An Interview with Clint Hocking
Creative Director at Ubisoft in Montreal, Canada

Q: What's the best thing about working in your field?

A: The problem solving. For me it's a real thrill to be involved in trying to solve so many complex technical and creative problems in an aesthetically pleasing way under tight deadlines. I think of game development as being like the extreme sports of software development...it's a chaotic but exhilarating career. I also really like the fact that we have a comparatively high percentage of talented, driven and dedicated people. Doing what excites you is great, but doing it with others who are equally motivated is really incredible. Everyone is in such a pressure cooker, and everyone knows they're in it together. It can build a lot of strong relationships.

Q: Is there a heavy team emphasis in your industry?

A: All games are made with teams. That's just how it works. The thing that's great about it is that we don't need to do a lot of generic team-building gobbledygook to get people to work together as might need be done for assembly-line workers or something. Each team member is driven to do his best and each team member expects the best from the people he works with, so it's kind of like 'emergent' team work. No one has to build a good team spirit because it generally forms on its own. Of course, I'm sure not all teams work as well as my current one, and because of the high emotional stake involved those passions can backfire...but that's certainly the exception, not the rule.

Q: What skills should a college develop in a student to prepare them for a career in your field?

A: I'm a strong believer in generalists. We live in a time that really emphasizes specialization because in order to build upon past knowledge, we need to learn everything that came before. With the sheer amount of stuff to learn in any given field, this leads to specialization. However, in our industry, the really great people who I've heard about and/or met are generally really diversely skilled. They are able to approach the kinds of complex problems of game development in really diverse ways.

A student who comes to me with a solid art portfolio and nothing else has less of a chance to get a job than a student who comes with a mediocre portfolio and some interesting or unusual education, interest, hobby or experience on the side. We have architects, filmmakers, musicians and people with all sorts of other talents and interests working on our project. Some people think that a 3D portfolio and the fact that they like to play Quake is enough to get them a job. It's not. Also, I think that the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new tools and software is increasingly important in our industry. Every new project has a big new tool box that goes with it, and if someone is married to a certain set of tools and afraid to learn new ones, then they're in trouble.

Q: Please briefly describe your role and title at Ubisoft.

A: I am the Creative Director, Lead Level Designer, and Scriptwriter on a currently unannounced project. As scriptwriter, I write all the story and dialogue for the game, as Lead LD, I lead the LD team who are tasked with implementing the core game design into the game content as described by the script in a fun and engaging way that meets the objectives of the game. I'm also responsible for trying to ensure that the game levels all appear to have been made by one person, or at least by one cohesive team.

As Creative Director, my job is to act as kind of the custodian of the creative vision for the entire project and make sure that all the other senior creative leads understand and agree with the vision. I also get to work with internal editorial, the producer and the marketing folks to make sure that the creative vision being communicated to the team is in line with what the company expects from the title. In short, my job is...oh wait...I don't have time to elaborate...I gotta get back to work.

Q: What excites you about the future of game & interactive development?

A: Wow. What doesn't? I think that as interactive designers we have the opportunity to create something that has never been created by human beings before. Every other designed thing since the dawn of time has been just that: a thing. Now we're at the point where we are creating 'second order' designs...we're designing experiences based on the user's encounter with things.

I'm also excited that we're actually creating an entire field, and an entire realm of human endeavor. It is a new field both technically and creatively, and we have the great honor of being able to define the territory with our footprints and not just visit the territory that has already been mapped. In some ways that idea is extremely exciting, and in some ways it's also extremely distressing because it's a huge conceptual responsibility and it is too easy to visit that new territory as conquerors and try to exploit it. If we don't develop the creative space of our field in a way that allows the continuation of creative expression for those who follow us then we're doing irreparable damage to ourselves and our industry. It's wonderful to have the opportunity to explore a completely new creative space, but it's also wonderful to wake up everyday and realize that you really are making your own future. I used to want to be an astronaut, but I think I've found something better.

Q: What's your advice for teens who want to go to college and then enter your industry?

A: For every game you play, read one book (no, the manual doesn't count).