Interview: Medal of Honor Designer Forms Tarver Games

IG: Is iPhone development more liberating for you? Is it almost a relief not to be building a big budget console game? Do you want to still create those big games?  

The soon to be released Ghosts Attack

CC: It is a relief, definitely. The change in our approach to the scope and scale of the projects is refreshing. We still have epic sized plans but they're expressed differently. Instead of trying to pack in a very large amount of missions with huge set pieces that can only be finished by devoting an hour or two, we're trying to give the player bite-sized experiences but a lot of them, in the hopes that the player will put those together for themselves. One thing to keep in mind is that when playing iPhone games players hardly ever think of the games between plays. This means they want instant gratification. This translates into our development process. Putting a lot of small pieces together with immediate payoff is a very fun work space. Working on a large title typically means months working on the line or waiting for tools, mechanics and features with little or no payoff.  

IG: As someone who's come from EALA, what advice have you gotten (if any) from Neil Young who's obviously laser focused on iPhone games now at ngmoco? 

CC: Actually, we haven't really talked much, but they clearly understand the space and where the possibilities lie in this market. They're focused, as a publisher, on building a library of Triple A titles and I'm focused on not dealing with a publisher. However, as a publisher they're the only one that has made a compelling case as to why a developer should go with them.  

IG: How many employees does Tarver have? What are your expansion plans? 

CC: We currently have 7 employees. The plan is to have multiple teams working on supporting Ghosts Attack and any spin-off as well as putting together games like BrickMan, and eventually up to 2 core teams working on larger unannounced titles. The goal is to keep the company under 100 employees but that's a problem we won't have to deal with for quite awhile. We're content to stay small for now. 

IG: Where is funding coming from for your studio and projects?

CC: Currently we're self funded. The company is in the process of seeking investment capital  but we haven't found the right partner yet. It's an interesting time in the investment world right now.

IG: iPhone obviously allows for self-publishing, but assuming you extend your IPs to consoles and PC, you will be looking for publishing partners, correct? 

CC: We'll see. With digital distribution becoming a viable option, the playing field has changed as far as what will be expected from both parties in a publishing deal. If the right deal can be struck, sure we'll do it. If we find a way to do it ourselves, then we will. 

IG: You say you're looking at the iPhone as a "test bed" for your IP, but just because something succeeds on iPhone doesn't mean that the IP is well suited to make the leap to consoles. How will you determine which IP should make the leap? 

CC: That's assuming that the designs for these games stops at the iPhone game design. What we really do is create a world and its rules. Applying that world to a different gameplay experience means shifting the game design to make it relevant for different markets. Expanding Ghosts Attack to the 360 for example, means that we'd have to change not only the interface but also what main game features to include. Getting your current location on an Xbox is always going to be the same, as opposed to the phone product. However, the main game genre, story and the way we create levels will be the same. We'll have to change the controls to be more two-stick friendly. That change in control is significant but that just gives us a new way to explore the world.  

IG: As an IP development house, you're hoping to take some of your IP beyond games, but do you think of that from the very start when coming up with new IP, or is it more game-centric and then you evaluate the IP down the road for possible expansion into other media? 

CC: Yes. We think of that from the very start. Those opportunities are closer than most people think. In creating our worlds we make sure how the world works according to its rules can be adapted to whatever we need it to be. Stay tuned for examples of that in Ghosts Attack and how we're planning on interacting with web content. 

IG: Thanks Chris. Good luck with Tarver.