1.) Who are you. . . and what the hell do you do??

Name's Ken Capelli. Lead Artist at Planet Moon Studios. I do art, along with Bob (Stevenson, Co-Art/ Design Director), Nick (Bruty, Co-Art/Design Director), and Shawn (Nelson, Lead Animator).
  

2.) Speaking of art. . . . one of the most amazing aspects of Giants is the awesome visual effects and artwork. Where does the inspiration come from?? 

The short answer is: Inspiration comes flitting along somewhere between the fifth and seventh Gin and Tonic,
thankyouverymuchi'llhaveanother. 

The long answer: The Planet Moon artists all have varied interests in art, movies, books, etc. that come together in the studio. One of us will do something, another one sees it and goes "Hey, neat, that gives me an idea..." and does something, then another one will see that and be influenced in what he's working on... the details feed into each other like that and knit the visuals. We inspire each other. Hugs, all around!

3.) Giants was probably one of the only games I had ever seen that went it's whole design cycle without much of the gameplay aspects released to the public. What was behind that strategy or was it a strategy?? 

Well, Giants ended up taking quite a bit longer than originally intended partially as a result of organic design changes during development. As the game reached development plateaus it became clear when played that certain aspects would benefit from expansion, modification, simplification... or just downright removal (in the case of the Shepherd and
other enemy creatures) or massive addition (in the case of the multiplayer game). The Base Build mechanism went through a few different incarnations. I don't think it was as much of a "strategy" as it was Planet Moon not wanting
to divulge the shifting details of a work-in-progress.

Also, after the first couple delays the PR was dialed lower and we went face down into the code. The focus of the last year of the project was more on getting the game on shelves than on spending time talking it up before it was done.

4.) There were more than a few people anxious to slap the "vaporware" title on Giants, the game did have a long development cycle. . . but since then, the game has shipped, it kicks a lotta ass on MANY levels, what do you have to say to the Naysayers now??

Abraham Lincoln expressed it best when he said "Stick thy finger up thy nose and Go fly thee a kite!"

Sometimes good things take time.

5.) People you admire in the industry.

Alex Garden: I've never met him, though I've probably passed near him at GDC. Homeworld was incredibly impressive... I never thought a RTS could be so poetic. I happened across a couple of round-table-type interview-discussions that left me with the impression is that he has good head on his shoulders: good design sense, good business sense, he can talk on his feet.

I think American McGee is a snazzy dresser.

6.) Senior Artist. . . does that mean your older than all the rest of the artists?? 

Actually I'm the youngest, clocking in at 29 years of age... so Senior Artist was a gross misnomer. Lead Artist is more apropo, since I am in fact made entirely of lead.

7.) What has the feedback been like since releasing Giants?? What about a Giants 2?? 

The feedback has been nothing short of great! We're received so many wonderful emails from people who have enjoyed the game and are very happy with the response from fans and reviewers.

Giants 2? Hey, great idea!

8.) Drink of Choice

I like Fuzzy Navels (I love peaches, you see) but recently have become partial to White Russians. Three of those and I'm yours.

9.) Tunes of Choice

I have my Spice Girls moments. I do not consider this a secret shame.

10.) Food while computing??

Fresh fruit and beef jerky. <derisive sneer> What do you eat?

11.) When you look back at Giants ( heh...not that long ago ) what would you like to see done differently??

Nothing major, really. I'm pretty pleased with the game as it shipped, bugs aside. More polish. Simplify some controls, spruce up the UI, clean up some of the rough edges, include a proper intro movie to set up the game. Add another giant to the game. More multiplayer levels, more multiplayer options. As far as the production process goes, just some
streamlining.

12.) What are you doing right now. . . . rest?? Relaxation?? Parties?? Fill me in.

We've had a much-needed period of post-crunch mellowness and have issued some patches for Giants while enjoying springtime here in Sausalito. Right now we are gearing up/ strapping down for the next thing while looking for a new office space. The current one has been sadly outgrown.

13.) What have you been playing?? If you were to pick a few really good games this year ( outside your own game ) which has been the most interesting??

I've a 1 year old daughter, so I tend to play with her mostly. When I have the time I inch toward completing Deus Ex (which has consumed me). No One Lives Forever is next on my list of games to spend time with, and I'm very much looking forward to playing Fallout Tactics (an aside: X-COM: UFO Defense is my all-time favorite game, like, ever). I'd have to say Jet Grind Radio was the most interesting game of the past year.

14.) What do you see as "the Next Big Thing" in gaming?? 

The Xbox.

15.) Giant's. . . . will there be user made levels?? Add ons?? Bonus Packs etc. . . 

We're going to be releasing the final patch then some new multiplayer levels, and will have some announcements next week at E3 regarding future plans.

I don't think we have any plans to open up the PC game to user mods: although we would have loved it to be, Giants just wasn't built that way. We know of a few industrious young maniacs who are hacking at the game to access the in-game level editor and open it up to user-made levels and mods... it'd be interesting to see that happen.

17.) Slave Zero ( didn't think I'd mention that ...did you??) kicked ass, I really liked it... it was innovative, fast paced but didn't seemed to do as well as it could've. Theories??

*sigh

My opinion is that Accolade, as an entity, did not know how to make or sell games. The studio never had a hit, even though there were plenty of good, talented people working there. The business of making games at Accolade was secondary to the business of selling the company.

I think Slave Zero was an interesting concept (Blade Runner meets Evangelion) but the overall execution, on all fronts, was flawed. Not enough depth or variation to the gameplay, not cutting-edge enough, hardly/ poorly marketed upon release. Various parts of the team had different ideas about what Slave Zero, as a game and as a character, should be and no one person was empowered to carry the vision. Midway along development some extreme high-level micromanagement blunted the team's ability to feel decisive and that vibe ended up carrying through to the end: we ended up with a middling game, in my opinion. The early builds of the Slave Zero were so cool and suggested so much potential, but the concept wasn't fully realized. It's disappointing. I spent two years on the project and I hate to feel that way about it.

*sigh again

On the bright side, the game did end up with a small cult following. I saw someone made a Slave Zero Winamp skin a few weeks ago, and every now and then we run into a someone who loves the game, which is gratifying. And there are aspects of the shipped game that I do really like.

Moving right along...

18.) Planet Moon is fairly low-profile... is this by choice??? Why??

Yep: that's just how we are. Actually, no: the alcohol keeps us down. Heaven forbid we should be allowed to run amok, sans sedation!

19.) When you "unplug" what do you like to do??

Whew. When untethered from the Planet Moon office, I enjoy riding my motorcycles. I have two: 

a 1988 Honda Hawk GT

and a 1965 Honda CB160.

reading, reading, reading, indulging my Spider-Man fetish (I have every nearly single issue in existence, and I like to touch them), playing with my baby goblin Eva, and toodling around San Francisco with my wife, Heather. Occasionally, I get to go see a motion picture!

and the bonus question:

Since we are old friends and hang out all the time, tell us something that most people wouldn't know about you. . . . 

I'm just a small town girl living in a lonely world. I took the midnight train going anywhere...

As always, big thanks goes out to Ken and the Planet Moon gang for an awesome game, and especially Ken for being a great sport. 

Staying true to Hypothermia form, we have a few autographed copies of Giants to give away as well. . . an awesome collectors edition for sure. Head on over to the contest page to enter.