Knights,
For Clockworks Confidential V, our interviewee is Ray Greenwell (AKA Gyre-Of-Guile), a Senior Engineer for Spiral Knights. He's worked on a bit of everything for Spiral Knights including leading the development of several large features. His most recent effort involved something you might have heard of: the Guild Hall Expansion.
If you have burning questions for Ray, please post them in this thread!
The usual Clockworks Confidential routine:
The deadline for submitting your questions for this round of Clockworks Confidential is Sunday, December 9th, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. game time (Pacific timezone).
Links to previous installments of Clockworks Confidential can be found here.
1) What's the working enviroment at Three Rings like for you (a synopsis of your daily routine)?
2) Do you have a favorite feature you've helped develop and if so, what is it?
3) When did you become interested in the work you're now doing (Engineering)
and what steps did you take to progress in what you do?
- Guardianknight.
In your professional opinion; Do geese see God?
On a more serious note, are you happy with how Lock Down has turned out, playability and balance wise?
Do you plan for any more "functional" Guild Hall items like the mist well?
And do you feel that as this game evolves; Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
Are there any projects you were more excited to work on that others?
1) Ray, faced it, naw? Want decaf, yar? (My failed attempt at a Palindromic Question >_>)
2) Did all of the guild hall expansion features/ideas come from suggestions? What parts came from suggestions or what parts just came as an original idea from OOO?
3) How long did it take to make the expansion? From beginning of coding until release?
4) What's the difference between 'senior' and 'lead' engineer? Are you just the most experienced one?
• Is the PvP project done or can we expect more PvP content in the near future?
• Looking through the game file, I saw a file under Consumables that "stressed desserts"... food, that is. But the "food" file was empty. Are there plans for the implementation of edibles in Spiral Knights?
• Which of Spiral Knight's large features has been your favorite to work on?
• Where did 'Gyre-Of-Guile' come from?
• You're a 'Senior' engineer. Mark (Curio) is the 'Lead' engineer. How do your jobs relate? Does one of you answer to the other?
• To JUnit Test Case, or not to JUnit Test Case? That is the question.
• Do you advocate brute force in your code, or are you good at the whole OO thing?
• Java (the computer programmer's software friend)? Or Java (the computer programmer's caffeine friend)?
• Some people tell me, "Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots!" when I frequently propose large changes to the game on the Arsenal podcast. What do you think is a good pace for major game-changing updates (like PvP and the Guild Update)?
• Are there any special 'easter eggs' or 'sufficiently confusing features' (to paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke) in the game, such as special sounds, weapons, or events? I ask because one time, I was playing in a level and thought I saw something, even though I was playing solo. "Was it a bar or a bat I saw?" "Was it a bat I saw?" "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" "Was it a rat I saw?" "Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw?" "Tuna roll or a nut?"
• Some say that the knights attacked first. Some say that the gremlins did. I'm a knight. "Revered now, I live on. O did I do no evil, I wonder, ever?"
...ok these are getting bad. I'll stop.
Eurydice said that you led "the development of several large features". Other than the Guild Hall Expansion, what other "large features" have you directed?
Huh?
/\ Palindrome question.
Senior Engineer....hmmmm....
Are you old?
Like really really old?
Like people dont believe you when you say, "I do computer coding as a career"?
What is your favorite weapon?
What will happen when the core opens
What happens when you work overtime?
Why do you work for three rings?
-Should we expect Cosmetics for weapons and shields similar to how costumes cover up armors?
-Should we expect our costumes being enabled in PVP?
-Should we expect dual wielding swords and guns in the future, maybe even double shields?
-Should we expect on improvements on other items like Icebreaker set, Flamebreaker set, Swiftstrike Buckler, etc. What i mean is are they gonig to have 4 to 5 star versions?
thanks for this opportunity, keep up the goodjob. cheers.
How hard was it to program the knights sitting in the chairs and lying on the beds?
Have you ever built a Dispenser?
Do you like working with OOO?
1) What type of boss/monster will you working next?
2)What weapon/armor set will you working next?
3)Is Spiral Knights will have more future in next year?
End of question...
How does one edit the game to add new game things? Do you use source code or a level editor?
Was Sk made from Scratch? Or a pre-existing engine?
How hard is it to fix bugs? Where do you go?
Is the source code just one program or seperates?
Also, how do you find bugs in the game?
What do you think when you see us (if you read the forums, anyway) try to explain the mechanics of the game (damage resists, shield health, etc.) to eachother and end up getting it completely wrong, from the perspective of one of the guys who actually coded in those mechanics?
Describe yourself and each of your co-workers in 1 word.
What/where/when/why/how (... and who) are some of the most difficult things you've experienced and worked on in your time working in Spiral Knights?
-Windsickle
Will the impostoclaus ever come back? And if he does, Will he hand out recolored boxes to all the little good alts?
[This question is not about Ray and is also none of your beeswax. Please don't post it a third time. -E]
1) Did you get the "Guile" part from Street Fighter, or something else?
2) What was the most "fun" thing you've worked on?
3) Do you guys have any idea for more bosses in the future, whether it be near or far?
4) What did you have to do to become an engineer for OOO, or were they just looking and you suited the job?
5) (If this is fine asking) Do you guys have any ideas for new gear?
6) How long does it take to A) code up something, and B), make a piece of armor or whatever?
7) Would you consider yourself more of a PvP person, or Clockwork person? If PvP, Lockdown or Blast Network?
8) Was it a car or a cat I saw? (<--- Palindromic Question)
- What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
- If there is a zombie apocalypse this 12/21/2012, which of your colleagues would you bring with you?
I'm speaking on behalf of all the bushes of Spiral Knights. Ok, Here goes...
Ahem.
When will you give us bushes some attacks and running animations? Or just turn us into jelly like creatures and function the same way. We need to be able to defend ourselves too y'know.
What is your preferred color of Snipe to have gotten stuck in the gears?
Have you ever thought of making Spiral Knights more class based, or rather diversifying equipment in order to fit different play styles?
For instance, there could be an armor set designed around shield bearing and health buffs while giving penalties to attack, in order for people to build into more of a Tank character that can absorb most of the damage, similar to the Defender class in Lockdown. Or perhaps a medic type character to fit the vitasuit, who could transfer their health to people from long range while gradually regaining their own, or possibly allowing knights to use the gremlin wand with a light attack that heals a minor amount to a person in range and a charge attack that creates a healing circle. Or even taking the Recon class from lockdown and putting it into PvE with an armor set that boosts the stealth capabilities of it. It seems like there are a lot of untapped play style possibilities in the game, and it'd be pretty interesting to see you guys work on new ideas and new gear in order to fit how people like to play.
Is there any way you could aid the crystal market in order to make it affordable to newer players? I understand why you would choose not to, as it encourages people to spend money on the game, but it seems like doing nothing to help the market at the ridiculous price it's stayed at for this whole year really discourages new players. I try to get people back into it, but they instinctively lose interest when they see the market price is still so absurd. It seems much better for business to make it more affordable, thus giving more people a reason to play, especially newer players who are still trying the game out.
If you could magically yell at the game code to make one small thing work perfectly as intend, what would it be?
What happens if Curio threw an tantrum at ye because of what ye did was wrong? :o
As an engineer, have you any idea why the Skylark crashed? Can't we power the Skylark using Crystal energy?
If you were a muffin, what flavor would you be???
Mr. Greenwell,
-If I was a hippopotamus, would you ride me?
-If Eury was a wasp would you:
A. scream and run away.
B. grab the nearest office chair and throw it in her general vicinity.
C. calmly grab the raid and spray the perimeters.
D. trap her in a jar and use it as a paperweight. (don't forget air-holes!)
E. take a mop and herd her out the window.
F. wait until she stings you, and THEN do one of the above.
Are bombs and guns going to be come more balanced to swords?
I have a nerd question and a SK question:
What is your favorite weapon?
and do you know what a PICNIC error is?
Which boss are you working on?
Are you making the OCH buyable with CE?
-What do you have to say about those "dark" bosses in the game files?
-Do you ever read the suggestions forum?
Will you make the Skylark available to go into? Maybe behind the area of Haven?
Will Nick Popovich's Imposto Cube Profile picture be available to the public? (Not an exact copy though, being the Lead Designer has it's privileges ;D)
The players who played before the crash when you could get 2 free accesories get them via mail, it's only fair. xD
Thanks, Aboudeh
Um
What will happen when the core opens?
Yeah...
Are you thinking about giving the cobalt Alchemy set a boost? I think it should.
Who are your co workers?
Not sure if I should be asking you but... are normal damage weapons going to be buffed? For example, my beloved Wild Hunting Blade? ;_;
- What other big event stuff have you worked on besides the guild? What in specific did you have to code? What aspects did you code for the guild halls?
- What are you favorite types of monsters? Of that group, which one do you like the most (Like Lichens for slimes), and why? Any bosses you're fond of?
- What is your favorite color?
- What is your favorite past time?
- What was the biggest challange? The most frustrating, and the most easiest?
- Why do you work on Spiral Knights in particular?
- How do you normally start a day at work, and how do you communicate with the rest of the dev team? Like, say, how is you're work load organize and prioritized?
- Is there any concept art done by either Ian or Cory that you like?
What's your blood type?
I smell Blood...Seeker!
Thanks for your questions, everyone! Answers will be posted in this thread when they're ready.
My last question , when will the Christmas update come? Maybe your doing what you did for Halloween!
On a scale from 1 to pie, how much do you like pie?
How long have you worked for the Spiral Knights team?
Do you like pie?
If you had the option to /poke, /hug, or /runawayscreaming from Eurydice, what would you do? =]
Thanks and have a great day!
~Shadow.
I know I'm kind of late for this, but the forum hasn't been working properly on my end. I wanted some clarification on what was said in the last CC.
"Unusual wit in code is more the domain of my co-worker Ray. And by code I mean comments and commit messages, and by wit I mean vulgarity!"
Any comments or examples?
EDIT: To Eury. Can you extend the period for questioning a bit longer? 1 week seems a bit short and I have been away for exactly that period of time.
This is a thing? That already happened? No! Curse you blindness to all things stickied.
Oh well, still looking forward to the answers, though. Just a bit saddened now. I'll get over it.
Raid, my friends use to play spiral knights and hated it because of energy prices, then after a while, when I found out about expansions and new features for guild halls, I told my friends and they started playing, so thank thank THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
How do you get good jobs in computer science / 3D design?
What's the highest-poly model in SK?
And how do you get the Royal Jelly to animate so smoothly?
Ray, can you tell me how are palindromic questions are higher priority than the others?
1. why is the stun bug so hard to fix?
2. Is there any purpose of a shaking block below the lockdown maps right when you come out of the locker room line? (ill post screenshots or video if needed)
3. what are your favourite games beside of this fabulous game.
4. why isn't spiral knights a multi-threaded aplication?
Atleast half of those things you asked were answered by the last one, Timbalero.
