EQ2_Bloggers
05-31-2011, 07:10 PM
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GIRL Talk with Judy Tyrer
By Emily “Domino”Taylor
Judy is a lead engineer at SOE.
[Emily] Give us a summary of your background, and how you got into the games industry?*
I started off in serious games, only back then it was called “computer based education”.* I had a degree in secondary education and this was my introduction to computers.* I discovered that I had an aptitude for programming and really enjoyed it.* So when the system I was working on, called PLATO, proved a bit ahead of its time and Control Data shut the project down, I decided to get into programming and started working in UNIX.* I spent many years working on distributed UNIX clusters.* Once the clusters finally hit the market I started looking around for a next project.* I was an avid gamer by then and was telling my son he should look into becoming a game developer when I realized I could become a game developer.
[Emily] Tell us a bit about the area of gaming you’re currently involved in – for example, where are you working, what is your job title, what do you do on a day-to-day basis?
*
My current title is Lead Engineer for SOE.* We just released Magic: The Gathering – Tactics and we do all the card games that are part of various MMOs.** I want to bring all my years of experience building operating systems with no single point of failure into building game technology that works just as well.* I also want to take all my work in process that enabled us to deliver very complex systems on time and on budget into the game industry.* I try to spend some of my time working with the technology, but most of my time is spent working with the engineers and schedules trying to bring a bit of sanity into a studio that released three games in one month.
[Emily] How common is it to find women working in your specific area of gaming?
*
There are very few women in engineering.* At my last company there were four of us out of a team of over 100.* I think a lot of women don’t get into engineering because it seems hard, but it’s really not.* If you like puzzles, it’s like getting to solve puzzles all day.
[Emily] What types of games do you enjoy playing?
I’m a huge MMO fan.* I used to play EverQuest a lot more than I should have.* It really got me hooked.* I also enjoy the old adventure games (Myst, King’s Quest, Gabriel Knight).* I like Rock Band*a lot, and we used to love to play Mario Kart when the kids were younger.* *I also like Facebook games occasionally, but as a whole I think the genre has a lot of evolving to do.
[Emily] What games have you most enjoyed recently?
My family and I have gotten hooked on Settlers of Catan, the board game.* We play it whenever three or more of us are together.*** I have the computer version as well, but it’s much more fun with people.
[Emily] What gaming work have you done that you are most proud of?
I’m most proud of winning the award for Game Innovation in the Ubisoft GameJam.
[Emily] Can you describe any particularly positive or negative experiences working in the industry that you feel are specifically related to your being female?
I was nominated for Best Female Engineer by Women in Games two years ago.* That was pretty positive.* The best part of that was at the award ceremony when they said it was the first year there were enough women engineers to make up an entire table.* It was very exciting.** I didn’t win as the award went to a woman who was presenting on “The Zen of Multi-CPU Rendering”.
[Emily] Which issues (if any) do you feel are most important to women either working or playing in gaming these days?
My personal goal is to help open the women’s market, not just to Facebook and other casual style games, but to games that appeal to women in the way that books, films and other media do.* We aren’t monolithic, there is no magic “pink” game, and many of us thoroughly enjoy the games that are marketed to the 18-32 year-old male the same way we enjoy war, boxing or action films.* But the industry is stuck in the action/adventure genre and I believe there is a world of great gaming that we, as an industry, have yet to tap into.* Give me time J
[Emily] How do you think that the game industry in general might attract more women, both to work within the industry, and to play more games in general?
Women will play more games when there are more games they enjoy playing.* And when there are games women want to play, there will be more games they want to make, and that will attract more women to the field.
[Emily] What specific actions (if any) would you encourage women working in gaming to take in order to make the industry more friendly to women?
I think groups like Women in Games go a long way toward making the industry more attractive to women.* And I’d encourage everyone to have a set of ethics they firmly believe in and stand up for them.* Don’t go along to get along.* Decide what you believe in and then crusade for it.* For me, it’s that good software process eliminates wasted time and if we do that, we won’t need to crunch.* I think if we got out of the “sleep is for the weak” mentality we’d go a long way toward attracting more talent of all kinds into the industry.
*
[Emily] Are there any particular blogs, sites, books, twitter feeds, or other sources that you would recommend as particularly relevant or helpful to women in the gaming industry?
I love the IGDA WIG SIG.* I am also on devchix which is a techie site for programmers.* Other than that, I mostly keep up with people on Facebook.
[Emily] Any other thoughts you’d like to share about women, gaming, or what it means to you to be a woman in gaming?
Don’t allow being a woman in a man’s world be a limitation or an excuse.
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GIRL Talk with Judy Tyrer
By Emily “Domino”Taylor
Judy is a lead engineer at SOE.
[Emily] Give us a summary of your background, and how you got into the games industry?*
I started off in serious games, only back then it was called “computer based education”.* I had a degree in secondary education and this was my introduction to computers.* I discovered that I had an aptitude for programming and really enjoyed it.* So when the system I was working on, called PLATO, proved a bit ahead of its time and Control Data shut the project down, I decided to get into programming and started working in UNIX.* I spent many years working on distributed UNIX clusters.* Once the clusters finally hit the market I started looking around for a next project.* I was an avid gamer by then and was telling my son he should look into becoming a game developer when I realized I could become a game developer.
[Emily] Tell us a bit about the area of gaming you’re currently involved in – for example, where are you working, what is your job title, what do you do on a day-to-day basis?
*
My current title is Lead Engineer for SOE.* We just released Magic: The Gathering – Tactics and we do all the card games that are part of various MMOs.** I want to bring all my years of experience building operating systems with no single point of failure into building game technology that works just as well.* I also want to take all my work in process that enabled us to deliver very complex systems on time and on budget into the game industry.* I try to spend some of my time working with the technology, but most of my time is spent working with the engineers and schedules trying to bring a bit of sanity into a studio that released three games in one month.
[Emily] How common is it to find women working in your specific area of gaming?
*
There are very few women in engineering.* At my last company there were four of us out of a team of over 100.* I think a lot of women don’t get into engineering because it seems hard, but it’s really not.* If you like puzzles, it’s like getting to solve puzzles all day.
[Emily] What types of games do you enjoy playing?
I’m a huge MMO fan.* I used to play EverQuest a lot more than I should have.* It really got me hooked.* I also enjoy the old adventure games (Myst, King’s Quest, Gabriel Knight).* I like Rock Band*a lot, and we used to love to play Mario Kart when the kids were younger.* *I also like Facebook games occasionally, but as a whole I think the genre has a lot of evolving to do.
[Emily] What games have you most enjoyed recently?
My family and I have gotten hooked on Settlers of Catan, the board game.* We play it whenever three or more of us are together.*** I have the computer version as well, but it’s much more fun with people.
[Emily] What gaming work have you done that you are most proud of?
I’m most proud of winning the award for Game Innovation in the Ubisoft GameJam.
[Emily] Can you describe any particularly positive or negative experiences working in the industry that you feel are specifically related to your being female?
I was nominated for Best Female Engineer by Women in Games two years ago.* That was pretty positive.* The best part of that was at the award ceremony when they said it was the first year there were enough women engineers to make up an entire table.* It was very exciting.** I didn’t win as the award went to a woman who was presenting on “The Zen of Multi-CPU Rendering”.
[Emily] Which issues (if any) do you feel are most important to women either working or playing in gaming these days?
My personal goal is to help open the women’s market, not just to Facebook and other casual style games, but to games that appeal to women in the way that books, films and other media do.* We aren’t monolithic, there is no magic “pink” game, and many of us thoroughly enjoy the games that are marketed to the 18-32 year-old male the same way we enjoy war, boxing or action films.* But the industry is stuck in the action/adventure genre and I believe there is a world of great gaming that we, as an industry, have yet to tap into.* Give me time J
[Emily] How do you think that the game industry in general might attract more women, both to work within the industry, and to play more games in general?
Women will play more games when there are more games they enjoy playing.* And when there are games women want to play, there will be more games they want to make, and that will attract more women to the field.
[Emily] What specific actions (if any) would you encourage women working in gaming to take in order to make the industry more friendly to women?
I think groups like Women in Games go a long way toward making the industry more attractive to women.* And I’d encourage everyone to have a set of ethics they firmly believe in and stand up for them.* Don’t go along to get along.* Decide what you believe in and then crusade for it.* For me, it’s that good software process eliminates wasted time and if we do that, we won’t need to crunch.* I think if we got out of the “sleep is for the weak” mentality we’d go a long way toward attracting more talent of all kinds into the industry.
*
[Emily] Are there any particular blogs, sites, books, twitter feeds, or other sources that you would recommend as particularly relevant or helpful to women in the gaming industry?
I love the IGDA WIG SIG.* I am also on devchix which is a techie site for programmers.* Other than that, I mostly keep up with people on Facebook.
[Emily] Any other thoughts you’d like to share about women, gaming, or what it means to you to be a woman in gaming?
Don’t allow being a woman in a man’s world be a limitation or an excuse.
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Author:
Visit This Blog Page... (http://stationblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/girl-talk-with-judy-tyrer/)
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