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Chris Lambert

From Hellgatewiki.com

Chris Lambert is the Lead Graphics Engineer working on Hellgate: London.

Official Biography

Creating a full 3D engine that can not only handle the amount of randomization we do, but look good doing it has been an ongoing task for our graphics guru, Chris Lambert.

With five years in the gaming industry, Chris Lambert has focusing on creating and manipulating cutting-edge 3D engines on a number of different platforms. Most recently he served as Lead Programmer on unannounced action RPG on the Xbox while working at start-up developer GenAzea.

Chris also worked at Metro 3D on Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse, as well as serving as a network engineer assistant on the Cray, XMP and IBM supercomputers at the NASA/Ames Research Center.

When our resident Jimi Dini isn't busy building and fine-tuning 3D engines, Chris uses his highly-evolved knowledge of physics to bank around the competition in amateur billiards tournaments.

Chris in his office.

Personality Profile

Chris was kind enough to answer some personality questions exclusively for the Hellgate Wiki.

What does your job entail, on a day to day basis?

I write shaders, optimize render loops, debug graphical glitches, help artists, answer technical questions, drink coffee, supervise our small but dedicated graphics team, and research algorithms and graphics hardware.

When and why did you know you wanted to work in the gaming industry?

I was 6 or 7 years old. While playing on my Commodore 64, the game crashed and spewed random symbols all over the screen. I was fascinated. I told my dad I wanted to learn to understand and even write this magical language. He encouraged me and bought me a book containing the BASIC source code to a few simple games. I typed them in and they never worked. It’s all his fault.

If you didn't work in the gaming industry, what do you think you'd be doing instead?

Fighting back hordes of lusty women. Sleeping regularly. Wearing clothes without game logos. Perhaps playing pool tournaments, crafting useless trinkets out of wood, or something involving engineering.

Can you name a major influence on your work?

Deadlines. The knowledge that my work will be seen by other people. Most of all, nature. How could I look at a shimmering lake and not contemplate the fresnel coefficient? Or not pour watery shampoo into a clear bath just to watch the billowing cloud?

If this were the single most interesting question you'd ever been asked in an interview; something no one has ever asked you before, what would your answer be?

Something spectacularly underwhelming. The public disappointment would drive me to sell all my belongings, move to a shack in the woods, and wake up every night screaming something witty I wish I had said. Do they have a Behind the Music for game developers?