Eric Fowler

Developer BIO

This is supposed to be the biography of my life, but I'm going to narrow down to just the computer relavent parts of it (for all you modem users).

My life in computing started when I was 10 years old. That's when I got my first Apple //c. I don't remember much prior to that... I think I saw computers in school a few times, but I really had no idea.

After playing several games on the Apple //c, I quickly got bored and began to type random junk at the "]" prompt. At that point, my step-father came over and showed me my first program:

10 PRINT "ERIC" 20 GOTO 10

Wow, my name scrolled endlessly up the screen, and from then on I was hooked...

By the time 8th grade came around, I was in my first computer class, where I was "supposed" to learn AppleSoft Basic... if I hadn't already. My computer teacher was impressed with me as I showed her how to program HI-RES graphics on the Apple. She entered me into a Regional programming competition, and I of course, picked the Games and Graphics category. There were 22 people in that category, and I took 1st place with a little set of programs I called "Display Hacks" which was basically similar to todays screensavers.

I took all the computer classes I could find. I was fortunate that my high school (Lake Highlands) had very good computer clases, taught by Dr. Sally Loop. I learned Pascal, and eventually wrote my own little role-playing game, complete with a 90 degree turning engine (1st person).

Then it was time for college... Computer Science major of course. My first 2 years of college was basically boring computer programming classes, which I hardly even attended because I already knew everything. Eventually, I got around to some advanced courses in algorithms and data structures which proved alittle more challenging and fun.

Meanwhile, my home life was on IRC with my Quake Clan "The Rangers". We made the infamous Ranger Movies and I was the chief (and only) editor. Little did I know that id Software themselves would be impressed with these movies. I got around to visiting Carmack on a couple occasions and was in awe to be in the precense of the industry leader.

Back at college, I was really fortunate that our computer science department happened to have a "Games" class, taught by Dr. Ian Parberry (mycroft.csci.unt.edu). I took the class, learned some basic 2D DirectX and with my group, created a game called 25:15. It was a class only project, but it can be downloaded from the page above.

Then, Dr. Parberry had the great idea to create an "Advanced Games" class. Me and my buddies where the guinea pigs. We learned some basics about Direct3D and was sent off on our own to create something with it. After slacking off about half the semester, me and my partner, Craig Reichard (currently at Terminal Reality) decided to get to work. We originally wanted to build a 3D engine, but halfway through the project, we got annoyed by parsing Worldcraft's MAP format, and decided to make our own visual editor. In the end, we had a pretty cool 3D world builder, which was the best in the class.

Nearing the end of college, I sent resumes out to several game companies, and Ritual replied. So to make a long story short, here I am. :)

I think the moral of the story here is that you have to make sacrafices to get into the game industry. I spent WAY too much time playing Quake, and developing my own games. I was always one of the best in my programming classes, but now, I'm at the bottom of the totem pole, learning from the masters. Here begins my journey...

Selected articles from Ritual Entertainment Official Company Website

http://www.ritual.com/index.php?section=tribe&id=73&ref=tribe

Websites

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Games Credited

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009), Atari, Inc.
Depths of Peril (2007), Soldak Entertainment, Inc.
Medal of Honor: Airborne (2007), Electronic Arts, Inc.
25 to Life (2006), Eidos Interactive Ltd.
SiN Episodes: Emergence (2006), Valve Corporation
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (2004), Sierra Entertainment, Inc.
Half-Life: Counter-Strike (2003), Microsoft Games Studios
Karaoke Revolution (2003), Konami of America, Inc.
Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003), Activision Publishing, Inc.
Blair Witch, Volume III: The Elly Kedward Tale (2000), Gathering