This week you’ll meet Brendan Jackson, one of the very first programmers hired to work on Star Citizen! Like much of the team, Brendan comes to us from Lightbox Interactive and worked on Starhawk for the PS3. At CIG, Brendan will be responsible for graphics programming, making the finished effects in Star Citizen match what’s going on in Chris Roberts’ head! You can learn more about Brendan on Friday when he appears on the next Wingman’s Hangar!
How did you get started in the game industry?
I started as a tools programmer at a small studio in the north of England, Beyond Reality in Newcastle Upon Tyne. What projects have you worked on?
I’ve worked on 12 projects (including SC), of which 5 have not seen the light of day. The six that were released or announced were, in reverse order, Star Citizen, Starhawk (PS3), iSkyDive (iPhone), Pirates Vs. Ninjas (Wii), Men of Valor (PC & Xbox) and European Super League (PC and PSOne.) In the middle of all that, I was part of Midway’s Core Technology Group.
What will you be doing on the game?
I will be working on graphics. Working out how to do the new effects we want to add to the game. Making sure we can run at an acceptable framerate.
What are you most excited about seeing in Star Citizen/Squadron 42?
I’m most looking forward to the economics model and the space combat. I really enjoyed Elite, one of the games that inspired Wing Commander and Privateer, back before I worked in games and I’m excited to see that style of play again.
What are you playing right now?
I’ve gone back to play the original Crysis, before I press on to Crysis 3. Brendan recently returned from GDC 2013 with several other members of the Cloud Imperium team. He’ll talk about his experiences on Wingman’s Hangar this Friday!