A mateur modding has long been a viable avenue into the game industry, but Tim Willits was one of the first pilgrims to make the trek, and is still among the most successful. Studying computer science and business at the University Of Minnesota in the early 1990s, Willits knew he wanted to get into games, even daydreaming about it while driving to school, but couldn’t figure out what kind of role would suit him. “I tried programming,” he explains, “and I learned that I’m not good at programming.” The moment of clarity soon came, however, thanks to one game – Id’s Doom – and its groundbreaking modding tools. Suddenly Willits was able to build something that was his own. “I would upload levels to Software Creations BBS, and just knowing other people would download them was so cool.”
What he didn’t know in his college years was that the levels he was making would land him the job of his dreams, first creating maps for retail versions of Doom, then working on a string of seminal FPSes, until he eventually became co-owner and director of the company that had hired him. “Trust me,” he says, “I never would have thought that would happen in a million years.” As for modding, Willits remains a strong proponent, and nearly 30 years on believes it’s still the best way to get into game development. “Some of the best designers I’ve ever hired started in the mod community. The greatest portfolio resume ever is to make a mod for your
