INTERVIEW
executing and brainstorming the personality
god, and that usually means that we are coming in
elements, like the Victory/Defeat presentation.
pretty close to the deadline, and using whatever is
Q: What, in your mind, is the
hardest part of your job?
A: Probably keeping ahead of my crew. The SMITE
left is looping back and polishing things as much as
possible. We often do have to go back on some gods
if there were things that just aren’t working right,
animation team has grown and thrived with the pace
but it is very rare that we get a chance to loop back
of the production up to this point, and a large part
on a character post-release just to tweak things.
of my job is to get the next things concepted and
So pretty much we go up to the deadline while the
lined up for the guys to bring to life. There are lots
god is in focus and get as much in on the character
of production arcs with the SMITE pipeline - gods,
as possible. Then HiRezLarson tells us to stop.
skins, NPCs, so making sure the next things are
Q: Have there been any last minute changes
developed and knowing which arcs should go where
that you, or your team, have made that have
is a very challenging part of the job. With those
become a fan favourite for that character?
numerous arcs, it is rare the entire crew is on a single
A: Well, I am glad it wasn’t a last minute change,
arc, but when they are I am consistently amazed at
but Xbalanque was a change the animation team
how fast and efficient they are while still doing very
pushed for. His primary weapon in his lore is the
creative work, and if I am not constantly thinking
blow gun, and originally it was concepted as his
ahead, we aren’t being as efficient as we should be.
inhand ranged weapon. It made sense with his lore,
Q: When you’re working on a god, minion
but it would have forced him into some very rigid,
etc., how do you know when you’re finished?
pre-described positions. We wanted it to change,
A: When the patch schedule tells us we have
to stop. We try to put as much as possible into each
52 The SMITE Community Magazine Issue #11
but I didn’t want to propose a change that didn’t
radically amp him up, and wanted an element that
The GameOn Magazine