Interview - Heyo
June 29th, 2007
SOOO I got a chance to have an interview with Heyo! A very talented individual that made De_stratocorp. This map has very nice visuals and seems pretty well balanced. If your a mapper you got to check out this map! Take a look at how he did rooms and stuff its pretty cool :). Anyways I figured id ask him to an interview so we could celebrate him releasing his map and all ^_^! Lets get it started!
What’s your Name?
Sean Cutino, known on the internet has Heyo
How old are you?
16
Where do you live?
New Jersey, USA
What made you decide to start mapping?
Well, after I bought Half-Life 2, I was blown away with all the things in that game and the whole immersive environment.
I decided to download the SDK to make simple fun little single player levels for my friends. After that, I started playing
HL2:DM and CS:S a lot which made me want to design levels for those.
When did you start mapping?
February 2005, about 2 and a half years ago.
What engine did you start with?
I started straight into the Source engine. Before starting that I had done a bit of modeling work, that didn’t really
give me too much experience though. So at the start I was a complete noob fiddling around with Hammer figuring out what
tools did what and all that. I slowly got the hang of it over time.
What do you like/dislike about mapping?
Some things I dislike are that there’s not much you get in return for working so hard on one map, people usually aren’t
open to playing custom maps unless they’re really simple ones. It’s also very time consuming and you have to work for so
long to finally finish and have it look good. What I love about it and basically why I do it is because you have the tools
to create your own little world that you can run around in.
What maps / environments have you made so far?
Well so far I haven’t really made that much. Most of the maps I made before were all unplanned and I just did for fun.
I made the map “gm_towerofterror” which was a recreation of “The Tower of terror” ride at Disney-MGM Studios, it was a good
experience for learning the input/output system of Source engine. My newest map, de_stratocorp, which took 6 months to make
is set in an abandoned laboratory, through making that I learned a ton of new things. I never finished a lot of my old maps
though, so a while ago I decided to only make maps after a lot of planning.
What are you most well known for?
I’m probably most known for my recreation of “The Tower of Terror” map. A video of it someone made got #1 on digg, it got on kotaku,
and there even was a small thing about it in PC Zone magazine. Not many people really know that I was the one who made that tower of
terror map though. I’m hoping that I get well known for de_stratocorp and maps that I make in the future.
Which was your favorite to work on?
My favorite map to work on was probably my newest one, de_stratocorp. It was a lot of fun to work on because my creativity wasn’t
limited in any way. Because of the strange laboratory setting I could design all the textures and think of architecture ideas myself.
Where do you get inspiration from to map?
I definitely get a lot of inspiration from going to Disney World. A lot of my ideas come from the awesome themed places they have there,
you can definitely see this in my map of “Tower of Terror”, heh. I also get inspiration from movies or by just listening to music.
How many times a week would you say you open an editor?
If I am working on a project that week, then I pretty much work on it everyday for a few hours. In between mapping projects I take a break
for a few days. After finishing a map, instead of going straight to hammer and starting on my next project, I plan it all out on paper and
write down all my ideas.
Do you provide your own custom content?
Yes, I make a lot of custom content for my maps. I model, texture and skin.
What modeling program do you use?
I use the program, Wings 3d. It’s a free small program you download of the net. I’m thinking about trying to learn to use 3ds max because I hear it’s a lot easier to do things like UV mapping once you get the hang of it. Wings 3d is nice and easy to learn though so I recommend that to people new to modeling.
What do you use to make your textures?
I just use photoshop to make them. Sometimes I go out with a digital camera and get them that way, then just edit them with PS. I also just make them from scratch when I need to.
Do you find custom content very helpful when mapping? Especially if you make it yourself?
Yes, I can make the map look more like what I want it to if it has custom content made by me. I can have my own look and theme to it instead of using Valve’s and looking like all the rest of the maps. It’s not like Valve has made textures for every environment possible, custom content is needed to make new different environments and look like the real thing.
Do you want to be in the game industry?
Yes, that is my goal for the future. Since I was a little kid I have always wanted to create games, it would be great to be working for a
real company making them.
If you could choose a game company to work for which would it be?
Well of course my ultimate dream would be to work at Valve software. I love the Half-Life series with its great storyline and gameplay.
It would be so awesome to actually be able to make Half-Life.
Who’s your favorite mapper?
I’d have to say that guy “Raminator” the leader of black mesa’s level-design is probably my favorite. I haven’t really played any of his
stuff but it just looks so awesome and well designed.
Whats your favorite game?
There’s many games I really like, I can’t really choose a definitive favorite. I loved Rare’s n64 games like Banjo-Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing.
I also love all the old big Nintendo games like Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Star Fox 64, and Mario Kart 64. There’s also of course Half-Life 2 and
Counter-Strike.
Where do you see yourself in 5 or so odd years?
Hopefully in college or in a game development company as a level-designer. I still want to be making small solo maps for games though,
it’s always fun to develop a level all on your own.
SWEET thanks for taking the time to answer some random questions of mine! I hope it helps people out to see what their fellow mappers are thinking and how they map. If you guys liked this interview or would like to leave comments for Heyo just post them here ^^! Who will I interview next week!?! its a secret MUHAHAHAHA
- Generalvivi
i like getting comments 
