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- Tell us a little about yourself, what have you accomplished in life?
My name is Lakin Shoobridge, I was hired into the games industry to work on Fallout Tactics as a junior artist when I was 19. Not a lot of people can say they reached their dream by such a young age J Now for the Aston Martin convertible…
- What are your favourite computer games/board games and why?
I must admit, I have an EQ addiction. I used to play a lot of Dungeons and Dragons with my friends, and I was a big fan of RPG games on the SNES (particularly some of the Squaresoft ones). I guess I like these games where my character progresses and improves. My favourite games of all times would probably be the Legend of Zelda series – from NES, SNES, GB, N64 and the GC, love ‘em all. They have a good look and feel, plenty of hidden features to find, character progression (through items) but it is a system which doesn’t disclose the numbers – so no time is wasted min/maxing. Hurrah!
- What hobbies do you have besides computer games?
I like to make noise on guitar (hey bashing the drums is fun too!). I enjoy reading (which I don’t make time to do). Every now and again I get possessed to go outside and try to move rocks and plants around the house. This usually lasts before my terrible lack of fitness and UV tolerance kicks in and I run back inside for shady protection and a comfy seat to sit down in.
- What are your favourite bands/artists (music) ?
Here’s a question I am never going to be able to answer. Generally anything with a strong guitar element will get me, be it jazz, flamenco or heavy metal. To name some favourites: Dire Straits, Paul Kelly, Rammstein, Santana and Modest Mouse all come to mind. The list does go on.
- Tell us a little about your role in the making of Fallout 1/2/3(Van Buren)/Tactics ?
I was an artist on Fallout Tactics, involved initially with modelling tile sets, but moved quickly to character modelling and animation. I was also put in charge of the interface graphics – now that was a challenge! I had the opportunity of building levels (under the guidance of the design team) and testing gameplay (along with the dedicated QA team). Just for kicks, I would hassle the programming team too (this could be dangerous).
- What’s your favourite Fallout memory?
After a week of animating deaths, I rather gleefully turned to the senior in charge of me to show him the ghoul explode death. Look on his face was a mix of mostly shock and fear. He immediately took me off violent animations and had me do walk cycles for a week.
- What specifically inspired Fallout for you? What were the biggest influences?
The intro movie from the original Fallout says beautifully what it’s all about. It made sense to look to Fallout 1 and 2 for influence. I also drew inspiration from the Mad Max movies, and a whole bunch of photos I took on my uncle’s farm of decrepit, rusted equipment.
- Pop Culture played a big role in Fallout, what pop culture influences you?
I usually have the telly on in the background when I’m at home, so whatever is pumping out of that is what I get. I would hate to admit that I see far to much Australian Idol.
- How was it to be a part of the Fallout team?
It was a great team, full of good ideas. I had a lot to learn from the people around me.
- Were there things that you wished you had added to either Fallouts?
More animations would have been fun. It’s unfortunate that animations in a sprite based system are so expensive.
- What were you favourite places in fallout and why?
I really liked the snowy tile sets in some of the later missions of Tactics. I was really impressed with the artwork that other members of the team were creating; the look and feel of it all was really great.
- What is your hope for future Fallout games? Would you like to be a part of a future Fo team?
I could enjoy working on another Fallout title. It was a lot of fun to make the gritty artwork. I’d like to see future Fallout projects include the diversity of choices the original Fallout had.
- Who would you bring with you in a future Fallout team and why?
Max – it’s good to have a mate to down a carton of piss with during crunch period(s).
- In your opinion, what are the key ingredients that every RPG should have?
Role playing – let the player make some choices about their character and how they interact.
- Where do you see computer RPGs going?
Everybody is aiming at MMO. Lets face it, they’re terribly successful and infectiously addictive.
- How does the fan base hinder/help the projects that you’ve worked on?
A lot of feedback. Sometimes too much feedback, but a lot is better than none.
- When planning the story how do you go through the process of integrating themes and story with the constraints on software?
I draw pictures J
- If you could make any computer game that you wanted, which would it be and why?
Oh I’m not even going to start on this. I would really like to define a strong art style which will be adored by all.
- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
10 years older, 10 years deeper in debt.
- Any last word to the Fallout fan base?
Keep on truckin’