FWA Feature: Exigent and the future of gaming in India - Part 2: Jesse Rapczak

Following our conversation with Paul Steed, we were introduced to Jesse Rapczak, the VP of Production at Exigent. Jesse was the co-founder of Artificial Studios, who developed the Reality Engine, which was licensed by Epic in 2005. With him, were Albert and Nisha (two of the lead artists on the team).

Quick summary of everything we cover in this interview:

- The relationship between video games and technology.

- Evolution of art design in games.

- The ugly truth behind screenshots.

- The decline of console gaming.

Read on if you're interested!

[My friend begins by bringing up the Reality engine and asks how well technology is being implemented in games today.]

Jesse: I think games push technology more than anything. When you have a computer, you are always pressuring upgrades in preparation for the next big game turnout. You have Nvidia, ATI, AMD … they are always trying to bring about faster processing for the consumer market. So there’s always a curve because when a new console comes out, there’s always more power than developers know what to do with, so as the games go buy you’ll see all the games on PS3 and Xbox 360 look better than they did originally. That’s also true of PC games ... you know, DirectX 9 games look better now than when it first came out.

So, when Direct X 10 comes out, there’s going to be just a few games that really stand out because people have had the technology for a while that they’re going to implement in their engine. Then, the market’s going to catch up with lighting stuff. You know, Unreal Engine 3 was the first big Direct X 9 engine and everybody started using it.

[We start to get into the old PS3 vs 360 debate and whether or not the 360 will be able to do Crysis as well as the PS3 or PC.]

Jesse: Well, one reason that it would is because Crysis is a Windows Direct X game. So in order for that to be ported to the PlayStation 3, it’s gonna take a lot of work. Even though the PlayStation 3 is more powerful than the Xbox 360, it still may not run as well because of the amount of change that is required to run that game.

The Xbox 360 has three processors. Crysis is built to support graphics processors, the Dual Core processors and probably physics processors. That’s very few processors compared to the PS3, which has nine. So, completely different development process.

Ishaan: Do you think DX10 is just an excuse to get people to upgrade to Vista?

Jesse: Oh, it’s totally an excuse.

Ishaan: I just don’t like how earlier, a game said “PC CD-ROM” on the cover and now it says “Games for Windows” and on top of that, you need all this permission from Microsoft to put that logo on there. I remember reading about how someone in the industry said Vista was good for Microsoft but not good for the industry as a whole.

Jesse: Well, what else are people going to play PC games on? How many people own Macs?

Ishaan: Well, that’s my point! Why don’t we use Macs? They’re so much more efficient when it comes to processing.

Jesse: [laughs] That may be true, but they’re also more expensive. You know, that’s what matters to developers. I’d never make a game solely for a Mac or Linux. I would always put it on PCs because those have the largest user base. Unfortunately, whether you like Mac or Linux doesn’t matter ... it’s where the market is.

Personally, I think Vista’s a horrible operating system right now just like Windows XP was when it first came out. Everybody stayed with Windows 98 for game design. But, over time I think it will get better.

[My friend asks why screenshots always look better than the actual ingame looks of a game.]

Jesse: Well, a lot of it comes down to interactivity. When you add interactivity to anything art-related, it becomes much more complex. A lot of the time, you don’t have time to make it perfect. I mean, we’re talking about not just visuals but animation, effects. Also the programming and AI that’s going on. You know, a lot of times you see stuff you don’t expect. So, when you’re designing games from a developer’s perspective, it’s almost like playing video that could have a number of things happening. You could control it in some way, but ultimately it’s left in the player’s hands.

Aside from technical limitations, it comes down to the sheer workload that is required to make art look good interactively. That’s why games never look as good as screenshots. The thing about the gaming industry is, screenshots are just that. I have a friend at a game studio and I pinged her on instant messenger one day and asked, “Hey, what’re you workin’ on?”

“Oh, I’m touchin’ up screenshots in Photoshop.”

So, you know... [laughs] it’s not exactly people just taking screenshots. Sometimes they’ll go paint over it in Photoshop, add stuff here and there. That’s what you do in movies. In movies, every frame is rendered and you go edit it by hand to make it look as good and exactly as you want it to. You don’t have that luxury in games because you don’t know what the screens are going to be ahead of time … they could be anything. Crysis is a good example of using technology that enables the artists to do whatever they need to make it look as good as possible. So, a lot of it comes down to technology.

Ishaan: As everyone’s aware, with each new “generation” there’s a huge spike in the visual quality of games and the old graphics versus gameplay debate sparks up every single time. In the midst of all this fuss over “next-gen”, what do you, as a designer feel is more important? Polygon count or art style?

Jesse: It’s been proven over and over again that style and just solid game design are far more important. I mean, look at the Wii. The games on it don’t look anywhere as good as the 360. But even my mom plays the Wii. She’s in her fifties. So, it just comes down to what’s fun for the market. That’s why casual games are booming right now, what with the DS and the Wii and stuff.

Ishaan: Do you think games are doing more justice to art now than they were before? With high-res graphics and more powerful systems and engines, do you think the art is better depicted now than it was on a system like – say – the SNES? You know, the artists on Final Fantasy VI might have drawn some really detailed concept art, but when that made the transition over to a game, it was in the form of these little sprites. That doesn’t have to happen any more.

Jesse: What do you guys think about art and technology and expression?

Albert: Well, one factor is time. It wasn’t like right now, where you’re working for three weeks on one model. Back then, they probably pumped out ... I don’t know ... five models in two days? So, on the one hand, yes. I can express myself better. But on the other, back then; you could pump out more games and more “art” in less time.

Nisha: We just have a lot more tools to work with and it’s a lot more complex than before.

Albert: Right. A while ago, you might have used 6000 triangles to create an entire character but now you use those many polygons just for the head.

Ishaan: Does this affect the amount of effort you put into games? Do you think you work harder now than you did a few years ago, or did the limitations of technology back then still force you to work as hard as you do today?

Albert: Well, physical effort and time, yes. Mental effort, no.

Ishaan: Could you give us a little insight into the development process? How does it usually work … does a developer come to you with their pitch and ask you to design for it, or do they provide you with concept art or samples and say, “Hey, make this look good.”?

Jesse: It depends on the client. Some clients have a specific look in mind that they’re trying to achieve. Some clients give us assets and say, “Make these look better.” Some clients want us to provide them with content, which we don’t do too much of, but sometimes they just want illustrations to be made to base a game around.

It also depends on whether if it’s for a full game or a demo or just a trailer or an ad for a magazine. But due to the expertise of our studio, especially with Paul, a lot of people come to us looking for advice. We get a lot of requests for art direction and overseeing the entire process.

Ishaan: How many people do you usually have working on a project?

Jesse: Well, it depends. A lot of the time, when we’re working on a full-fledged game, the size of our studio is much larger than the game studio’s own art team. In that case, we run the game, look to test it in-house, get a feel for the engine so we can learn how best to export our stuff to it.

Ishaan: How long do projects typically take?

Jesse: [laughs] No.

Ishaan: No average time per project or anything?

Jesse: No, it’s crazy. [laughs] Sometimes it’s like six months, sometimes it’s just two weeks ... sometimes it’s a lot more.

[We ask why Boanerges Studios’s Armageddon was shelved.]

Jesse: [grins] Uhh ... the publisher...

Ishaan: Atari?

Jesse: ...was ... not in a position to continue funding the game. So, we stole their Creative Director, and uhh...

[Everyone laughs]

Jesse: It was this first-person shooter set in a sort of ... pre-apocalyptic world. There were a lot of spiritual elements to it. You know, we were a small team. We were working on a prototype for the Xbox 360...

[My friend asks if they would pick up the project again, now that they have the resources.]

Jesse: Yeah, we still think it’s a good concept. So, because of that, we don’t want to talk too much about it at this point.

[My friend asks if they feel games are “digging up a dry well”]

Jesse: I don’t think so at all. I mean, look at Nintendo. They’re really making an effort to push innovation. There’s always those people who aren’t afraid to innovate. And on the other hand, there’s other people who are just trying to make sure money off things. If you think about it, the PlayStation 3 is really innovative in the sense that it has nine cores but the Xbox 360 is innovative because it has three cores. It’s just another degree of innovation. I mean, those are innovative for consoles, but they aren’t that innovative.

Nintendo does this all the time. Sometimes they fail miserably. I mean, look at the Virtual Boy! [everyone winces all around] Yeah, let’s not... [laughs]

But the thing about Nintendo is that they always try. Even their stranglehold on the handheld market allowed them to try out different stuff. I really like Nintendo, even though I don’t have time to play many Nintendo games. They’re doing a lot for the gaming industry in general.

[My friend asks whom Exigent would develop for if they had to stick to one system.]

Jesse: Whichever one’s going to make the most money. [laughs]

[My friend asks if games on the Xbox were hard to develop.]

Jesse: Games on the Xbox were some of the easiest to develop because it was basically Windows.

[We then started to talk about the current generation generation of consoles.]

Jesse: Everything I’ve read says the PS3 has been struggling, but who knows? I think ... personally, I think PS3’s too expensive. Way too expensive. Personally, I would buy a 360 and a Wii. Although, Albert’s different. [laughs] He wants a PlayStation 3.

Ishaan: I’m with him. I play a ton of Japanese games and I just know there’s no way Microsoft’s ever going make much headway in Japan, try as they may.

Jesse: I just like the 360 because of Xbox Live. They’ve done a really good job with the online stuff. Xbox Live is huge. People are motivated to play games on 360 because of Xbox Live. Because of the gamer scores. It ranks you against other gamers. It’s all about competition. I’m not one for single player games too much.

I don’t have that deep-rooted loyalty like some people. I just don’t care who wins. I buy the systems with the best games on them.

[My buddy asks Albert why he wants a PS3.]

Jesse: As far as Albert’s concerned, everything starts with “Final” and ends with “Fantasy”! [laughs]

Albert: I’d like to see the PS3 succeed because some months down the way, there will be more games for it and I’ll have a chance to work on some of them. Does that make sense?

Ishaan: Yeah.

Albert: Though, I don’t think the PS3 will have the same luck as the PS2.

[Paul steps in. My friend asks if he can join us.]

Paul: Hey, I have a company to run here! I’d love to sit around and talk, but … well, what’s goin’ on?

[My friend replies that we’re talking about technology in games.]

Paul: Oh. Boring! [steps out]

Ishaan: We were told we couldn’t ask about Exigent’s projects just yet, but could you at least tell us what system you’re focusing on?

Jesse: Mmm. Hmm. [laughs] Let’s just say that 90% of our projects are next-gen. That’s all I can say!

[We now start to talk about development costs. My friend asks if they’ll continue to go on the rise, thus, eventually increasing game prices.]

Jesse: Not with outsourcing. [laughs] We’re the solution to rising costs. What it comes down to … like the PlayStation 3, no one wants it because it’s too expensive. Why make a console that’s too expensive?

The real question is, what’s going to happen to consoles when India and China become world powers in gaming? Because, the console market is strictly geared at U.S., Europe and Japan. I mean, there’s not a sizeable console market in China and India. But, China and India together have majority of the world’s population, almost.

The numbers say that console gaming is going to go down. And PC, online and mobile gaming is on the rise, and all this will happen in India and China over the next five years. Come 2010, some people might not be playing game consoles. Doubtful, but…

Ishaan: I think the appeal of a console is in that you aren’t required to upgrade them every single year.

Jesse: Yeah, and the other thing is piracy. That’s another reason, online and mobile gaming is going to be huge. It’s a way to circumvent piracy.

Ishaan: Do you really think mobile gaming is going to be that huge? I can’t stand mobile games, personally. Mobiles are for making phone calls. I think dedicated devices are always better for this kind of thing.

Jesse: Oh, me too. But that isn’t what the market is saying. The market is saying people would download and play mobile games before handheld games, especially in India.

Ishaan: Globally?

Jesse: China and India skew the global numbers! I’m not kidding! You gotta admire the number of people you got in this country! [laughs]

A little idle banter followed and the interview ended a couple of minutes later. I have to say, this has been a total blast. Being in a room full of so many talented people. Incidentally, Exigent shares an office and staff with RZ2, which consists of extremely talented people who worked at Raven and Id and … God, it was awesome. I’ll be heading down there again sometime soon to cover RZ2 as well. They’re an independent developer already and some of the stuff I heard (off the record, of course) was really interesting.

I’m really, really excited that people think India’s going to be such a huge power in gaming in the future. I never would have thought it, but honestly; being in a studio with industry veterans trying to convince you not to leave the country can make you think twice!