Developer Pop Quiz is a weekly interview series in which we ask developers from around the industry the same 10 questions and post their responses.
Atari is looking to keep Dungeons & Dragons alive with their latest release, "Daggerdale," as well as keep Producer Michael Fahrny employed as he manages the development teams. A Mac gamer at heart (one of the proud few), he got his start working at Vivendi before Activision took it over, and relieved him of his duties. He obviously landed on his feet, and has climbed the ladder, and one of gaming's most hallowed companies, or else he probably wouldn't be the subject of this week's Developer Pop Quiz.
Name: Michael Fahrny
Title: Producer
Company: Atari
Job Description: Manage development teams to make sure projects meet both quality and design standards throughout development process. This includes scheduling, tracking development, and coordinating cross-functional departments and external developers to ensure that deliverables for a game product are met in a timely manner.
First title worked on: As a tester: "The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring," as a Producer: "3D Ultra Minigolf"
Most recent title worked on: "Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale"
What game has most influenced you, and why?
Back when I was a wee lad, I was really into the "Marathon" series on my good ole Power Mac 6100– that's right, rocked a Mac before it was cool. I really got into making mods with another buddy and going through that process really opened the door for me to the possibility of making games someday.
What are you playing right now?
"LA Noire," "Civ V," "Sins of A Solar Empire," "Lego Pirates of the Caribbean 3DS," "Street Fighter IV 3DS," and a bunch of iOS stuff to name a few.
What was your first break in the games industry?
I started off as a tester for Vivendi Games about 8 years ago. I had just moved to LA and didn't really know what to do with myself and a family friend was working in the IT group over there. She hooked me up with an interview and the rest is history.
What's the best advice you've ever gotten?
The best advice is the advice I use every day – keep your head down and focus on your work. It's easy to get caught up in workplace politics and to lose focus on the important things because of it. I prefer to let my work speak for me, rather than play political games.
Where do you look for inspiration?
In short, my family. I am very lucky to have a very tight nit and supportive family. I've sacrificed a lot these past 8 years to advance my career and sate my ambitions to make it in the video game industry and my family has been there to support me the entire time. On the game deign side, I look to a lot of the classic titles from back when I was a kid. Back then, people really had to be smart about how games were designed because they didn't have the ability to utilize overblown graphics or facial recognition software – the core game experience had to be fun before it even got past the conceptual stage. While we all enjoy some of the overblown games of today, I think it's made the industry lazy in many ways and it’s probably why we've seen such a huge surge of retro enthusiasm lately.
What's the biggest lesson you've learned about game development?
Time, planning, and attention to detail. It's extremely important to make sure that the development process is planned properly from the start. As an example, if you don't properly plan for QA, or demo's, you're setting yourself up for failure from the beginning because they will have an impact on you’re your development team and the overall schedule of the project. There are so many tiny things that need to happen during development and if just one falls through the cracks, you're in for trouble later down the line.
What has been the low point of your career?
The low point was the first time I was laid off. After 5 years at Vivendi, they chose to not continue my group into the new organization with Activision so they laid us all off. It was my first time being let go for any job I had ever had, so it left me feeling a bit unwanted. The saving grace was that I was given a very nice severance package to help me get over it and move one with my career.
What do you think is the biggest problem current games suffer from?
I think, in general, the industry relies on money too much to make a game successful. A successful game should be based on the merits of its design, look, feel, and overall fun factor – not that you can pump $80 million into its Marketing/PR campaign. That being said, it's how our country works, so I'm not sure much can be done about it.
What is the most important thing that has happened to gaming in the last 10 years?
Social Networking. Being able to connect games (and their different versions) in so many ways that a user can now stay connecting virtually all the time is an amazing breakthrough. While it may not be the healthiest thing for our society, it certainly seems to be what people want to help them escape from their daily routine – at least until this new habit becomes part of their daily routine. Then it's on to the next big thing.
Where do you see gaming in 5 years?
It's going to be interesting to see where Apple, Microsoft, and Sony take the next round to. If Apple, really decides to get serious about gaming, I think we're all in for a big change in how we perceive "the cloud" and console gaming in general. I'm very interested to see where the "game anywhere" push takes us in the next five years.