Craig Mirfin
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Crowbar Collective.
Hi, my name is Craig Mirfin and in my spare time, I am a Level Designer on Black Mesa. I joined the team over 5 years ago mainly to work on the Multiplayer map “Bounce” and then moved from multiplayer to start on the daunting task of creating the Xen Levels.
My day job is as a Senior Level Designer at Studio Gobo working on AAA games like For Honor and the recently released Hyperscape. I really do owe this position to working on Black Mesa, not only giving me the chance to work with a great team of people but to prove to myself that I could do level design as a career. It's been a hell of a ride these last 10 years but so worth it…. Crowbar Collective…. About That Beer I Owe You! :)
What do you enjoy the most about Black Mesa?
It allows me to relive Half-Life with a new coat of paint :) Hopefully playing Blackmesa feels like you are playing the old Half-Life with those rose-tinted glasses off, yet still getting the same buzz from the game. It's a testament to the talent in the team to ship what a lot of people thought wasn't doable.
What was the most challenging hurdle that was overcome during development in your role?
When I first started fleshing out the first few Xen maps it was extremely time-consuming with how displacements work and how to smooth “subdivide” them. As Xen is mainly organic, you couldn't really rely on the traditional BSP method of creating environments. We were really just trying to find how far we could push displacements. After the first year of Xen development we doubled the number of displacements we could have, which not only allowed us more flexibility but also kept us away from hitting displacement limits on a daily basis. Also, a huge hurdle jumped was with subdividing displacements. At the start a Xen map would still take 10 hours to subdivide until we began working with Worm Wall which reduced this to minutes, resulting in a huge increase in productivity.
How did you get involved with Black Mesa (If you joined later on?)
I had spent 3 long years prior creating a 5 map L4D2 campaign and after a little break after releasing this I wanted to get back on the Hammer horse and luckily Crowbar were looking for Level Designers, I applied as I love creating maps. It was only after I got the gig that I was told the team had been greenlit to go commercial. I soon moved from multiplayer to Xen.
What was your first experience with Half-Life?
I had just been given a 486 PC from work and the IT guy gave me a copy of this game called ‘Half-Life’... I was hooked. Little did I know that would be my route into Game Dev as a career years later.
Any recommendations for people wanting to get into game design?
I think if you feel it's too late to get into game design then think again. I got into game dev very late in life (I was about 44 :E) If you're passionate about game design then do something off your own back, be it a game jam, modding project, or be actively testing a project. Doors open, you make great contacts and things happen. The key thing is to enjoy what you do and never give up. If someone is better than you... so what.. try and learn, don't be afraid to ask questions and aim to get better. Never let that put you off. Always leave your ego at the door and your passion for what you do will shine through. All the above is still true if you're just starting out… What are you waiting for? They're waiting for you in the Test Chamberrrrr.
Was there ever a time you were close to giving up and quitting?
Yes. Working full time and then in your spare time, takes its toll on your mental health, family, and friends. It's a huge commitment but I hope this has paid off with what the team has achieved.
When did your interest in game development begin?
A very very long time ago. As a kid I was hooked playing games, it was a way to let my imagination go wild. I used to write small games on a ZX81 and then later ZX Spectrum. Got into modding Duke Nukem on the build engine in my early 20’s, then got into the Hammer Editor and never looked back.
Anything you would want to add to Black Mesa?
When designing the temporary science base in Xen map 1, I always wanted to add a tiny glimpse of human life via some kind of transmission from Kleiner on a screen. Just to add a little human narrative in what is a chapter devoid of human contact. Nothing that would outstay its welcome but I felt by the time you got to the polytunnels it would have been a nice call back to the science team on earth. Maybe I’ll add this as a Mod at some point that could lead onto a small side narrative to flesh out the base a little more.
Any movies or other games besides Half-Life you took inspiration from during development for your role specifically?
The science polytunnels were inspired by watching the Martian. I wanted them to have this vulnerability as the film had. It was a simple design that worked well with what shapes I was trying to create. I worked closely with Spencer and luckily we were on the same page with the design. I did intend it to be bigger but it was easy to get distracted from the main star which is Xen. Fun fact, I designed the little white Xen creature containers based on the scene in the film Evolution. That underground cave in the film always reminded me of what Xen should look like and they had cool science gear that fitted well with the black mesa style. Also, the tripods and theodolites are a call back to when I used to be a Civil Engineer as I did a lot of surveying and thought it was the kind of low tech that the science team would have.
How does the development pipeline work between the LD’s, artists, and audio engineers?
I think the Level design on Black Mesa is a little different from a normal industry studio’s approach. Most Level Designers (LD) would only really block out and then pass to Level Artists (LA) but with Black Mesa, there's enough art already in-game that the designers can set dress a level to a very high standard. This is more of a modding mentality that I personally think helps bridge the LD/LA gap. Its something I’ve really pushed for in my daytime LD work which has proven to be a very positive thing.