INTERVIEW 3 | Vol.
III No. 2, 2005
Animating Toontown
with Mike Goslin
At Disney's Toontown site, thousands of kids (and maybe a few adults too) log in to a three-dimensional environment, create their own Toon characters, furnish virtual homes, and compete in games with friends. They don't just watch toons, they are the toons. We talked to head of Disney's VR Studio Mike Goslin to find out how it's done.
Q: How does your development team function?
Mike: Our development team is made up of programmers, animators, and artists. The artists create and paint 3D models of environments, characters, and props for our games. The animators (working with programmers) then bring these characters and environments to life.
Q: The whole process of controlling a character in a 3D space online is kind of magical. How does the technology work?
Mike: Although our games are usually launched from a Web page, what happens next is that we install software onto the player's local machine. When installation is complete, we essentially bypass the web browser entirely to display our game.
Q: How do you overcome bandwidth issues when creating a 3D online environment?
Mike: We use several techniques to minimize how much bandwidth we consume. We download everything possible to the player's local machine, so that when they are playing the game they are fetching 3D content from disk rather than over the Internet. For moving objects, we only send updates periodically and "smooth" the movement locally so that things don't appear to jump around.
Q: The Toontown site is massively multiplayer. How big is Toontown in terms of players or subscribers and how are customers attracted to the site?
Mike: We don't give out our subscription numbers, but I can tell you that we have nearly 10,000 people playing simultaneously during our busiest times. We attract people to the site by running television and print ads, by advertising online, through coverage by the media, and from word of mouth.
Q: Upon registering at Toontown, users customize their toon—choosing the physical look, color, clothes, and name for their character. How important is customization to the players?
Mike: Customization is very important because in a world of tens of thousands of players it is important to be able to create a unique persona. We also think that people who become attached to the Toon they have created will be more likely to stick around and continue to play the game.
Q: We loved the concept of toons throwing pies at evil Cogs taking over Toontown. What do you see as the most compelling features of the game?
Mike: Some of the most compelling features of the game are that it is easy to form groups and that it is easy to communicate with other players via our menu-based chat system. Toontown is intended to be a social experience, so teaming up and communicating are essential ingredients for this.
Q: The game has lots of neat tutorial features to gets users quickly up to speed. Are there special challenges in designing games for kids?
Mike: Actually, the tutorials are as much for the parents as for the kids. We ended up with a large number of adults playing Toontown, and I think this is in part because the game is so easy to learn. The special challenges of designing an online game for kids include making it possible to get into the game quickly and making sure the communication between players is safe.
Q: Everything about the site has a consistent look and feel that is unmistakably Disney. How do you achieve that level of visual consistency?
Mike: I give a lot of credit to our art director. One of his responsibilities is maintaining that consistent look and feel throughout the design process. We also have a lot of terrific artists who know how to create great art while still remaining true to a style guide.
Q: Does the company view the game as a revenue source (an online game product) or a marketing tool for developing better relations with customers?
Mike: The company regards the game as a revenue source primarily, but I think everyone recognizes the potential for helping to reach new people.
Q: Looking ahead, what fun projects are ahead for your team? And what do you see as the future of online gaming as compared to console games?
Mike: We've got another massively multiplayer game in development currently, and have been thinking of some new ideas also. I think we will see a convergence between online gaming and console gaming when the next generation of consoles arrives in 2006, because these will be Internet-enabled right out of the box. In any event, I expect to see people playing online games in their living rooms soon, which will help bring a more mass-market audience into online gaming.
