During the past three weeks we?ve covered some serious ground in our interviews with Korey Krauskopf, the Test Manager for the Roleplaying, Adventure and Technology Studio at Microsoft Game Studios (MGS). Korey has talked about life as a game tester, testing for PCs versus Xbox and his thoughts about the upcoming Xbox RPG Sudeki. Today, one week to the day before Microsoft?s E3 press conference, we discuss with Korey the blood, sweat and caffeinated tears associated with preparing a game for its most public apperance at a trade show.
Needless to say, Korey and his team haven?t slept too much in the past month or so, and their hard work will be rather obvious at E3. DailyGame will be in Los Angeles all next week, including for Microsoft?s (and others?) E3 press conference, so we?ll be reporting to you live with our impressions of the madness that is a trade show. In the meantime, read what Korey has to say about all the work he?ll be doing until next Sunday night to prepare ?his? games for their E3 debut.
DailyGame: When you?re preparing a game build for a trade show, do you focus more testing on games that haven?t been announced so they play perfectly, or do you just test any game that needs the work?
Korey Krauskopf: Any game that will be shown gets the thorough treatment from test. It?s our job to find any issue that could possibly mar an otherwise spectacular showing. So from that point of view, it doesn?t matter what state a game is in; it will always need every ounce of attention we can give it, because we don?t want to be showing off our cool game on the show floor only to have it do something? unfortunate.
You said you guys are ?balls to the wall.? Without explaining the precise posture, can you tell us more about what?s making you so busy?
Colorful posture descriptions will be saved for a later date then. The teams that are working on Mythica and Sudeki are staying late every night (sometimes into the wee morning hours) and coming in weekends trying to make the games as cool as possible for E3. It can?t be understated how much effort goes into creating a polished showing for the E3 show floor. One of the great side effects of this process is that you also get a preview of how a team will hold up under the final crunch to ship a game, which is invaluable. The process and lessons you learn with the team you are on will make the process of shipping much smoother.
Since the Xbox has really come into its own, have you noticed your general trade show preparations leaning more toward Xbox than PC, or how?s it balance out?
Nope, Microsoft has stayed very dedicated to developing both and continues to keep a good flow of cool titles regardless of platform.
When games receive feedback from trade shows, does your testing role change at all between the show and the game?s ship date, or do most of the changes come from the programming and development side of things?
Usually when you take a game to E3, it?s your first public showing, but the game has probably been in development for a long time already, and a lot of people have poured their hearts into it, so there is a lot of pent-up excitement about how it will be received. So while most teams won?t plan on adjusting the design based on E3 feedback and events, it?s inevitable that the team will be scouring Web sites after the show to get a feel for what people are most jazzed for. That can drive a team one way or another when making tough calls as the product proceeds to completion. As for test?s role changing: nope. We still have the same duty: to make the game the best it can be. It just gets more intense 😉
Psychoanuts is classified as an RPG, but we thought it?d be more adventure/platformer. You?ve surely tested it, so what are the elements that make it more RPG than adventure?
I haven?t been able to spend any quality time with Tim Shafer?s latest baby for many months now, which is bugging me, now that you mention it. Thanks for bringing up such a painful subject; now I?m feeling deprived. Seeing as how I?m out of touch with it, I couldn?t do it justice with anything I say, so I?ll just shut up.
Have you tested Fable, which MGS is publishing? If so, what are your impressions? If not, what do you most hope the game delivers?
Yet another title I?m not able to spend any time with, as it?s being handled by another team that doesn?t report to me (sadly). When I rule the world, things will be different. Until then, Fable remains a tantalizing enigma to me as well.
From our conversations with various and sundry Microsoft teams, it sounds like E3 2003 is going to be a fantastic year for MGS. What are you most looking forward to personally, be it a game you?ve tested or one you haven?t?
I?m partial to the ones I?ve been spending my late nights on, personally. I?m really eager to see what people shout about with all the goodies in Sudeki. It will be cool to see how people gibber and drool when watching Mythica go through its paces. Plus I?m looking forward to people commenting on some of the unannounced goodies?
And I don?t suppose you can tell us about any of those unannounced games? Genres? Titles? C?mon, throw us a frickin? bone here [moves pinky finger in front of mouth]….
There?s this game about frickin sharks with frickin laser beams on their frickin heads. Other than that I?m afraid the products and genres are for marketing to know and for testers to test (but not talk about. No bone for you, move along).
[Editors Note: Hey, we tried, guys.]
Well one game we do know about is Mythica. Can you tell our readers what makes it in your words so ?frickin’ killer”? Also, have you played through any specific moments that got you so excited, or is it more of the concept?
If we don?t stop using the word ?frickin,? I?m going to be banned from future interviews based on excessive repetitive use of a fabricated adjective. As for jaw-dropping, the player models are stunning. Also, since you play as a powerful immortal, you frequently get to do knock-back damage to your opponents, which really adds to the feeling of might. Play for too long and you can start to believe that a casual swing of your arm can knock a co-worker down the hall. Doesn?t work out quite as expected, so I wouldn?t recommend trying it in real life.
Once E3 (and other trade shows) are all over, do you get any sort of a break, or is that when the ?real? work begins?
After E3 I go back to eating ice cream all day. The rest of my poor team gets worked like pack mules until they ship. It?s good to be the king.
DailyGame would sincerely like to thank Korey and the rest of the team at Microsoft for taking part in this intensive, four-installment interview. One week from today (on Monday, May 12), Microsoft will be holding its E3 press conference to showcase the games Korey and his testing brethren have been involved in for months now. We will be there to report our thoughts and hands-on impressions, so stay tuned; these interviews have been just the beginning.
