[Originally written in early 1998 or so, Sandy Petersen is (in March 2001) still at Ensemble Studios, where there's every reason to believe that he's still working on titles in the "Age Of Empires" series, or maybe something else even more new and exciting..]

Sandy Petersen is probably one of the most respected, (if not the most publicity-hungry) game designers in the business. Yet his modesty hides what has been a pretty damn spectacular career..

From beginnings in role-playing games at Chaosium Inc., where he designed or co-designed "RuneQuest", "Ghostbusters", "Call Of Cthulhu", and a myriad of other titles and supplements, he moved into the digital domain at Microprose in 1988, working on titles such as "Lightspeed", "Hyperspeed", and "Dr. Floyd's Wacky Windows" (hurrah!)  And in 1993 he moved to ID Software, where he was a designer on "Doom", "Doom 2", and "Quake", blockbuster titles all. This summer he moved to work at Ensemble Studios, the Microsoft-published developers behind the superlative "Age Of Empires". Now that's what we call impressive. :) And, happily, we have an exclusive interview with the man himself, focusing on "Doom", "Quake", and, naturally, the Spice Girls...

h0l: Have you found your role-playing game experience at Chaosium was perfect for computer games, or did it teach you some bad habits?

SP: The former. Every computer designer ought to be forced to spend 2 years working in the paper game business.

h0l: One of your best-known products of that time is "Call of Cthulhu". How did you go about designing a game from such a unconventional mythos?  [The results were certainly unconventional, which is what makes the game so endearing.]

SP: I was a big fan of H.P.Lovecraft (but I came by it honestly). I wrote to Greg Stafford, president of Chaosium Inc., and suggested that a game supplement to the RuneQuest RPG be developed which took place in Lovecraft's Dreamlands realm. He replied that they were already working on a full game using Lovecraft's Mythos, and I asked if I could help. It turned out that they gave me the entire project. Zow.

h0l: Clearly, one of the key points in your life was the switch from paper-based gaming to computers. Many people never make that switch. What made you do it?

SP: Poverty.

h0l: What's the single question you hate people asking in interviews?

SP: How can a good Mormon do such satanic games?

h0l: Sony are 'lucky' enough to be making a Spice Girls game. Presuming you're aware of the phenomenal five, what kind of game would you design based around them?

SP: Something that displayed their heads on sticks.

h0l: One of the key things that made "Doom" genre-defining and so revolutionary was its atmosphere and the extent the player could become immersed in the world.  How did you go about designing for that, or was it something that just 'happened'?

SP: "Doom" was a team project, and one of the reasons it had such perfect atmosphere & immersion was because _everyone_ was on the same wavelength. Whenever one of us would have an idea, the rest would say "yeah, cool!" and run with it, or make modifications that improved it. In the end, we had a game that absolutely perfectly matched our goals & personalities, and it showed. We loved the game, and the love showed through.

h0l: Can we mine you for a cool "Doom"-related anecdote?

SP: We've all heard of companies that banned "Doom"-playing because it was delaying projects. Well, id Software had to ban "Doom"-playing ourselves because it was interfering with the completion of _"Doom"_! Well, we didn't have to ban it completely, but you get the picture. It also delayed "Doom II".

h0l: People seem to agree that designing sequels is one of the hardest things you can do. Why do you think it worked so well for "Doom 2"?

SP: Because "Doom 2" wasn't a true sequel. It was exactly the same game except with more stuff. It also came out just about when players were through with "Doom", but not yet jaded, and so looking for more of the same.

h0l: You seem to have kept a lower profile than many of the more efficient self-publicists at (or formerly at) ID. Does it bother you that others may sometimes cheekily try to take all the credit?

SP: The people I care about know who I am.

h0l: Would "Quake" have been a phenomenon without its easy adaptability to create new levels/weapons/etc? 

SP: Probably, but not as big a phenomenon.

h0l: Was this something designers were thinking about early on in the project?

SP: Absolutely yes. We took measures to make the game more adaptable.

h0l: If you were a president, you'd be..?

SP: Is this like that "What kind of a tree would you be" thing? The President I most admire is Abe Lincoln, but I'd probably _be_ more of a Ulysses S. Grant.

h0l: What object/effect/thing got left out of "Quake" that you would have most liked to have seen included?

SP: The eponymous Quake power.

h0l: What attracted you to Ensemble Studios?

SP: It's a team of enthusiastic, talented folks who really like each other, love games, and know what they want to do.

h0l: Can you give us any hints as to what you're currently working on?

SP: I'm working on an upcoming project that only has a working title that I'm not supposed to divulge. But it's just exactly the kind of game you'd expect from Sandy Petersen if he was working at Ensemble Studios.

h0l: Finally, what's your idea of a perfect weekend?

SP: Sleep in. Get up and take my kids to the zoo/museum/park/whatever for the afternoon. Go out with my wife to a movie & nice Thai restaurant. Hot sex until midnight. Read a few chapters in a Tony Hillerman novel. Go to sleep.

h0l: Thanks!