The venerable RPG news site RPGVault presents an inviting interview with David Gaider [archive.org backup], senior designer working on the expansion pack to BG2, Throne of Bhaal. It mainly discusses what life is like for a designer at a renowned RPG development firm; here’s a fragment:
David Gaider: I have a halfling obsession. I have so many little halfling lead miniatures I have no idea what to do with them all. Little halfling Blood Bowl players, halfling knights on war ponies, halflings from Warhammer Fantasy Battle – gotta love the halfling Hot Pot – halfling general and flag-bearer, halfling rogues, halfling wizards, halflings picking their noses… I’ve even got custom ones like the halfling archer mounted on a pegasus I made.
As the interview is no longer available on its original source, we’ve replicated it here for posterity:
Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal Developer Profile: David Gaider April 19, 2001
Over the course of about the past four years, Edmonton-based BioWare has established a position not only as one of the game development industry’s most highly regarded studios, but also as a leader in communicating regularly with fans. During the long development period of Baldur’s Gate, its Producer, BioWare Joint CEO Ray Muzyka, set the tone with his tireless, always enthusiastic and virtually daily presence via interviews, chats, message boards, Usenet and more. Despite more than doubling in size since then, the company remains infused today with the same underlying belief in the critical importance of community and community building. As a consequence, fans of BioWare and its games continue to have the chance to communicate with team members and to see information from them almost every day.
During development of Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, David Gaider emerged as perhaps the team’s most visible spokesperson on that title’s boards. Enthusiastic, talkative and humorous in person, he brought those same qualities to the web medium, quickly becoming a favorite among readers. At the present time, on the Throne of Bhaal boards, he remains a thoughtful, informative and frequent participant. In the latest installment of our Throne of Bhaal Developer Profile series, we have the opportunity to learn about David Gaider as he tells us about himself, his unusual entrance into the industry, his responsibilities on the expansion pack, his secret obsession and more.
Jonric: Please begin by introducing yourself. What is your position title on Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, and what are kinds of responsibilities does hour job involve?
David Gaider: My name is David Gaider, senior designer on the expansion pack. I work as both a writer and scripter, and my duties vary according to what’s needed at the time. I helped write the overall story that the expansion follows and worked on breaking down that story into the various areas and design documents required. I helped write the dialogue required and get assigned various areas in the game to create creatures for and work on the scripting. One task I tend to receive a lot, personally, is the responsibility for ‘tweaking’ an encounter or area. Kevin gives me the encounter and I work on making the AI more varied, the battle more interesting or, if needed, harder. It’s something that I enjoy a lot, as there’s something almost completely different for me to do every day.
Jonric: What kind of background do you have as a gamer? When and how did you first become interested?
David Gaider: I first became interested in gaming back when the basic edition of D&D; came out – the one in the blue box. I think I was in Grade 4 or 5 at the time and the only person I could play with was my older brother. Through the years, I did play some Advanced D&D; but eventually moved onto other games… Gamma World and Star Frontiers – this is way back – followed by Top Secret, Marvel Super Heroes and then, more recently, Champions, Shadowrun and Vampire. At any given time I’ll be in one or two pen n’ paper campaigns. As for computer gaming, my parents bought me my first computer when I was 13… but I still remember discovering the first Ultima and Wizardry games. Interestingly, my parents used to wag their finger at me for playing so many games… ‘you can’t get a job doing that, you know!’ In a rational world, they’d probably be right. 🙂
Jonric: Do you still play a lot of games, and are there any that you’ve especially enjoyed recently? Which ones are you currently looking forward to playing?
David Gaider: I do play a fair number of games. As I said above, I’m generally in a pen n’ paper campaign at any given time… currently either Shadowrun or 3rd edition D&D.; The 3rd edition, by the way, has really caught my attention… it’s so well done that I’m just wild over it. I never thought that I’d be into D&D; again but here I am. I’m totally looking forward to working on 3rd edition D&D; adaptations at Bioware, like Neverwinter Nights (as soon as the expansion is finished anyway).
As for computer games, there hasn’t been one that has really caught my attention as of late. I played a little No One Lives Forever – which is saying a lot as I’m not much of a FPS fan – and Giants:Citizen Kabuto. I’m kind of eagerly awaiting Black & White, for obvious reasons, Tropico – I’m a big Civilization and SimCity fan – and Freedom Force – superhero RPG…could it finally be?… but I think I’m looking forward to Neverwinter Nights more than anything else. Every time I pass through that part of the office, I swear I have to control my drool reflex.
Jonric: What is your professional background in terms of education, training and previous jobs? How and when did you get into the games industry?
David Gaider: Gosh, I have absolutely no training for this field whatsoever. I actually had a different career before this… I managed a hotel, if you can believe it. On the side, I had developed a PBM (play-by-mail) fantasy/strategy game that had about twenty people in it… one of whom was an artist here at BioWare, Kalvin Lyle. When Ray and Greg said they were looking for new designers, but ones who had actually designed something and completed it, Kalvin showed them my game – unbeknownst to me. They were impressed, I guess, and Greg contacted me for an interview. It’s funny how things work out. At first, I wasn’t interested – I had a career, after all – but then along came another hotel company who bought out the place I ran. As GM, I was walked off the property and given severance… and this was the day after Greg’s e-mail. I was pretty suspicious at just what kind of influence Greg and Ray had on the world at first. Luckily, it just turned out to be a really golden opportunity and I totally haven’t regretted coming to work, here.
Jonric: Would you say that your experience making games has lived up to your expectations?
David Gaider: It’s harder than I would have expected. It’s not easy to try to be creative day-in and day-out, especially during crunch time. But I suspected that it would all be worth it when the box came out with your name on it, and I was right.
Jonric: What would you rate as being the best and worst parts of your job? And what do you consider the biggest challenges?
David Gaider: Best part: getting up in the morning every day and looking forward to coming to work… then working all day and actually forgetting what time it is and end up going home late without meaning to and still looking forward to the next day. Biggest challenge: as I said before, being ‘on’ all the time. You pour all of your heart into a project and you want it to be perfect, but there’s never enough time to do everything you want and not every part is going to be the result of absolute brilliance… and no matter how hard you try, you can’t please everyone.
Jonric: What kinds of activities do you enjoy away from the job? What kinds of hobbies and other interests do you have?
David Gaider: I still run my fantasy/strategy game by e-mail, and that takes up a lot of my time. Between that and role-playing and other writing – I write stuff – I’m surprised my glasses aren’t three inches thick from all the monitor radiation.
Jonric: Do you have an interesting story, something funny or maybe even a little secret about yourself that you’re willing to share?
David Gaider: I have a halfling obsession. I have so many little halfling lead miniatures I have no idea what to do with them all. Little halfling Blood Bowl players, halfling knights on war ponies, halflings from Warhammer Fantasy Battle – gotta love the halfling Hot Pot – halfling general and flag-bearer, halfling rogues, halfling wizards, halflings picking their noses… I’ve even got custom ones like the halfling archer mounted on a pegasus I made. Plus, my pants are invisible. And I like them that way. 🙂
For those who don’t understand the last reference, David’s pants are the subject of a running joke on the message boards. I just hope he gets a new pair before we see each other again. 😎 In any event, we thank him for taking the time to tell us about himself, and we invite all of you to see which of his colleagues we get to meet next week in another Throne of Bhaal Developer Profile.
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