The game is everything

By DEREK CHENG

If you're going to neglect your Otago University PhD, you may as well do it for something productive - such as playing computer games for 15 to 20 hours a week.

That's how Chris Butcher, raised in Kurow, near Oamaru, paved his way to becoming a leading developer of video games.

At only 26, his latest project is X-box's Halo 2, released this week to salivating gamers worldwide.

Butcher distracted himself from his doctorate in computer graphics by playing Myth, the ground-breaking game by development company Bungie, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2000.

Butcher has fond childhood memories of tussock-covered hills and flying kites. But while most six-year-olds were playing with crayons, he was tinkering with computer games to create his own worlds.

"What's always interested me more was taking something that was already working and then subtly refining it to make it better."

When he was six?

"My father's always been really interested in computers. I would take sample programmes and add new characters, making them fly around ... things like that."

Even from a young age, Butcher saw computer games as more than something to play; they were an experience to take part in.

By modifying games, he could control the actions in an environment where he could make the rules. And he wasted no time in mastering those skills.

He took correspondence courses through Massey University when he was 12 and by the time he was 17 had an undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics.

Butcher was one of four lead engineers developing Halo 2 over the past three years.

He managed a team of five who oversaw "all the characters and the animation for making them move around the world in a life-like fashion". His team also looked after the networking, which enables Xbox Live, the online gaming component that connects players from around the world to the same game.

Butcher believes this is the future of gaming.

"The idea that I can sit in my living room and be connected to hundreds of people all over the world, share my stories and track my progress over time - that's just fascinating to me."

With Xbox Live, the potential of Halo 2 is limited only by the imaginations of the players and the building blocks of the game.

"There are a number of types of games and you can customise all the options - extra shields, invisibility, everyone starts with a rocket launcher or with tanks," says Butcher.

It further enhances the aspect that separates gaming from listening to music or watching movies - the interaction between player and game. And Halo 2 was designed with that in mind, with an emphasis on enhanced gameplay rather than new features.

"We've taken Halo and really looked at the moment-to-moment experience, what the players really enjoy. We've tried to make it so gamers put down their controllers and say, 'wow, that was awesome. I've never seen those things come together in that way before'."

Butcher should know what makes gamers tick. He once gamed for 14 straight hours and frequently games through the night.

"We'd just played a marathon match and were walking to get some food and I noticed I was falling into our formation. You have that spatial awareness and you're keeping an eye out for what might be around the next corner."

He insists he walks normally but does try to steer clear of driving games. "You don't want to pick up any bad habits that could have really serious consequences."

The industry is evolving rapidly, making it as exciting as it is stressful; Butcher is used to late nights and, in busy times, 100-hour weeks.

"The most important thing is to never stop learning."