Hey guys and gals!
It's been quite a while since we last introduced you to one of our own. New year, new season of 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.
Keeping the clocks ticking and the wheels turning under the hood, meet François, aka Hef!
Who are you and what is your job at Amplitude?
I am primarily an online and gameplay programmer. I joined Amplitude right after the release of Endless Space. My first assignation was to rework the multiplayer mode which was a bit broken at the time. I also made some gameplay on the Disharmony expansion.
Then I joined the Endless Legend team to implement multiplayer during the early access phase, which granted me the Desync Hunter badge. 
Since then, I’ve been working on Endless Space 2, doing gameplay, mainly on population management, the Senate and elections, diplomacy, and so on. I also had a quick go at AI and UI fields as reinforcement.
What were you doing before you joined the studio?
I've worked for two years at Tindalos Interactive as a server-side developer, on Stellar Impact, a science-fiction MOBA. The studio has since developed Battlefleet Gothic: Armada.
What do you like the most at Amplitude?
The friendly atmosphere! Everybody has a pretty good sense of humor, which is cool even if sometimes it can be a bit difficult to stay focused.
I also like the fat breakfasts we have on some Fridays, Beer2Gethers, weekly raids on the bar, well… everything food-and-drink-related really.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently implementing the multiplayer mode in Endless Space 2. Plus relentlessly tracking and exterminating sneaky bugs here and there.
What's your favorite game of all time?
Only picking one is hard to impossible. But in the shortlist you’ll find Mass Effect for its universe, Life Is Strange for its storytelling, the Warcraft franchise for its huuuge lore, and GTA for its atmosphere and dry sense of humor.
What’s the game you dream of creating?
I'd like to make a super realistic spaceship simulation. With a physical cockpit full of buttons, switches, blinking LEDs, buzzing alarms, and big screens all around.
The kind of game that requires you to go through a ten-page long checklist only to turn on the engines (and you'd probably end up dead by radiation poisoning if you miss one check).
If I could get a big enough warehouse, I would get 10 of those for pew-pew-PvP sessions. ;)
Is there anywhere on the Internet where I can see more of your stuff?
Well, I do have a Twitter account (@f_seg), with nothing interesting really.
What's your favorite race or character in our games?
I really like the Sophons for what they represent. Some kind of space teenagers playing with hard science (well, that’s how I see them). Plus they’re super cute when they blink their eyes helmet (!?).
Is there a funny story that happened to you at Amplitude?
There is this one time, Marina introduced me as the “Shiny Light of Hope and Optimism of Amplitude” to someone visiting the studio. Which I am, obviously. But for some reason no one agreed. They said she was being ironic. Come on people. I am. Don’t be jealous.
What's the most played song in your music library?
The most played I don’t know. The one currently playing is Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here.
The kind of music I listen to is mainly rock. From America, Eagles, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Rolling Stones to BRMC, The Black Keys, Them Crooked Vultures…
What would you name the autobiography of your life?
"QC-9487: Sometimes page 8 is missing. Repro rate 1/20. Repro steps: Read normally until page 8 is missing."
That's it for François! 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!
