Sega-16 recently had the chance to chat with Carl-Henrik Skarstedt, a programmer who spent many years with Funcom, the third party developing house behind such PC hits as The Longest Journey and Anarchy Online. During his time there, Carl-Henrik worked on both the Genesis and Sega CD, on titles such as Samurai Shodown, Fatal Fury Special, NBA Hangtime and Daze before Christmas. He shared his insights and experiences on working with different publishers, as well as what it was like to program for Sega’s ill-fated add-on.

Everyone dreams at working at a major game developer. It’s something all kid gamers wish for, and many adult gamers strive to make it a reality. Sometimes though, destiny comes knocking quickly, and when it does you have to run with it and never look back. That’s what happened to Doug Lanford, who went for an interview for a game tester job at Sega on a whim. Four years later, he was a programmer with a bright future ahead of him.