After a short break, we're back with the Meet the Team Q&As - today, David Salsman, senior programmer! And as an apology for the absence, I'll post a picture from SotS2 that's on the Kerb boards - an old friend returns!


...

TGIF, which means it's time for another team member Q&A. This week, it's Chris Gerspacher, lead art brain at Kerberos. Besides having a massive impact on the look of the first game, he's also the team's main effects creator. So when that lancer peels the hull off your ships, take a moment to thank Chris for how pretty it looks!


...

For a company our sized, we have have a lot of duplicate names; Chris, James, and now Darren, all feature higher statistically. Meet programmer Darren Waine! (not to be confused with Darren Grant, another programmer)


...

It seems like yesterday we posted our last weekly Meet the Team mini-interview. In fact, it was the day before the day before yesterday. Next up, SotS II design lead and Kerberos head honcho, Martin Cirulis!


...

"Hey! What happened to last week's Meet the Team?"

Here it is, relax! I'm a little behind, my apologies...

"And the week before that?"

Uh. I was in LA. At E3. It got left behind. Again, my apologies.

But, let's get this party started again with Darren Grant, head technical guru at Kerberos Productions!
...

It's that time again... well, a day late, actually. My bad, but I beg indulgence, as we're busy prepping for E3 this week. The most craziest time of the year!

This week we drop in on John Yakimow, old-school Kerberos artist, John Yakimow! His style is a massive part of what makes the Zuul - from ship to furry killing machines - what they are; terrifying. And he's applying that same twisted thinking to the Suul'ka as well. Suffice to say, you're all in for a treat... before it wipes you out.

And then, to unwind from the darkside of building evil aliens, he illustrates the webcomic Dungeons and Denizens! ...

Name and job title!
My name is Herod Gilani and I’m primarily a Surface Artist.

What does a Surface Artist do?
I paint textures and create materials as best as I can using real world references and adding my own imagination to them. Making sure the level of detail and surface materials are as high and variant as possible. Also create "target renders", giving the programmers and artists a visual quality bar to aim for.
...

Name and job title!
Allan MacDonald, 3D Generalist.

What does a 3D Generalist do?
Currently focusing on a lot of hard surface modeling and design work for various races, but my roots are in character work. I like making stuff as long as it strikes me as cool.
...

Name and job title!
Chris Stewart! Producer (who sometimes designs)! Why are we yelling?!

What does a Producer do?
It varies from company to company, but in general a producer keeps an eye on how the project is coming together, watching all the various important dates on the calendar, liaising with publishers, and, in a sentence, doing whatever the team needs to help keep them on task and moving forward. Order in dinner, pick up office supplies, make coffee, pay the water dude, crack a few jokes, help someone move, wash dishes, write a LOT of emails, maintain our various web and PR assets (y'know, like these Q&As), answer interview questions, make sure the team answers interview questions, crack a few more jokes, and even, once, unplug a toilet.

I’m betting EA producers don’t unplug toilets. Squeamish types maybe…
...

Our weekly Kerberos Q&A continues this week with the AI programmer of few words, Dan Read!


Name and job title!
Dan Read, AI programmer.

What does an AI Programmer do?
I make alien civilizations, ships, etc., do smart things. ...

Week three in our weekly meet the team feature - up this time is artist Greg Kolodzian!




Name and job title!

I'm Greg Kolodzian, a 3d modeler/texture artist on SWORD OF THE STARS 2. ...

It's time for our weekly Meet The Team feature, wherein you get to peer, briefly, into the minds of the people making Sword of the Stars 2! Indeed, they are much like you! Step right up, ladies and gentlemen and see The Elusive Game Developer!


...

Never say the Sword of the Stars forums never get anything exclusive - over the the coming weeks, along with the monthly dev diaries, we will be posting little Q&As with the makers of SotS2. And we're kicking things off with alien inventor, writer, and sometimes zombie, Arinn Dembo.


...

The great thing about sequels is that we get the opportunity to tackle new challenges and dig up old wish lists. It gives ...

Over the last five years–through two expansions, a weapons pack and a tech pack–the graphics engine that fueled the original ...

Welcome to the first of a series of developer diaries from Kerberos Productions - this introductory entry is by Martin Cirulis, Lead Designer on Sword of the Stars II.

Sword of the Stars is a ground-breaking Space 4X game that uses a hybrid design to bring players deep turn based strategic play and combines it with rich real time 3-D battles where every shot counts as fleets clash above contested worlds. ...