Jerr O'Carroll has a job that lots of gamers would kill for. The 34-year-old from Tramore, Co Waterford, has spent 10 years in the games industry. He works at noted game developer Core Design in Britain and was the animator of the recently released Tomb Raider IV.
Combining puzzles, action and high-class graphics, the Tomb Raider series has become a runaway success. It's probably fair to say that the unlikely figure of its heroine, Lara Croft, has also had some part in its popularity.
How did you become involved with Tomb Raider?
I worked in Core for about three years, mainly on a PlayStation game named Ninja. During that time, I was asked to work on some cut scenes on Tomb 2, and then all of the cut scenes for Tomb 3. When four started the other animator backed out and I was asked to do the cut scenes for this one as well as the new vehicles and Lara's new moves.
What skills are required?
Patience, a stomach for coffee and junk food, and a bit of talent!
Is drawing very important?
Yes. Especially now with the next generation of machines about to arrive. There are quite a few people who are classed as artists but can't draw, and now that we can create super realistic work, with no real limitations, those that are weaker in the artistic side will find it harder and harder.
Do you enjoy your job?
I'm lucky in that I get paid to do a job I really do enjoy. That's a wonderful thing, being able to go to work, knowing that. But it doesn't have to be Lara that I'm animating. It could also be designing a concept for a GameBoy title, or messing about on someone else's project. The whole aspect of the game, from design to finished box on a shelf interests me, apart from the coding. That's getting out of my depth!
Is it pressure-filled?
Very much so. Always towards the end of a project when all the different parts of the game come together, major headaches ensue. There were five guys all doing different background sections, another animator handling the baddy anims, and the coders who had a jigsaw puzzle to do, which for a long time had quite a few missing pieces. A lot of late nights, bug testing for all the language versions and then suddenly it's all over.
Does the pressure to meet release dates ever compromise your work?
Doing the animation in a lot of ways is one of the easy parts of the game's development. I know exactly what moves need to be done, and I know how much time I have, so I can pace the workload out. But it does become a bit daunting towards the end, when the old, "Could you just do us a quick anim for this" phase starts, and it can get a bit hectic then.
Have you always wanted to be involved in the game industry?
No. Quite simply I went to the regional tech in Waterford and got a diploma in graphic design. I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do, then I went and got a lucky break in joining Don Bluth's studio in Dublin. From there I kind of fell into games, working first for a small time games company in Waterford, and then brought over to Sheffield to finish off the Littil Divil game, and from there to here.
How many people worked on the whole game?
On the actual game it would 13 to 14. Five background guys, (an extra one came in towards the end) two animators and six programmers. Then there were the testers, the musician and another team who worked on the FMV [full motion video]. You could count the producers if you want, but we don't!
Is animation for both the PlayStation and PC a single task?
Yes. She has so many animations it would be an enormous task to do them twice. So they are done on a 3D package 3DS Max, and then the data is transferred over to an in-house editor, from which all the animation info came.
Will Last Revelation be Lara's last adventure?
Ahh, trade secrets. Lara will go on for a while yet, but it has to be seen in what form.
Lara's anatomy has been the subject of much debate. . . The amount of times we've had to change her bust size, she must have some serious scars under that green top! Honestly, we get the word from some American marketing "expert": "make them bigger", "make them rounder", "slightly smaller", "over to the left" etc. It's gotten to be a joke. We have done some major improvements to the model this time round, but not in her mammalian protuberances. This time we actually got a fully skinned Lara working. No more unsightly tears in her arms, elbows or knees. It's more pleasing to look at, as well as adding to the other advances in the game engine.
What are your favourite games?
I'm not the world's biggest games player. I'll find a game and play it to bits, then move onto something else. Right now I'm going nuts on the second Oddworld game, Abe's Exoddus.
What are your thoughts on the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2?
The general feeling amongst a lot of developers is wait for PlayStation 2. I've seen the demos, and some work is being done in Core on next generation stuff, but when you look at the quality of some of the stuff that is coming out on the Dreamcast, you do think it has a fighting chance. Hopefully it'll have enough of a user base to stand up to Sony when their machine is launched. Competition is a healthy thing.
Will the similar new Indiana Jones game threaten her dominance?
I think she is the female Indy, but I've seen the demo for the new Indy game, and I'm a little disappointed. They had a huge development team, a long development time, but it looks so rough, the animations are poor, the control weak and it's not even on the PlayStation. That's a big mistake. But then I would be biased wouldn't I?
What do you hope to be working on in the future?
As long as I enjoy it, and can have a bit of creative input, I'll be happy.
games@irish-times.ie