- Nov 10, 2017

Get to Know Louise, Our Game Producer

We pestered our co-founder and game producer Louise Leolin with 20 questions to help you get to know her better!

What exactly do you DO at DinoByte Labs?

My role is Managing Director, but I do a little bit of everything! As a co-founder I’m one of the few

who work full-time at DinoByte. Some days I am working on the business side of things like marketing, social media, video production, project management etc., but within our game projects I do everything from conceptual game design, research and story development, to user experience design, testing and drawing game assets! I think producer is a nice umbrella term for what I do.

What was your favorite game growing up?

I started gaming pretty early (around age 4), and my most memorable games were Pokemon, Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Crash Bandicoot and so many more. That being said, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature was my first proper gaming obsession, and is still a fav to this day!

Best recent gaming experience?

I don’t know if this can be considered recent, but when I played Dragon Age: Inquisition (one of my favorite games) I was really blown away by how different the Winter Palace “level” was! They really tried something different there which was more about communication and exploration over combat, and I love seeing games trying to break the mold once in a while! I also more recently loved Don’t Starve; it was a play style I had been craving for a long time, and they just made it everything I could have wanted from a survival strategy game!

Biggest video game character crush?

Alistair from Dragon Age: Origins is the first character that comes to mind. I have fully played through that game 4 or 5 times and romanced him at least 3 times. If card games count, Jace bae from MTG is also a big one. In a nutshell they are both kind of socially awkward nerds, and I love it<3

If you could be teleported into any game world, which would it be?

Here is the thing about game worlds… They are all full of monsters and enemies! The smart thing to say is that I’d want to live in a Harvest Moon or even Rune Factory world, just living my life on my farm with a bunch of hot eligible bachelors and bachelorettes as neighbors. But where is the fun in that? I’d probably want to live in Azeroth since it’s so extremely different from our world, and the landscape is so varied I imagine traveling would be such an adventure!

Favorite game character?

For the longest time the answer to this was GLaDOS from the Portal games, and that is still somewhat true, but someone has come to overtake her place as top fav. It’s D.Va. I don’t know why I have fallen for this character SO MUCH (could easily be up there in the top gaming crushes question). I love her concept of being a pro gamer turned into world saver, and her whole aesthetic and personality are so ME. I love her <3

A game that made you cry?

Games rarely make me cry actually, even though I play A LOT of story driven, emotional games, for some reason I manage to choke back the tears most of the time. However… The ending to Life is Strange.. Oh boy.. I was just a puddle of tears. The whole game and ending felt so cathartic, I think it’s one of the greatest games of all time.

Who in the industry do you look up to?

As someone from a user experience background, I can’t help but look up to Don Norman, who pretty much taught me everything I know about user-centered design and emotional design. In fact it doesn’t really matter what sector you work in, I think everyone should read his book Emotional Design (2004) to better understand why we interact with products in different ways. In terms of the games industry however, I love what Phil Spencer has done for Xbox, and it’s really clear to me that he has a great understanding of putting his users at the center of everything they make. Todd Howard of Bethesda and Patrick Weekes of Bioware also both have a special place in my little gamer heart.

What’s your favorite part of designing a game?

The best part of design is the conceptual early stages. Here at DinoByte we call it the “Think” process, and it’s where we not only come up with the high level concept for our game but also do a lot of the research into what’s currently on the market and how we can improve within the genre. Not only do we get to do fun brainstorming sessions and mood boards, it’s a great excuse to play a bunch of games and get to call it work!

What’s a game design idea you wish you came up with?

I think a lot about Mystic Messenger from Cheritz. It’s just SO clever! I don’t really play otome games, but the I love the way they designed around the platform you play on (your phone), and honestly the text messages, chat rooms and calls feel SO REAL, especially because they happen on the character’s schedule, not necessarily when you chose. This is the type of UX thinking I’d love to see in more games across all platforms!

What’s a great game with bad UX you wish you could fix?

As an active Elder Scrolls: Online players there is SO much I wish I could fix! Though I have to say, they have started to address some of the worst issues in recent patches. That being said, I would go to town on their inventory system, it’s just so messy.. Also the menu systems in Breath of the Wild, an otherwise flawless game, really could do with some UX love. Digital card games are also often SUPER clunky (Hearthstone being the exception), and Pokemon TCG Online is by far one of the worst interfaces and generally designed games I’ve seen coming from such a big company (which is a shame because the Pokemon TCG is actually really fun!).

RANDOM QUICKIES

Best thing to listen to while you work?

I listen to everything! Kpop (Taemin and BTS are my current favs), Panic at the Disco, 20’s and 30’s jazz, classical video game OSTs, I’m a bit all over the place musically

D&D alignment?

Chaotic Neutral, but striving to be Chaotic Good!

Meyer Briggs personality type?

INTP

If you could have one magical power what would it be?

Mind manipulation powers like Jace bae

In real life, are you more of a warrior, rogue or mage and why?

I’m a combo of a rogue and warrior (Louise literally means warrior princess). I think like a rogue, but I’m often the real life “tank” of the group charging us into battle, haha

Hogwarts House?

Slytherin

Which fictional character are you most like?

Usagi from Sailor Moon

PC, Console, Mobile or Tabletop?

I get more immersed sitting on my couch while playing on console, but I love PC for social and competitive gaming

Most importantly, what is your favorite donut?

Boston Cream (I think it’s called Chocolate Custard here in the UK)

How does the rest of the team describe Louise?