Meet Kyle Rockman!

Meet Star Citizen’s Tools Programmer, Kyle Rockman! Kyle was one of the major forces behind the launcher utility that starts the Hangar Module and he’s hard at work creating the tools the team needs to create a new universe. Kyle will be on this week’s episode of Wingman’s Hangar, so tune in on Friday to learn more!

How did you get started in the game industry? What projects have you worked on?
I graduated from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA in 2008 and in that same year I also graduated from Animation Mentor (www.animationmentor.com) After graduation I tried looking for jobs, but breaking into the industry as an animator is no easy task. I knew a friend who landed a gig at a small startup called Divide By Zero in Seattle and I ended up doing freelance for them by working on all of the animation and rigging on their prototype. Unfortunately their prototype never got green lit so the project got cancelled. From there I landed at Lightbox like many of the guys here, as the Technical artist handling all of Starhawk’s rigging and technical animation needs. While at Lightbox I ended up learning python and wrote nearly all of the tools used by the art team. So while technically Divide by Zero was my first real gaming gig, Lightbox was where I shipped my first title and also got to see a title go from start to finish and then to live with DLC & multiplayer support.

What are you doing for Cloud Imperium?
I am currently the only Tools Programmer. My biggest responsibility is that I manage our continuous integration build process using a java software called Jenkins. I have also written the tools for turning the output from our build into patches and manage all the patch releases since we use the patcher both for internal developers and for the public. Some of the other things I do is write any number tools/scripts to help the development team where needed. Example: Our programmers wanted an easier way to submit their code for review before they checked it into source control, and I wrote a little tool they can use directly within our SCM software(perforce) to allow them to submit their code for review by any number of other programmers. I hope to eventually start helping Tom Sawyer, our network programmer, with our game servers and databases.

What are you most excited to see in Star Citizen/Squadron 42?
Data! I absolutely love data. Star Citizen has a lot of data it will be tracking, some of which we are already looking at via the release of the hangar. Things like how many people are logging in, when and where and at what times etc etc. I compose the patch notes for each new patch and I hope to keep a running section in the patch notes called “Data” in which we display interesting and unique facts about what people are doing in Star Citizen, and what the community as a whole is doing “data-wise”. I would love to hear suggestions on things the community would like to know about this massive data set we have called, “the community”!

What are you playing right now?
Most recently my girlfriend and I have been smashing our way through Lego Lord of the Rings together, the co-op gameplay is fantastic in it and we are about to platinum it. Personally, I’m just about half way through the Last of Us. Then I will either go back and try to finish AC3 or move on to GTA V when it comes out.

Lernen Sie Star Citizen's Tools Programmer, Kyle Rockman kennen! Kyle war eine der wichtigsten Kräfte hinter dem Launcher-Dienstprogramm, das das Hangarmodul startet, und er arbeitet hart daran, die Werkzeuge zu entwickeln, die das Team benötigt, um ein neues Universum zu schaffen. Kyle wird diese Woche in der Episode von Wingman's Hangar dabei sein, also schalten Sie am Freitag ein, um mehr zu erfahren!

Wie bist du in der Spieleindustrie gestartet? An welchen Projekten hast du gearbeitet?
Ich habe 2008 mein Studium an der Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, abgeschlossen und im selben Jahr auch mein Studium am Animation Mentor (www.animationmentor.com). Nach dem Abschluss habe ich versucht, einen Job zu finden, aber es ist keine leichte Aufgabe, in die Branche als Animator einzudringen. Ich kannte einen Freund, der einen Gig bei einem kleinen Startup namens Divide By Zero in Seattle landete, und am Ende arbeitete ich für sie als Freelancer, indem ich an der gesamten Animation arbeitete und an ihrem Prototyp aufbaute. Leider wurde ihr Prototyp nie grün beleuchtet, so dass das Projekt abgebrochen wurde. Von dort aus landete ich bei Lightbox, wie viele der Jungs hier, als Technischer Künstler, der sich um Starhawks gesamte Rigging und technische Animation kümmerte. Während ich bei Lightbox war, lernte ich Python und schrieb fast alle Werkzeuge, die das Kunstteam benutzt. Während also technisch gesehen Divide by Zero mein erster echter Gaming-Gig war, war Lightbox der Ort, an dem ich meinen ersten Titel verschickte und auch einen Titel von Anfang bis Ende sehen konnte, um dann mit DLC & Multiplayer-Support zu leben.

Was machst du für Cloud Imperium?
Ich bin derzeit der einzige Tools-Programmierer. Meine größte Verantwortung ist, dass ich unseren kontinuierlichen Integrationsprozess mit einer Java-Software namens Jenkins manage. Ich habe auch die Tools geschrieben, um die Ausgabe unseres Builds in Patches zu verwandeln und alle Patch-Releases zu verwalten, da wir den Patcher sowohl für interne Entwickler als auch für die Öffentlichkeit nutzen. Einige der anderen Dinge, die ich tue, sind das Schreiben von beliebig vielen Tools/Skripten, um dem Entwicklungsteam bei Bedarf zu helfen. Beispiel: Unsere Programmierer wollten einen einfacheren Weg, ihren Code zur Überprüfung einzureichen, bevor sie ihn in die Source Control einchecken, und ich schrieb ein kleines Tool, das sie direkt in unserer SCM-Software (perforce) verwenden können, damit sie ihren Code zur Überprüfung durch eine beliebige Anzahl anderer Programmierer einreichen können. Ich hoffe, dass ich Tom Sawyer, unserem Netzwerkprogrammierer, mit unseren Spielservern und Datenbanken endlich helfen kann.

Was freut dich am meisten in Star Citizen/Squadron 42 zu sehen?
Data! Ich liebe Daten absolut. Star Citizen hat viele Daten, die er verfolgen wird, von denen wir einige bereits durch die Veröffentlichung des Hangars prüfen. Dinge wie z.B. wie viele Personen sich einloggen, wann und wo und zu welchen Zeiten usw. etc. etc. Ich verfasse die Patch-Notizen für jeden neuen Patch und hoffe, einen laufenden Abschnitt in den Patch-Notizen namens "Data" zu behalten, in dem wir interessante und einzigartige Fakten darüber zeigen, was die Leute in Star Citizen tun und was die Community als Ganzes "datentechnisch" macht. Ich würde gerne Vorschläge zu Dingen hören, die die Community über diesen riesigen Datensatz wissen möchte, den wir "die Community" genannt haben!

Was spielst du gerade?
In letzter Zeit haben sich meine Freundin und ich zusammen durch Lego Lord of the Rings geschlagen, das Genossenschaftsspiel ist fantastisch und wir sind dabei, es zu platinieren. Ich persönlich bin gerade mal halbwegs durch mit dem Letzten von uns. Dann werde ich entweder zurückgehen und versuchen, AC3 zu beenden oder zu GTA V übergehen, wenn es herauskommt.

Meet Star Citizen’s Tools Programmer, Kyle Rockman! Kyle was one of the major forces behind the launcher utility that starts the Hangar Module and he’s hard at work creating the tools the team needs to create a new universe. Kyle will be on this week’s episode of Wingman’s Hangar, so tune in on Friday to learn more!

How did you get started in the game industry? What projects have you worked on?
I graduated from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA in 2008 and in that same year I also graduated from Animation Mentor (www.animationmentor.com) After graduation I tried looking for jobs, but breaking into the industry as an animator is no easy task. I knew a friend who landed a gig at a small startup called Divide By Zero in Seattle and I ended up doing freelance for them by working on all of the animation and rigging on their prototype. Unfortunately their prototype never got green lit so the project got cancelled. From there I landed at Lightbox like many of the guys here, as the Technical artist handling all of Starhawk’s rigging and technical animation needs. While at Lightbox I ended up learning python and wrote nearly all of the tools used by the art team. So while technically Divide by Zero was my first real gaming gig, Lightbox was where I shipped my first title and also got to see a title go from start to finish and then to live with DLC & multiplayer support.

What are you doing for Cloud Imperium?
I am currently the only Tools Programmer. My biggest responsibility is that I manage our continuous integration build process using a java software called Jenkins. I have also written the tools for turning the output from our build into patches and manage all the patch releases since we use the patcher both for internal developers and for the public. Some of the other things I do is write any number tools/scripts to help the development team where needed. Example: Our programmers wanted an easier way to submit their code for review before they checked it into source control, and I wrote a little tool they can use directly within our SCM software(perforce) to allow them to submit their code for review by any number of other programmers. I hope to eventually start helping Tom Sawyer, our network programmer, with our game servers and databases.

What are you most excited to see in Star Citizen/Squadron 42?
Data! I absolutely love data. Star Citizen has a lot of data it will be tracking, some of which we are already looking at via the release of the hangar. Things like how many people are logging in, when and where and at what times etc etc. I compose the patch notes for each new patch and I hope to keep a running section in the patch notes called “Data” in which we display interesting and unique facts about what people are doing in Star Citizen, and what the community as a whole is doing “data-wise”. I would love to hear suggestions on things the community would like to know about this massive data set we have called, “the community”!

What are you playing right now?
Most recently my girlfriend and I have been smashing our way through Lego Lord of the Rings together, the co-op gameplay is fantastic in it and we are about to platinum it. Personally, I’m just about half way through the Last of Us. Then I will either go back and try to finish AC3 or move on to GTA V when it comes out.