Hey guys and gals!
New year, new season of Meet the Team! Take a peek inside the studio, learn more about the many careers and paths that led our collaborators to join Amplitude!
If you want to know more about us, or your nephew wants to learn more about the career path of a game developer, or if you're just curious, read on.
Weaving strands of story that might take years to unravel, meet Steve, aka StoryEngine!
Who are you and what is your job at Amplitude?
Hi there! My name's Stephen Gaskell, and I'm a Senior Writer. I'm the second half of Amplitude's dedicated writing team, working closely with Narrative Director, Jeff Spock (SlowHands) on all things writerly at the studio. My job is to assist in the production of any written assets, whether that's storylines, game dialogue, tutorial texts, marketing copy, trailers, or anything else. Day to day, there's no normal day. One moment I might be imagining how a Craver leader would respond to a variety of diplomatic interactions, the next I might be discussing artwork to accompany the Riftborn questline. As well as shaping the narrative clay with SlowHands, I also work closely with the game designers, searching for the holy grail of creating compelling stories that work harmoniously with the gameplay mechanics--ludonarrative consonance, if you want to be hip.
What were you doing before you joined the studio?
More of the same. I was actually fortunate enough to be contracted by Amplitude part-time for a number of years before they made the crazy inspired decision to bring me to Paris and employ me full-time. In order to make a living I also did some contract work for other studios including BigPoint and Ubisoft Paris, but the other more reliable side of my income actually came from privately teaching maths and physics (I'm a "science geek" who fled to the "art" side). In 2015, with a young family, I decided to become a fully qualified teacher on account of the fact that I didn't know whether the game writing dream would be feasible. Fortunately, the teaching career has been put on hold for the time being. Aside from that I have been developing Maelstrom's Edge, a table-top miniatures game with a backstory almost as cool as the Endless universe, and writing my own fiction.
What do you like the most at Amplitude?
Hard to say as it's a very enjoyable place to work for many different reasons! If I was to say one thing, it would be the studio culture. It's focused on creating an environment where people--whether it's the programmers, designers, or artists--are encouraged to express themselves in the fullest way possible. I think that's part of the "secret sauce" that make Amplitude's games feel really compelling and original. And this thinking extends to the community outside the studio as well, as players are explicitly encouraged to lend their ideas to the development process. That and the people. The people are awesome.
What feature have you worked on that you're super proud of?
I've been heavily involved with the development of the lore/narrative of the Riftborn, and seeing the reception of the community to the faction reveal has been very satisfying. Making interdimensional beings feel both grounded in the Endless universe, and making them relatable to players hasn't been easy!
What are you currently working on?
These questions.
What's your favorite game of all time?
I only get one?! Hmm. Being a kid in the eighties, I was lucky enough to grow up through the period when games really matured from hobbyist's creations into full-blown commercial titles. I have very fond memories of Elite, Manic Miner, Head Over Heels, Maniac Mansion etc, but maybe the seminal game of my youth was probably the SEGA MegaDrive (always good to plug your bosses ;) )title, Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday. Combining an iconic figure, a solar-system spanning storyline, starship design, and turn-based team combat, the game was mindblowing in every conceivable way. In hindsight, I should've taken this as a sign that my calling in life would be somehow combining storytelling and video games!
What’s the game you dream of creating?
As a writer, I would love to see my novel, The Unborn World, rendered as a game. One of the things games can do best, especially as we enter the age of VR, is allow a player to explore an otherwise inaccessible place in a vivid and visceral way. The big sci-fi concept behind the novel is a "green apocalpyse" whereby every human on the planet, at exactly the same instant, is put into suspended animation for decades. When they begin to "awaken" they find the human world degraded by all that time without the presence of people. Cities have become overgrown wildernesses, electricity grids are derelict beyond easy repair, and food and water is scarce. The novel is set partly in Lagos, Nigeria, and I would love to see that city in a game. Ideally, the game would be populated by "real" AIs that react to human speech as real people, so that the experience of each player would be unique and emergent. First though, I have to get an agent to represent the book--an ongoing challenge . . .
Is there anywhere on the Internet where I can see more of your stuff?
You can find me on Twitter at twitter.com/stvgskll where I gawp open-mouthed at the crazy world of brilliance and darkness we inhabit. If you want to dive into some of my stories you can find my bibliography at stephengaskell.com/writing--please sign-up for my quarterly-ish newsletter on my homepage if you like what you read. Otherwise, head on over to maelstromsedge.com to experience another SF universe!
What's your favorite race or character in our games?
I'm not sure of the alien's name or story, but there's a little green man who often pops up on the edges of pieces of artwork, whose appearance always gives me a big grin. I like to think he's some kind of intergalactic tourist checking out the Endless galaxy, or perhaps part of a hidden cabal like the Illuminati. I think he'd be an interesting alien to talk to.
Is there a funny story that happened to you at Amplitude?
There's probably plenty of comedy mileage at the daily scrum when I tell the team what I've been doing in my very broken French, but Ampli folk are far too polite to point out these errors. Even this morning I realized I was telling another colleague how handsome the writing team was, when I in fact meant happy. As a point of information though, the writing team IS extremely handsome as well, so the line worked fine. 
What's your favorite quote?
Glengarry Glen Ross is a phenomenal film, full of amazing lines. Go and watch it. Alec Baldwin's character gives a long speech to some salesman, and this is one line from that speech:
A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing. ALWAYS BE CLOSING.
One of things I think kids should be taught more is how to sell--themselves, an idea, whatever--and this line captures the essence of that. Nobody gets very far in life if they can't convince others of something, whether that's getting a date, making a game, landing a job, or anything else!
What's your favorite fictional character?
McMurphy from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest has got to be one of my favourites. A symbol of the power of the human spirit no matter what the adversary.
That's it for Steve! We hope you found this interesting. Comments or additional questions, feel free to comment!
If there's a question you would like us to ask the interviewees, let us know!
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