Michael Fernie (interview): Difference between revisions
Add infobox |
|||
| (5 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Michael Fernie''' is a programmer in the video game industry. He has worked on games such as Star Trek: Generations - Beyond the Nexus, Goofy's Hysterical History Tour, Home Improvement, Bart vs the world, Garfield: Caught in the Act, Fear Effect, as well as the cancelled Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD. The interview was conducted by [[User:Billscat-socks|Billscat-socks]] in | {{Interview | ||
|image= | |||
|name=Michael Fernie | |||
|status=Released | |||
|interviewer=Billscat-socks | |||
|subject=Garfield: Caught in the Act | |||
|date=2012 | |||
}} | |||
'''Michael Fernie''' is a programmer in the video game industry. He has worked on games such as Star Trek: Generations - Beyond the Nexus, Goofy's Hysterical History Tour, Home Improvement, Bart vs the world, Garfield: Caught in the Act, Fear Effect, as well as the cancelled Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD. The interview was conducted by [[User:Billscat-socks|Billscat-socks]] in 2012. | |||
==Interview== | ==Interview== | ||
'''Just to start off, can you tell me how you got into the game industry? How were your beginnings as a programmer?''' | '''Just to start off, can you tell me how you got into the game industry? How were your beginnings as a programmer?''' | ||
| Line 7: | Line 16: | ||
I always made little games on my Commodore 64 computer. I went to college to work in the Aerospace industry. Once I got out of college I kept getting laid off of Aerospace type jobs. Since I was the low man on the totem pole. Once I went to New Jersey to interview for a programming job. I saw a little job listing in a newspaper (no internet back then). On a whim I went down to the company - Absolute Entertainment. As luck would have it the person I needed to talk to was away because his mom was in the hospital. So I ended up waiting in my car all day. We are talking 8 hours. | I always made little games on my Commodore 64 computer. I went to college to work in the Aerospace industry. Once I got out of college I kept getting laid off of Aerospace type jobs. Since I was the low man on the totem pole. Once I went to New Jersey to interview for a programming job. I saw a little job listing in a newspaper (no internet back then). On a whim I went down to the company - Absolute Entertainment. As luck would have it the person I needed to talk to was away because his mom was in the hospital. So I ended up waiting in my car all day. We are talking 8 hours. | ||
Every few hours I would go in and see if he was there. After awhile I got a knock on my car window's door. He told me to come inside. He said anyone | Every few hours I would go in and see if he was there. After awhile I got a knock on my car window's door. He told me to come inside. He said anyone that had the tenacity to wait in a car all day deserves a few minutes of his time. Since I didn't have any skills or published work they really didn't want to hire me. So I told them I would move down to NJ on my dime and work for crap money for 3-4 months. If they liked me they could hire me for real otherwise no hard feelings. | ||
So he gave me a shot. A week later I packed all my stuff in my car and drove to NJ from NH where I was living. I ended up staying with the company for many years so lots of products for NES, SNES, Genesis, GameGear, GameBoy and Sega CD. A few I did were: Star Trek TNG, Goofy, Home Improvement, a bunch of NES games like Bart Vs the world. Lots of stuff including the Penn and Teller game that never came out. I pretty much shipped a game on every game platform that was out at the time. | So he gave me a shot. A week later I packed all my stuff in my car and drove to NJ from NH where I was living. I ended up staying with the company for many years so lots of products for NES, SNES, Genesis, GameGear, GameBoy and Sega CD. A few I did were: Star Trek TNG, Goofy, Home Improvement, a bunch of NES games like Bart Vs the world. Lots of stuff including the Penn and Teller game that never came out. I pretty much shipped a game on every game platform that was out at the time. | ||
| Line 14: | Line 23: | ||
'''How did you get onto the project for Garfield: Caught in the Act?''' | '''How did you get onto the project for Garfield: Caught in the Act?''' | ||
When I left Absolute I had offers from Sony, Sega and a few other places in California. I ended up going to Sega. The project I was supposed to do was 'Ratchet and Bolts' for the Genesis 32x. The company was about to move and trying like mad to get Eternal Champions CD out the door. So nobody had time for me and my team and project wasn't really going anywhere. So they just had me | When I left Absolute I had offers from Sony, Sega and a few other places in California. I ended up going to Sega. The project I was supposed to do was 'Ratchet and Bolts' for the Genesis 32x. The company was about to move and trying like mad to get Eternal Champions CD out the door. So nobody had time for me and my team and the project wasn't really going anywhere. So they just had me | ||
look over the genesis docs and do little games and experiments. They put me in the building with the people doing Star Wars 32x. Garfield was already started but having huge problems and way behind schedule. So I was asked if I wanted to [A] Wait until a team could come free to do Ratchet and Bolt [B] Take over Garfield which was a mess and way behind schedule. Well I was tired of the reading and little games so I jumped onto Garfield. Happy to say that I was able to help turn it all around and get it into shape. | look over the genesis docs and do little games and experiments. They put me in the building with the people doing Star Wars 32x. Garfield was already started but having huge problems and way behind schedule. So I was asked if I wanted to [A] Wait until a team could come free to do Ratchet and Bolt [B] Take over Garfield which was a mess and way behind schedule. Well, I was tired of the reading and little games so I jumped onto Garfield. Happy to say that I was able to help turn it all around and get it into shape. | ||
'''As lead programmer, how much of the games development were you involved with? Did you have input on anything besides what was needed to be coded?''' | '''As lead programmer, how much of the games development were you involved with? Did you have input on anything besides what was needed to be coded?''' | ||
Well I did all the major programming tasks including the main player and also guided the other programmers we had. Which was two other people. I was involved in all areas of the game including helping with design and figuring out what could and could not be done or finding ways to get it done. This also included changes to tools and engine parts as needed. Of course we did have designers too that did all the heavy lifting in that area but all members could say what they liked and didn't like and offers game play suggestions and what not. FUN FACT: The space level (Petra's) glob looking artwork came from her looking at a Lava lamp. She had one in her office and she got the idea of that artwork by watching it. | Well, I did all the major programming tasks including the main player and also guided the other programmers we had. Which was two other people. I was involved in all areas of the game including helping with design and figuring out what could and could not be done or finding ways to get it done. This also included changes to tools and engine parts as needed. Of course we did have designers too that did all the heavy lifting in that area but all members could say what they liked and didn't like and offers game play suggestions and what not. FUN FACT: The space level (Petra's) glob looking artwork came from her looking at a Lava lamp. She had one in her office and she got the idea of that artwork by watching it. | ||
| Line 61: | Line 70: | ||
Not sure about this. But yeah I would assume that was the name. Then marketing changed it or just something they tried for awhile. The idea of Garfield being in the TV was from the start and the focus of the game. FUN FACT: The dino level was supposed to be the first level. It was one of the strongest levels. At the last minute Marketing made us put the graveyard level first. This was considered one of the weakest levels by the team. Everyone was so mad. I know some people that played that level and never gave the game a chance. I always wished the dino level could have been first. I think more people would have liked the game. | Not sure about this. But yeah I would assume that was the name. Then marketing changed it or just something they tried for awhile. The idea of Garfield being in the TV was from the start and the focus of the game. FUN FACT: The dino level was supposed to be the first level. It was one of the strongest levels. At the last minute Marketing made us put the graveyard level first. This was considered one of the weakest levels by the team. Everyone was so mad. I know some people that played that level and never gave the game a chance. I always wished the dino level could have been first. I think more people would have liked the game. | ||
'''Going back to your mention of E3, did you get to meet Jim Davis yourself?''' | '''Going back to your mention of E3, did you get to meet Jim Davis yourself?''' | ||
| Line 80: | Line 90: | ||
'''Moving away from Garfield, how long have you been involved with Flying Tiger Entertainment? I don't want to get ahead of myself by asking too much without knowing for sure, but I know that they apparently had a title called Rachet and Bolt for the Genesis that eventually switched to the 32X before being canceled altogether. Any idea about that game?''' | '''Moving away from Garfield, how long have you been involved with Flying Tiger Entertainment? I don't want to get ahead of myself by asking too much without knowing for sure, but I know that they apparently had a title called Rachet and Bolt for the Genesis that eventually switched to the 32X before being canceled altogether. Any idea about that game?''' | ||
I was at Flying Tiger for 8 years. Got laid off not that long ago. They might have had that project. But that is the one I was hired to work on for Sega (see answer above). I did do a sample version of the game while at Sega. You could walk and shoot and switch between the two robots and had a sample level and a few enemies to kill that blew up into bolts you could collect. It was more of a proof of concept and something to help me learn the tools and Genesis. I do know they had designs and wanted to do it at some point. It could | I was at Flying Tiger for 8 years. Got laid off not that long ago. They might have had that project. But that is the one I was hired to work on for Sega (see answer above). I did do a sample version of the game while at Sega. You could walk and shoot and switch between the two robots and had a sample level and a few enemies to kill that blew up into bolts you could collect. It was more of a proof of concept and something to help me learn the tools and Genesis. I do know they had designs and wanted to do it at some point. It could be that Flying Tiger was going to make that game. But that was before my time. When I got to Flying Tiger they were just starting doing mobile games for phones and had done a few hand held games. So not sure if they ever worked on that game or not. | ||
'''It's interesting you worked on several games that never made it out. That Penn and Teller game is definitely the most interesting, especially since it's been put out on the net now and even has support from Penn and Teller themselves, since people do a fundraising event for charity every year where they play that Desert Bus minigame for 24 hours. I'm assuming you're aware of that game having gotten out? It's certainly one of more interesting preservation efforts out there.''' | '''It's interesting you worked on several games that never made it out. That Penn and Teller game is definitely the most interesting, especially since it's been put out on the net now and even has support from Penn and Teller themselves, since people do a fundraising event for charity every year where they play that Desert Bus minigame for 24 hours. I'm assuming you're aware of that game having gotten out? It's certainly one of more interesting preservation efforts out there.''' | ||
| Line 93: | Line 104: | ||
'''Do you recall working on a Sega Genesis version of the Home Improvement game that came out for SNES?''' | '''Do you recall working on a Sega Genesis version of the Home Improvement game that came out for SNES?''' | ||
I know the Home Improvement for Genesis. My | I know the Home Improvement for Genesis. My task was to port the SNES version to the Genesis. I had helped a small bit with the SNES version but I was the one that was doing the Genesis port. They decided not to finish the port - not sure why. Maybe sales were not good for the SNES version. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [https://www.giantbomb.com/michael-fernie/3040-32135/ Michael Fernie] on Giant Bomb. | * [https://www.giantbomb.com/michael-fernie/3040-32135/ Michael Fernie] on Giant Bomb. | ||
[[Category:Garfield: Caught in the Act interviews]] | |||