Anders Jenbo
Former TRUEMAX student - working with game development
Nationality: Danish
Age: 22
Occupation: Game Development, web design
 1. In which way are you currently involved with 3D?
I work on a computer game modification called ‘Nuclear Dawn’. The project has been ongoing for 2 years. We are 15 active members from places like Sweden, England, France and the USA. The game is built on top of the Valve’s ‘Half Life 2’ first-person shooter game. We are using their engine, modifying existing game elements or adding new ones.
‘Nuclear Dawn’ is a multiplayer first person shooter mixed with real-time strategy elements. Two teams compete against each other for resources in a post nuclear war setting. The goal of our main game mode is to conquer resources for your team, which will allow your team to purchase more advanced and deadly weapons, as well as research new technologies and structures that will give you the edge over your opponent. Each team has a commander viewing the game from above just like in a traditional real time strategy game. The official website has just been launched, and development of the game is expected to take an additional six months to a year. Visit www.nuclear-dawn.net for more details.
2. Are you living your dream?
Yes, I have always wished to work on computer games, and I am indeed realising this dream with ‘Nuclear Dawn’.
3. Which course did you attend at TRUEMAX?
I attended the Game Designer course in 2001-2002, which at the time only took one year.
4. What is the most important thing you have learned at TRUEMAX?
I’ve made good contacts and learned how to handle the programs properly, e.g. good niches and workflow in 3ds max. I’ve learned to master the process of games development.
5. What surprised you during your 3D training course?
The high professional level it takes to make your mark in the business.
 6. How much 3D work had you done before starting at TRUEMAX?
I had made a banner for the ‘Duke Nukem 3D’ computer game. That was around 1998. And I had made a character for ‘Quake 2’. Back then I used the free program called Q2models to create the character. Everything I had done before was based on self-tuition.
7. What made you choose a 3D course at the TRUEMAX academy? And how did you hear about TRUEMAX?
I started out studying data mechanics but found the level too unambitious. I first heard about TRUEMAX when I found a brochure at Støvring Højskole! And later my mother heard of the place and thought it would probably suit me. I chose TRUEMAX because it was the only place were the primary focus is on 3D.
8. What happened after TRUEMAX? How did you start working with games?
After TRUEMAX I started with the Tabula Rasa Games Company where I worked on the title ‘Hannibal: Nemesis of Rom’. However, I had to stop due to financial cutbacks. Then I became part of a smaller project that made ‘Half-Life 1’. Unfortunately, it was aborted half way through. Instead I spent quite a lot of time in the ‘Half-Life’ modding scene where I gathered experience on how the Valve games work. About six months after publishing ‘Half-Life 2’, I was contacted by a person from the team behind ‘Nuclear Dawn’. They needed someone to handle the technical side of the game. My main skills are optimising and implementing. I furthermore rig the characters, animate and create texture.
9. Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I hope that our computer game ‘Nuclear Dawn’ sells well. In any event, it’s an asset to my portfolio. I hope it will help me get a foot in with a games company. Right now I am part of the development team on a voluntary basis because creating computer games is what I really want to do. It’s tough starting up in a new industry, and you often have to almost fully develop a game before anyone wants to invest in it. I am currently making a living as a web-designer.
10. What advice would you give someone considering entering the 3D program at TRUEMAX?
Seek out an area within which you’d like to specialise. Today, the development of a game is often a structured process where one person creates the character and another the texture and a third the animation, but it is still important to have knowledge of the entire process and to create something on your own. You are not always given the most exciting tasks so you have to be committed and to focus on a job until it’s done. It also needs to be good fun.
The interview was made February 2006. |