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→‎Katie Lea - Level Mapper
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==[[Katie Lea]] - Level Mapper==
==[[Katie Lea]] - Level Mapper==
*'''Education''': Art Foundation & Art at Cardiff University
*'''Education''': Art Foundation & Art at Cardiff University
*'''Joined Sony/Millennium''': 1993
*'''Joined Millennium/Sony''': 1993
*'''Favorite Drink''': Black Currant Juice
*'''Favourite Drink''': Ribena
*'''Previous Jobs''': Mapping with Vectordean
*'''Previous Jobs''': Mapper for Vectordean
*'''Favorite Task''': Texturing
*'''Favourite Task''': Texturing


===LEVEL MAPPING===
===LEVEL MAPPING===
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'''So it kind of moulds the level together?'''<br />Yes, the artist's actually responsible for building the level models and I place the things that go in it, under guidance from Jason who actually designed the individual levels. I get input from everyone in the team about where characters and items in the game should actually go.
'''So it kind of moulds the level together?'''<br />Yes, the artist's actually responsible for building the level models and I place the things that go in it, under guidance from Jason who actually designed the individual levels. I get input from everyone in the team about where characters and items in the game should actually go.


'''Where do you put them physically?'''<br />We have a great graphic interface. I use a Silicon Graphics machine for plotting and use an internal plotting tool called "Mappy". I load the model and I have small markers to place them. For example, I have the model of a small zombie and I change the additional settings that need calibration, such as cell doors, which could present some requirements to open. . . that kind of things.
'''How do you physically place them?'''<br>We have a big graphical interface. I use a Silicon Graphics machine to do mapping and use an in-house mapping tool that's called 'Mappy'. I load in the model and then I've got little markers to position them. I've got a little zombie model for example and I change any extra settings that need calibrating like doors to cells which might have certain requirements to open. . . that kind of thing.


'''Is it a reusable software tool? '''<br />Yes. It was used in ''Frogger'' and in ''Beast Wars''. It is the basic interface, but it has different types of connections for different projects. It does different things for different projects, and I think it is also used by some of the SCEE London's internal teams.
'''So it's a re-usable software tool?'''<br>Yeah. It was used on ''Frogger'' as well and on ''Beast Wars''. It's the basic interface, but it's got different kinds of plug-ins for different projects. It exploits things differently for different projects and I think it's being used by some of SCEE London's in-house teams as well.


'''Was it difficult for you to be only a level mapper, between teams of artists and teams of programmers? '''<br />Actually I am part of both teams. I have to work a lot with the artists because I do model texturing. I must also collaborate with the programmers when placing the items they have programmed. I am a kind of bridge between the two.
'''Did you find it was hard to be the only mapper in between teams of artists and teams of programmers?'''<br>I'm actually part of both teams. I have to do a lot of work with the artists because I do some model texturing. I also have to work closely with the programmers when I position the entities they have programmed. So I've kind of been the bridge between the two.


===ARTIST OR PROGRAMMER?===
===ARTIST OR PROGRAMMER?===
'''So what is your background? Artist? Programmer? Marketing? '''<br />Well, actually I have an artistic background. It started off at school where art was my strongest, then I went on to do an art foundation course and I started off doing an art degree at Cardiff but left halfway through. And then I just kind of fell into the games industry.
'''So what is your background? Artist? Programmer? Marketing? '''<br />Well, actually I have an artistic background. It started off at school where art was my strongest, then I went on to do an art foundation course and I started off doing an art degree at Cardiff but left halfway through. And then I just kind of fell into the games industry.


I was friends with Chris [Sorrell, Producer of MediEvil] and one evening I was just sitting around waiting for Chris to finish, I'd played all of the games in the office, so he suggested I had a go at level mapping and off I went. This was at Vectordean. I started on a 3-month contract working on James Pond 3 doing the level mapping.
I was friends with Chris [Sorrell, Producer of MediEvil] and one evening I was just sitting around waiting for Chris to finish, I'd played all of the games in the office, so he suggested I had a go at level mapping and off I went. This was at Vectordean. I started on a 3-month contract working on ''James Pond 3'' doing the level mapping.


'''What did you start working on? '''<br />Well, at the beginning, I was working on some projects from home, and I worked internally on ''Deadline'', ''Silverload'' and ''Scroll''.
'''What did you work on first?'''<br>Well, first of all I started working from home doing scripting for a few projects and then I moved in-house and I worked on ''Deadline'', ''Silverload'' and ''Scroll''.
 
'''Level mapping? '''<br />For ''Scroll'', I was working on the script. It was a role playing game where the graphics were very important. I did basic programming: "the player goes here and here's what happens". I was a "development assistant", which meant I had to do many different things. On ''Deadline'' I was setting up, on ''Silverload'' I was ''helping'' one of the programmers, Gary Richards, in the basic installation of the different elements. That meant using C, but I did not know it very well. . . It was just about cutting and pasting, and installing the animations and the rooms in the game.


'''Mapping?'''<br>For ''Scroll'' I was event scripting. This was an RPG and very screen based. I did a very basic kind of programming: 'the player goes here and this happens'. My job title at this time was 'development assistant' which meant I got to do quite a lot of different things. On ''Deadline'' I was setting up, on ''Silverload'' I was helping one of the programmers, Gary Richards, with a lot of the basic setting up of things. This was using C, but I didn't know it very well. . . it was just cutting and pasting, setting up animations and rooms in the game.
===DOWN ON THE FARM===
===DOWN ON THE FARM===
'''What do you do when you aren't level mapping? '''<br />Play games. At the moment I'm playing ''Alundra''. I can't wait for the next one. Another favourite is ''Castlevania''.
'''What do you do when you aren't level mapping? '''<br />Play games. At the moment I'm playing ''Alundra''. I can't wait for the next one. Another favourite is ''Castlevania''.
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'''Did you look at someone on a tractor and think 'that could be me'? '''<br />No, I think it was that I used to like cows. . .
'''Did you look at someone on a tractor and think 'that could be me'? '''<br />No, I think it was that I used to like cows. . .


'''Are you a country girl? '''<br />I grew up in Chesterfield, England, which is an industrial city, but I spent my holidays on the farm, where my parents rented a little house.
'''Are you a country girl?'''<br>I was brought up in Chesterfield in England which is an industrial town but we used to go on holiday to farms - where my parents would rent out a cottage.


===MEDIEVIL===
===MEDIEVIL===
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'''Which bit was the worst - the one that you had to keep re-doing to get right?'''<br />Probably setting up the cameras. You can never make everybody happy so you do one version and that's cool until someone turns round and says 'oh I don't like that'. So I guess I go round in a circle a lot of the time trying to keep everyone happy and not keeping everyone happy.
'''Which bit was the worst - the one that you had to keep re-doing to get right?'''<br />Probably setting up the cameras. You can never make everybody happy so you do one version and that's cool until someone turns round and says 'oh I don't like that'. So I guess I go round in a circle a lot of the time trying to keep everyone happy and not keeping everyone happy.


'''Don't they beat you up? '''<br />Oh, they beat me up a lot. People always arrive and say "Oh, Katie, you can do this, you can do the other." My monitor is always covered with sticky notes.
'''They don't give you too much stick then?'''<br>Oh, I get lots of stick. People are always coming up to me going 'Oh Katie can you do this, can you do that'. My monitor's normally covered in Post-it notes.
 
'''Do you sometimes refuse to do something? '''<br />Only when it's too late, I'm dead from sleep and want to go home.


'''How long does it take you to map a level in ''MediEvil''? '''<br />Initially, it takes about a week to install the cameras, create the collisions and position the enemies but it gets redone so often that it is difficult to say.
'''Do you give some back?'''<br>Only when it's late at night and I'm dead tired and want to go home.


'''So are you still working on it? '''<br />Oh yes, we fix things, we change things all the time.
'''How long does it take to map a level in MediEvil?'''<br>Initially it takes about a week just to set up the camera, build the collision and initial placement of enemies but it gets re-made so many times, it's difficult to say.
'''So you're still working on it?'''<br>Oh yeah, fixing various things, we are changing things all the time.


'''Do you work on multiple levels simultaneously? '''<br />Yes and it's pretty hectic. For artists, it's clearer: they know when a task is finished, but for programmers and myself, it's a lot less accurate.
'''Do you work on different levels every day, simultaneously?'''<br>Yeah. So it's quite hectic. For the artists it's more clear-cut when a task is complete, but for the programmers and me, it's less specific.


'''But it seems to be worth it.'''<br />The comments were good. We hope critics will like it. We can never be sure of that, either they like a game, or they hate it.
'''It's got to be worth it though.'''<br>The feedback has been good. We just hope the reviewers like it. You never can tell, they either love things or hate them.


===CROSS-DRESSING===
===CROSS-DRESSING===
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