (AnodaJay)

What was your first memory of a videogame?

Lode Runner for the Commodore 64. What made it so magical was that not only could you play this really cool game, but you could make levels for it too. My cousin and I would spend hours making levels together and challenging each other to levels we had made. I think the ability to create as well as play influenced the way I think about games and is part of why I work in the industry now.

There’s always something that makes you say: “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” What made you realize that?

Working in a large corporate environment doing database programming made me reconsider if I was headed in the right direction with my career. My main passions are building things and making art and databases didn’t really satisfy either of those. Until I took a class making games, where I met Al and Tom, I hadn’t actually considered games as a career. But working with both of them and building worlds made me realize this was the blend of building things and art that I had been looking for.

Demiurge has assisted many developers on different projects, but you’re mostly known for working on the PC version of Mass Effect (a game which incidentally was nominated for a GameFocus award for Best PC Game last year). What was the biggest challenge you faced as a small developer porting a high-profile game or working to release additional content for that same game?

One of the biggest challenges was understanding the scope of Mass Effect. Bio Ware puts a lot in its games and even after working on other major titles, it took some time to get our heads around how much content there was and the magnitude of the task of creating a PC version.

If you had to create the ‘ultimate game,’ what would it be?

I would love to create a game that somehow taught or encouraged compassion. Unfortunately I have no idea what form this game would take. But 15 years ago, I don’t think people would have assumed that games could teach the level of cooperation, planning, and teamwork that large WOW raids require. As social networking becomes an increasing part of daily life and communications, I don’t think it is too far fetched to somehow a game that encourages kindness and understanding of others.

You’re leaving for a space trip and can bring only one video game and one video game character with you. They would be…

That depends on the type of space trip! If it where a long boring trip to another star system I would pick Battlefield 1942 because I get excited and jump around and shout more in that game than almost any other. If the trip where dangerous, going through enemy territory or asteroid fields, I would have to go with Katamari to chill out. As for who to bring, in either case I would ask Samus to come along.

If you had one tip to give to someone who wants to start working in the industry, what would it be?

Love the process of making things. Games are an end result and if you only like the end result, you aren’t going to have a lot of fun. If you enjoy the creative process, even with its ups and downs, you will love this industry.