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.
Coming from the faraway reaches of Northern Europe, meet Casper, aka Metalynx!
Who are you and what do you do at Amplitude?
Hello! I am Casper, also known as Metalynx on the forums. I am Danish and 27 year old and I work at Amplitude as a game designer as the only person who does not speak French. The design area I focus on is more technical and algorithmic design and leave the narrative and level design parts to the other talented designers. That said I still have participated in the initial design of most features of Endless Space 2.
What were you doing before you joined Amplitude?
I joined Amplitude directly after University, having just finished my master’s degree within ‘Medialogy’, which is a very general modern media education in Denmark. Besides that I’ve been volunteering and participating in Nordic Game Jam in Copenhagen and worked on some smaller personal game system prototypes.
When did you join the studio?
I joined the studio in March 2015, so a year ago … sheesh time goes quick when you’re having fun. I joined very early in the production phase of Endless Space 2.
What feature have you worked on that you're super proud of?
The feature I’m the most proud of in Endless Space 2 is the Diplomacy system. While it didn’t end out exactly as I originally conceptualized it, I think we have taken some large steps in terms of both breaking some of the (in my opinion) less great genre conventions, as well making that part of the game much more interactive and interesting! I cannot wait to read the feedback on it.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently primarily doing content (also known as XML magic) for Endless Space 2. My primary focus for now is the battle system as that will require a lot of polish and balancing moving forward. Other systems I am currently tinkering with is content for diplomacy and the AI.
What's your favorite game of all time?
This question is always so difficult. Three games that I will always have an unreasonable love for is Anarchy Online, Jagged Alliance 2 and Incubation. But recently I am also leaning heavily towards Firaxis’ Xcom and Paradox games.
Is there anywhere on the Internet where I can see more of your stuff?
Currently no. Sorry!
What's your favorite faction or character in our games?
I guess Sophons, simply because of how the race is super smart, but just silly and clumsy at the same time. They feel like they’re supposed to be a joke, but they’re really iconic and fit the universe really well. In terms of gameplay, I really like the Cravers and Necrophages, more so the Cravers. The mechanic of depletion that pushes them to expand before they deplete their resources makes for tense and interesting gameplay.
Is there a funny story that happened to you at Amplitude?
I had just joined Amplitude (read just from University) and another designer left Amplitude around the same time. So 3 or 4 days into joining the company, Maxence (Designer ES2) and Romain (Creative Director) sat down with me and carefully told me that I was now responsible for the entire battle system, one of the most important systems of the game. I found that very jarring and fun.
What's the next place you want to travel to?
Scotland for sure. Scotch whisky and beautiful nature, what’s not to like?
What obscure movie would you recommend watching?
Primer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384/)
The Endless Space 2 team are acutely aware of my objections with ‘time travel/control’ as a plot device. Despite that, this movie does it in the best way and the mind ♥♥♥♥ of figuring out the internal movie logic is just great.
That's it for Casper! We hope you found this interesting. Comments or additional questions, feel free to comment, but Benjamin won't answer for a while, since he just left on paternity leave. Good luck to him!
If there's a question you would like us to ask the interviewees, let us know!
