The Ratchet and Clank series from Insomniac Games
was a huge success around the world, including being a huge seller in
Japan where it was the only foreign game to be bundled with the
Playstation 2. The first game sold over 2 million copies, and the
second seems poised to break that record! I was a part of it from the
very start... I was hired only three weeks into production on the first
Ratchet and Clank!
Of all the work I've done in the game industry in my twelve-year
history, I'm the most proud of my work on the Ratchet and Clank games.
As a gameplay programmer I was responsible for the code implementations
of every single object in a level, and often a lot more than that. I
programmed enemies, vehicles, weapons (the game's selling point!)
special effects... everything down to the lowliest door, and even the
dust kicked up by Ratchet's feet when he walks! When prototype art
wasn't available, I created my own objects and animations in Maya. When
textures for particles and special effects weren't available, I made my
own using photoshop. Before we had a person available for sound
effects, I used Buzz and Sound Forge to create my own sound effects.
I definitely had the most fun on Ratchet and Clank one. We were just
getting started and there was a lot of room for experimentation and
freedom to try stuff. The deadline on Ratchet and Clank 2 was a lot
tighter (only one year as opposed to eighteen months for the first
game) and I felt really burned afterwards. I'm happiest when I get to
wear a lot of hats and do lots of different things, not just be a
programmer.
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MobyGames
