Joerg Schnitzler aka J.J.S.

Interview run by MichaelP at the 3rd German TR Meeting in July 2002

 

Joerg SchnitzlerJoerg Schnitzler had completed TR Chronicles The real Life of Tut Angk Amun 1rather quickly and then turned his attention to the editor. During that time he was actually still very much under the influence of his illness (heavy metal poisoning) and started building slowly and in phases of sometimes only a few minutes as it was not easy for him to concentrate. In fact, his girlfriend Mareike did read the manual to him.

So, it did take a really long time to finalise his very first level The real life of Tut Angk Amun 1, but after its release through the German Eidos Forum and at this site here, he quickly received lots of positive feedback and enjoyed especially one standard question: 'How do I get out of the room with the three electric flashes?' for which he shortly prepared a draft response email.

Also he had a smile about the emails by a 'big boy from China' who mentioned that German levels are so much better than the Japanese and exchanged emails with a player who had even seen 'The Doors' (one of his favorite bands) live on stage. That aside, he does value reviews with long and focused comments and deems the ratings unimportant.

Joerg considers a strong and intricate storyline which holds a certain inner logic as absolutely critical for a level and believes there can be done so much more than is currently out there. Also, fluent gameplay and many small rooms with a few huge rooms or outside areas as a reward are key for him. What you will not find in his levels are beetles, mazes and long crawl passages. Joerg Schnitzler

When asked whether he has played levels by other authors he lists few and specifically names piega as one who he admires for his fantastic architectural style, but criticizes him for the non-fluent gameplay of his levels, which drives many players away. Joerg's work life perspective is kind of uncertain due to his illness, although his state of health is constantly improving.

He had done a lot with music and computer music before and hopes to get back into this. He claims few but very good friends and all of them are not TR players, but they are having dinner parties where they watch him play or build and this is kind of a proof that computers do not alienate you from the world at all - quite the opposite. Mareike and Joerg are living in Krefeld and love Africa due its cultural background, but as the heat there is troublesome for him, the interest in travel is more towards the north of Germany, as well as UK and Scandinavia. Last but not least, Joerg pointed out that he does not have any idols but considers 'having your own mind/opinions' as very important in life. A beta version of the sequel to his first level was presented to us at the German TR-meeting and we should expect the official release in August 2002.