Game Grad Rockstars Talk About Red Dead Redemption

Wednesday, June 9, 2010; Last Updated: 4:33 PM EDT (16:33 GMT)

Red Dead Redemption"

Nine of the 13 Game Development and Computer Animation graduates who worked on Red Dead Redemption were able to come to campus for Hall of Fame week.

"My dad raised me on watching Clint Eastwood movies like Pale Rider and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, so it was really cool to kind of get back into that..."

Rockstar Senior Designer and Game Development graduate Nicholas Zippmann

Discussion Best Game

Red Dead Redemption has sold 5 million copies worldwide since its May 18 release

Nine Full Sail graduates who helped create the critically and commercially successful western-themed video game Red Dead Redemption were on campus for Full Sail’s Hall of Fame celebration June 8 and 9.

The nine alumni attended the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and participated in a Q&A forum on June 8 with students from the Game Studies programs and from Computer Animation, Education Media Design & Technology, and Media Design.

In all, 13 Full Sail graduates worked on the action-adventure game Red Dead Redemption, nine of whom were Game Development graduates and four of whom graduated from Computer Animation. One graduate, Cory Shay, a Senior Audio Programmer, graduated from both Game Development and Recording Arts.

For some perspective, Red Dead Redemption has sold 5 million copies worldwide since its May release, according to parent company Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. It earned a rating of 9.7 out of 10 on game review hub IGN.com.

We were able to sit down with four of the alumni – all Game Development grads – to talk about their experiences working at San Diego-based Rockstar Games and on this western-themed successor to the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Revolver.

On the Game and Their Roles

“There’s not very many western games, so it’s kind of like a new frontier. It was awesome to tackle that,” said Rockstar Senior Designer Nicholas Zippmann.

“I was always a really big fan of westerns. My dad raised me on watching Clint Eastwood movies like Pale Rider and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, so it was really cool to kind of get back into that and buy a bunch of westerns, watch them and take notes and stuff. That’s what’s so cool about developing games in general is that every couple years you can become an expert on something else – like space exploration, or the western era, or the Ming Dynasty, or whatever. That’s what I think is so exciting and so great about games.”

Both Zippmann and Senior Mission Designer Danny Bulla worked on the missions in the game, interactive quests that players must achieve to “complete” the game.

Bulla likens the job of mission scripters to mini-producers or directors.

“You’re talking to a cinematics guy for a cut scene. You get your answer from him, you go over to the audio guy, and you say, ‘I need this.’ You go over to an artist, and you say, ‘I need this changed,’ and you have to be able to do all those things,” explained Bulla.

“We’re basically scripting and programming every day, just at a higher level where we get more control over the actual game play.” He added, “To me, it’s the most fun part, interacting with the player.”

The game has been praised for the number and scope of possible missions but also for the richness of its free roam features and fun multiplayer options, which is what Multiplayer Designer Chris Bourassa worked on.

“I worked on the multiplayer for Red Dead, so mainly the free roam and all of the networking from the design side,” said Bourassa.

One of the elements crucial to the ambiance of the game is the Old West train, which arrives and departs on a schedule and is featured in some of the missions. A lot of the programming for the train was done by Programmer Jason “Jay” Knobler.

“I did a lot of the train logic,” explained Knobler. “It’s not really a prevalent part of the story, but it adds to the whole world; you feel more immersed. So the logic – the people getting on and off, the scheduling, and anytime it’s needed in a mission – I needed to support that end. My grandfather, actually, he’s a big western fan as well, and he worked on a railroad, so it was really cool to develop this in a digital world when he really did it in real life.”

How Some Got Their Jobs

Tellingly, all four graduates knew each other in school and graduated around the same time in 2006. Bourassa, who got hired with Rockstar first, helped Bulla and Knobler land interviews with Rockstar. Similarly, graduate and Ambient Designer Ryan Paradis helped Zippmann and another graduate and Rockstar employee get interviews.

“Jay and I worked together on our final project, and it’s one of those, once you know someone’s good – the company knows you’re good – so by association, they’ll take a chance on them. It’s networking,” said Bourassa.

“People who are in school need to remember that,” said Rob Coble, an advisor for the Game Studies degrees. “The relationships that you build now are the ones that are going to last the rest of your life.”

He added: “Thanks to our graduates, we have built an incredible networking community. On Facebook and Twitter, I see from these kids more willingness to give back and help their fellow student than in years and years previously. They come back as rock stars but they never seem to develop an ego. They continue to give back – even those with the successes like you’re seeing with Red Dead Redemption.”

- Christine Baker Janesko