We’re back for another round of Inside Crytek: our very own interview series which features different members of the Crytek team. First you can get up close and personal with them, and afterwards you get to ask the questions!
To submit your own questions to today’s interviewee, simply post them under the link to the article on our Facebook page, GFACE, or MyCrysis. We will then forward the best and most original questions, and next week the answers will be posted online.
Today's interview features Filipe Amin. Filipe is originally from Portugal (Madeira and Lisbon) and has been at Crytek since 2009. He previously worked as a Games/Engine Programmer in Portugal and currently works as a Programmer on Crysis 3 (focused on weapons).
Why did you want to work in the games industry and how did you get started?
Since very early in my life I was always imagining my own games and getting frustrated by the fact that I didn’t know how to turn them into reality. When I got my first computer, I quickly started learning programming and realized that was the way to go if I wanted to make games. First thing I did when I connected to the Internet was to search for game developers communities like Gamedev. I was actively participating on the Portuguese Gamedev scene and demo scene, making games and demos and making some good friends. Only a few years after, one of the game companies from Portugal invited me to join to make casual games.
Why Crytek?
Crytek is simply the best European game studio ever. I wanted to stay in Europe and be part of a very high profile studio making a really cool game and Crytek was the no-brainer choice.
What are the best and worst parts of your job?
The best part is working with such talented people, seeing the great art from our environment artists, the absolutely sick weapons from our weapon artist (you guys won’t believe your own eyes when you get to play Crysis 3), animators always pushing the bar, level designers having such brilliant ideas and, of course, always learning new tricks and techniques from my peer programmers.
As a programmer, the worst part must be the alpha phase when bugs start to crawl. Endless hours dealing with those nasty pesky bugs that never stop coming. The more bugs I fix, the more bugs appear.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve been working on the Crysis 3 weapon group. We previously finished the compound bow for the E3 demo – hope you all liked it! I’ve worked on all the cool new weapons like the bow and some alien weapons as well. The demo only showed a fraction, we have got lots more new gadgets in store for you!
What music do you listen to at work?
It is varied. I am a big fan of electronic dance music and psychedelic therefore I generally listen to techno, psytrance, goa, etc. Sometimes I listen to drum and bass as well. But other times I prefer listening to something more chilled like psychill or some of the cool tunes from Magnatune.
What inspires you in your work or in life?
The people I am working with are a good source of inspiration, for sure. I like to go to Soundcloud and listen to some of the new music that people create. I absolutely love 3dTotal and imagining games to look like some of those pictures sometime in the future.
What types of games do you like, and what is your favorite game of all time?
I like sci-fi action games mostly. The latest games I’ve played and enjoyed are Mass Effect (all of them), Gears of War, and Portal 2. My favorite game of all time has to be Sonic & Knuckles.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Like I said before, I love electronic dance music especially if it is psychedelic. Outside work I do a bit of DJing at home for friends (have never done it in a club though) and a bit of music production with software synths.
Do you have any tips for people wanting to get started in the industry?
Don’t just keep it as a dream. If you really want to do it, start doing it right now. Don’t use the old excuse “I don’t have time”. If you don’t have time for it but you have time for something else it is because you don’t want it so badly. There are so many ways to start making games nowadays, grab a compiler and learn programming, grab the CryENGINE 3 SDK and start making levels or models. There is even an awesome set of DVD tutorials created by a Crytekker explaining the ins and outs of CryENGINE 3. But most importantly, create stuff that makes you proud, that will help you a lot to get into the industry.
Don't forget to submit your own questions to Filipe by posting them under the link to the article on our Facebook page, GFACE, or MyCrysis!
