Interns at Our Machinery: Simon

Hey everyone, I am Simon and one of the new programming interns at Our Machinery. I am studying game development at Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas). I have been interested in game development/programming since I was 14 (now I am 27). Programming is one of my biggest passions, besides trying to make the best gluten-free pizza a celiac can find.

At university, my focus lies on engine and tools programming. Throughout my 3 years at BUas I have been exposed to several different projects such as a networked card game framework or a real-time strategy game framework. Those projects taught me and my fellow students a lot about the technical aspects of designing tools and frameworks for games.

Besides, another important take-away was that communication is key to working together successfully. This becomes one of the most important things in game development when you are working in a multidisciplinary team. Through working in those teams I have noticed that we (Designers, Artists, and Programmers) talk in very different languages about the same topic and approach problems from different aspects. This also reflects in how we approach tooling and UI/UX. This is why it’s important to not write tools just for the sake of writing cool fancy tools, but to keep the human who uses the tool in mind, especially how will they think.

Another important take-away from my education is that game development as well as software engineering is a rapidly changing landscape where stuff is now hip but tomorrow uncool. This inspired me to keep learning even in my free time. There is always something new to discover and learn. Many times I have been sharing my findings and knowledge at University in form of workshops/lectures in dedicated learning communities.

This is one of the reasons why I applied to Our Machinery, I saw many opportunities to gain knowledge and grow through challenges. Which is why I will start my journey small and work on easy tasks to get to know the codebase as well as the concepts behind The Machinery. As soon as I am more confident, I will hopefully be able to contribute useful improvements to the Engine or its infrastructure. Niklas will be my guide through-out my time with the team.

If you want to know more about me check out my website simonrenger.de, follow me on Twitter kazum93. Alternatively, you can find me on Our Machinery Discord or send me an e-mail to [email protected] If you have any questions or cool topics about tools programming or to my studies, feel free to reach out to me.