Happy Launch Day everyone! Holy crap, this has been an amazing journey!
Now that I've had a little breathing room in my schedule, I've been more active in the forums and even started streaming a bit myself. During that time, so many people have sent praise and thanks to the folks here at HBS. Well, I just wanted to turn that around and say thanks to all our fans. So... thank you. Your kind words mean a lot to us. <3
This has been an absolute dream come true for me. I've loved video games (and games in general) from a very early age. And BattleTech was a huge part of my teen and college years. I played sooooo much tabletop and every BattleTech video game I could get my hands on.
In high school I realized people would pay me money to be a programmer, and I really liked programming so boom, career was set. Since then I always did a bit of game development on the side as a hobby. Fast forward a few decades, I marry a wonderful woman, have an awesome kid, and succeed well enough at my career to make a serious attempt at indie game development. So about 3.5 years ago, I quit my job and started working on my own stuff.
I heard about the new turn-based BattleTech video game on kickstarter, so I backed it. A few months later, my wife noticed that HBS has some programmer positions open. "You HAVE to apply," she said. I rolled my eyes and said, "Sweetie, there's noooo waaaay they're going to hire me. I have no professional game dev experience, and we live halfway across the country." But she persisted until I agreed.
For the next month, I tailored my activities to focus on learning the specific technologies they were interested in so I could do well in the interview. I also wrote developer journal entries on GameDev detailing my activities, I released some Unity Assets, and I cleaned up my EckTechGames portfolio page. I really wanted to show HBS I was serious about. To make a long story short... (too late) It worked and I got the job! So I said goodbye to my home, my friends, and my parents all of about 30+ years. I gave away most of my stuff, and moved my family across the country to Washington.
It was terrifying, but so worth it. Being a game developer is something I've wanted for as long as I can remember. I never thought in a million years I'd get to put my name in the credits of a game and franchise I love so much. So I'd also like to thank HBS for taking a chance on me. It's been ridiculously awesome.
I'd also like to thank my friends and family for encouraging me to follow my dream. And I'd like to thank Vincent from Collateral. I'm definitely not driving my cab anymore. But most of all, I want to thank my wife and kiddo. They made huge sacrifices so that I could follow my dream. Without you, this wouldn't have been possible. I love you so much. <3
Since then I've been able to do so many cool things for a die hard BattleTech nerd like me. Work on BattleTech, guest star on DFA, get put in the DFA Tarot deck, play BattleTech with backers and Jordan Weisman, demo the betas at GenCon, meetup and hang out with the fans, win the HBS Internal Tournament (undefeated so far!), get an achievement named after me, and sign people's BattleTech merchandise like I'm a damn rock star!
Sorry to get all acceptance speech squishy on this day of multi-ton humanoid war machine destruction. It just had to be said. See you on the battle field MechWarriors!
#livingthedream
- Eck
Edit: To top it all off, my wife and kiddo made this awesome tribute video. I love my amazing girls! <3
Now that I've had a little breathing room in my schedule, I've been more active in the forums and even started streaming a bit myself. During that time, so many people have sent praise and thanks to the folks here at HBS. Well, I just wanted to turn that around and say thanks to all our fans. So... thank you. Your kind words mean a lot to us. <3
This has been an absolute dream come true for me. I've loved video games (and games in general) from a very early age. And BattleTech was a huge part of my teen and college years. I played sooooo much tabletop and every BattleTech video game I could get my hands on.
In high school I realized people would pay me money to be a programmer, and I really liked programming so boom, career was set. Since then I always did a bit of game development on the side as a hobby. Fast forward a few decades, I marry a wonderful woman, have an awesome kid, and succeed well enough at my career to make a serious attempt at indie game development. So about 3.5 years ago, I quit my job and started working on my own stuff.
I heard about the new turn-based BattleTech video game on kickstarter, so I backed it. A few months later, my wife noticed that HBS has some programmer positions open. "You HAVE to apply," she said. I rolled my eyes and said, "Sweetie, there's noooo waaaay they're going to hire me. I have no professional game dev experience, and we live halfway across the country." But she persisted until I agreed.
For the next month, I tailored my activities to focus on learning the specific technologies they were interested in so I could do well in the interview. I also wrote developer journal entries on GameDev detailing my activities, I released some Unity Assets, and I cleaned up my EckTechGames portfolio page. I really wanted to show HBS I was serious about. To make a long story short... (too late) It worked and I got the job! So I said goodbye to my home, my friends, and my parents all of about 30+ years. I gave away most of my stuff, and moved my family across the country to Washington.
It was terrifying, but so worth it. Being a game developer is something I've wanted for as long as I can remember. I never thought in a million years I'd get to put my name in the credits of a game and franchise I love so much. So I'd also like to thank HBS for taking a chance on me. It's been ridiculously awesome.
I'd also like to thank my friends and family for encouraging me to follow my dream. And I'd like to thank Vincent from Collateral. I'm definitely not driving my cab anymore. But most of all, I want to thank my wife and kiddo. They made huge sacrifices so that I could follow my dream. Without you, this wouldn't have been possible. I love you so much. <3
Since then I've been able to do so many cool things for a die hard BattleTech nerd like me. Work on BattleTech, guest star on DFA, get put in the DFA Tarot deck, play BattleTech with backers and Jordan Weisman, demo the betas at GenCon, meetup and hang out with the fans, win the HBS Internal Tournament (undefeated so far!), get an achievement named after me, and sign people's BattleTech merchandise like I'm a damn rock star!
Sorry to get all acceptance speech squishy on this day of multi-ton humanoid war machine destruction. It just had to be said. See you on the battle field MechWarriors!
#livingthedream
- Eck
Edit: To top it all off, my wife and kiddo made this awesome tribute video. I love my amazing girls! <3
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