Projects / DiRT
Frontend Programmer
DiRT, released for the X360, PC and PS3 racked up more than half a million sales in the first week. With the help of Codemasters’ new Neon engine and the game’s soft-body damage modelling system, DiRT managed to achieve breathtaking realism and rack up top notch worldwide reviews from the media. During the development of DiRT, I worked as a programmer in the studio’s Front End team.
| Vitals |
| Release Date |
15 June 2007 |
| Platforms |
X360, PS3, PC |
| Metacritic |
83% |
| Sales WorldWide |
>1,850,000 |
System/Task responsibilities
- Modifications for Russian SKU
- PC patch management and creation
- Fixing hardware compatibility issues fed back from the Compatibility team
- Gamma support for PC platform
- Starforce software protection integration
- Implementing system for dealing with setting first time player defaults
- Creating lists which allow playback of FMV
- Developing the initialisation/cleanup system for menu screens
- Implementing bonus unlock backend and game screen
- Integrating core post processing and trigger systems into front end flow.
- Integrating core tech full-screen video playback
Skills gained/developed
- Coordination of art assets and game code
- Profiling problematic CPU/GPU bottlenecks for fixing
- Experience dealing with needing to satisfy TCRs/TRCs
- Fixing bugs reported from QA
- Enhancing systems using data driven approaches
- Experience with state machines
- Forum community liaison skills
- Experience with disc build processes
- Experience with graph algorithms
- Camera programming with DOF
- Assembler and shader debugging
- Experience with Starforce Frontline Protection Studio
- Triggering post process/animations from a state machine
- Refactoring skills
- Debugging master version of games
- Experience with Installshield software
- Identifying code for software protection
- Unlock code system experience
- Familiarisation with BIK format
- Knowledge of issues relating to FMV