This document summarizes the career of Dietmar Hauser, an Austrian game developer. It describes his education in computer science and early jobs developing workflow applications. It then outlines his career in game development, where he worked on games for platforms like Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and mobile. Over nearly two decades he progressed from programmer to lead roles on titles like Cursed Mountain and worked for studios like dion-software and Sproing. It concludes with him going freelance under his company roborodent after Sproing closed.
4. Retrospective I
Likely stopped school too early…
… but got me a head start
Work & life experience is invaluable…
… but never stop learning
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
5. First Game Dev Job
• Found on jobpilot.at by accident
• dion-software GmbH
• Hired as Senior Developer…
• … despite < 2 years experience
• Took slight pay cut
• Joined “Power Games” dept
as GBA programmer
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
6. Work @ dion-software
• GBA Demos, Level Editor (in Java)
• Devil Dentist PC
• PC Demo, Power Games shut down
• Photo Play “Tulcham”
• Added 3D games
• Added multiplayer games
• Implemented large parts of framework
• Field test in Finland
• Games:
• Hearts, Billiards, Minigolf, Quickball, Backgammon
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
7. MOAR Work @ dion
• New product “SWP”
• Exclusive for UK market
• Visited many pubs
• Implemented
• Framework
• Devices
• Coin reader, hopper, printer, …
• Games
• Sudoku + Quiz
• “Yeti Sports” + Quiz
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
8. The end of dion-software
• Steady decline
• From 30 to 6 employees
• Job Applications
• Rockstar Vienna 2x
• Sproing 3x
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
9. Retrospective II
First two jobs weren’t ideal…
… but I definitely learned a lot
Working in a failing company…
… is a unique experience
If you don’t get hired…
… apply again later!
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
10. My Riding Stables
• PC & Nintendo Wii
• Implemented
• Animation system
• Character customization
• Outdoor levels
• Collision & racing
• Parts of rendering system
• Gesture controls
• Wii Remote & Disc error handling
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
12. Legacy
• Still available
• Mostly positive reviews
• Featured in Jim Sterling video
• Person with 160 hours
requests a Mac version
• My favorite review of all time!
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
14. Scotland Yard
• Nintendo DS
• Implemented
• Gameplay logic
• Multiplayer
• Hot seat
• WLAN
• Or any combination
• Up to 6 players
• Single card play
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
15. Tech, Oddities & Legacy
• Nintendo DS has 4 MiB RAM, no ROM
• First Sproing NDS game at 60 FPS
• NDS magical Wifi mode
• Great reviews from fans of the board game…
• … less so from regular players
• Zelda’s “Fold to continue”…
• … is actually forbidden!
• IMHO a perfect board game port
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
18. Cursed Mountain
• Nintendo Wii (later PC)
• First lead programmer role
• I was the 3rd choice…
• First AAA game
• Multiple dev studios
• Very stressful and crunchy…
• … but also very rewarding
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
19. Technology
• Based on My Riding Stables
• Advanced rendering
• Streaming system, PVS
• Implemented
• Effects
• Prayer flags, third eye, bad zones,…
• Spirit walls, weapons, smashables,…
• Gestures
• One of the more controversial features
• Skinning optimization
• WGP, LC, PS (Assembly)
• 5x speed increase
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
20. Legacy
• One of the most
technically advanced &
"mature" Wii games
• Appears in many
"hidden gems" lists
• Made me appear on IMDB
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
22. Dance! – It’s Your Stage!
• A completely unremarkable game
• X360, PC, Wii, later PS3, NDS
• My role: Xbox Expert
• Oddities
• XBLA – Digital Distributions
• 60 FPS (on X360)
• Legacy
• Picked up by Funhaus in 2017
• Became a Meme
• Recently delisted from X360… :(
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
25. Retrospective III
Games don’t need roaring commercial success…
… to build an impressive legacy
The best thing about game dev…
… are reactions of the players
We so rarely see them!
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
26. MOAR Work @ Sproing
• My Fitness Coach Club
• PS3, Wii, with Blue Byte
• Wii camera support
• Schlag den Raab 2
• Your Shape 2013
• WiiU launch title, with Blue Byte
• Best rated game I ever worked on
• Became Head of Console Technology
• Talks at GDCE, GC, Making Games,…
• Switch to mobile games…
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
27. Mobile Games @ Sproing
• Sigils – Battle for Raios
• iPad (Yes, really!)
• Last game as Lead
• Realtime multiplayer
• 4:3 aspect ratio again.. :(
• Head of Programming
• ~40 programmers
• Time taken up mostly by
managerial duties
• I grew a full beard
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
29. The End of Sproing
• First insolvency
• Letting go ~30 of my people
• I try to leave to save one
• Get sucked back in
• Worked on KISS Rock City and secret project
• All in all, still a good year
• Second insolvency
• Sproing closes for good this time
• Purple Lamp rises from its ashes
• I decide to go freelance
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
30. roborodent
Dietmar Hauser
P r o g r a m m e r
Dietmar Hauser | roborodent e.U. | 2018
Software Solutions | Creative Consulting
http://www.roborodent.com
@Rattenhirn
dietmar.hauser@roborodent.com
http://slideshare.net/DietmarHauser
https://fb.me/roborodent
https://github.com/rattenhirn/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rattenhirn/
Notes de l'éditeur
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Gen X, Burgenland
Celebrating my 10th 29th anniversary
I leave it to you to guess which one I liked better
Zivildienst: learned great social lessons
5
Y2K + Euro craze, many many job offers
Oddities:
Internet Explorer vs. Netscape
IE was winning
Most interesting project:
Connect calendar + access control to phone system (CTI)
Moved to Vienna
Got bored quickly
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Dot com bubble war bursting
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UI, "Actions", Parts of multiplayer
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With a quite shifty partner company
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Along with the parent company
I let you guess how many of these were successful
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My Riding Stables - Life With Horses
Started as Senior programmer the day dion-software was shut down
Sproing at ~30 employees
My first “proper” game that was actually released
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Athena 1.5 - brand new rendering engine
16:9 vs. 4:3
Wii disc error handling
Test story
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Not originally available for Steam
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Had extensive round based multiplayer experience from PhotoPlay
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Took over from Stefan Reinalter after about half the project
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XBLA: Probably my first digitally distributed game
Mothers be aware – soundtrack sells quite well
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The secret of talking:
Easier than you think
Know what you are talking about
When suffering from anxiety and alcohol helps, see a doctor to get medication
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And then…
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If too long, chop it off
If too springy, oil it up
It didn’t prepare me for what came next