Biser Parashkevov is an art manager at Ubisoft Sofia –the studio
responsible for the development of the upcoming title from the Assassin's Creed
series - Liberation. He is one of two speakers from the local branch of the
company that introduced the topic "Creating a protagonist for an AAA game:
Aveline de Grandpre" during ON! Fest. In the youth festival in question
there is a whole panel for gaming conferences - Game Dev Summit. Before the
lecture, however, Biser gave me an interview, which I originally published in Kaldata.com
in Bulgarian.
- What secret from the ‘kitchen’ of Assassin's Creed III
Liberation can you give us?
- There are many secrets in this industry, but, frankly, I can’t
reveal almost anything. But I can tell you some funny stories from the
development process. For example, it was very difficult to make the design of
the three characters in the game, because the gameplay design had to be bound
with the movements and there were moments when we had to pretend we’re a woman
in order to recreate the movements of climbing and jumping with a dress. We
didn’t really put dresses on, but we did have to recreate women's movements and
gestures and it was really funny.
- Have you always wanted to work in the video game industry
and how did you get to Ubisoft?
- As a child I wanted to become an astronaut. I turned to games slowly - when I was a teenager, I started going to computer clubs. At
one point I started drawing and designing and the development of computers and
software gave me the direction. I’ve worked in different fields related to
graphic design - advertising agencies and a lifestyle magazine, but all that
time I was way more fascinated by the possibilities that 3D graphics provide.
My career in the game industry started 9 years ago when I started as a character
animator and artist in Haemimont Games. This turned out to be the most
fulfilling job for me in terms of creating and animating the characters in
diverse environments, time periods and conditions and being able to see the product. Also
- and not least – it’s fulfilling because of the joy you bring to users. I'm on
both sides - a developer and a player.
- Did you go directly to Ubisoft after Haemimont?
- I started in Ubisoft with the opening of the company in
Bulgaria six years ago.
- What are your goals outside of your work at Ubisoft?
- I try to use my spare time to the fullest, because there’s
not much left of it lately. My job however is not just a job, but also
pleasure. I tend to take the time to deal with my projects that I primarily use
to enhance my skills and to experiment with new ideas and techniques. In spite
of the satisfaction I find in computer graphics, my family takes the central place
of my attention outside of the office and most of my time is reserved for my
young son.
- Is he happy his father creates video games? After all this
is like a dream for most children.
- He is still too young to feel the full significance of the
games. But he gradually begins to understand – right now he plays more children games.
- I suppose you've provided him with all types of consoles?
- Yes, he’s 'tech secure’, but raising a child
requires a slightly more cautious approach to this type of entertainment. There
are many educational games that are useful for adolescent children and are preferable,
because it is easy to get to extremes.
- Which other company’s game would you like to be a part of?
- I can’t give you a concrete answer, because the games I
like are the sandbox games. There are many such titles on the market and I would
be interested in working on an "open" game with a good story, with
plenty of well-developed characters. There are many examples in this area…
- Share ... two.
- One is Gears of War - completely visually original. The
other is Uncharted - although the world is not as open it has a very well crafted story.
- What graphic style will prevail in the games of the future
in your opinion?
- The graphic style I think is closely related to the idea
of the game. A great game has a story, a realization of gameplay and
visuals. When these parts of the system work together, the game becomes good.
The upcoming consoles are rumored to be powerful enough to get visual quality
at the highest level - I guess in the future a lot of attention would be paid to
good vision and because the developers are aiming more and more for reality, I guess the majority of hit titles will be photorealistic.
- How many people are you managing and how would you describe
the work atmosphere?
- My team in Assassin's Creed: Liberation is consisted of 13
people, including the interface experts. The whole team is made of illustrators and 3D modelers. The atmosphere is very informal and friendly, all
of us share the passion and interest in games and art.
- How would you describe an average day during the
development of Assassin’s Creed III Liberation?
- It always starts with a cup of coffee with milk and a nice
conversation with the colleagues. An average day for me during the development
was associated with meetings, evaluating the completed work. At the same time there
are always some problems and challenges that appear along the way and must be
addressed. For the other people on the team things are more clear, because the
tasks are set, they have a precise work time and their day is focused on dealing
with the tasks as effectively as possible.
- Do you think the art has affected the gameplay of
Assassin's Creed: Liberation in some way?
- The art has affected the quality of the game. There are
many examples of changes in art or changes in the gameplay because of the impossibility
for something in particular to be achieved.
