Peter Molyneux Interview

[GameBanshee News]

Kieron Gillen of The Guardian had the chance to interview Lionhead's Peter Molyneux "on the problem of superstar game designers."

"Behind the scenes, I think it's more true than ever before that a director or producer - or a 'vision holder', if you don't want to think of it in film terms - is pushing a franchise forward," he says. It's because how mainstream games have grown, from the single bedroom programmer into teams which, at their operational peak, can have well over a hundred people working.

"It's not as if these teams are run in a communistic way, where everyone has their view and you can't point and say well, this game is being driven by this person," he says. "It's just not true. You can't have 100 people working on a project without there being really clear creative leadership. Games aren't done in that sort of way – no creative vision is".

Not that all teams will necessarily publicly agree - the flip of publisher paranoia are the internal politics of the development team, which don't necessarily like the idea of a creative visionary.

"For a long, long time I've been credited unduly," he says, "Not so much these days, because the role of a designer is much, much more understood. But for a very long time, I was way, way over-credited for many things."

[fable]

"For a long, long time I've been credited unduly," he says, "Not so much these days, because the role of a designer is much, much more understood. But for a very long time, I was way, way over-credited for many things."

It's a wonder he can drive a car, what with all the mirrors mounted around his head.

[DesR85]

Not everybody likes to be in the spotlight, you know....

[dragon wench]

You can't have 100 people working on a project without there being really clear creative leadership. Games aren't done in that sort of way – no creative vision is".

My impression is that this guy has an utterly massive and obnoxious ego... which I find extremely distasteful.

Leaving aside my personal opinions of Molyneux and the Fable series, however, I have to agree with him here...

You can't have all kinds of people running helter skelter with little to no common purpose; I think you do need a clear goal and vision from whomever is leading said project. And while I've never been in favour of autocracies, regardless of their nature, it can also be the case that when something is excessively consensus-driven and involves infinite committees...nothing *ever* gets done.

So, I think you need to find a way to strike a balance, and that will ultimately depend on the project itself and the people involved.

[Brother None]

Originally Posted by dragon wench

however, I have to agree with him here...

Sure, but that's kicking in open doors a bit too much. Obviously you need a central, strong vision. Allow your devs to be creative, but within this vision.

It's sadly why game development needs so many producers now.

And I hate to rag on Bethesda again (but it's a hobby), but they're a good example of lack of strong direction in vision.

[fable]

Originally Posted by Brother None

Sure, but that's kicking in open doors a bit too much. Obviously you need a central, strong vision. Allow your devs to be creative, but within this vision.

It's sadly why game development needs so many producers now.

And I hate to rag on Bethesda again (but it's a hobby), but they're a good example of lack of strong direction in vision.

I think they had a vision, earlier. Its loss coincided, not at all oddly, with the retirement of some of its senior development team before or during Oblivion.

Molyneux in my opinion didn't have vision, as much as he had opinions. They weren't particularly well thought out, they were arbitrarily expressed, and the results left a lot to be desired. For what little my outsider's opinions are worth, I think having a clear vision of what you want to do, plus the ability to work with a team who want to get there, is a good start.