Issue One: Meet the Team!

So let us introduce the team. These are the team members that you’ll be hearing from in the coming months, both with updates and with detailed features on their areas of the game development. In no particular order, here are the people you’ll be getting to know:

DESIGN – GARETH:

Gareth having an idea. Chad Monsieur Beverley Scouser POB Nick, alias Elvis The Boy being a ninja Gaff Robot #35XL891 Ian being shy Lisa - quite a kitten!

Hello all! I’m Gareth and I have the pleasure of being Design Manager for PGR 3. Basically, my role involves working closely with Gotham’s design team to agree and document the design of the whole game – and to make sure this vision is transferred to the rest of the team. No easy thing, considering the number of people needed to make next gen games!

Most of the design decisions have already been made for PGR 3, so at this stage of the project I’m responsible for making sure all the gameplay stuff gets done on time and implemented in the way we decided in meetings months ago! Again, no easy task but its all good fun, we’re making games right?

PROGRAMMING – CHAD:

Hi there, my name is Chad and my official title here at Bizarre is “Code Monkey.” I am one of the many minions working under Roger (our Lead Programmer), and since he has “The Boy” so well trained at making tea, I have to find other ways to occupy my time.

At present, my main area is the cars in PGR 3, and one of my jobs is to work with the modellers, pleading with them to use fewer polygons and trying to figure out why the car they’ve so beautifully modelled looks a lot like a demented mechanical hedgehog when put into the game. Oh what fun we have!

I do other stuff as well, and as soon as I figure out what that is, I’ll tell you all about it over the next few months – oh, the suspense!

ART – BEVERLEY:

Hi! Beverley here – a technical artist on PGR 3. As part of the art team I get to travel to cities worldwide, take detailed photos, meet interesting security personnel, and explain that I’m not a bank robber, terrorist, or general scary person.

Back at the ranch, we work with the programmers to discover the best way of recreating the realistic feel of the cities. You wouldn’t believe the interesting conversations we have about tarmac – but I’m sure I’ll get to share some of them with you over the course of this diary.

PRODUCTION – POB:

POB – so called because there are far too many Petes, and these are my initials.

Bizarre role: Producer – not that the role is Bizarre…well, not always. I orchestrate plans to dominate the industry through utilizing some of the brightest, creative brains in the known world. (Okay, so I’m bending the truth a bit.) Production at Bizarre involves scheduling, chasing, facilitating, rolling of the eyes, wearing down my fingerprints on a keyboard, and tutting a lot.

Tut: Noun. Oral sound, nonsense.

I’m sure you can’t wait to hear the details….

AUDIO – NICK:

Hi, Nick here (also known as Elvis for reasons I’ve long forgotten about) and I’m the Audio Manager on PGR 3.

My job is to run a team of 5 audio people (including myself) and to travel the world recording various exotic cars. (It’s a hard life, I know.) We then take these recordings, chop them in to little pieces, then use varying forms of witchcraft and trickery to make it sound the same in the game. We also have lots of other cool sounds to do, and hopefully over the next few months I’ll be able to tell you all about it in excruciatingly boring detail.

ONLINE – THE BOY:

Hello there! My name is Chris, usually known as “The Boy,” and I’m the Associate Producer on the PGR 3 team, a title which is often shortened to Ass Prod.

Apart from the usual tea and chocolate duties, my job is to keep the team well oiled, scheduled, and efficient. If something breaks/crashes/goes missing/explodes then I’m usually one of the first people to start dealing with it. When I’m not taking a hammer to someone’s PC I can be found in the online and design corner of the room helping with making the game as playable as possible, especially for those on Xbox Live™.

In my spare time (yeah, right) I’m also an administrator on the forums, known as “TheBoyChris.” Through the Dev Diary I’ll be keeping you all up to date on the latest online news about the game.

Anyhow, back to playing games, moving data, and drinking tea!

IT – GAFF:

Hello. I will be Gaff. This is being written by one of my highly-trained robots as I’m currently lying in a gutter somewhere in New York. You’ll hear all about me and the exploits of the IT Department once I get back.

TOOLS – IAN:

Hello. My name is Ian and I'm the "Tools Manager" for Bizarre. The tools team writes utilities for artists to improve productivity and generally streamline workflow, as well as develops any cross-project applications such as our global illumination solution.

My job is split between developing tools (artists have a never-ending wishlist), fixing problems (why has my city turned inside out?), and managing the other guys in the team (well, writing narky emails to Keef when he turns up late). Check back soon for more thrilling updates from the world of tools.

ADMIN – LISA:

Hewwo. My nmmm isss Lisssa, n I’m on rccpeettn here at Bzzrrr. I jssttt hdd summm teef outt in hsspittlll diss week so I won’t be writtng mcchhh untlll I gtt back to wkkk!