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An interview with Eric Goodwin by HomeCreatures.

Eric Goodwin
Full Name: Eric Goodwin.
Personal Quote: Don't put off until tomorrow what you can get someone else to put off until the day after.
Eric worked on Creatures 2. Thats his claim to fame! :-) Oh..and he knows Ben Campbell, not sure if he wants that news out though.

HC: What did you do before CyberLife?
Eric: I graduated at the end of 97, and worked for a few months genetic engineering flowers to change their colours. I moved to England at the beginning of 98, and worked temporarily as the secretary for a company making noise cancelling headsets.

HC: How did you get involved with them?
Eric: I got to know Ben Campbell in Cambridge, because he is a fellow New Zealander. He mentioned that CyberLife were looking for a biologist, and encouraged me to send them my CV. I then had an interview with Toby and Mark, and it took off from there. So I owe it all to Ben, really.

HC: What was your first day at CyberLife like?
Eric: On my first day I wore a suit, which turned out to be a mistake! CyberLife's a bit more relaxed than that. I got a computer pretty quickly, and spent time getting to know how Creatures worked, and who did what in the team. Actually that continued for weeks, really. The game technology is pretty complex when you have to know how it works inside, and everyone in the team is responsible for a different bit of it. It took me ages to get a decent overview of how it all comes together - I hassled Robin a whole lot, and he was a great help.

HC: Over the past year or so has your job changed much at CL?
Eric: I guess so. My responsibilities for Creatures2 grew above what I think was originally intended, and after Creatures2 was released I joined the CyberLife Applied Research team. We're looking at a range of new technologies in the CyberLife philosophy, but outside the entertainment arena.

HC: Where do you see yourself in three years time, and where do you see CyberLife?
Eric: Hopefully the current research projects will have progressed successfully and our business diversity will be wider. There should be a range of directions to move in, and a whole host of new Creatures products extending the Creatures technology.

HC: Is there a member of the team who has a habit that really annoys you that you would like to get of your chest?
Eric: This is one of the most charming teams it has ever been my pleasure to work with, and no member is more annoying than any other. Except perhaps for Os.. ggrg heeuur gh a ....

HC: Oscar? That sounds like Oscar to me.. Os.."garrrg gh aa" :-) Had you heard of or played Creatures or other A-Life game before you joined, thoughts?
Eric: I remember ages ago being confused and fascinated by Little Computer People on the C64, and I used to read Martin Gardner's column 'Mathematical Recreations' in Scientific American, which from time to time would mention artificial life. I tried coding a few ideas on an Acorn machine at one point, but never got very far.

HC: Acorn? I re those computers.. more power in a real acorn! Anyway, on to new topic, what is your lifes ambition and why?
Eric: I want to be a fireman, because they get big red trucks and silver jackets.

HC: Using one sentence can you describe yourself?
Eric: 'Yourself' is an eight letter, two syllable 2nd person reflexive pronoun.

HC: Do you have any interesting Norn stories.. as CyberLife asks the community all the time for them, I thought I'd ask a few there :-)
Eric: I made a soccer-superstar Norn, which on a good day could spend ten minutes just kicking the soccerball around. That was fun to watch. I also caught a Grendel praying once...

HC: If there was anywhere in Albia you could go where would it be, and why?
Eric: I'd have to go and check out the Black Hole of Albia. Word on the street says that only one Norn has ever returned alive from the Black Hole.

HC: If you had to be a Norn, a Grendel or an Ettin which would you be and why?
Eric: I'd be an Ettin, because people say they're so industrious, without them having to do anything!

HC: Eric...
Eric: Yes?

HC: JUSTIFY YOURSELF!
Eric: Eek! Without my work at CyberLife, there would be nothing for third party genome developers to improve upon...

Thanks for the interview Eric, good luck in the future :-)

An interview with HomeCreatures.