Thomas was one of the first guys that joined the development of the game, and he has worked on the Oztoc and Teotl levels before he got hired by Epic Games!
- Who are you and what do you do on "The Ball"? I'm Tom, I'm originally from the UK, and I did some of the level design and scripting for two of the levels fairly early in the game - up until last year, when I went to work at Epic Games as a level designer intern. I'm now working full-time on levels for Gears of War 3, thanks in part to the experience I gained while contributing to The Ball, and its success in the Make Something Unreal contest.
- When and how did you join the team? I asked to join the team after playing through the first level of the game when it was released back in 2008. I saw a lot of potential, and really liked the way the game's atmosphere was reminiscent of the original Unreal and other games of that time. To start off I got to make a big chunk of the second level from scratch, and had a lot of fun getting creative with puzzles that utilized the Ball in different ways.
- How did you start out with level design? I first started playing around with the Unreal level editor back when Unreal first came out, and then went on to make a series of mostly-terrible maps for the first Unreal Tournament game in the following years. After a long break from mapping, Unreal Tournament 3 came along and really rekindled my interest, and I've been in the editor working on one level or another almost every day since.
- What has been the most challenging thing you have done on the game? Trying to work the kinks out of the Kismet scripting for some of the puzzles I put together could be a real headache at times, but having to figure that stuff out was a great learning experience.
- What do you like the most about the game? I'm a big fan of puzzles in games, and love the satisfaction of finally solving a clever environmental puzzle. I also really like some of the impressive vistas you come across in the game - the deeper you go, the more impressive the scenery becomes.