I was lucky enough to sit down and chat with Magnar Jenssen, the author of, amongst other things, Whoopservatory and Mission Improbable
We chat about how he got into level design and the industry, his mods, his process, the difference between making mods and retail games, plus a bunch of other things.
Magnar has agreed to follow this post, so if you have questions that I didn’t ask, he may be able to answer them for you.
Enjoy!
Listen to the interview
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Thanks for an interesting interview. I really need to follow that advice and actually finish things!
A very informative and interesting article
One question to Mr. Jensson (unsure if it came up in video)…
How important is it to have a complete and professional portfolio? I understand it took you a year to compile it.
Do you feel this year was vital in allowing you to get into professional level design?
Hey! I think portfolios with finished work in them are much stronger than portfolios filled with half-finished projects and “beauty scenes”. Of course, it doesn’t require you to take a year off work to create a portfolio 🙂
I would definitely say that my portfolio got me hired at my first job, back then I had zero professional experience, something which is very sought-after these days (sadly).
Hope that answers your question!
A very interesting interview about this competent developer. I played both source mods, MI and Whoopservatory, and especially the first one had an astonishing Level Design, which is one of the best I have ever seen. The second one seemed to be more of a test than a classic mod destined to get the most possible reputation. The idea would much better match to the portal-setting, it would be an enrichment to the gameplay. By the way, I had the same problems to make the second puzzle, as I thought you have to make it with one clone, (which actually works with a good timing!!!). But I would not call the mod a failure. You worked 9 months on the mod and we complain about it like it was 5 minutes work, that is unfair and I respect your work.
But I thought the name was Jenssen, not Jensson.
You are right, I have corrected that except for the image.