We often mention our team in terms of "Amplidudes and Amplidudettes", but we decided we should give you folks an idea of who we mean. You've guessed it, it's time for another instalment of our (semi-)regular feature, Meet the Team! If you want to know more about us, or your nephew wants to learn more about the career path of a game developer, or if you're just curious, read on.
Meet the man with the mischievous smile, Romain, aka Kratorg!
Who are you and what do you do at Amplitude?
Hey folks I'm Romain, level 25, one of the cabin boys here at Amplitude and Gameplay programmer. I started and am still learning the ropes on Endless Legend, by developing the various gameplay mechanics that my dear game dev mateys come up with for our expansions, or by squishing bugs.
What were you doing before you joined Amplitude?
Before that I was but a student, nothing special, I followed a rather classical programmer's cursus and I then decided to join a school specialized in games, to achieve every child's dream of making vidyagams! Then I boarded the Amplitude ship as my end of degree internship, and I've been on deck ever since.
When did you join the studio?
About a year ago. (NDE: I'd like the precise date so that you can buy croissants for the team)
What feature have you worked on that you're super proud of?
Since I haven't been here long, I haven't had the occasion to develop a feature that I am particularly proud of. Having said that, I am really happy of having worked on the adaptation of "Tiled" for the map generator in Endless Legend, to enable map creation and modding; I also enjoyed working on the new game mechanics for the last few expansions. I am really pleased with the reception the community gave to Shifters, since it's the first expansion I've worked on from A to Z.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on the next step of the treasure trove that is Endless Legend. I can't really say more than that, but I hope you'll like what's coming as much as you liked Shifters.
What's your favorite game of all time?
I have to say that's a difficult question considering the amount of suitable candidates. Since I enjoy pretty much everything it's hard to compare a strategy game with an FPS or other. If I really have to give an answer, I'd say "S4 league", because it mixed sword and gun fighting, had a very twitchy gameplay and offered a real challenge on movement, with the possibility of jumping on all elements of your surroundings and very elaborate level design. A more recent game that still hasn't released me from its grip (and gets me super mad when I lose, which happens rather frequently :D ): Awesomenauts.
Is there anywhere on the Internet where I can see more of your stuff?
Not really. Maybe my LinkedIn profile if you're interested in a career as a Game programmer!
What's your favorite faction or character in our games?
I really like the design of one of the upcoming Endless Space 2 factions. Too bad I can't show you, but I guarantee they're really cool! In Endless Legend, the Allayi!
Is there a funny story that happened to you at Amplitude?
For some unknown reason, I always get saddled with ridiculous nicknames.
Three other people from my school joined the studio at the same time as me called me "Rominou" on my first day after quaedam used it, a nickname that reeks of macho man; everybody had adopted it within a day, and that's what people call me now. Also whenever I take off my glasses, people call me Ramsey (in reference to this charming Bolton psycho bastard).
(NDE: sorry couldn't resist)
What's the next place you want to travel to?
At the moment I really want to explore the UK from one end to the other, but in general I'm pretty antsy so I would go anywhere.
What's the dish you cook to impress people?
Since my mom is Portuguese, I love to make people discover Portuguese dishes, one of the reasons being that I then get to eat them too!
That's it for Romain! We hope you found this interesting. Comments or additional questions, feel free to comment!
If there's a question you would like us to ask the interviewees, let us know!