Iron Lore has become one of the better stories emerging out of the independent developer pool. Founded in 2000, the studio recently established itself with the action RPG Titan Quest, a fun romp that drew attention from Diablo fans and dungeon-newcomers alike. For its efforts, Iron Lore won the 2007 Game Developers Choice award for best new studio.

Some weeks ago, Iron Lore had a shake-up. Manager Jeff Goodsill was promoted to President, and former EA Mythic senior designer Steve Marvin was hired as the design director. I questioned the two about their pasts and futures, and gained a little insight into the company's direction in the process.

Shack: How did you start out in the industry?

Steve Marvin: With games, I actually started out working as a designer and editor at Iron Crown Enterprises, a paper-and-dice roleplaying game company. Then in the mid-nineties I got a job as a product support rep at Kesmai, one of the first multiplayer game companies, long before MMOs. Back then the communities were much smaller, and the games charged by the hour. Charged a lot. If you were playing on GEnie, for instance, during the day you would pay almost $20 an hour to play. Kesmai at the time didn't have designers per se; the project producers were the designers. So, in order to get to design, I trained to become a producer. That ended up creating an odd pattern in my career where I moved between designer and management roles. Since Kesmai I've worked at Retro Studios--pre-Metroid--Digital Anvil, Redstorm, Lodestone Games--a great little startup that unfortunately lost its funding before it could make good--Blue Ridge Games, and finally Mythic, before arriving finally at Iron Lore.

Shack: How long had you been working at Mythic prior to your exit?

Steve Marvin: Just over three great years. When Lodestone closed its doors, Mark and Rob hired on most of the staff. That was great for Mythic, because that was a fantastically talented bunch of people, but also really great for me, because they are also just great people, and dear friends, and getting to keep working with them was a pure joy.

Shack: Compare the break room at Mythic to the one at Iron Lore. Which is more fun?

Steve Marvin: Actually, I'm going to have to give Iron Lore the win here, but mainly because it still has the advantage of being smaller and cozier as a company. A game library with three nice couches and an array of consoles with TVs, as well as an eight-way dedicated LAN gaming room for Game Nights on Thursday provides a great break room for a company Iron Lore's size. A similar setup scaled to EA Mythic's current size would have to be enormous, and when I left space was at a premium at Mythic with the rapid expansion for WAR. Mark cares a lot about his people, and I have no doubt he could put together a stellar game room once Mythic is able to acquire more space.

Shack: Leaving a game midway through development seems a bit like being traded away to a different sports team in the middle of a season. Is it a difficult situation leaving the Warhammer project before seeing the fruits of your labor come to bear?

Steve Marvin: Very difficult. Perhaps even worse than missing the ship was leaving the friends I have there. Some of them I've known and worked with my entire career. However, the opportunity was just too great. My departure was very amicable, and I can't wait for Warhammer: Age of Reckoning to come out. After all, I have better reason than most to know it's going to rock!

Shack: What is the most valuable lesson you took away from your time at Mythic?

Steve Marvin: Making games is about people. Sounds trite, sure, but it reads a lot better with experience. I can mine a lot of value out of that phrase, from pleasing the customer to helping to run a company.

Shack: How is Massachusetts treating you?

Steve Marvin: Great! I'm outside Boston proper, and I love the area. I've never been much of a big-city boy; I want trees and grass and light traffic. So far, it's a delight. Of course, everyone keeps warning me about my first Boston winter.

Shack: What are you most looking forward to in working at Iron Lore?

Steve Marvin: The entire thing! Actually, though, the best part that lies ahead is getting to know everyone better. I've been amazingly lucky throughout my career in getting to work with outstanding people; I've been even luckier that so many of them have become such great friends. Sometimes when you make new friends it feels instead like you're meeting old friends for the first time. That happened at Mythic, and I knew from the first moments of my time at Iron Lore that I had hit the jackpot again.

Shack: What have you guys been playing lately?

Steve Marvin: I just finished Bioshock. Scattered around my computer and consoles are, let's see. In no particular order: Crackdown, Dead Rising, Gears of War, Titan Quest and the expansion--which I loved before I ever considered coming to Iron Lore, I would note, and still play--Command and Conquer 3, the obligatory World of Warcraft, Psychonauts off of Steam, Half-life 2 and Episode One, the latest expansion for Galactic Civlizations 2, Civilization IV, Supreme Commander, Dawn of War and its expansion packs, Oblivion, Company of Heroes, and some others. Some games I keep coming back to for a long time, some I play and then move on. If I'm feeling particularly grognard-y, I fire up some Hearts of Iron II.

Read on for a wild interview with Iron Lore president Jeff Goodsill.