Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

Building Game Worlds
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U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
gazillion units. So let’s ride that premise and do something just like it ourselves but different so we can
make money off of it.” I’d like to see more diversity in the gaming experience.
TM: Game design is a competitive field; how does one diversify and prepare?
JK: Know what games are out there. Develop an intuition about those games, where you can play it
while also having a critical mind. You can spot the weaknesses and strengths of each game. Bruce Lee
once said something that I still use in my life. He said something like, “Absorb what is useful; reject
what is not; add a little of yourself and make it your own.”
TM: A powerful statement. You performed as a fight coordinator for many games. Now you do
fight coordination for TV and film. Can you briefly talk about the process for each?
JK: In film, I get with the director. I ask them what type of a fight scene they need for the scene,
whether it be comical, serious, etc. I read the script and learn more about the characters involved in the
fight. This way I can tailor the action so it will complement and support the characters. For example,
if the characters were emotionally distant, I would not have them do any grappling or close-contact
fighting. Unless it was part of the story or character arc, I’d keep them at a distance and fight with
Korean style kicks, long jabs, and crosses. So, once I find out what characters are involved with the
fight, I put together a fight in my mind to visualize how the different styles will contrast onscreen. I
also have to find out how the characters will change after the fight.
In order to make a fight scene effective, you have to start with one emotion and end with a
different one. By the time I meet with the actors, I have a general idea what is supposed to happen.
When I first meet with the actors, I run them through a basic workout to assess their physical skills. I
can tell within the first five to ten minutes if they actually live in their bodies or their heads. If they live
more in their bodies, they are usually easy to train because they have all their sensory skills turned on.
If they live in their heads, it’s an uphill battle because this type of person uses only one of their senses,
and the mind-to-body connection is not communicating properly, or is too slow. About one out of three
people live in their heads. By the first meeting, I usually have them understanding a basic version of
the fight. My goal is to have the actors feel good about what they are doing. Then, by the time we get
to filming, I have to make sure that they are in the moment with the moves, because they might have
been practicing the moves so much they do not look natural and spontaneous anymore. That’s how I
generally work with actors or stuntmen on a fight. There are much too many other details that I have
left out; these could fill a thick book.
In games for motion capture, I have to audition the martial artists and look at their basics to see if
they have a solid foundation and structure with their art. Then I see how they react to punches and
kicks. Then I see them put together a combination of moves and see if they are able to flow from one
technique to another. When you do motion capture, it gets really repetitious because you might have
to do the moves over and over again. Fortunately, the danger factor is pretty low here because I only
have one person do the moves at one time. The only thing that sucks is that you spend a lot of time
capturing all the moves for the motion capture camera. In film you do the stunt a few times
(depending on the stunt), then you leave.
What I don’t like about the game industry is the hours are pretty hectic, but you do not get to reap
any of the benefits once the game is finished. In film and TV, we have SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and
AFTRA (American Federation of Television & Radio Actors) that protect us, and we get residuals every
time an episode or show airs on TV. You don’t have anything like that in games. The only thing you
might get that is close to it is a bonus check.