One of your first game credits is as a scripter for Planescape: Torment. What was it like working on this classic computer role-playing game?
That project was a dream. None of us knew at the time, of course, that it would become a classic (and it didn't sell terribly well upon release either--its "classic" status came much later). We only knew that we loved what we were making. I read every design doc I could find on the company server. I couldn't get enough of this strange, compelling world and the mystery of who the Nameless One really was.
It was also my first project, which made it even more of a dream--a culmination of a dream, really. My job was mostly taking designers' outlines for different areas and implementing them in the game--cutscenes, boss battles, cranium rats, immortal tomb puzzles, brothel NPC pathing and barks... all of it. It sounds like it might not be very creative, but I loved it.
And it was creative. I frequently discovered that what the designers wanted to do wasn't supported by the engine, and I had to figure out clever workarounds or alternatives all the time. I gained a reputation as a kind of troubleshooter, but really, I was just trying to make the game as good as I could make it.
Much as I loved the team and the project, I left the game industry shortly after Torment's release to focus on my personal life. But the connections I made on that project were strong enough (apparently) to pull me back in several years later for Torment's spiritual successor and several gigs after that.
You worked as the Design Lead for Torment: Tides of Numenera later in your career. How did this opportunity come about for you and what was it like stepping into a Design Lead role for this production?
This project was a Godsend for me. My wife and I live in Thailand, and our primary work is taking in children with nowhere to go. But by 2011, our expenses had slowly outstripped our income. It was at exactly that time that Colin McComb, whom I'd worked with on Planescape: Torment, asked me if I wanted to work on a spiritual successor to that game. I probably would've done it for free, but I needed a paying job--or at least a chance at one.
Before and during the Kickstarter campaign, all my work was on-spec. The idea was that if the Kickstarter met its goal of $900,000, I would have a job for a few months as a writer. But the campaign turned into a record-breaking success raising over $4 million, and I was made a full designer for the length of the project. A few months later, Kevin Saunders promoted me to Design Lead (partially because that's kinda what I was already doing?).
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