We're back with another Meet the Team! Take a peek inside the studio, learn more about the many careers and paths that led our collaborators to join Amplitude!
If you want to know more about us, or your niece wants to learn more about the career path of a game developer, or if you're just curious, read on.
He is our narrative engineer and plushie enthusiast, meet Guillaume, aka MarechalBanane!
Who are you and what is your job at Amplitude?
Hiya! My name is Guillaume and I’m a Gameplay Programmer at Amplitude, which means I program game systems, based on the rules imagined by the game designers. Most of my work on Endless Space 2 was and still is on the quest system. It may not seem so, but it’s actually a huge system that’s been keeping me busy for the last year and a half. ^^
What were you doing before you joined the studio?
I spent 3 years at a small studio called Le Cortex as a programmer. We were making karaoke games for the Wii and PS3, and worked on our own projects when we had the time. And we actually found the time to make a game for the NEO GEO called Crouching Pony Hidden Dragon, a top-down shooter / RPG starring a ninja pony. Most of us were rookies and the final product quality can be subject to debate :) , but making it really was tons of fun, and a wonderful learning experience. Trying to get our NEO-GEO to render something other than a sad pixel mess at 10pm while eating ice cream and listening to our aggressively bad playlist… Good times.
What do you like the most at Amplitude?
Well, my teammates, of course! They’re a bunch of smart and talented people, dedicated to their team and the project, and each one brings something unique. I’m super proud of working with them. Now, I know this definitely sounds like a cheap corporate answer. What can I say? Sometimes truth is cheap and corporate.
What have you worked on that you're super proud of?
I wouldn’t say “super proud” as I’m still learning, but I’m glad the quest system allowed us to do what we wanted on Endless Space 2.
And apart from that, I somehow managed to work a bit on the scanview visual code, despite having no real experience in shader programming, and it really was a lot of fun. Coming from gameplay programming where we have lots of architectural constraints, this stuff felt like black magic to me. Have you seen those fancy FIDSI circles in the economic scanview ? Yup, that’s me. :P
What are you currently working on?
Currently, mainly debugging and polishing Endless Space 2. And also, secret stuff. :)
What's your favorite game of all time?
There are so many! I’ve been playing since I was a toddler, and I came across so many games that touched me in so many ways that it’s virtually impossible to keep track of them all, let alone compare them. Each time I try to make a top five, it’s never exactly the same. Besides, how do you compare Chrono Trigger and Kerbal Space Program, Mario 64, Monkey Island, Five Nights At Freddy’s, Link’s Awakening, Minecraft or Megaman X ? All of these, as well as many many others, are all simultaneously the best game in the world for me, and it wouldn’t make sense to try and rank them.
What’s the game you dream of creating?
There are so many! I’m obsessed with controls, so I’d really like to work someday on a platform-genre-redefining game, like Super Meat Boy has been. I’d also love to work on a bird simulator or something, I feel like there is still much to left explore in transcribing the flying sensation in games. I’d be super happy to make a story-driven game, something as stupid, yet as profound and cleverly crafted as Undertale. That’s just to name a few. That’s the beauty of the medium, there is so much left to explore!
What's your favorite fictional character?
There are so many! But if I had to choose an iconic one, well, there’s a subtle hint on my photo. I’m a huge fan of the Calvin & Hobbes comic, I’ve read them all countless times both as a child and an adult, and I get the feeling that I could still re-read them today and learn something new. And there are kickass dinosaurs, too. So yeah, Calvin.
Is there anywhere on the Internet where I can see more of your stuff?
Not yet no, I’m still a bit shy. :P
And I have so many homonyms that if you try to google me, you’ll most likely pick the wrong guy anyway. There even was a guy with the same name as me in my engineering school.
It’s like a natural camouflage, very handy.
What's your favorite race or character in our games?
I really like The Horatio, and the fact that it’s practically impossible to prove or truly understand anything in their backstory, since anyone can really be anyone else at any goddamn time.
Is there a funny story that happened to you at Amplitude?
There was this one time where one of my teammates decided he wanted to become my own personal valet (I’d like to emphasize that even though we get along well, I never encouraged him to do that in any way). I was flattered but also a bit weirded out, so I asked him to send me a cover letter, hoping he’d be too lazy to do it. He did it. I replied negatively. He refused my rejection, and decided to start working as my valet the next day. At this point I figured I might as well play along, so I asked him to go fetch me some adhesive tape. He refused. So I fired him. He refused that too, and has been complaining ever since that I don’t appreciate his hard work, and he still insists on being paid.
Does that make sense ? I feel like it doesn’t. Like, at all. (NdE: You'll get to meet him soon!)
What's the dish you cook to impress people?
The sausage soup. Prepare a soup like you would normally do, but at the last step when you’re mixing everything, throw in a sausage or two. Never fails.
That's it for Guillaume! 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!
