This session turned out to be an impromptu interview with Tim by Mike Capps with Mike also asking questions solicited from the audience. First off I’ll recommend that you watch the video footage if you can (when it is posted), because a summary of this interview just won’t do it justice. But I’ll give you a bunch of general highlights along the way to tide you over until then.
["Where do your ideas come from?"]
Tim – “Everywhere really.” Tim went on to relate some great stories about meeting people who inspired his ideas for games like Full Throttle and Brutal Legend. Turns out the name Brutal Legend came to him about 15 years ago on a bus after meeting a real rock band roadie and he was trying to think what the most extreme name would be compared the the more fantasy aspects of Monkey Island (which he was working on at the time). Thus Brutal Legend was born. ["Can't get more extreme than that."] Full Throttle apparently came from a story someone told him about their time in Alaska and hanging out at Biker Bars. These stories, once he heard them, were just stories that needed to be told.
["How do you deal with Creative Control?"]
Tim – “Well at first I didn’t, I tried to do everything.” Tim went on to explain that he very much wanted to have his hands in everything, especially writing, but over time learned [maybe the hard way] that games really can’t be done that way and really need to be more of a collaboration with the entire team, of course. He could no longer be a bottleneck for everything, it just would never work. He found that finding a place where the team really believes in what they are doing and trusting them to do great work creates better games than he could by himself. It was hard for him to let go of the details and he feels that there are a lot of leaders out there that have similar feelings, but he went on to say that it is ok to “just be a leader” and not feel that you are contributing to every little thing. He felt that he will never stop writing though, every creative leader should probably try to stay involved in one thing at the very least.
["What about managing upwards, how do you deal with publishers?"]
Tim – “Don’t fight.” In the early days of DoubleFine Tim would fight with the publisher all the time, upturned tables, the whole bit. But that sort of atmosphere never turned out right. Yes, he was fighting for things that he just never thought the publishers would understand, but convincing them of his side of the issue rather than storming out of the room is really the better tactic. A cooperative relationship is more important.
["How do you predict marketability and how important is it to you?" ]
Tim – “I don’t think about it that way.” Tim explains that they are trying to deliver something marketable as well as creative and original and that they really aren’t separate. It comes down to the experience you want to deliver, the fantasy, and you have to follow that direction first and foremost. You can’t ignore the market but no matter how the marketability may seem it isn’t even a guarantee anyway, there are plenty of examples of that to draw from.
["Do you write humor for your audience or yourself?"]
Tim – “Writing is like Improv acting.” Tim tries to understand the characters as deeply as he can, writing bios, etc. and then draws from that fundamental knowledge of the actors and then he writes freely from there. There isn’t really a goal to write for any specific audience, it just comes from knowing what the actors would say in any given situation. He often tests the humor out on people around the audience and in the old Monkey Island days it even became a competition of trying to make each other laugh and trying to one-up each other around the office.
["What could publishers do differently in order to promote creativity?]
Tim – “More blue sky prototyping.” Tim can’t understand why more publishers don’t spend even a small fraction of those large budgets doing more exploration of creative and original ideas. They are one of the few people in the industry who have the luxury of that sort of thing and it could potentially trickle down throughout the rest of the industry as well.
["What is up with the old man who comes out of your ear when you put bacon up to it?"]
Tim – “Makes sense to me.” Actually, he goes on to share a story that his wife told him about the way you get rid of tape worms. Put a piece of bacon up near your open mouth. Then the tape worm will smell it and come up and try to get the bacon…then you grab him! “You know, the old guy came from that.”
["What is the one piece of advise you would give game developers?"]
Tim – “Keep doing what you love to do and try to become the best at it.”
Tim is a personality that needs to be experienced first hand to be enjoyed and truly understood. So again, watch the video when you get a chance.
