John Guthrie
For other uses, see Guthrie (disambiguation). |
| John Guthrie | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Born |
October 15, 1973[1] |
| Title(s) |
|
| Time period |
1997 – June 2017[2] |
| Nickname(s) |
Choryoth[3] |
John Guthrie was a level designer at Valve.
Contents
Biography[edit]
Guthrie started working with Steve Bond at the age of 16. While working towards a college degree in computer science, he earned money by delivering pizzas. Guthrie also worked full time providing technical support and web design for an Internet service provider called Nucleus Communications.[4] Before joining Valve, he helped design the website "Blue's News".[5]
Both he and Steve Bond were hired by Valve after Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington obtained from Id Software a list of developers working with the Quake technology. After receing an e-mail from Newell, Bond chose to join Valve. Guthrie followed, and decided to drop out of school.[6] The whole story can be read on their page.
Work[edit]
Half-Life (1998)[edit]
He constructed the chambers and corridors of the Black Mesa Research Facility and the underground train system.[7] Along with Kelly Bailey, he built the test chamber disaster sequence featured at the beginning of Half-Life.[8]
Half-Life 2 (2004)[edit]
He created several AI test maps, and took part in developing the following locations of the game:
He also worked on the Combine Launcher,[9] the Desert Launcher,[9] and the Ravenholm traps.[9]
Other[edit]
Along with Tom Leonard and Steve Bond, he demonstrated their idea of modular artificial intelligence, where creatures could be assembled from components at runtime and exhibit novel emergent behaviors.[11]
Trivia[edit]
John's surname appears in Half-Life as an Easter egg on a Sector C locker and on a soda can. It can be heard in announcements as well.
Selected gameography[edit]
- Half-Life (1998)
- Half-Life: Opposing Force (1999)
- Half-Life (Dreamcast port) (2001)
- Half-Life (PlayStation 2 port) (2001)
- Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001)
- Half-Life: Source (2004)
- Half-Life 2 (2004)
- Half-Life 2 (Xbox port) (2005)
- Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (2005)
- Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006)
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007)
- Portal (2007)
- Portal: Still Alive (2008)
- Portal 2 (2011)
Company biographies[edit]
- John Guthrie
- Along with his buddy Steve Bond, John started Quake Command, the influential and popular Internet gaming site. John was also the co-creator of “Quake Airplane” and “Quake Kart,” and has constructed many of the chambers and corridors in Half-Life’s Black Mesa Research Center. Since joining Valve in 1997, John has designed levels for Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress, Portal: Still Alive, and Portal 2.
References[edit]
- ↑ October 11-17, 1997 on Blue's News
- ↑ "Confirmed: Designer John Guthrie has left Valve." @ValveTime on Twitter (June 15, 2017)
- ↑ 1/11/99 - 10 questions with the Dynamic Duo, Wedge and Choryoth on Gibbed (archived)
- ↑ Wedge and Choryoth's page on Valve's official website (archived)
- ↑ Old Logo Archive on Blue's News
- ↑ The Final Hours of Half-Life - Bring in the Troops Gamespot (March 11, 2000) (archived)
- ↑ About the Valve team on Valve's official website (January 11, 1998) (archived)
- ↑ Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, page 39
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 WC map pack
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Final Hours of Half-Life 2
- ↑ The Final Hours of Portal 2
