Brian Stephens Mini-Interview

Q: How long have you been at SSSI and what were you doing right before you were hired?

A: I've been at SSSI for 2 years now. Right before I started here I was creating scripting technology at a now-defunct company that was partnered with Microsoft. Yup, you guessed it, basically just being miserable. ;) Prior to that I was doing various flavors of network programming.

Q: What was the last EE-related task you completed?

A: I recently added the ability for the host of a multiplayer game to send a saved multiplayer game to the connected clients. This means that if you and your buddies are playing a long game of EE together and one of you has to go eat dinner or whatever, you can just save the game in progress. When you want to finish the game at a latter time, just host the game as usual, and when the other players connect, the saved game gets sent to each player and the game just continues from where it was saved. People who use our Scenario Editor to make multiplayer scenarios will be able to take advantage of the feature as well. Nothing Earth-shattering (pardon the pun), but it was the last major task I completed.

Q: What is your personal favorite feature or part of Empire Earth?

A: Hmm, it's hard to target a specific area, but I'm psyched about the sheer scope of our game. On a whim, the other day I went into our Scenario Editor and decided to lay down each of our units side by side on a blank map just to see them all at once. It was shocking to see the sheer diversity of cool units we now have in EE. I really think people are going to be blown away by it.

Q: What game(s) are you currently playing just for fun? What do you like or dislike about it (them)?

A: Believe it or not, Worms 2 has somehow re-addicted me. In fact, there's a growing clan here of late night Worm 2 players. I really like the simple-in-concept-yet-deep-in-strategy gameplay that it has… Oh yeah, and the cute little worm voices. ;)

Q: Are you a morning person or a night person, and why do you think so?

A: I guess catching the 5:40am bus into Boston every day makes me a morning person by default… I'm the guy in the back seat snoring loudly and drooling all over myself.

Q: Besides games, what other hobbies or interests do you have?

A: What are these "hobbies" of which you speak? Seriously though, when I have free time, I hike, camp, ski, snowboard, bike, etc. I'm also in the glacially slow process of restoring a '72 VW Westphalia camper bus - someday I might actually finish too.