I'm not going to lie: I really love my job. Every day there is something new and exciting going on here at GarageGames. But more important than the projects, I get to work with a ton of really interesting, hard working people who are dedicated to making great video games and game engines.

However, sitting here in Eugene surrounded by paper airplanes, autographed pictures of fictional people, and a stuffed Y2K bug, I don't get the sense that the outside world understands just how much camaraderie happens within these office walls. I mean, you got to see the outrageous Photoshop war on Michael Perry's last blog, but for me, at least, it runs deeper than that. My friends are my co-workers, and not the other way around. We share common interests. We're working towards a common goal. I have never worked at a job where I felt so connected, and it is in large part due to the people I work with.

Certainly, a blog can't due this justice. But I hope, by highlighting some of those people I work with day-to-day, you have a better sense of what it's like here at GG. I hope this doesn't come off as "market-y" and if it does, I won't do any of these kind of blogs in the future. But if you do like this, let me know, and I'll try to keep giving you these small snapshots into the world of GarageGames.

Clark Fagot: Director of Engine Development

The orange note on his shirt reads, "Hey Clark, Just wanted you to know that...I hate you. Love James."
Clark Fagot is what we like to call a veteran in the video game industry: he's been around the dev block a couple of times. Clark was one of the original co-founders of BraveTree, which officially merged with GarageGames in 2005. And even before that, Clark worked at Dynamix after finishing up a doctorate in Psychology. He may very well be the smartest person in the building (although I'm sure he just cringed reading that). As the Director of Engine Development, Clark oversees the direction of all Torque engines. He was in charge of the development of Juggernaut, which has directly led to updates to TGEA.

Hard work and dedication aside, you know Clark's a true GGer at heart when people like IA Community Manager James Wiley writes notes about hating him (with <3 of course). While interviewing him, he got really excited about showing me his "chicken run." If only I'd had a video camera.

Ben Vesco: Game Programmer or "Gimp"

Ben used the little "grabby" device shown to try to imitate the sand worms in Dune...and largely failed.
Ben Vesco joined the GarageGames ranks the old-fashioned way: he was an avid community member and forum poster. He calls himself a "gimp." No, not that Gimp, but a "Special Ops" of game programming. He's done integration work on all GG-created Instant Action games. When asked what he loves about his job, Ben says it has always been his goal to be a game programmer someday. Specifically, he says, "Even on the worst day, working at a game company to me is better than the best day working anywhere else."

Speaking of goals, Ben's one of those enviable people who just does a ton of stuff. Not only is he a game programmer, he has done modeling for magazines, sold his guitar riffs on iTunes, and run a music studio. His current project is developing and launching online audio processing plug-ins as a side business. If you're interested in following Ben in one of his many adventures, check out his home recording and guitar tone website.

Matt Langley: Lead Tool Development Engineer

His eyes are cold because he feels no emotion.
Matt Langley took another common path into GarageGames: the internship route. Matt picked up TGB when it was still called T2D. In his three years at GarageGames, Matt's been instrumental in getting TGB off the ground: working on turn-based networking, documentation management, and tool development. He's using that experience to develop some sweet new tools for Torque that are still in R&D. Matt has a very modest goal, to "create the best game tools ever." And since his e-mail tagline is "It isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me," I wouldn't want to stand in his way.

Matt is hands down one of the easiest people to work with ever: he's laid-back, extremely talented, and has a drive to succeed that is almost scary. Which is why, if you manage to bring out the GG Samurai in him, heaven help us all. (True fact: Matt collects swords that he claims are "functional.")

Didi Bethurum: Director of Marketing for Instant Action

Didi has been known to sing on occasion...or all day long. "If you like pina coladas..."
Didi has what appears to be on the surface an "easy" job as the Director of Marketing for Instant Action. Talking with her, she rattled off the fun part of her job, like being the announcer in a viral marketing video for Marble Blast Online. The really difficult stuff she glossed over like a simple list to be collected and executed: bringing people to the site, launching contests on the blogs and the forums, managing a team of very energetic young marketers, and coordinating this all with game schedule releases. These are not small problems, but Didi thrives on fun and how to deliver it to her audience.

In direct contrast to the plastic surroundings shown in her picture, Didi actually enjoys the outdoors and recently went on a weekend-long kayaking trip. She also helps run an environmental tip-of-the-day website called green is sexy. She runs it with two of her friends and has so far been pleased with her small, non-GG related viral marketing campaign.

Lance Bass: Art Director

Not defined by either his art or his ninjutsu.
Lance is a master of all things 3D art-related. Having worked in the games industry since 1998, he's tried it all: characters, vehicles, fully landscaped environments, and everything in between from concept to modeling. He leverages this experience at the GarageGames drawing board, being an instrumental figure in the look and feel of Rokkitball. Although Lance has worked at other types of companies, including AAA game and simulation studios, he really enjoys working for a small video game company. Not only does gaming offer a lot of room for creativity, GarageGames works on such tightly-scoped projects that he can move to new projects every few months, keeping things fresh.

During my first few months at GarageGames, I actually thought his name was "Scott," and he didn't bother to correct me (or give me grief about it). He's just low key like that. And even though he's trained heavily in ninjutsu, he doesn't like to tout that around. It doesn't define him. He simply enjoys the training, the trips to Japan, and teaching others.


For more snapshots, check out the others in the blog series:

Snapshot #1: Clark Fagot, Ben Vesco, Matt Langley, Didi Bethurum, and Lance Bass
Snapshot #2: Ali Tahiri, Jake Rolfe, Karen Peal, Steven Garcia, and Marcin Manek