General:Gary Noonan: Team Profile

This is a developer diary focused on Gary Noonan. The diary was originally posted to the old elderscrolls.com website on 23 January 2004.

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Gary Noonan -- 3D Artist

1. So what's your role on the Elder Scrolls team?

After being a level designer for Morrowind and tribunal, I jumped ship to go back to my roots of "animating". I missed playing God, and getting to create creatures from poly to texture to animation. I started animating again with Bloodmoon, and I feel pretty much at home again.

2. What's your typical day like on the team?

My typical workday starts around 10am (who am I kidding.... it's usually just after 10) with a cup of stupidly hot coffee burning the scores of taste buds off of my tongue and scanning through the 3 emails I may get overnight. I scour over the internet through my daily bookmarks to see what the game industry and the world has come to and where it may be going (without me). Then between modeling, texturing, and animating I occasionally find time for the "every 15 minute smoke break", a little idle chatter here and there, and crazy good lunch prepared by the game industry's most acclaimed chef. Firing ICQ messages back and forth with other devs about error fixing in tasks, finding the fixes, and actually fixing them is probably 70% of what keeps me busy now. Wash, rinse, and repeat until about 7pm and then it's off to Starbucks for a venti quad shot mocha from Starbucks before heading home.

3. What's your favorite development tool?

Well, being an animator, I would have to say Max. Without Max, I would probably still be doing cel animation. Max offers most of what I need to get my tasks done, except for Photoshop, which I use to manage my textures. And, of course, once the textures are prepared and ready for flight, it's back to Max again. I know Winamp and iTunes aren't EXACTLY dev tools, but they help get me through my days too. Afterall, music is to thank for a lot of the great things you see in games these days. Plenty of inspiration and the setting of the right moods comes from tunes to get the job done right.

4. So what do you spend your late nights and weekends doing?

Well, just to maintain my good stature and mannerisms, I will keep it very obscure. Late nights range from an easy night of sipping fine ports with friends in front of a fireplace and talking for hours, to going out on the town and racking up bar tabs. Feel free to fill in any left out detail. I am sure some of those nights involve what you have on your mind.

Weekends, I generally find myself sleeping in until 1pm and lumbering around my house for hours on end. I used to be more outgoing and adventurous with my life, and would take a trounce on my dirtbike or do some rallycross, but I have since become a lounging sloth. More recently, I have been doing some home remodeling and "trying" to train my puppy. Yes, training a puppy takes MUCH time. Just to add, it's difficult to do much at all with this painfully cold winter we have been having. Hopefully, this spring, I will be able to get out and about and get into more trouble.

5. What's your favorite game?

Most recently, I would have to say Age of Mythology/Titans. That game just sucked me right in. I'm a big fan of RTS games and this one took me by surprise. I was having trouble putting it down sometimes until the wee hours of morning, with work crawling up soon. Having beat it now though, I am slightly in a rut. I also just picked up the Silent Hill series of games. Heard so much about them that i had to check them out. AFter beating all 3 in about 3 weeks, I am waiting patiently for Silent Hill 4.

I tried playing Final Fantasy Online, but having played other online games, it seemed a little dumbed down to me and bored the socks off of me. Hopefully, I will find something new soon to pick up and get into.

6. What games are you playing now?

Currently, I'm not playing a thing. There are a few titles I have my eyes on and just waiting to play though.

7. What game do you hate that everyone else seems to like?

Ok, throw pie at me, but I have to say the Grand Theft Auto titles. I tried them, and just couldn't get into them. Only took me about 15 minutes to realise that. I won't get into WHY I don't like it, but hey, to each his own. If you like it, play away.

8. What's the craziest game idea you've had?

I assume by crazy, we mean off the wall-people will be like "what the dilly!" I doubt people would buy it, but it was a wild idea at one time when game controversy was a top seller. Basically, it was a first person shooter, where you played a "certain higher power" in a white robe. You scoured the streets of places like NY, DC, Amsterdam, the Gaza Strip, and other areas of crime, sin, and mayhem and "cured" them of their troubles, with arsenal of holy water to holy handgrenades to yes, even the holy BFG. And you would even be able to occasionally summon the Seven Seals. That's right, 7 cute, lovable little seals would rain down from the heavens and aid you in your "cleansing". Of course, what would this game be without the final boss being confronted in, non other than Hell. I had always thought it would be called "The second Coming" or "Walking Tall".

So yeah, there ya go. Crazy enough? It sure seemed crazy, and even funnier, back in like '97.