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| Interview with Jiovanie Velazquez |
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I enabled my super powers known only as "email" and sent Jiovanie Velazquez, the arch-nemisis of Matt Kresge, a bunch of questions. And, the good part, he actually answered them! Yay!
Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are, what you do in your free time, etc etc...
My name is Jiovanie. I like long romantic walks on the beach. I also like kittens, but I hate poodles. Turn-ons are: Counter-Strike, BattleZone, and just about any other game that can let me snipe my enemies without ever being seen. Turn-offs are: Lagger-lamers that constantly whine about lag and LPB's, and the packaging on my ice-cream sandwiches.
Seriously though, I'm just a d00d like any other d00d. Thinking anything is interesting about me is like thinking that there is nothing wrong with the world... sometimes you see a glimmer of a chance, but it always comes down to the ugly truth.
I try to find cool things to do in my spare time. Anything from games, to alcohol, to pool, to... *sigh* more alcohol. But those AA meetings really helped, and now I spend a lot of my free time either drinking with my [V]Buddies or just chillin' with Jennifer.
What exactly is it that you do at Volition?
Nobody really knows. I started with characters. Those were the days. What I wouldn't give to go back to doing characters. However, after a horrible, traumatic incident involving one of my... jollier characters, I wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of jumping on the "Environments" bandwagon. After all, all the cool guys were doing it. Actually, at the time we didn't have any level designers, so I was the only one. I don't know where all the cool guys were, but they obviously didn't want to have anything to do with me.
I used to enjoy creating environments. It was so challenging, and fun. But soon the time came for me to move on again. This time I fell into the hands of "TOOL" (Sony's PS2 Development kit). Televisions are very different from computer monitors. I take "monitor art" and make it "television friendly". Sometimes I'm lucky and don't have to do anything. Other times I have to scrap something that was done and start it from scratch. Luckily, the latter doesn't occur very often.
I'm also now responsible for lighting the game's environments. Lighting is fun. Whee!
Where did you go to college? How'd you come to be at Volition?
I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I started school there with the dream of one day becoming a CG effects animator for movies. I lived with that dream for 2 1/4 years. Ahhh... ignorance is such bliss. It was only a month or two before I was finally due to graduate that I realized I was in no way prepared for (or even trained in the art of) big-budget effects. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I resorted to the only other dream I ever had... Working in the games industry. Long story short, I was lying in bed playing Gran Tourismo for a week straight, when an angel sent me a job offer. This angel was Adam Pletcher, and that is how I came to be here.
Is Matt Kresge also your arch-nemesis, or is that just some sort of one-sided thing Kresge has going on?
There has never been a more wretched creature of scum and villainy. My heart fills with such hatred at the mere mention of his name. As far as arch-nemesi go, the "Kresge" is #1, and he makes me laugh too... but that wont save him from the fate I have in store for him!
What kind of devious tricks do you play on Kresge?
Hold on a second.... Hmmm, my agents inform me that the Kresge frequents your base of operations. Giving you such information would put my plans at risk, and I cannot allow that.
Talk about some pool... I heard you got the hella intimidation factor... Have you had to beat anyone with a pool cue yet? Who do you enjoy driving to school the most?
Intimidation? Moi? I've yet to beat anyone with a pool cue, though the thought does bring a smile to my face. I wish I could say that I enjoy tooling the Kresge, but there is just no challenge there. The ones I enjoy taking to school the most are the ones that think they cannot be schooled by me *COUGHschroederCOUGH*
Out of curiousity, what kind of reaction to people have when you tell them you "create cute, cuddly creatures loved and revered by small women and children."?
Most people don't get it. They just kinda look at me with a blank stare. Actually, I don't get it either. I finally just tell them that I play games all day and get paid for it. Couldn't be further from the truth, but it makes them happy. Tell people what they want to hear, that's what my momma always said.
"Now I am the resident (occasionally evil) PS2 artist.", what exactly did you mean by "evil"?
Uhmmm, nothing... you're reading into that comment far more than is necessary. My advice, pretend you never read that.
Halo or Tribes 2?
ALL HAIL HALO, KING OF GAMES OLD AND NEW! There just really is no question there. I have to admit that Tribes 2 does look a tad promising though, so I will give it a chance... just one. It's a good thing you didn't ask me to choose between Halo or Team Fortress 2... I think trying to decide that would just break me. [ed. Lucky you. I took out "or Team Fortress 2" at the last second.]
What kind of differences do you deal with when creating art for the PSX2 over a PC? Do you think its easier to create stuff for the PSX2 or is it pretty much the same thing?
It's pretty much the same. The major difference is that you have to remember to keep the brightness and saturation down much lower for the PSX2, since NTSC tends to make everything sickeningly bright and happy. I'm still waiting for those government issued 53" Sony Trinitron flatscreen computer monitors (I hear they are going to put one in every home, even the ones without electricity), then things'll be smooth sailin'.
You've also done some character work, as well as level designing, for Summoner. What aspect of art creation did you think was the coolest or the most enjoyable?
Characters were the least stressful (only in hindsight though). You just make and texture a model, then give it to the animator. Move on to the next model. Environments are fun. They became more and more complex as we went further into development, adding to the challenges involved in creating them. I love to play with meshes and textures though, so I really enjoyed both of them. My final answer, Regis, would be modeling. That is one of the most enjoyable things I can do on a computer (don't ask what the others are, you really dont want to know). Unfortunately, I'm not really creating any models right now, but I do plan on making a helluva comeback in a future project.
What is the secret weapon of your artistic arsenal?
I recently installed MakeCOOL v2.0 This program is like a dream... It hooks into just about any program, so I just keep it running in the background. I load up whatever file I need to work on, activate the appropriate MakeCOOl module, and PRESTO!! Lots and lots of really cool stuff that I can tell everyone I did all by my self.
Waitasecond! It WAS only a dream?!?!
What would you say is your best, or favorite, piece of work that's in Summoner so far?
I really like some of the work I did on the interior of the Lenele Temple. I'm never happy enough with anything I do though, so that's tough to answer. I personally enjoy everyone else's work on Summoner. The art team has enough talent to take down an elephant. And of course you can't have a game without the programmers. Those geniuses always mystify me, what with their asserts and their DLL's. I'll never understand how they can make such awesome games possible.
Anything else you'd like to add before I get to reader questions?
I was just kidding about that whole alcoholism thing... I really haven't recovered :)
And of course, here's the reader submissions. Jiovanie beat them all with a pool cue.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I get my inspiration from a variety of sources. Just about anything can inspire a true artist, but I on the other hand have to make due with whatever I can.
Sometimes ideas just pop into my head (rarely). Suggestions from friends and/or coworkers are the biggest source of inspiration, though. Their ideas can open the floodgates of creativity, and that usually leads to even more ideas oozing forth. People often have very good ideas without realizing them.
What's your biggest challenge at work?
Staying awake. My office is chock full o' comfort, it feels more like home than my apartment does. [ed. Jiovanie has a lot of toys n stuff in his office. If they come to life, they'd probably take over the world with relative ease. Be afraid, be very afraid.] Second biggest challenge is trying to keep up with all of the other artsits at Volition. I feel so inadequate when I compare myself to them, when it comes to art that is.
What is your favorite monster?
Killer Tomatoes. I never did like salads, and these things just give me a reason to keep on hating 'em.
I hope you didn't mean in Summoner, though. I'd like to see you easily pick out a favorite from the variety of monsters we have. Can I say they're all my favorite or is that just cheating?
Where did you learn to model? And how can I get you to give me personal training in modelling?
I learned to model at AIP. Almost everything I knew before I started working at Volition was self-taught. I supa-glued the mouse and keyboard to my hands and buried my face in the monitor (yes it hurt, but the scars aren't permanent). Very rarely would I even ask for assistance, I prefered to figure it out on my own unless it proved impossible. Passion and motivation are the greatest assests to learning anything. You can learn more by yourself if you have those two traits, than you ever could with ten super-teachers and apathy for the subject.
To get me to help you learn to model, you would first have to move to Champaign (I dont make out-of-town house calls). You then need only to ask. That's all you have to do to get me to aid you in learning to model (you don't even have to pay me very much, just give me an occasional compliment. I get so few of those). If someone approached me with a true desire to learn 3d modeling, I would aid in any way I can.
Have you been working on any personal projects lately, if so what?
I started a player model that I planned on releasing for Counter-Strike, but that is coming along very slowly, since I can't stop playing the game long enough to work on the model. Other than that, my personal projects are put on hold until I can think of something worth putting the time into. I will probably regret saying this, but suggestions are welcome. Send them to kissmy... wait, that's not right. Send them to squirmy_lizard@hotmail.com.
Thanks again to Jiovanie for answering these questions!
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