David Perry talks to Pro-G about his user-created MMO

Having programmed his first games for the archaic Sinclair ZX81 at the age of 15, David Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment, is no stranger to the industry, with a resume that includes work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Earthworm Jim, MDK and Enter The Matrix to name a few. His latest creation, an MMO in partnership with Acclaim, allows gamers to submit their own ideas and content to the project, with one lucky individual earning the coveted role of director. Pro-G had a chance to meet up with Perry at this year’s GDC to discuss the innards of the project and where that little Earthworm named Jim has been hiding all these years.

Pro-G: Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us David. Can you give our readers a little background info on what exactly this top secret project is?

David Perry: The idea behind the top secret project was to really expose some of the talent that’s out there. It’s actually a safe bet for me since I already know it’s out there and I keep getting reminded of that anytime I do anything these days. One thing I do is work with colleges to try to help their students get into the game business, and when you see the quality of what they’re turning out, it’s absolutely stunning – really unbelievable.

The point is, for everything you want in a game, there’s someone out there who cares passionately about it.

Pro-G: Like for example…

DP: We have a game in closed beta right now, people testing it, and there’s this one guy who doesn’t like the balance of these daggers, and there’s like 100s of these weapons, and all he cares about are these daggers. He’s instant messaging me, e-mailing me, sending private messages, creating polls with other people to back up his comments, and I’m like, dude, I hear you, I get it, but I’ve got some other things to take care of first. But that’s my point. You let these people surface, they’re out there, and I think with Top Secret, we’re going to reveal that there’s a lot of great talent out there. And I know we have this big prize for one person, but I think a bunch of people are going to end up getting good jobs out of this.

Pro-G: That’s actually a nice segue into my next question: Are you afraid that head hunters, publishers, etc, will start picking up your top talent once it’s discovered? You’re basically doing the work for them…

DP: Good question. There’s always good talent, so no I’m not worried about it. I expect at least some spin-off teams – some of them will probably form separate teams, but it’s OK with me; it’s really what it’s all about.

We think we’re going to end up with 100,000 developers, and one percent of those people are going to actually show something useful, and that gives us a team of about 1,000 people, which is the biggest development team in history. Of that, I think we’ll end up with 100-200 really great people, like holy s$$t these guys are good.

Pro-G: It’s going to be interesting to see what the results are.

DP: I’m going to be really fascinated to see what the split is; nobody knows since this has never been done before. So of the 1,000 people, they can contribute anything, and it’s just going to be the one person who’s going to be in the directing role. We’ve actually designed the back-end (of the game); it hasn’t been announced though.

Pro-G: Feel like announcing it right now? (Laughs)

The looks on the PR people’s faces at this point were priceless.

DP: Well, I can tell you how it works at least. Game development, from beginning to end, everything you could possibly need, will be there, and for each piece I start with a “here’s what I need, here’s six characters, here’s what I need of them.” Anyone who meets the criteria, we’re going to look and see what they did.

Pro-G: And if they meet the criteria…

DP: The [forum] moderators can move their [the potential developer’s] work into the data channel, which is really your goal in life. Anybody who gets into the data channel just stepped up big time.

Perry plans to give builds of the game away for free, and will be enlisting celebrities from the gaming industry to wade through the data and hand pick the very best. As for the type of MMO, you may have already labelled it as another RPG, but Perry was quick to dispel those claims.

DP: People seem to think we’re making an MMORPG. Some blogs say: “He’s going to rip off Warcraft,” and I’m like: I don’t think so (laughs). Our first project is, well, I haven’t announced that yet…

Pro-G: Are you positive you don’t feel like announcing that here either? (Laughs)

DP: The first game is going to be, like, I wanted to pick something everyone’s played before; there’s a style of genre, of game that everyone’s played, so everyone will have an opinion on it and everyone will be happy to play it.

Pro-G: This question’s bound to get me looks from the PR side of the table, but what kind of genre is that? (Laughs)

DP: Well I can tell you it’s not an MMORPG. I know that genre’s very popular, but I wanted to do a genre MMORPG guys play too. There’ll be new hooks, things you’ve never seen before, I can promise you that.

Pro-G: You’ve worked on titles ranging from Pot-holing Pete, to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Enter the Matrix. Why did you decide to move into MMO territory, first with 2Moons, then Dance! and now this project?

DP: Great question. Well, I started a consulting company (Gameconsultants.com). The point was, I felt I’m going to be asked a lot about MMOs, how they work, and I got an opportunity to go to Korea with a friend, to meet with the developers in Korea, and I came back with 2Moons. I didn’t expect to be doing that (laughs).

Pro-G: Microsoft just announced its own contest called Dream-Build-Play where gamers can earn cash for developing games and I’ve seen some similar contests floating across the web. Why do you think this trend of tapping into the gaming community is only starting to blossom?

DP: There hasn’t been enough sharing of how to get something real; I mean, the average guy just can’t afford to buy the stuff he needs to do a professional game. The fact that they [potential developers] can win prizes, I think, gives them some more focus. I love that they [companies like Microsoft and Acclaim] are letting potential developers just show what they can do.

Pro-G: As a gaming journalist, I earn enough money to afford a spacious box in the back alley of a Burger King, so if I wanted to give this whole ‘game creation thing’ a shot, how should I kick-start my way into the industry?

DP: If you have some programming knowledge, or are an artist, you may want to think of XNA Express from Microsoft. You can get this free compiler, and if it were me, personally, I would love to dive into their [Microsoft’s] tools.

Pro-G: Now, I’m sure you’ve been asked this once, twice, or a dozen times before, but I have some very fond memories playing Earthworm Jim, then Earthworm Jim 2, and well, not so much Earthworm Jim 64… Can we ever expect to see Jim make a next-gen appearance?

DP: I tried to kill it [Earthworm Jim 64].

Pro-G: You did?

DP: I tried to kill it; they refused to kill it.

Pro-G: Damn them! Can we expect to see Jim again, with you at the helm then?

DP: Yes. I actually reformed the Earthworm Jim team in 2005. We then had problems because Atari wanted to sell off their studios. It was just horrible timing. We reformed the [Earthworm Jim] team and they were all into it. Trust me, all the original Earthworm Jim guys are still very interested in the whole idea; just know it’ll happen eventually.

Pro-G: Well that’s good news. Thanks for your time David. We look forward to seeing how this project progresses.

For more information about David’s latest MMO, or to sign up, head over to the game’s top secret website.