Interviews: Gal Roth interview

Interview by Oren Nathan, as seen on Nometet.

With the imminent release of Maxis’ Spore, Oren Nathan talked to Gal Roth, one of the lead animators of the game. Here is his report:

A few weeks ago in Israel, I got the chance to meet up with one of Maxis lead animators Gal Roth. Gal showed to the press a playable version of the newest Maxis title Spore. In this following interview Gal talks about the development of Spore, his own experiences and even the state of the videogames industry in Israel.

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Spore lets you create your own species.

Oren Nathan: Spore is scheduled to feature different stages (Cell stage, Tribe stage and even a Space stage). Each stage will have its own goal and engine; don’t you think that changing engines during gameplay will cause confusion between the gamers?

Gal Roth: Very good question – One of the things that I did not show in the demo is that every stage in the game has a very clear tutorial phase with very clear stages that the fresh gamer needs to go through before he or she can play the game. The gamer will only have to go through this once and will be able to turn this feature off in the games settings if he or she desires, however this feature is really very helpful and really covers all the controls and game play. We spent a great deal of effort and testing for this and we hope that this will ease the entry to Spore for any person who wants to play the game.

Oren Nathan: Spore is basically telling the story of the creation of the universe without using a storyline, was there any plan during the development to incorporate a storyline?

Gal Roth: There is a general linear theme to the game which is the evolution of your kind and later culture, as for more of a story…well that has more of a meaning in the Space stage. But I don’t want to get into that in detail as I think people should play the game and find it out for themselves.

Oren Nathan: In the past Will Wright has created hits like the “Sims” and “SimCity” that changed the world of videogames dramatically. What is your expectation for “Spore” and its extent of influence on games like World of Warcraft and Civilization?

Gal Roth: We all are very proud with what we achieved with Spore and really hope that as many people as possible will play it and find it appealing. We also hope that in this game there is somewhat of an educational bonus for the player as the game is heavily influenced by science and culture. If children play Spore and get interested in astronomy and or Zoology etc. that would be a great thing. And obviously we would be very happy if the game becomes a great hit and a milestone in the video game industry.

Oren Nathan: Will the game engine feature different weather effects and if so will the different temperatures have an affect on the creatures?

Gal Roth: Yes we do have different weather patterns on our planets.   As for how it influences the game – you will have to experience it for yourself.

Oren Nathan: In the past there were already “God” games; games like “Black and White” were very popular. Will Spore’s engine use some elements that were already featured in these games, if so from the player point of view, what will make it better in “Spore”?

Gal Roth: Spore has many elements from many games (i.e. packman in the cell stage) however Spore really gives the player almost full creative control of the content being played. I really don’t know of any game as vast and complete as Spore in this regard. Spore also will play differently every time depending on the way the evolves his or her creature and how he or she decide to conduct their tribe, city and universal empire. All decisions have a meaning and a new experience.

Oren Nathan: Spore is divided into different stages, during development are the stages being build consecutively as it appears in the game or they’re being developed by different teams and gets attached later on?

Gal Roth: We did have our game development team divided into separate mini teams for each stage of the game however there are teams that worked on all aspects of the game (i.e. animation, art sound etc.) and we all sit in the same place so we are tightly connected and constantly make sure that everything works together.

Oren Nathan: During the development of the game you had the chance to work with one of the biggest pioneers in the videogames industry Will Wright. What kind of influence did he have on the daily work and did he work on the little things or gave the development team a creative freedom?

Gal Roth: Will is really an amazing person a true genius, yet he has great respect to the people on his team and really looks for input and new ideas. In the beginning of the project he really was involved in almost all the details and once we got what he wanted he let the team bring in many ideas which he supported. I must say that the game has a lot of features from many people on the team which Will truly supports.

Oren Nathan: In the past you’ve worked on several games (X-men, LOTR), does the experience of creating a genre based game any different from developing a brand new title?

Gal Roth: Working on a new IP (intellectual property) is really a great experience as you really feel part of a team that creates something new and great. Working on titles that are already developed is also fun as you get to work with amazing properties (like X-men for example) but you are limited to the blue print that is controlled by the owner of the property.

Oren Nathan: As a lead animator in the industry, do you want to progress in the videogames industry or make the move into the entertainment industry (films and television)?

Gal Roth: Personally I love working in games – I love the team work and that being part of a game development team one gets much more influence on a project then professional artists get in film or other media. Just to give an example – on Spore we were only 4 animators on the whole game. We had great influence on how and what is animated in the game and we also played a large and critical part in the developments of our unique animation systems.

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Be nasty or nice. In Spore, you decide.

Oren Nathan: The videogames industry in Israel lacks in many elements compared to the one you know from the states, from expensive game prices till lack of academic programs. What are the most important elements that need improvement in order to create a viable videogames industry in Israel?

Gal Roth: I do believe Israel has a vibrant and enthusiastic video game culture. I think there is great interest and a lot of little game developments both in the technical arena and content arena.  Some problems lie in the fact that the Israeli market is considered very small and not very profitable for video game developers (i.e. piracy). Not all consoles are represented here and there really aren’t that many Israelis working in the industry worldwide.  Yet I do see a definite change! I believe that you will see more and more Israelis studying abroad in fine programs and getting experience at good game developers. Some will come back and help support the slowly growing developer community with professional experience.  Hopefully at some point a project will rise and get enough attention to really influence the business community to invest heavily in this amazing and creative industry and pull together some local talent with experienced talent from abroad that can help build an industry here. This will take some time – but I believe it is happening already and be a reality sooner than later.