Recently, representatives of three Earth and Beyond fansites had the opportunity to interview Doug Chiang, Art Director for the Star Wars prequels, and the designer of the spacecraft models in Earth and Beyond Online. This is a transcript of the interview. LC is Lance_Cutter of www.terrantradecorp.com. LoD is Lord_of_Dreams of eb.stratics.com. D is Devon of www.ebportal.com. DC, is, of course, Doug Chiang.
LC: When did you discover your gift or abilities?
DC: I think it was even before, actually in high school, I took my first filmmaking class in 7th grade. At that time I had always drawn, and I was always frustrated because I wanted to do something more than just drawing. I took this film course that showed me animation and how to turn drawings into motion. Once I grasped that, I really jumped into it and spent the whole summer and weekends making little claymation films. The moment that kind of defined it for, I think, a whole lot of people was the year after that. Star Wars came out. That showed me that there were people out there who actually do this for a living, who could actually design and create film in this specific genre. That got me started thinking, and I did a little more research into the whole process. I grew up in Michigan and the film community there is very quiet, so it was a matter of just finding out where and who these people were that were doing all this great work. Once I realized that people were doing that, I really started taking up the focus of what I really wanted to do.
At first when I started, I wanted to be a stop motion animator. I wanted to be another Reddy [Ed's note: The tape is scratchy here, and I can't find the guy he's referring to. If someone has a clue, let me know. Reddy is a phonetic spelling of the first name.]. He was one of my biggest influences because I discovered his films way before Star Wars, even though I didn't know who he was, I just knew there was something really neat about his films. It's the whole fact that you can take a camera and pieces of clay and make your own film in the basement was spectacular.
LC: The claymation thing is just amazing to me. I don't have the patience for it.
DC: Oh yeah. And the scary thing now is with the 3D rendering tools for the Mac you can do amazing stuff. It will be interesting to see what happens in 5 or 10 years when these kids start coming out of their basements. They're going to be spectacular filmmakers. All you need is a Mac or a little PC at home and you can make your own films with sound and everything. That's going to be frightening.
LoD: What made you come to Westwood to work on Earth and Beyond?
DC: Well, I was finishing off my work with Star Wars when EA contacted me to see if I would be interested in, at first, just consulting, or looking at their project. I said "Sure." At that point, I was just starting to get interested in computer games because I was trying to get one of my own properties developed into a computer game. So that opened the door where I just came in and started talking with them. The more I saw the material, the more more of my initial project with the Westwood team, I just really liked everybody and the project. Basically after that we just started talking and I said, "Sure, whatever you guys need, I'll try to find the time and contribute." Prior to that, I had been approached by other game companies to do other game designs. It just never worked out, whether it was time, or the projects just weren't that appealing to me. I loved everything about this. I loved the subject and I loved the team, so I set time aside.
D: What are some of the challenges you face in the video game realm that you don't face in film?
DC:You have to design things that really have to work. In film design, you can design things that work for a specific shot, so for instance, you don't have to show how the landing gear really works, or how a door opens. A lot of times you'll see a ship land, and they'll cut away to another action. Whereas in this you play real time, and you will see and experience the ship coming down and you see the function of what it's supposed to do. So that factor made the design process a little bit more intensive because you have to figure out that component and make sure it actually works and actually animates.
But the biggest factor that was really hard was the modularity of this game. It was "Come up with a design that was really strong as a base design, but then taking that design and adding various components and improving that design at those stages so that each upgrade will make the designs look better rather than degrading." It's a hard way of thinking because normally when I design something, I like to create the best combinations of shape for that design and say, "That's done. That's it." When I did that, and the Westwood team approved it, and then said "Ok, now make it even better," it was like, "Wait a minute, if I could have made it better, I would have given you that." It was a real hard way of thinking, but it made it challenging because I just came up with elements that were slightly different. But it wasn't really better in a sense that it was superior to the base design, just different. Each one can be perceived as being better, and an upgrade.
So that was the hardest part. Thinking of designs in that way, as interchangeable parts so that it's kind of modular and not too specific, but it can still work.
LC: How do you approach a new a project and yet keep everything fresh for the new project versus what you've already done?
DC: You know what, that's kind of what my job description is. I don't like to be typecast as only a Star Wars designer, or only a "whatever" designer. I like to think that my background in design skills allow me to be flexible to adapt to each of the projects.
In the case of E&B, there was a huge creative brief that was already designed. That basically set all the ground rules and told me exactly what I could break or push. From there, my process is to digest all that information and go and start researching elements, getting inspirations from my library of books and shapes and things that I know. Then I try and combine that and merge it so it fits.
Ultimately what I'm doing is bringing my aesthetics to the Westwood aesthetics, rather than bringing my aesthetics and changing Westwood to something else. There's a lot of what I do is very different from things you're familiar with like Star Wars or Westwood. What I like to do is take those skills and adapt them to other projects.
Of course, there are certain shapes I like. That always permeates through the designs. But, there are shapes that work because there is some kind of integrity to them. SO those are the common elements I try to keep. I try to be as flexible as possible, and address the questions of each project.
That's part of the fun of what I do. The films I work on are so varied.
LoD: With your previous Star Wars experience, did you ever consider working on the Star Wars multiplayer game, Star Wars: Galaxies.
DC: You know what, no. I guess they never asked . I never really thought about it, but it probably wouldn't be as appealing because a lot of that has already been done before. For me, it would just be addressing the same thing. It would just be taking the same designs and reworking it to make it work for a new medium. That in itself is not as appealing to me. I would rather take a new property and design from scratch.
D: On your films, what's the process like when you work with a team of other artists? How do you make everyone's ideas work together?
On a film project, like Star Wars, I will come in and assemble a team, and each of the team members will have a very specific skill. Some will be great at costume design, some at feature design. I try to tap into all those different talents and guide them. Of course, the team that's being developed is still be driven by the film director, whether it's George or somebody else.
The same process happened here on Earth and Beyond where it was essentially the directors, Jerry and Gary and those guys, and my goal was to be that team as a single person. So much of that work had already been done. There was only one very specific task left, and that was the space ships.
LC: What's been your best piece of work, in your opinion?
DC: Oh no. That's a hard question.
I would have to say the ones that come to mind are the Naboo Starfighters and the battle droids. They were very specific problems and I felt it was the best solution. Those are ones I'm also really happy with in terms of addressing all the needs of what those designs had to be in terms of addressing the historic points of addressing why the ships and robots looked the way they looked.
I'm judging from a very specific angle, which is the design component. As a design, I liked them. Whether they're successful as an element that appeals to the public, doesn't matter. For me, they were the essence of good design for me. I'm proud of the way they turned out.
LoD: Was there any particular inspiration for the Earth and Beyond specific models you created?
DC: That's a hard question, because there wasn't a specific inspiration. The creative brief spelled out the general guidelines. But beyond that, they told me to wipe the slate clean, and create something fresh that still fit within the guidelines of the worlds they were creating. I basically started putting down on paper shapes I like to see. Whether they're shapes for film or whatever, I didn't really worry about how they were executed.
There weren't really specific inspirations. Like the Naboo Starfighter was inspired by art nouveau jewelry. In this case, it was really a matter of sitting down and doing a bunch of sketches until I got a shape that I liked.
D: So, what's up with Jar Jar . More specifically, as you were working on Jar Jar, was that the reaction you expected? For example, the thirteen year-old girls can be huge Jar Jar fans, but it makes me cringe.
DC: That's hard to say. In the instance of Jar Jar, when we're designing things like that, whether its for film or for games or whatever, I try not think about what the general perception is because we are so narrowly focused on trying to come up with a really good design. Jar Jar was actually the best possible combination of shapes and personalities and elements that George wanted. We were actually very thrilled with it. We didn't know how he would fit in the story. Our main goal was to design the character.
But, we realized at the end that Jar Jar wasn't made for us. It was made for the 13 year old kid. It's not fair for us to judge, because I can't judge those things. When you're working on a film, you're so immersed in the film that you can't look at things objectively.
And so when the reaction comes out that the character wasn't as appealing to myself or someone else is really irrelevant, because we're not the audience, and we shouldn't be the critiques of that.
D: What was your reaction when you saw Jar Jar in the context of the film the first time?
DC: Oh, I loved him.
But I'm not a good person to ask, because I loved all those guys. I can't look at any of the projects I worked on objectively, you're asking the wrong person, you should be asking a 13 year old girl.
LC: How do you deal with creative blocks, or do you even have them?
DC: Oh, I definitely have lots of them. It's a tough challenge. I just kind of push and force my way through it. Other artists have different approaches.
What I like to do is just sit down and start drawing, even if their really bad, just draw.
The thinking is that I'll get all the bad ideas out and let the good ones come out. My biggest fear when I sense a block coming is to just stop. Tjhat only compounds the process. Once you stop in any of this, it's really hard to get going again. Especially if you have a creative block and stop at the same time, it will be a long time before you get going again. You can quickly undermine yourself and your self confidence.
LoD: Have you actively played Earth and Beyond yourself, if so, what do you think of it?
DC: No, I haven't. The last time I played it was several months ago when I was up here doing our first game. The game has come a long way since then, but it was really fun. Keep in mind, I'm a really novice game player. I couldn't really do what I was supposed to do. But, I loved it. That's what drew me to the project was the whole world, and the fact that you were exploring new worlds. It had all the elements I really enjoy. Here is a game that really puts together all those pieces.
LC: What advice do you have for people who would love to follow in your shoes? What courses would you recommend?
DC: The best thing would be to get a lot of classical training. One of the things I see in a lot of portfolios is that somewhere along the way people are forgetting that they need to learn the basic foundation skills of good drawing, good perspective, good color, good composition, whatever. People are jumping right into doing 3D modeling and rendering. That's one of the dangers of the programs today. You can make something look really good, but it's all glitz, it's all surface, there's no underlieing structure. So what I tell people, is if you want to get in the business, learn how to draw first the traditional way. Do life drawing. Do regular painting. Once you master those skills, then you can put ontop of that all the other layers of new tools. That's the one thing you can't get from these tools. After all they are tools. No matter how flashy these tools are, if you don't have the ideas and education and foundation to support them, the images will look glitzy on the surface, but have no substance. That's the one factor: substance. The portfolios that stand out are the ones who have gone through that classical training. If they don't have the photoshop skills or the visual painting skills. That's ok. That can be taught in a class. If they don't have those foundation skills, it takes many many more years of training to get them. It's better to learn the basics first.
LC: Do you have a site or anything published where fans can look at more of your work?
DC: Yeah. www.dchiang.com. That site highlights my book project: Robota. You'll find I have some tutorials on there. Some demos of how I sketch and paint. Eventually they'll be more there. I'm working on a trailer right now. A 3 minute trailer, once it's finished in June, we'll post it up to the site, along with a bunch of other animation stuff.
D: How many revisions would you say went into the development of the ships for Earth and Beyond.
DC: Actually quite a bit. Jerry and Gary were very specific about what forms they'd like, and the very specific timers of how it fits within the world. On average, I would say each design would take maybe half a dozen or so and refine that. Then I would take the 2 or 3 that they liked a do another dozen of those, then we would hone those down again. Usually by one or two stages like that, we'll have the finished design and from then I can just refine it. But it varies, on some of the ships it was quick, others it took a bit longer.
D: What were the most difficult ships (and which was easiest)?
DC: The easiest were the Jenquai. That was because they were a little more elequant and fluid. The hard one was the Terrans. They were supposed to be like Earth, but they couldn't look too much like Earth. It was like trying to adapt something that everyone was very familiar with and take it to the next level and make it new.
It was like taking what NASA would build in 2 or 3 hundred years, but still make it recognizable that people from earth would build it.
It's always easier when you can take big, broad steps like creating a design for an alien culture. The rules are more open. Noone really has anything compare it with. You're not really tieing in to a sense of history, but the Terrans had strong ties to things we know.
LoD: Do you have anything in the future you could tell us about?
DC: Not really. I'd still like to keep my day job, designing for films. But on the side, I'm trying to get Robota developed into as many different things as I can. That's the only big question mark. Whether or not this big experience works, we'll see in 3 or 4 years. Other than that, it's hard to say. I'm basically "Designer for Hire." I'd love to more computer games, it was really great, really fun.
Say I construct a lookup table for every possible combination of moves. Then I eliminate every move which doesn't lead to my victory. I am left with a lookup table which contains the proper response to every move my opponent makes.
Horribly stupid idea. On average, there are 35 (?) legal moves from any position. Let's say we restrict a game to 100 moves,
and we'll need a lookup table of 2.5*10^154 positions, which is obviously way more than than we could store if we used the entire universe for memory. Not to mention the time it would take to search all these positions.
This is what makes Linur so great. Instead of rewarding the developers, who have strived hard to create a good product, you can choose to "open-sores" (get illegal copies of) the game and get it for free!
And the folks who legally paid for their software instead of warezing like the Linur community does, have to take a hit too, because of the open sores mass stupidity!
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L1|\|uks suckagezor! Llï|\|üX asssuck LiNnUX suxx! lLîNUukS lolloscucks! lL1NuXx buttsucks! lINnüX suxx! L1|\|ûx suckagezor! lL1|\|UUhXx buttsucks! lLïNhüks sucks! LîNhUKs zux LïNhUuXx asssuck
lîNüks sux0rz LiNUUhKs zux lIiNüKs zux LINûXx sucks! lI|\|UUhKs sux0rz LliNUkS sucks! LlinüX zux l1NnUUhKs sUks! LlIiNükS sucks! LlïNnUuXx asssuck LlïnUukS sUks!
LîNUUhKs sucks! 1Ii|\|UUhKs sux0rz Lï|\|UUhX sux0rz lLINhUUhXx sucks! LINnUuXx goatsuck! l1Nûks suckagezor! 1iNhûx lolloscucks! LîNUuks lolloscucks! LinUUhkS buttsucks! 11NuX sux0rz Lî|\|uX goatsuck!
LIinUks sUks! l1nUkS sucks! LINüx goatsuck! LïNûks asssuck l1nUUhX lolloscucks! LiNhUUhkS suxx! LîNhUUhX goatsuck! LîNhüXx sUks! LïnUKs sux0rz LlîNUUhXx zux LiNhUUhx asssuck
lLI|\|UX suxx! Ll1Nhuks suxx! LinüXx suxx! LiNux sUks! LïnûX buttsucks! Li|\|UkS sucks! LlînUkS sUks! LI|\|uX buttsucks! lLïNhUXx zux 11nUuX sUks! l1NUX suxx!
LIiNUx goatsuck! 1INUuX suckagezor! L1nûkS zux l1NüX zux LlI|\|UUhx sucks! LI|\|ûXx sucks! liNnUx sUks! 1IiNUUhX sux0rz l1Nüks asssuck L1NükS buttsucks! 1ïNuKs suckagezor!
LiNUX sUks! 1iNnüKs asssuck lLIiNUux suckagezor! 1ïNUXx suckagezor! LlI|\|ûXx buttsucks! liNhUks sux0rz lLînUUhX sucks! LïNuX buttsucks! li|\|UUhks asssuck lL1NnüX goatsuck! Llinûks sUks!
LINûX buttsucks! Ll1NhUuX sucks! LlINnUuks sUks! lLIiNüKs lolloscucks! lïNûx zux lLïNUUhXx lolloscucks! LîNnuks suckagezor! LlinUUhx sucks! lIinux goatsuck! 1ïnüks asssuck LiNhUKs zux
lLï|\|ûkS buttsucks! LlîNUuks sucks! lLinuks suxx! lL1NûX suckagezor! LIi|\|UKs sucks! LîNnukS lolloscucks! LlînUuKs buttsucks! LlIiNnUx suckagezor! LïNuKs asssuck LlI|\|UUhKs asssuck lInûKs suxx!
l1NhUuXx sUks! LInUKs sucks! LlINnUkS sucks! lIi|\|ûXx asssuck LIiNûKs sucks! lLïnUXx suxx! LiNükS zux LlîNnUUhks lolloscucks! lL1|\|UXx lolloscucks! 1Ii|\|uXx zux 1Ii|\|ukS zux
LINnUUhKs buttsucks! LlIiNüX sucks! lINüks suxx! Lli|\|UUhXx goatsuck! LlIiNûx zux 11nUUhXx asssuck LlïNûX lolloscucks! LINhûKs suxx! Ll1NhukS buttsucks! Ll1NhUUhKs sucks! lLïNûks buttsucks!
1Ii|\|ûX zux LîNükS sux0rz LINnUuX buttsucks! Ll1NnUuks buttsucks! lLiNhuKs zux LiNnUUhKs buttsucks! lLïNUX asssuck L1NûX zux 1îNükS suckagezor! LInûx suxx! LlinüKs sux0rz
1IiNnUukS lolloscucks! LINnûKs zux lLî|\|ûXx buttsucks! 11nUKs zux linUuXx buttsucks! 1îNnukS sux0rz lLîNuks asssuck lIiNûx suxx! LîNnUUhkS suxx! LIiNhUkS suckagezor! LinUukS suckagezor!
lLïNhûXx asssuck lIinuXx goatsuck! LIiNhükS lolloscucks! LlIiNhUXx goatsuck! lLINUuXx suxx! LlîNüX sux0rz LïNhUUhx sUks! LInûX goatsuck! lïNnUUhKs buttsucks! Li|\|UUhks suckagezor! lî|\|üx sux0rz
LïnüXx suckagezor! LîNhukS suckagezor! 11NUkS sucks! LlIiNhûkS asssuck LIiNnuks lolloscucks! liNnUkS sUks! lInUx lolloscucks! lîNnUUhks suckagezor! lL1|\|UuKs lolloscucks! 1ïNhUUhXx sux0rz LINUuXx lolloscucks!
LlIiNUX asssuck 1ïnüks lolloscucks! 1IinuKs asssuck LlINüx suxx! lIiNhUUhX sucks! lLIiNUks buttsucks! lLïNûx goatsuck! LINhUUhx suxx! LiNhUUhX sux0rz Ll1NnUXx buttsucks! 1îNnUkS lolloscucks!
lLînUUhks suckagezor! 1inuX lolloscucks! lLî|\|Ux sUks! LINhuKs lolloscucks! L1NnUX suckagezor! L1Nüks goatsuck! LInUXx goatsuck! LlîNUukS zux LîNhûkS goatsuck! LINUXx goatsuck! lLIiNnux zux
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1I|\|ûx goatsuck! 1INhUuXx zux LïNnUux goatsuck! LlîNüx buttsucks! LïNnUkS buttsucks! li|\|UuX goatsuck! Ll1|\|UuKs buttsucks! LïnUux goatsuck! LIi|\|UuX suckagezor! LIiNnUUhXx suxx! LlINhûXx lolloscucks!
LînUks zux LliNûKs zux LïnûX sux0rz LlïNhUKs lolloscucks! LlîNuKs goatsuck! Ll1NnüKs asssuck LIiNUUhks sucks! Lï|\|UkS asssuck LiNnüKs suxx! lLïNhûX sux0rz 1IiNhUUhks asssuck
L1NUUhXx buttsucks! LinUUhX suxx! LIinUks sucks! LlîNhux sUks! 1ïNUkS sux0rz 1InUXx sux0rz lLïNhUUhKs lolloscucks! 11NUX goatsuck! LïNuks suxx! L1|\|ûx lolloscucks! lLIiNuXx asssuck
Li|\|UUhXx goatsuck! lLî|\|üXx suxx! LIi|\|Uks goatsuck! 1ïNUuKs asssuck 1IiNhuX lolloscucks! Li|\|uXx asssuck LINûKs buttsucks! L1|\|UKs suxx! LïNüXx asssuck Lli|\|ûkS suckagezor! LINhûKs buttsucks!
LI|\|UuX buttsucks! lîNUUhXx suckagezor! l1NükS suxx! lLiNnukS buttsucks! 1ïNüXx goatsuck! lLiNukS sucks! 1IinUUhkS asssuck 1ïNUx suxx! lLi|\|uKs asssuck LlïnUX suckagezor! LîNnUux buttsucks!
lLînUXx buttsucks! LïnUuXx sux0rz 11NUUhkS suxx! 1î|\|UukS suckagezor! LIiNnüx buttsucks! lIinUXx buttsucks! l1nûKs suxx! Lli|\|Uux zux lInUKs sUks! Lï|\|UukS sUks! lînûkS suckagezor!
Li|\|UUhkS suxx! LïNnükS sUks! LINüks sUks! lLïNhüks suckagezor! LIi|\|ukS goatsuck! lîNhuX lolloscucks! lIi|\|ûkS sucks! LlïnûkS lolloscucks! 1Iinüks lolloscucks! 1î|\|üx zux LlîNuXx asssuck
LliNuX lolloscucks! Lli|\|ûXx sux0rz LlIiNhUx sUks! lï|\|UUhKs sucks! lIiNUX sucks! lLïnûXx sux0rz 1ïnUux suckagezor! Lî|\|UUhX lolloscucks! 1i|\|UUhX lolloscucks! 1IiNUX suxx! lLïnUUhx goatsuck!
LlIiNux sUks! lïnuX goatsuck! lINnUuks sucks! lLIiNûX suckagezor! LliNüXx suxx! lI|\|UuKs goatsuck! LïNhUx suxx! LliNUUhx goatsuck! lLiNnuXx suxx! 1INhUkS asssuck 1înüXx suxx!
L1NuKs sUks! l1Nux buttsucks! Llînuks lolloscucks! 1InUuX sux0rz lLinUUhX suckagezor! LlINUkS suxx! lî|\|ukS suckagezor! LîNUuXx sucks! LIiNûks suxx! 1ïNUks suckagezor! 1INUX sux0rz
L1NnûX sUks! LïNux sUks! Llî|\|ukS buttsucks! 11NnUukS goatsuck! 1iNuKs suxx! 1iNhûX suckagezor! LlINnUXx asssuck LINhuX suckagezor! LInuKs sUks! l1NnUUhX suxx! 11|\|UuKs asssuck
lîNûkS asssuck 11NnUx suckagezor! LinuKs zux lLïNUuKs sUks! 1ïNnUuks suckagezor! LlIiNhUks zux LlïnükS suxx! lLïnUKs suxx! LlINUuX lolloscucks! LINnuKs lolloscucks! 1îNüX suxx!
1ïNuks suckagezor! lINux lolloscucks! LlIiNhUUhx asssuck lL1NUUhXx suckagezor! L1NUXx sucks! LîNhUuX sux0rz lIiNUuks goatsuck! Llî|\|ûx buttsucks! LlIiNhUkS sucks! Lli|\|UUhXx buttsucks! lLînUkS sucks!
LlInUUhX goatsuck! LlïNhUUhKs goatsuck! LïNnûkS asssuck LiNûXx sux0rz LI|\|UuKs sUks! lIi|\|UUhX sucks! LinüXx zux LiNUX asssuck lLIi|\|ûXx asssuck LIiNUUhX sUks! lL1nüXx suckagezor!
LliNUux asssuck lLIiNuX asssuck lLIiNnUux sucks! L1NUks suckagezor! lLINUX buttsucks! lLINûX buttsucks! 1înuX asssuck LinUXx lolloscucks! 1î|\|Uux sUks! 1îNhûkS suckagezor! LINhUx sucks!
LINhux sux0rz lLIi|\|UUhKs sux0rz LïnukS suckagezor! 1InUUhks buttsucks! LIiNnûx zux Llî|\|Uuks suxx! lïNux suckagezor! Llinux sucks! LliNnuXx asssuck lLinUUhX lolloscucks! lïNüX sux0rz
LInUUhx suxx! lïNhUuKs lolloscucks! 11nUx sux0rz liNûx sUks! L1NUuX sux0rz LlîNhUX goatsuck! 11NhukS sUks! 1Ii|\|ukS suckagezor! 1iNhuX sucks! LïNûXx goatsuck! lLî|\|ukS goatsuck!
LinukS buttsucks! lINhux asssuck 1ïNûKs suckagezor! lIi|\|UUhKs buttsucks! LlinukS sucks! lLIiNüKs suxx! LIiNnuKs suckagezor! 1înükS suckagezor! Lî|\|ûKs sux0rz 1INüXx sucks! l1nUKs lolloscucks!
Llïnüx sUks! lLi|\|UUhkS suxx! lï|\|ûKs suckagezor! lLîNUUhx buttsucks! LiNUUhX lolloscucks! lLIiNüKs sUks! lLIiNux zux l1Nhuks lolloscucks! lLIiNüks goatsuck! 1InUUhks zux l1Nnux suckagezor!
l1Nhûx sucks! l1NnUUhkS lolloscucks! LIiNüx sUks! LINUuXx asssuck lLïNhUUhkS suckagezor! LI|\|UUhXx lolloscucks! 1IiNüX goatsuck! LînûXx sUks! 11|\|UUhX lolloscucks! Ll1NhUuX asssuck 1I|\|ukS sUks!
LlîNUukS sUks! lL1NUUhks zux 1INhûx lolloscucks! lINUuXx goatsuck! lINhüks buttsucks! LIiNnUks sux0rz LINükS lolloscucks! lLîNnUuXx buttsucks! Lî|\|uKs suxx! lInüKs sux0rz LliNUUhKs asssuck
l1nUks buttsucks! lînuKs buttsucks! l1Nnüks lolloscucks! lLinuKs zux LlINUUhks suxx! LiNUUhXx suxx! LlîNhüKs suxx! LliNUUhkS buttsucks! LîNhûks asssuck lINnUuKs sucks! 11|\|ux lolloscucks!
liNhUkS buttsucks! LliNnUXx sucks! LINhûX goatsuck! 11NüX buttsucks! lLINUXx lolloscucks! lLî|\|UUhX suckagezor! LInUkS suxx! lLiNhûks sucks! LiNhûx lolloscucks! Lï|\|ûks sux0rz L1NnûXx asssuck
liNnûX suxx! liNhûX lolloscucks! LîNnûKs suxx! liNUukS sucks! LIinukS sux0rz Llînüx sucks! L1NûXx sux0rz lLïNUkS goatsuck! lLIi|\|Uks goatsuck! lLINukS buttsucks! Lli|\|UkS suckagezor!
1i|\|UUhkS suckagezor! Ll1NuXx suxx! LINux sucks! lïNnUuX sucks! LîNhüks zux LîNnûkS sux0rz lL1NûKs suxx! lLïNUUhX buttsucks! LINüKs suckagezor! lî|\|UUhkS sUks! LlinUks buttsucks!
LIinuks suckagezor! LlIiNnUukS sucks! 1ïNnUuKs sucks! lINUuXx lolloscucks! LïNUuXx zux lLINhûXx zux L1NUux asssuck L1nUuXx buttsucks! 1îNüX goatsuck! LIiNhUUhx suckagezor! 1iNUUhkS asssuck
1ïNüks suckagezor! lLîNUuks lolloscucks! L1|\|ûX goatsuck! 1IinUUhks sUks! l1NûKs goatsuck! LIinuX sucks! Ll1NUuks asssuck 1iNnUuks sUks! Ll1NnUUhX suxx! 11Nüx suxx! 1INUUhx suxx!
L1|\|Uux goatsuck! lINux buttsucks! lïNnUuXx buttsucks! LinüX suckagezor! LïNhûX zux 1i|\|UUhx buttsucks! lLîNUuXx sUks! lî|\|ûKs lolloscucks! LliNhUUhXx goatsuck! lLIiNüXx asssuck lL1NhUuX sux0rz
1iNüX suckagezor! liNûx sucks! lINüX suckagezor! lIiNUuXx suxx! 1INUks goatsuck! LlINnûXx buttsucks! lL1NUUhXx suxx! lL1NuXx suxx! Li|\|üXx sUks! Lï|\|UkS sucks! Ll1NnUuKs suckagezor!
LlïNUUhks sUks! LINhüx sux0rz LINUX sux0rz lINhuX sux0rz LIi|\|ûx suxx! LîNnuXx suxx! lINnükS buttsucks! l1nUkS lolloscucks! lLIi|\|UUhXx lolloscucks! lLïnUuks lolloscucks! LïNuks goatsuck!
l1nUXx goatsuck! L1NhuXx suckagezor! l1nUuX sUks! lïNUuXx zux LINUUhKs sucks! 1ï|\|UuX sux0rz lLïNhUkS lolloscucks! L1NhUX lolloscucks! lIiNnUUhkS sUks! LIiNUUhX suxx! LlîNhUUhx lolloscucks!
LîNhûks suckagezor! L1NUukS goatsuck! 1INnüks goatsuck! l1|\|UkS zux LlïNhuKs sucks! lL1|\|UukS sUks! LliNUux zux Li|\|uXx suxx! LIiNuks sucks! lLIiNUUhXx asssuck LîNûkS asssuck
1iNUuXx sUks! lLîNhuXx sucks! 1înûkS zux LINüX sUks! lLI|\|Uks zux liNüXx suxx! LiNhUXx zux LlIiNhUuX sucks! LlI|\|Uuks zux LiNUuKs zux LliNUUhks sUks!
LlINUUhks lolloscucks! LïnukS goatsuck! Llï|\|ûks sux0rz liNûx buttsucks! 1ïNüXx suckagezor! 1ïNnUux sUks! 1î|\|ûks lolloscucks! 1IiNUX sucks! lLIi|\|ükS sUks! Lî|\|UkS sucks! lïNüx suxx!
liNhuX sucks! lL1NhUks buttsucks! 1iNüX buttsucks! LlINUUhKs sUks! 1ïNhUKs sucks! 1IiNnUX zux LîNnUuXx lolloscucks! lLIi|\|UkS suckagezor! LlîNUUhks asssuck Lli|\|üXx sux0rz liNnUuX goatsuck!
LlïNUUhXx asssuck l1NnUuX asssuck 1IiNûKs sUks! LiNUuks sUks! liNnUUhkS goatsuck! lL1NhuX zux lL1|\|UUhX suckagezor! LïNhUUhKs lolloscucks! lL1NhUUhks sucks! LINnûX sucks! LlîNhukS asssuck
LInUUhks lolloscucks! lL1|\|ukS sux0rz LîNUUhx buttsucks! LlI|\|uks sucks! lîNüKs sux0rz LIiNnUux sux0rz 1îNUUhX lolloscucks! LîNUUhx suckagezor! LïNUUhkS suckagezor! lLIiNnUux sUks! LlîNüks zux
Ll1nUUhks buttsucks! 1IinUuKs zux 1IiNûX buttsucks! lLInUukS goatsuck! LîNûX sucks! Lï|\|ükS suckagezor! 1î|\|ux zux lLi|\|üKs sux0rz 1î|\|UUhX sucks! LiNnuX sux0rz lï|\|ûKs zux
LlïNux buttsucks! LlINhUUhX sUks! 1ïNnûXx buttsucks! lL1nukS zux LINüx sux0rz linUuX sUks! l1|\|UX goatsuck! lLï|\|ûkS asssuck lî|\|UUhx sUks! l1Nüx asssuck LlINhux goatsuck!
LlîNhûks sucks! LiNuXx buttsucks! lLï|\|UX buttsucks! 1înUUhkS suckagezor! 11NUUhXx sUks! lL1nUuXx asssuck L1NnükS suxx! 1I|\|ûks sUks! l1NhUuks asssuck LIinUuX zux 1îNUKs sUks!
Li|\|uKs sUks! LlI|\|UUhks lolloscucks! 11Nüks buttsucks! liNnUX sux0rz LiNhuX sucks! LïNhüX buttsucks! lINUUhks sux0rz LINûx zux lLIi|\|ûX suckagezor! lIiNux zux LIiNhuKs sucks!
11nûXx buttsucks! lL1|\|Uuks sUks! lLïNnüx lolloscucks! lLi|\|ükS buttsucks! l1Nuks suckagezor! 1îNüx suxx! lIi|\|UuX suxx! lLINûXx sUks! lLï|\|UXx goatsuck! LîNhûks suckagezor! L1|\|üks lolloscucks!
.LiNhuX sUks! LinûkS zux l1|/||_|X sUks! lî|/|Uux zux LINnû> sucks! Lï|/|uX sucks! LlîNUuks suxx! l1NnüX buttsucks! lI|/|uks sux0rz Llî|/|UkS goatsuck! LlïnükS asssuck L1|/|üX asssuck .LiNnüks zux .LïNuKs sucks! .LïNhüX sUks! .Li|/|ûX lolloscucks! .LiNnukS suckagezor! .LïNukS sucks! .L1NukS suckagezor! 1InüX suckagezor!
BIll Goatse and Lunir Torvla making sweet manlove in the basemen will usin Linusucks LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!
LINUR IS FOR FAGOTS!!"!" HA! HA!
Perhaps you should quit using Linux, it only really gets you into trouble.
Either today's moderators have no sense of humor or they like little girls :)
They like little girls. All of them. And little boys too. And dogs, cats, goats and men!
There are two levels of communism.
The first level is the one where people torture each other and starve to death.
The second and final level is Open Sore, a.k.a BUTTLINUX.
I love HITLER!
Additionally, Slashdot is a lame website for retards and idiots. Yup, just look at me, I'm a regular!
Slashdot fails it. There are just too many trolls around!
Better than Slashcrap's horrible brown and yellow green white default font gay sidebar anal content concept.
Microsoft.com is the best! (and goatse.cx)
Can I have them too? I LOVE babies!
Goatse.cx runs on Linxu! Maybe they used that crap to create the site?
Linux sucks
Doug Chiang Interview
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Recently, representatives of three Earth and Beyond fansites had the opportunity to interview Doug Chiang, Art Director for the Star Wars prequels, and the designer of the spacecraft models in Earth and Beyond Online. This is a transcript of the interview. LC is Lance_Cutter of www.terrantradecorp.com. LoD is Lord_of_Dreams of eb.stratics.com. D is Devon of www.ebportal.com. DC, is, of course, Doug Chiang.
LC: When did you discover your gift or abilities?
DC: I think it was even before, actually in high school, I took my first filmmaking class in 7th grade. At that time I had always drawn, and I was always frustrated because I wanted to do something more than just drawing. I took this film course that showed me animation and how to turn drawings into motion. Once I grasped that, I really jumped into it and spent the whole summer and weekends making little claymation films. The moment that kind of defined it for, I think, a whole lot of people was the year after that. Star Wars came out. That showed me that there were people out there who actually do this for a living, who could actually design and create film in this specific genre. That got me started thinking, and I did a little more research into the whole process. I grew up in Michigan and the film community there is very quiet, so it was a matter of just finding out where and who these people were that were doing all this great work. Once I realized that people were doing that, I really started taking up the focus of what I really wanted to do.
At first when I started, I wanted to be a stop motion animator. I wanted to be another Reddy [Ed's note: The tape is scratchy here, and I can't find the guy he's referring to. If someone has a clue, let me know. Reddy is a phonetic spelling of the first name.]. He was one of my biggest influences because I discovered his films way before Star Wars, even though I didn't know who he was, I just knew there was something really neat about his films. It's the whole fact that you can take a camera and pieces of clay and make your own film in the basement was spectacular.
LC: The claymation thing is just amazing to me. I don't have the patience for it.
DC: Oh yeah. And the scary thing now is with the 3D rendering tools for the Mac you can do amazing stuff. It will be interesting to see what happens in 5 or 10 years when these kids start coming out of their basements. They're going to be spectacular filmmakers. All you need is a Mac or a little PC at home and you can make your own films with sound and everything. That's going to be frightening
LoD: What made you come to Westwood to work on Earth and Beyond?
DC: Well, I was finishing off my work with Star Wars when EA contacted me to see if I would be interested in, at first, just consulting, or looking at their project. I said "Sure." At that point, I was just starting to get interested in computer games because I was trying to get one of my own properties developed into a computer game. So that opened the door where I just came in and started talking with them. The more I saw the material, the more more of my initial project with the Westwood team, I just really liked everybody and the project. Basically after that we just started talking and I said, "Sure, whatever you guys need, I'll try to find the time and contribute." Prior to that, I had been approached by other game companies to do other game designs. It just never worked out, whether it was time, or the projects just weren't that appealing to me. I loved everything about this. I loved the subject and I loved the team, so I set time aside.
D: What are some of the challenges you face in the video game realm that you don't face in film?
DC:You have to design things that really have to work. In film design, you can design things that work for a specific shot, so for instance, you don't have to show how the landing gear really works, or how a door opens. A lot of times you'll see a ship land, and they'll cut away to another action. Whereas in this you play real time, and you will see and experience the ship coming down and you see the function of what it's supposed to do. So that factor made the design process a little bit more intensive because you have to figure out that component and make sure it actually works and actually animates.
But the biggest factor that was really hard was the modularity of this game. It was "Come up with a design that was really strong as a base design, but then taking that design and adding various components and improving that design at those stages so that each upgrade will make the designs look better rather than degrading." It's a hard way of thinking because normally when I design something, I like to create the best combinations of shape for that design and say, "That's done. That's it." When I did that, and the Westwood team approved it, and then said "Ok, now make it even better," it was like, "Wait a minute, if I could have made it better, I would have given you that." It was a real hard way of thinking, but it made it challenging because I just came up with elements that were slightly different. But it wasn't really better in a sense that it was superior to the base design, just different. Each one can be perceived as being better, and an upgrade.
So that was the hardest part. Thinking of designs in that way, as interchangeable parts so that it's kind of modular and not too specific, but it can still work.
LC: How do you approach a new a project and yet keep everything fresh for the new project versus what you've already done?
DC: You know what, that's kind of what my job description is. I don't like to be typecast as only a Star Wars designer, or only a "whatever" designer. I like to think that my background in design skills allow me to be flexible to adapt to each of the projects.
In the case of E&B, there was a huge creative brief that was already designed. That basically set all the ground rules and told me exactly what I could break or push. From there, my process is to digest all that information and go and start researching elements, getting inspirations from my library of books and shapes and things that I know. Then I try and combine that and merge it so it fits.
Ultimately what I'm doing is bringing my aesthetics to the Westwood aesthetics, rather than bringing my aesthetics and changing Westwood to something else. There's a lot of what I do is very different from things you're familiar with like Star Wars or Westwood. What I like to do is take those skills and adapt them to other projects.
Of course, there are certain shapes I like. That always permeates through the designs. But, there are shapes that work because there is some kind of integrity to them. SO those are the common elements I try to keep. I try to be as flexible as possible, and address the questions of each project.
That's part of the fun of what I do. The films I work on are so varied.
LoD: With your previous Star Wars experience, did you ever consider working on the Star Wars multiplayer game, Star Wars: Galaxies.
DC: You know what, no. I guess they never asked . I never really thought about it, but it probably wouldn't be as appealing because a lot of that has already been done before. For me, it would just be addressing the same thing. It would just be taking the same designs and reworking it to make it work for a new medium. That in itself is not as appealing to me. I would rather take a new property and design from scratch.
D: On your films, what's the process like when you work with a team of other artists? How do you make everyone's ideas work together?
On a film project, like Star Wars, I will come in and assemble a team, and each of the team members will have a very specific skill. Some will be great at costume design, some at feature design. I try to tap into all those different talents and guide them. Of course, the team that's being developed is still be driven by the film director, whether it's George or somebody else.
The same process happened here on Earth and Beyond where it was essentially the directors, Jerry and Gary and those guys, and my goal was to be that team as a single person. So much of that work had already been done. There was only one very specific task left, and that was the space ships.
LC: What's been your best piece of work, in your opinion?
DC: Oh no. That's a hard question.
I would have to say the ones that come to mind are the Naboo Starfighters and the battle droids. They were very specific problems and I felt it was the best solution. Those are ones I'm also really happy with in terms of addressing all the needs of what those designs had to be in terms of addressing the historic points of addressing why the ships and robots looked the way they looked.
I'm judging from a very specific angle, which is the design component. As a design, I liked them. Whether they're successful as an element that appeals to the public, doesn't matter. For me, they were the essence of good design for me. I'm proud of the way they turned out.
LoD: Was there any particular inspiration for the Earth and Beyond specific models you created?
DC: That's a hard question, because there wasn't a specific inspiration. The creative brief spelled out the general guidelines. But beyond that, they told me to wipe the slate clean, and create something fresh that still fit within the guidelines of the worlds they were creating. I basically started putting down on paper shapes I like to see. Whether they're shapes for film or whatever, I didn't really worry about how they were executed.
There weren't really specific inspirations. Like the Naboo Starfighter was inspired by art nouveau jewelry. In this case, it was really a matter of sitting down and doing a bunch of sketches until I got a shape that I liked.
D: So, what's up with Jar Jar . More specifically, as you were working on Jar Jar, was that the reaction you expected? For example, the thirteen year-old girls can be huge Jar Jar fans, but it makes me cringe.
DC: That's hard to say. In the instance of Jar Jar, when we're designing things like that, whether its for film or for games or whatever, I try not think about what the general perception is because we are so narrowly focused on trying to come up with a really good design. Jar Jar was actually the best possible combination of shapes and personalities and elements that George wanted. We were actually very thrilled with it. We didn't know how he would fit in the story. Our main goal was to design the character.
But, we realized at the end that Jar Jar wasn't made for us. It was made for the 13 year old kid. It's not fair for us to judge, because I can't judge those things. When you're working on a film, you're so immersed in the film that you can't look at things objectively.
And so when the reaction comes out that the character wasn't as appealing to myself or someone else is really irrelevant, because we're not the audience, and we shouldn't be the critiques of that.
D: What was your reaction when you saw Jar Jar in the context of the film the first time?
DC: Oh, I loved him.
But I'm not a good person to ask, because I loved all those guys. I can't look at any of the projects I worked on objectively, you're asking the wrong person, you should be asking a 13 year old girl
LC: How do you deal with creative blocks, or do you even have them?
DC: Oh, I definitely have lots of them. It's a tough challenge. I just kind of push and force my way through it. Other artists have different approaches.
What I like to do is just sit down and start drawing, even if their really bad, just draw.
The thinking is that I'll get all the bad ideas out and let the good ones come out. My biggest fear when I sense a block coming is to just stop. Tjhat only compounds the process. Once you stop in any of this, it's really hard to get going again. Especially if you have a creative block and stop at the same time, it will be a long time before you get going again. You can quickly undermine yourself and your self confidence.
LoD: Have you actively played Earth and Beyond yourself, if so, what do you think of it?
DC: No, I haven't. The last time I played it was several months ago when I was up here doing our first game. The game has come a long way since then, but it was really fun. Keep in mind, I'm a really novice game player. I couldn't really do what I was supposed to do. But, I loved it. That's what drew me to the project was the whole world, and the fact that you were exploring new worlds. It had all the elements I really enjoy. Here is a game that really puts together all those pieces.
LC: What advice do you have for people who would love to follow in your shoes? What courses would you recommend?
DC: The best thing would be to get a lot of classical training. One of the things I see in a lot of portfolios is that somewhere along the way people are forgetting that they need to learn the basic foundation skills of good drawing, good perspective, good color, good composition, whatever. People are jumping right into doing 3D modeling and rendering. That's one of the dangers of the programs today. You can make something look really good, but it's all glitz, it's all surface, there's no underlieing structure. So what I tell people, is if you want to get in the business, learn how to draw first the traditional way. Do life drawing. Do regular painting. Once you master those skills, then you can put ontop of that all the other layers of new tools. That's the one thing you can't get from these tools. After all they are tools. No matter how flashy these tools are, if you don't have the ideas and education and foundation to support them, the images will look glitzy on the surface, but have no substance. That's the one factor: substance. The portfolios that stand out are the ones who have gone through that classical training. If they don't have the photoshop skills or the visual painting skills. That's ok. That can be taught in a class. If they don't have those foundation skills, it takes many many more years of training to get them. It's better to learn the basics first.
LC: Do you have a site or anything published where fans can look at more of your work?
DC: Yeah. www.dchiang.com. That site highlights my book project: Robota. You'll find I have some tutorials on there. Some demos of how I sketch and paint. Eventually they'll be more there. I'm working on a trailer right now. A 3 minute trailer, once it's finished in June, we'll post it up to the site, along with a bunch of other animation stuff.
D: How many revisions would you say went into the development of the ships for Earth and Beyond.
DC: Actually quite a bit. Jerry and Gary were very specific about what forms they'd like, and the very specific timers of how it fits within the world. On average, I would say each design would take maybe half a dozen or so and refine that. Then I would take the 2 or 3 that they liked a do another dozen of those, then we would hone those down again. Usually by one or two stages like that, we'll have the finished design and from then I can just refine it. But it varies, on some of the ships it was quick, others it took a bit longer.
D: What were the most difficult ships (and which was easiest)?
DC: The easiest were the Jenquai. That was because they were a little more elequant and fluid. The hard one was the Terrans. They were supposed to be like Earth, but they couldn't look too much like Earth. It was like trying to adapt something that everyone was very familiar with and take it to the next level and make it new.
It was like taking what NASA would build in 2 or 3 hundred years, but still make it recognizable that people from earth would build it.
It's always easier when you can take big, broad steps like creating a design for an alien culture. The rules are more open. Noone really has anything compare it with. You're not really tieing in to a sense of history, but the Terrans had strong ties to things we know.
LoD: Do you have anything in the future you could tell us about?
DC: Not really. I'd still like to keep my day job, designing for films. But on the side, I'm trying to get Robota developed into as many different things as I can. That's the only big question mark. Whether or not this big experience works, we'll see in 3 or 4 years. Other than that, it's hard to say. I'm basically "Designer for Hire." I'd love to more computer games, it was really great, really fun.
Don't expect to play this game tomorrow on your favourite OS.
My favourite OS being Microsoft Windows xxx, I do expect to be playing this tomorrow. Bye.
my karma is too high
Say I construct a lookup table for every possible combination of moves. Then I eliminate every move which doesn't lead to my victory. I am left with a lookup table which contains the proper response to every move my opponent makes.
Horribly stupid idea. On average, there are 35 (?) legal moves from any position. Let's say we restrict a game to 100 moves, and we'll need a lookup table of 2.5*10^154 positions, which is obviously way more than than we could store if we used the entire universe for memory. Not to mention the time it would take to search all these positions.
This is what makes Linur so great. Instead of rewarding the developers, who have strived hard to create a good product, you can choose to "open-sores" (get illegal copies of) the game and get it for free!
Word to that.
And the folks who legally paid for their software instead of warezing like the Linur community does, have to take a hit too, because of the open sores mass stupidity!
So does Sopwith, what's the point?
What's so special about this game? It's been on ./ 73 times already, and honestly, I think it looks like pure shit.
Bill Goatse!
Slashdot will soon be the first result on a Google search for Goatse. Goatse.cx will also be the first result if you search for Slashdot.
Offtopic? Wtf?
Retarded moderators *SIGH*
This is my 100th post. Thank you for your opinion.
The AC scum shall be exterminated, that's all I care about.
This is the first cock