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Interview with Matt Deller at The Escapist

Discussion in 'Game/SP News & Comments' started by Tiamat, Jun 10, 2007.

  1. Tiamat Gems: 17/31
    Latest gem: Star Diopside


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    What do game developers do when they leave the industry? Apparently, at least in the case of Matt Deller, part of the NWN development team, they become high school assistant principals and introduce game design courses into the school curriculum.

    The Escapist recently contacted Matt Deller, long-time teacher and former a member of the development team behind Neverwinter Nights. Matt is now a high school assistant principal in Southern California's Pomona Unified school district, and the mastermind behind the nation's first high school game design program - and the only one fronted by a former developer.

    "It was a crack shot to get in [to developing], as I was basically a 'fanboy,' for lack of a better term," Matt recently told The Escapist, "with zero experience in programming/game development, not to mention I was already ensconced in a seven-year teaching career. One day I was teaching Ecology, the next I was working as a designer on NWN 2 with the guys who had made some of my all-time favorite games. Of course, the grass is not always greener on the other side, and I soon learned why the industry turnover rate is so spectacularly high - a topic which prospective game-developers never tire hearing about."

    What are your goals in terms of getting kids placed into programs? Furthering their goals for entering game design, or getting noticed by design studios?

    Well, it's our first year in running the course - our goal at this point is to build the program where it is able to incorporate the other venues offered from our "Digital Academy," like Computer Animation, Programming and Graphic Arts. Having done that, I feel that we can be confident in assisting students to apply for four-year game design programs or to look for work in the industry right after graduation.


    Read the rest of the interview at The Escapist magazine.
     
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