TGN: Where were you born?
DZ: Chicago
TGN: What kinds of games did you enjoy in your childhood?
DZ: The best was real-world capture the flag, in a field. Also Jailbreak/Kick the Can. I was lucky to grow up on a semi-enclosed college campus with lots of open space and tons of kids of all ages around. Summer nights we played til long after dark.
I had a friend with first edition D&D and we played that and other RPGs like Traveller. I also played tons of tabletop games like Steve Jackson’s OGRE, Car Wars, and an Alien knockoff called Intruder.
With friends I snuck into DePaul University’s VAX lab and played ASCII Star Trek and other games there. My family eventually got a Commodore 64 and I played Jumpman, Seven Cities of Gold and lots of blocky videogames.
TGN: If you had to choose a favorite, what is your favorite game of all time?
DZ: In terms of total playtime, the Total War series. Battlefield is probably second.
TGN: When did you first have the thought of wanting to enter the game industry or work with games?
DZ: A few weeks before I joined Bungie I wrote to SSG who made one of my favorite games, Warlords. I asked if I could use their engine to make a game about prehistoric survival called Hominid. They very kindly wrote back saying they didn’t do that, and just a few weeks later I was writing that same type of letter to Bungie fans wanting to use one of our engines.
TGN: Was Bungie your first job in the industry, and how did you meet Alex and Jason?
DZ: Yes – met Alex after applying to a job ad for an artist, and Jason on my first day.
TGN: As Bungie’s first full-time employee, what were some of the tasks you performed at your starting positions in the company?
DZ: Everything that wasn’t art, coding or dealmaking. Customer support/tech support, talking with fans on forums, shrinkwrapping and mailing orders of Minotaur, writing press releases and ad copy, letters to fans, trying to get press coverage – and doing voice over as the voice of BoB!
TGN: Tell us what work you did at the time of the first couple of games being developed at Bungie, and upon their releases.
DZ: Above – also, after release, sending review copies, talking with the press, going on press tours.
TGN: When did you first perform a designer role on a game?
DZ: I made levels that shipped in Marathon 2, but wasn’t a full time designer until Stubbs the Zombie at Wideload.
TGN: What were your favorite and least favorite parts of your PR role at Bungie?
DZ: Bungie was originally Mac-only, and back then it was very difficult to get any attention from the PC games press like Computer Gaming World. Favorite part was probably talking with fans at conventions, like Miguel Chavez and Claude Errera.
TGN: Post-Bungie, what other companies have you worked for in the industry?
DZ: Wideload and Industrial Toys – after Wideload closed down, I had some interesting years at Zynga working on Facebook games and slots. I’m doing occasional work for Tuncer Deniz’s company Shifty Eye, on an interesting project.
TGN: What are you currently doing these days?
DZ: Besides the above, I’m working on a sci-fi novel which is pretty far along, and a boardgame, which has a ways to go. The game is the latest version of Hominid, from above.
TGN: As a team member of The Fourth Curtain podcast, who has personally been your favorite guest on the show?
DZ: Not going to pick a favorite, but Edmund McMillen’s episode was bonkers, moving and funny as well. Seamus Blackley’s was an unusually deep one and I learned a lot about ancient Egypt! Lots of our episodes are bonkers, tbh.
TGN: Do you have any hobbies outside of games?
DZ: Reading, playing rock music with neighbors, I love cooking.
DZ: Every gamer should be listening to The Fourth Curtain. Week by week we’re recording the definitive oral history of all videogames – everyone interested in games will find it entertaining and informative. The stories behind people’s favorite games are amazing!
TGN: A big thanks to Doug for the look at his past career and present projects. As he stated in his closing remarks, anyone interested in video games should check out The Fourth Curtain podcast. That podcast was one of the biggest influences on me, to start this website, TheGameNarrative.
Thank you Doug!
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