Who does this new face belong to?

CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
edited March 2013 in News from the Dev Team
Hello there!

My name is Stephen Nichols, but you can call me "CodeWizard." :) I've recently joined GameSalad as the new Vice President of Engineering. My job is to lead the engineering group, oversee improvements to the technology and get a faster, better, more awesome engine in your hands as soon as possible.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I've been professionally developing video games for about 22 years now. I started when I was 17 and I'm 39 now. Yeah, that's 22 years alright. I'm an expert programmer with a particular knack for optimizing code, architecting engines and leading other engineers. I've also been an indie game developer for the past three years; so I know what you're trying to accomplish when using GameSalad. In my career, I've worked at Retired Astronaut Collective, Portalarium, NCsoft, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Codemasters and Sierra On-line. I've been around the block, working on all kinds of games and technology.

There's one thing I know really well: how to make games and game tech.

I've been lurking on the forums for a while now. I see that you're clamoring for the native "lua-free" engine. I see that you're looking for more features to take your game to the next level. I see that you're looking for bug fixes to make your experience with the tools better and more efficient. I see all of that and so does the rest of the team. We're watching and are gearing up to give you what you want.

I'm still getting ramped up on the engine and existing code. I'm still getting to know the team. So, it'd be foolish for me to comment on exact feature delivery timing right now. But I can say, without a doubt, that you'll see some impressive improvements coming very soon. First order of business for us is to get some meaty optimizations into the engine. We've already got a plan in the works and you should be seeing the fruit of that effort very soon!

You'll be hearing more from me on the forums shortly. I'll become a regular fixture here as, in my opinion, keeping the users happy is my first job. And I can't do that unless I'm in regular contact with you. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you need.

Thanks!

-CW
«134567

Comments

  • SolarPepperStudiosSolarPepperStudios Member Posts: 754
    Welcome! And congrats!
  • FlamingbananaFlamingbanana Member, PRO Posts: 90
    Welcome man! You sound very experienced and awesome :D It's nice to have you onboard! :)>-
  • creativeappscreativeapps Member Posts: 1,770
    Hello Stephen welcome to the GS Community. I wish with your experience & support GS will soon release lua free engine & move forward and achieve new goals in game engine industry.
  • POMPOM Member Posts: 2,599
    Welcome Mr Wizard!

    Roy.
  • Braydon_SFXBraydon_SFX Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Bowlboy Sidekick Posts: 9,271
    Welcome!
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,390
    Welcome CW! I must say the most exciting post to come from GS in some time! Looking very forward to hearing and seeing what you can deliver!
  • mounted88mounted88 Member Posts: 1,113
    Welcome code wizard. Looking forward to seeing what you can do.
  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    Welcome! :D

    Chakku
  • SlickZeroSlickZero Houston, TexasMember, Sous Chef Posts: 2,870
    Exciting times I say!...Exciting times.

    ^:)^
  • iCreationZiCreationZ Member Posts: 158
    Welcome Code Wizzard! Looking forward to seeing your contributions to this already amazing software!

    iCreationZ
  • ChimoruChimoru Member, PRO Posts: 137
    Sounds awesome! Can't wait to see what you guys have in store!
  • tenrdrmertenrdrmer Member, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 9,934
    sounds very very interesting. Cant wait to see the fire you light up under those engineers :))

    Welcome to the forums
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    Sounds great, looking forward to seeing the fruit of your efforts.

    :)>-
  • jonmulcahyjonmulcahy Member, Sous Chef Posts: 10,408
    welcome! when you worked at Sierra On-Line, what games did you work on? they published some of my all time favorites.
  • AxygamesAxygames Member, PRO Posts: 203
    Fantastic!!! :x
  • tatiangtatiang Member, Sous Chef, PRO, Senior Sous-Chef Posts: 11,949
    This is exactly the kind of communication that enhances the product and the forums. Happy to see it and welcome!

    New to GameSalad? (FAQs)   |   Tutorials   |   Templates   |   Greenleaf Games   |   Educator & Certified GameSalad User

  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    This is exactly the kind of communication that enhances the product and the forums.
    + 1,000,000 !

  • glyniusglynius Member Posts: 231
    Welcome...personally i am excited that i invested a lot of time and effort, even thought that i am not a programmer, on gamesalad, and see that this software keeps growing and getting better.
  • HoneyTribeStudiosHoneyTribeStudios Member Posts: 1,792
    Nice, thanks for introducing yourself on the forums. Look forward to seeing you around.
  • JarrenHJarrenH Member Posts: 206
    Welcome! Hopefully you will be able to put up with us! Underneath our griping and complaining we really are a grateful bunch. (For the most part :P )
  • WyrdGuitaristWyrdGuitarist Member, PRO Posts: 91
    Welcome! Nice to meet you :)
  • TheSkinTheSkin Member Posts: 74
    Welcome :-)
  • PimanPiman Member, PRO Posts: 165
    This is awesome for sure! Just one thing: Last year I bought GameSalad also on promises of great improvements coming "very soon" (LUA free etc.) ... They never came.

    I just ran out of my pro license, so.... this is a great hook to get me buying again, but I basically expect the next 3 months to be awesome then.

    Here's hopin'...
  • CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
    This is awesome for sure! Just one thing: Last year I bought GameSalad also on promises of great improvements coming "very soon" (LUA free etc.) ... They never came.

    I just ran out of my pro license, so.... this is a great hook to get me buying again, but I basically expect the next 3 months to be awesome then.

    Here's hopin'...
    I can't speak to the precise causes for past features not being delivered in a timely fashion. I do know that designing and implementing features for a system as complicated as GameSalad can be pretty difficult. This is, no doubt, causing unforeseen delays and complications.

    I can say that I'll do my best to be transparent about what we're working on, what the status is and what the likely delivery time is. That should go a long way toward building trust between you and the team.

    Thanks for the feedback and support!
  • CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
    Welcome! Hopefully you will be able to put up with us! Underneath our griping and complaining we really are a grateful bunch. (For the most part :P )
    I love griping and complaining. It means you care about the product! It's my job to make sure we do something about your complaints and griping. And that's what I'll do! :D
  • CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
    edited March 2013
    welcome! when you worked at Sierra On-Line, what games did you work on? they published some of my all time favorites.
    I started at Sierra On-line back in 1991 and worked there about 8.5 years. I spent my first few years working on The Sierra Network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImagiNation_Network). I then moved on to build one of the first graphical MMO games called The Realm (http://www.realmserver.com/). After that, I worked on Middle-earth Online and some other odds and ends.

    I loved (almost) every minute of it!
  • mounted88mounted88 Member Posts: 1,113
  • CodeWizardCodeWizard Inactive, Chef Emeritus Posts: 1,143
    @Codewizard I'm curious what you work on at ubisoft?
    I was hired at Ubisoft to work on a new MMO game based on the Might and Magic franchise. Before that got started I spent several months optimizing and cleaning up the code for their MMO "Shadowbane." Sadly, while the new MMO was fun to play, it ultimately didn't get funding and the studio got shut down.

    Them's the breaks.
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited March 2013
    I love griping and complaining. It means you care about the product!
    Couldn't have put it better myself, about the worst thing you can hope for from your audience is indifference. I'd say there has been a recent trend of intolerance towards anyone criticising GameSalad, to the extent that even asking about something like the native engine would risk a mauling from other forum users :))

    If I ran a software company, I'd openly invite criticism, in fact I'd demand it, people queuing up to tell me how awesome my product is would be great, people queuing up to tell me where my product is lacking is invaluable, so it's refreshing to hear this kind of approach from GameSalad themselves (unless of course you've just broken into their offices over the Easter weekend and are in fact an escaped lunatic, in which case I'm calling the cops).

    :)>-
Sign In or Register to comment.