Meet a Molecule
Catherine Wooley is a Designer at Media Molecule who previously worked at The Chinese Room, Creative Assembly and EA Bright Light. Cat was on the Develop 30 under 30 list last year and is heavily involved in BAFTA games as well. You can learn more about her below!
What do you do on Dreams?
I’m a designer specifically working on the tutorials in Dreams. We're making sure they teach you things you’d want to know and spark ideas for what you could create! It's so much fun and such a different way of thinking about tutorials when compared to your average tutorial in a video game!
What're you looking forward to the CoMmunity doing in Dreams?
Hmm, I think everything that I could never expect is what I'm most looking forward to. Every idea I would think about, but being created in a different way to what I would expect! Being less vague though I want to see cute things, weird things, some good scary things too (I'm hard to scare when it comes to games), clever things, I'm looking forward to EVERYTHING! I can't wait for the CoMmunity to have their hands on it because they're all amazing!
What do you like to do in Dreams? Do you have a favourite creation?
I like to make weird things! Or things that I have a special connection with. I’ve got a massive long list of the things I want to create when I’m not creating content for the game and I’m slowly working on them bit by bit, either with thinking out how I’ll set up the logic, or modelling some elements. Among my list you can find special gems like a Spoopy Owl, various yōkai and a Vampire kid that throws sweets at it's victims!
In terms of favourite creations I really loved the game I made with my twin sister Charlotte for the Global Game Jam earlier this year, called Fly my Pigeon, Fly! I’d love to go back to it with her and improve it, especially after going back to it for the August newsletter. Plus it'll be nice to revisit it when not constrained to making it over a weekend as it's a little less stressful that way!
Favourite food, movie and song, in that order. GO!
Hands down Okonomiyaki! It’s a savoury pancake that can have all sorts of things added to it, as it roughly translates to cook how you like it, I’m quite partial to including sweetcorn and cheese alongside the usual cabbage, they’re super tasty and easy to make at home!
Movie: I’m going to go with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as I like a film that removes itself from realism, plus it’s got a great soundtrack and I never get bored of it!
My favourite song changes quite frequently, but to be Dreamsy I’m going to go with Daydreaming by Radiohead which coincidentally was my weird way of announcing to friends that I was going to work at Mm on Dreams! Plus I love the music video, a game like it is screaming to be made in Dreams!
Finally, what’s your favourite game?
My favourite game is Shenmue. Shenmue was released on the Sega Dreamcast back in '99 and it was the first game I played that made me feel like I was in a different place but with a big punch of realism. A living, breathing Japan, not that I had ever gone outside of Europe at the time...but it felt so real compared to other games I had played. So although I may like games as a form of escapism like most do, the idea of delving into Japan, collecting small toys and going to bed at a reasonable hour just really hits the spot for me.
But I'm also really enjoying replaying Bioshock right now, and I have a very special place in my heart for Alien: Isolation.
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