7/1, 6pm PST: Harvey Smith and Hamlet talk Games!

The scoop below. A request for volunteers in next post...

In conjunction with Linden Lab, New World Notes is proud to
announce 90 minutes of in-world conversation with Harvey
Smith, a lead designer and project director on the
revolutionary and widely admired "Deus Ex" franchise from
Ion Storm/Eidos Interactive. A longtime veteran of the game
industry, Harvey is already on hand to judge Second Life's
first Game Developer Competition, and this coming Thursday,
he will sit down with Hamlet Linden before a live in-world
audience to discuss his career, his theories on game design
and his views of the industry, and the artistic and cultural
perspectives that fuel his work. (Among these topics, they'll
be discussing Harvey's signal essay, "The Future of Game
Design", among the other writings on his site, so try and give
them a read before the event time.)

If you're already a Second Life resident, check July 1st's
Events calendar for more information; if you're not a resident
but would like to attend the forum with Smith, consider
registering for a 7 day free trial or a Basic Account, with a one-
time fee of $9.95. (Further details on Second Life and
account options here.)

For further information, post in this forum, e-mail
[email]hamlet@secondlife.com[/email] or in-world, send an Instant
Message to Hamlet Linden.

And here's a request for a volunteer, from Harvey himself:

"Would it be possible for one of the community's better
appearance designers to fabricate an avatar for me? I can
come hang out in SL, working with the designer, if you find
the right volunteer."

If you're interested, send me an IM or e-mail me as soon
as possible, so I can decide the person who'd work best for
Harvey. In the next few days-- let's say by Monday, 8pm--
send me a screenshot of a recent AV based on a real person,
or even do a quick Harvey mock-up.

Here's some recent pics:

http://www.planetdeusex.com/witchboy/photoalbum/

Meanwhile, I'm soon going to start compiling questions to ask and/or topics to bring up with Harvey, so here's the place to post your suggestions for both!

You got it! I look forawrd to seeing him.

Cool, Damien! Do you mean just clothes, or did you want
to try your hand at a Harvey Smith AV as well?

Who else wants to give a shot at making a Harvey head?
Perhaps I can show him a screenshot or a copy of whatever
drafts we get by Monday, and he can make the decision
on which artist he wants to go with.

I've started on my own Harvey

i've also started working on a Harvey AV. i'm assuming it's supposed to look like him?

i hope to have it finished by tonight sometime.. i'll send a couple screenshots when it's finished.

i also may try working on a second one, but that depends on how much time i have left..

Excellent! So we got at least 3 possible Harvey heads
for him to choose, so far. The more the merrier-- I'll
figure out a way to run some screenshots of all the
entries we get, with credit to all the folks who made an
attempt.

> i'm assuming it's supposed to look like him?

Yeah, that's the idea. Alternately, for fun, folks could also
create AVs inspired by some of the characters associated
with the games he's worked on. I bet Harvey would trip if
there were a buncha dudes looking a little like J.C. Denton
and Garrett and such staring up at him, while we talked...

Oooh, I could most certainly help out there.

*goes about making a JC avatar*

Make that 4 hamlet.

-Adam

Alright, here's the demo shots from it;

There's still quite a few glitches/bugs I'm working through, and the pants texture hasnt been done yet, or the shades, but otherwise, this can be considered a preliminary beta.

Appears we cant attach on edit, so affixed;

Thats also the first public screenshot of celista (The city of celina ) Yes I did authorize that picture to be taken, so enjoy! (Will release picture of the first completed building in a few hours)

On the note of the original post, if Harvey wants his actual face on it, I can do, but I'll need two photo's taken from specific reference points (four prefferably). Front and a Side. Or each 90' increment.

Okies, I'm gonna let Adam have the honour

but my Dem1 suit would be nice

EXCELLENT JC, Adam! I'll ask Harvey if he wants his real
face on his AV.

Meanwhile, please keep plugging away on first drafts of
the Harvey head, everyone, and ideally get them to me
by tonight, 8pm PST, either as an in-world screenshot or
one sent to my e-mail. I'll be sure to credit and feature
all the entries on NWN (unless otherwise stated.)

How's everybody's Harvey AVs coming? I got one
entry so far, and want to give Harvey all the rough
drafts by (to extend the deadline) tomorrow morning...

NOW you extend the deadline.. lol..

i hope you get some more, i was looking forward to seeing a bunch of different Harvey AVs being posted. heheh..

Heh, Cybin, you get extra props for being the first one
in the gate, above and beyond on the call and all, yo.
But since it was such short notice-- and whoops, I just
noticed we're down until 9am, anyway-- let's just say by
the end of today. That way, Harvey will at least have
Wed/Thu to decide.

I'm glad you extended the time Hamlet, I have a really nice outfit ready to drop on ya, but we're down!

Oh well, I'll have it to you soon

Everyone should get together on Wed. to show off their Harvey stuff.

Baba,

that's a good idea. what fun it would be! ..of course, we could also do it after the meeting.. a sort of 'after party'?

-

Hamlet,

thanks for the props, yo.. heheh. i'm glad there will be more time for everyone to work on this though. should provide at least a little more Harvey stuff to check out.

Just over 24 hours before the Harvey interview! I wonder if
someone is interested in creating a sign for the event, which
we can display right over where we speak. Something fairly
stylish but clear from a distance, that says:

"New World Notes presents: Veteran Game Developer Harvey Smith"

If anybody is interested in doing that, send me an IM or
e-mail [email]hamlet@secondlife.com[/email] ASAP. Full props and credit
to the artist who does it! (And you can also put "courtesy
of X of Y Designs" or whatever plug, in small type at the
bottom of the sign.)

Hey Cybin, can you IM or e-mail me as soon as possible?
Like, in the next 2-3 hours!

Doesn't an interview require a journalist?