Америкэн МакГи в гостях у TesAll

We welcome all guests and inhabitants of our site! My today's guest - the special person, his creations are known for much of us, and they always - something unusual, they simply don't wish to be standard. I think, there is no special need to list everything, it is enough to call only one game to characterize this person. So, we have on a visit creator of American McGee's Alice, inimitable American McGee...


Hello, American! First of all I would like to thank you because you agreed to talk to me. It’s so exciting to speak to the designer of one of my favorite games.
McGee: I am very happy for the opportunity to speak to your audience in Russia. Thank you for inviting me to the interview!

Looking through the Wikipedia, I saw a question about your name. It is very unusual. You know, here, in the USSR we had a very weird tradition – to name the kids after constructions, sports and some other events…Did you ever think about changing your name? And it would be interesting to find out what you think about the tradition of giving such unuasual names to the kids.
McGee: When I was around 8 years of age I went through a period of being very embarrassed by my name. It was around that age that I started to realize how unusual it was. So, I asked my mother to STOP calling me "American" and instead to call me by my middle name, "James." She did try this for a while, but whenever she yelled, "James!" to get my attention I would not response, so she would always end up yelling, "American!"

Since then, I have never again thought about changing my name, and in fact I am quite happy with it. There is one "bad" part about this name though, and it's that since I was born, the government of the US has managed to upset a lot of people in many countries around the world. I sometimes meet people who are very anti-American, and that can make the introduction a little uncomfortable. At those times, I try to remind people that just because I am an American citizen or my name is "American" does not mean I support the politics, policies, or actions of the US government.

So, you were born in Texas, right? You know that here in Russia we have a stereotype that only farmers live in Texas. That Texas is some kind of one huge rancho. Is it really so? Because I don’t think this is true.
McGee: I was born in Texas, and when my mother took me "home" from the hospital she actually took me to a barn in the middle of the countryside! There were cows and chickens running around outside and I lived in this "farmer place" for at least the first year of my life. The area where that barn was once located is now in a park of Texas called "Plano," which is one of the fastest growing cities in the US - and very much NOT a farmer place anymore.
Still, Texas is a very big state, and there are still many wild and wonderful areas filled with farmers, ranches, and wildlife.

And when did you become interested in the game design? It couldn’t happen overnight. Bang! And you’re a designer of such a game masterpiece as American McGee Alice.
McGee: When I was around 10 years old a family friend gave me my first "computer." It was a Timex Sinclair 2000, and it was on that machine that I first became interested in computers, programming, and the idea of making games (or things in general using technology). I've always been interested in taking things apart and building new things from the parts - when I was a kid my family would give me "parts" for Christmas instead of store-bought toys. I'd get boxes filled with wires, motors, lights, and dead appliances, which I would use to build new stuff. To this day I continue to be interested in tinkering with code, electronics, and machines.


It’s very important to have a family support. What does your family think about what you do? Can you tell us about your family a little?
McGee: Actually, I am quite distant from my family. They live in the US (still in Texas) and I live in China. When I was still quite young (around 16) I separated from my family and went out to live on my own. There was a period of nearly ten years where I didn't really speak with my family. These days we maintain some communication via email, but I am still not very close (physically or otherwise).
I get my sense of family and support from friends, the people I work with, and others who I am close with.

As for the game design, is it difficult to make your fantasies real? I think you know how it happens, you created something really cool and they say that there is no money for it, or stuff like that.
McGee: Over the years I seem to have had very good luck in finding financial support for my ideas and developments. Even then, it is a very difficult task. I would prefer to be in a position to fund my crazy ideas without using outside money - or being required to accept control and direction from financiers. These days I am working towards that goal, trying to build a series of successful mobile/online games, which I hope will put me in a position to begin self-funding new 'crazy' ideas.

Did you study anywhere to become a game designer? I was always interested if you could really choose it as your major in the American college. I guess lots of people would love to go to such college!
McGee: Nope. I was lucky to get my start at id Software, nearly 21 years ago. Since then I've worked hard to educate myself on the industry, technology, design, and other ideas that drive our business. To be honest, I did not even graduate from high school! And I certainly didn't attend university. I did have plans to do these things, but problems within my family prevented me from following that path. I do not feel bad about this - in fact, I feel that if some of the problems I encountered when I was younger had not appeared, then I would not be where I am today. I am thankful for all the events that led me to today. And I am a strong believer in self-learning and just doing the things you want to do.

You took part in the creation of Doom, Quake, Scrapland. Do you have some kind of a team rivalry? Or you work in a rather friendly atmosphere?
McGee: I do not really understand the question. There were, of course, some normal office politics and such... but nothing unusual.


Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote lots of great books, but mostly he is famous for his Sherlock Holmes. You also took part in lots of game creations, but people know American as an American McGee Alice designer. Does it hurt you?
McGee: Not really. There are worse things to be remembered for! In any case, everyone is eventually forgotten - even Doyle will someday be a faded memory to the world. I don't live my life or create my games to be remembered. I do it because I enjoy making them, and I like knowing that there are some people in the world who enjoy playing them. Beyond that, I actually think life is easier when you are unknown!

Let’s talk about your games. You created Scrapland together with Enlight Software if I am right. What exactly did you do there? When I picture this game I kinda see the sign “American was here”.
McGee: Scrapland was designed and developed by Mercury Steam in Spain. My role on the project was only to help with launching the game - promotion and marketing.

What were your feelings like after the game was released? It is a fun game, there are absolutely no missions so hard to complete that sometimes you wanna slam the fist on the table! The game is exciting and it is like….like some kind of a fairy tale, racing and humor for me.
McGee: It's one of my favorite games out there - very creative, very well put together.

Let me explain it to you. In the book neither angry cards with spears chased after Alice nor Alice with a knife in her hand chased after them. So why did you decide to give the heroine such an impressive armor and send her fight? You could do something like a quest or an adventure instead.
McGee: The Alice concept was one that I created on my own while I was working at EA. They'd asked me to come up with an original game concept and I spent some weeks working on various ideas. At the end, it was Alice that was most clearly formed in my mind - and that I felt could find success. Coming from id (DOOM and Quake) I still had a lot of passion for action games, but I also wanted to see the technology used to present more cinematic and artful games.

The original books (and Disney film) did contain a fair amount of violent imagery. Remember "off with her head!" ? The suggestion of Alice under threat in Wonderland was always there. With the games, I simply worked to magnify the threat, based on the psychological stress created by the death of her family. The idea here is that Alice's imagination is a reflection of Alice the person - the most violent thing "I did" would be to kill her parents. Everything else came from Alice's mind. Ultimately, I wanted to tell a story of an individual fighting alone against her own demons, against those around her, and against society in general. What better ally to have in that fight but yourself?


Is the Cheshire Cat totally your imagination or somebody else took part in its creation? His jokes, his voice and his phrases are absolutely adorable.
McGee: The entire Alice series has been created by a large team of artist, animators, writers, programmers, and others. I cannot take credit for "total" creation of any one part of the game - even the original idea... is based on the Alice books, which are the creation of Lewis Carroll. If it's his phrases and jokes you like, then credit for those go to RJ Berg, the man responsible for writing to story/dialog for the games.

And how do you personally feel about fairy tales? People say that when we grow up it is impossible to understand other worlds where the Miracle reigns.
McGee: I think it is true that as you get older you stop finding allure in fairy tales and make-believe, but I also think it's the case that you can find more beauty and "magic" in the real world. When you are a child you never think about the limited time you have in this place, so you feel OK to spend time in make-believe... but, at least for me, as I get older, time becomes more precious and I want to find ways to be more involved in the real world - in learning new things, taking adventures, and meeting new people.

American Mc'Gee Alice is absolutely unique and she will be remembered forever. But concerning other projects... I want to ask a question. Please, don’t be mad at me! It is impossible to please everybody, I know, but Bad Day and Grimm didn’t come out very well. I thought somebody else designed them, not you. So, what was it?
McGee: The story behind Bad Day LA is quite long, so I wrote about it here on my forums a while back:
http://www.americanm...hp?topic=1008.0

As for Grimm, I've seen it get better ratings from some sites than Alice! Hard to say whether or not it turned out "very well" or not, but then not all games appeal to all people. I think one of the reasons Bad Day LA got such a bad reception (aside from it being terrible in many ways) is that it was so unexpected - people wanted another "twisted fairytale" and instead I gave them a dark-comedy, action game which makes fun of American politics and violence culture.

And after a very long time we are happy to see Alice – Madness Return. The game is still really crazy, the Cat is less sarcastic, but easy recognizable. Do you think that Madness Returns totally kept the traditions of the first game?
McGee: To me, so long as we're listening to Alice and showing a world created by her imagination, then we are maintaining the traditions of the general story. It's her game, her world.

In the second game Alice changes her dresses pretty often. I think the first part was better. Or you decided to change Alice’s look but not too much?
McGee: After the launch of the first game I saw how much cos-players enjoyed dressing as Alice... and I wanted to give them some new clothes to play with. It also makes sense that as Alice moves through these different areas of her mind and the locations around her change, that her clothing would also change.


When the gamers heard about the sequel, rumors spread, the future game was widely discussed. Meanwhile, the game was in the state of development. Did you consider the gamers’ desires during its development?
McGee: Myself and the team do work with player requests and demands in mind. At the same time, I feel very strongly that the "Alice" games "belong" to Alice herself. They are telling her story - and with that being the case, it is very important to me that we listen to Alice and make sure that her story is being told correctly.

One of the funniest moments was peppering the piggies. Do you like these creatures so much that you decided to perpetuate them?
McGee: The Alice books are great in that they provide so many interesting characters and rich settings to explore. I do hope there will be a chance for more Alice games where we can encounter more fun characters like the piggies.

Speaking about the game process – it didn’t change much. But now you have to jump on the platforms more often. Do you like levels like these?
McGee: I think one of the fun things about Alice is her ability to jump/float around the world. In fact, I wish she had an even greater ability to explore Wonderland through jumping, floating and flying.

Unfortunately, we have to finish our interview. I would like to ask one more question. Are you planning to release the third part of Alice or anything like that, fun and crazy?
McGee: It's very difficult to say right now. Electronic Arts controls the game rights to Alice, so without their permission and support, there will be no new Alice. If players are interested in seeing more Alice, then they should write to EA and let them know!

What would you like to wish the readers of our site?
McGee: I hope they all have a wonderful and fantastic day! :)
 

Special thanks to Siegrun and Tatiana Mezentseva
for their invaluable help in preparing this article.