After Midnight: An Interview With Lockwood About the Ultimate Fireworks Bundle & Midnight Glade
by Terra_Cide, HSM Editor
It’s no secret that HomeStation Magazine is a big fan of Lockwood Publishing. Ask Norse his opinion of Lockwood, and he’ll tell you without the slightest hint of intended exaggeration that he views them as a scaled down version of God. They have been the subject of more cover stories for us – three – than anyone else in Home, the PlayStation Network, or videogaming itself.
HomeStation is a publication that caters to those who value socialization in their gaming, and Lockwood – through their tireless efforts in keeping in touch with the community and providing expeditious and detailed PR announcements – exemplifies a developer who gets this. They’ve even started their own newsletter, adding more evidence to this claim.
This likely is no coincidence, as the Lockwood Development Team is thirty percent female, and women are more apt to be social than their male counterparts. But forget that part for a moment and focus on that percentage. Thirty percent of the Lockwood Dev Team is female. Thirty percent.
This is a big deal. And I’ll tell you why.
Megan Egglesden of Lockwood, AKA the Goddess of Awesomesauce
In a recent article, UK paper The Guardian states that a recent survey has women making up only twelve percent of the videogame development workforce. Similar numbers have been reported by similar industry surveys conducted in both the US and Canada. To say that Lockwood is a bit ahead of the curve would be quite the understatement. Ladies of Home – as well as young women aspiring to enter the industry – take note.
I’d like to introduce you to one of the women behind the magic of Lockwood. You may recognize Megan Egglesden’s name, as she is the one responsible for delivering the weekly content updates which we share with you – which is why we’ve chosen to dub her “The Awesomesauce Goddess” around here. You may also recognize her as one of the Lockwood team members who took part in the article, What Do the Lockwood Designers Themselves Like To Wear? back in June.
She has been with the team since 2009, starting out as an artist. Now as Product Manager, Megan is responsible for maintaining a focused idea of where a product is going in the short term and what other opportunities the team should explore in the long term. She looks at Home much in the same way we do here at HSM – she studies all the products available, looking for gaps in the market or where improvements can be made. She works closely with the Lockwood Team, assisting in generating new ideas, the progression and production of content, as well as promotional materials.
Megan gives us this inside glimpse as to what it’s like to work at Lockwood:
“The team has grown significantly since I started as an artist in early 2009, and each person is highly skilled and valued, making every project a pleasure. Around 30% of the Lockwood Dev Team is female, including myself and Producer, Lynda. We have a set-up in the studio that we regularly gather around to check out what’s going on in Home, and see our latest content being enjoyed by the community, now that we have the Lockwood Publishing Showcase it’s even better – being able to see a bunch of people gather around the Gift Machine sharing items with each other encourages us to keep coming up with new ideas.
As I use Home a lot while I’m in the studio, I’ll usually only visit in my free time when something particularly exciting has been released. One of the great things about Home is the community – talking to all kinds of people who are really enthusiastic about the place as a social meeting ground, and who really want to do what they can to improve the experience for all users.
Cat Machin, Lockwood Team Developer
When the promotional material for the Midnight Glade came out, it was fairly obvious that this would be the perfect opportunity to peek behind the curtain, as it were, and see just how the wizards at Lockwood work. Megan, along with Cat Machin of Lockwood’s Development Team (who also was featured in the aforementioned article), were kind enough to answer some questions about their latest product, The Ultimate Fireworks Bundle, and its free personal space, The Midnight Glade, as well as what it’s like to create content for one of the most loved developers in Home.
HSM: Say the name “Lockwood” in Home, and the majority of the population will immediately think of your exhaustive amount of furnishings and fashions, not to mention of course Sodium. While you have (via Cornerstone) developed spaces and features in Home for other developers, as well as being the name behind quite a few “firsts” in Home, when it comes to spaces, Lockwood has, for the most part, mainly focused on creating environments centred around the Sodium aesthetic. What inspired this new path?
Megan Egglesden: We have intended for a long time to release a greater variety of personal spaces; when the fireworks were in development it seemed like the perfect opportunity to create a simple, high impact environment that supported the furniture items.
Give us a rough idea of the decision making and timeline that went into making this concept a reality.
ME: The team has a very organic way of working, taking products right through from idea to production, to promotional campaign, this full investment in the product allows a level of commitment and creativity that is difficult to achieve otherwise. Each decision is made based on analysis of existing products, looking ahead to upcoming trends and checking to see what Home users are asking for. We recently added an Opinion Poll to the Gift Machine which has proved to be a great way of getting feedback, it lets us know what people liked about a product, what they didn’t like, and allows them to make suggestions.
Upon purchasing the Ultimate Fireworks Bundle, users will receive the Midnight Glade for free; now this is certainly a first for Home – where purchasing an item bundle gets you a free space. What made you choose this route?
Cat Machin: In the case of the Glade, what we are trying to do is to give the users an experience rather than just an asset. We are always trying to provide the best we can for the users and this means sometimes we sit back and say, “hey, wouldn’t it be great if we could give that little bit more”. In many ways it’s been our dream to produce a greater variety of experiences made up from multiple elements, such as furniture and spaces.
ME: The space is very nice on its own, but ultimately it is designed for a fireworks display, so giving it away for free with the Ultimate Fireworks Bundle ensures the space gets used for what it was intended, so it can be seen at its best and people get maximum enjoyment for what they are spending.
The Midnight Glade certainly deviates a bit from what everyone has come to expect in a personal space, as it has no actual living quarters to decorate. Was it designed then out of necessity because of the Ultimate Fireworks Bundle, or was this a chicken-and-egg sort of creation, where they mutually inspired each other?
CM: This was definitely a chicken-and-egg situation. You see, what we want to encourage in all of our products and spaces is giving users a joined-up experience, by providing something with a broader appeal. An experience is something made up of multiple elements – in this case a beautiful environment and some spectacular fireworks, that when put together become more than the sum of their parts. Whilst the fireworks can be seen clearly in the skies of the Harbour apartment, there is nothing like sitting under a beautiful starlit sky and watching a display. After careful consideration, we realised we couldn’t guarantee that users would have this sort of experience, and so we set about making the dream a reality.
ME: It is very different from what we are used to with a personal space, but it opens the doors to what we can do, the team have plenty of ideas up their sleeves for other innovative uses and functionality in personal spaces.
What made you decide to give this space its own Gift Machine?
CM: We read on a daily basis how about users are unhappy because they forever have to play their active items and furniture slots against each other, and we wanted to do something about this. The gift machine has, for many people, become an important part of Home, so the decision to include it was quite natural. More functionality built into the scene means you have the freedom to use a greater choice of active items at the same time, without having to compromise. We always strive to enrich the user’s experience and this is one of the many ways we’ve gone about it. We even customised it to fit perfectly with the aesthetics of the Midnight Glade!
Let’s talk about the fireworks themselves a moment. Looking at the footage in your video, they certainly have a spectacular sense of realism to them – did the team do any studying of real firework displays, or was this all strictly from their imaginations?
CM: We’ve wanted to produce fireworks for quite some time, and we knew from the offset that the Home community really wanted them. Fireworks are one of the few things that could be added to almost any occasion to make it better. They were all designed from real life firework footage and were constructed in a way that maximises the visual impact within Home.
What were some of the challenges the team faced with creating the fireworks?
CM: The tech we use to make all of the fireworks is really tricky. These are big fireworks and there is really no short cut. There are a lot to them, and whilst the final results look elegant and simple, the thought process that had to go into creating them was very tough!
ME: As this is seasonal content, one of the biggest challenges was completing the dev to release in time for the New Year. Once we had the idea, we were against the clock to get it ready in time, but with skilful artists and the organisational skills of our Producer, we ensured that the content would be available when it would be appreciated most.
What did the team enjoy the most about the process of bringing this latest creation to life?
The Lockwood Team at play
CM: They say that climbing the mountain is about the journey rather than the destination, and I think it’s fair to say that because this project has been so successful at every stage, it has made it a really rewarding experience through and through. You know you’ve done it right when people walking by your computer stop to look at the screen.
ME: One of the best bits about this project was actually in filming the promotional video, everyone featured in the video is a member of the Lockwood Team, we dressed up in some of our favourite clothing items, and had some fun for an afternoon while the footage was filmed.
What are the chances of seeing any additional fireworks (Fourth of July/Canada Day – themed fireworks for North America, for example) or other items of note specifically designed for this space for purchase in the future?
ME: We base expansion of a range on its popularity and success, so if the release goes well and people enjoy the content we will definitely do what we can to build on the collection.
Looking at the finished product, how does it compare with what the team conceptualized? Is it everything they hoped it to be?
CM: In many ways it surpasses what we had initially imagined. We knew from the offset that both the fireworks and the space were going to have a high visual impact, and it never fails to impress when seen for the first time!
It has been a pure pleasure to work with Megan and the team getting this piece together. Lockwood has been widely considered the most progressive developer in the Home community, and judging by their demographics, they’re also one of the most progressive developers in the industry as well. On behalf of the team here at HomeStation Magazine, I’d like to formally thank everyone at Lockwood for all that they do, as well as the accessibility they have granted us over the past year, and wish them continued success in the New Year. Thank you!
December 16th, 2011 by Terra_Cide | 6 comments
Terra _Cide is the former Community Manager for Lockwood Publishing and Editor Emeritus for HomeStation Magazine.
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Very nice peek behind the curtan -- thank you Terra for a great interview! And to Megan and Cat, as well as the rest of the Lockwood staff: you do a great job of bringing new ideas to the table and in keeping Home as fresh an experience as possible. I’m looking forward to the Glade and the fireworks…as well as whatever surprises you have waiting in the wings.
Nice interview.
Glade is a terrific space, good for putting animals in. I hope PETA doesn’t come after me when I shoot off fireworks.
I’m going to try to put a small one room farmhouse in it and maybe later Lockwood will put out a barn.
What a great conversation! The space looks great and talk about a great job to have, sign me up! Awesome as always Terra!
Ace -- if you want your comments to show up, please talk about the topic of the article. Lockwood is Lockwood, not Sony. Thank you. -- Terra
In hopes that Megan sees this.Could you work on sound for the fireworks in a later date?
Hey music -- I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s an upcoming review of this space that explains why the fireworks lack sound. I’ll give you a hint -- it has to do with active items.