The Toolsmiths is a blog on game industry tools and process.  It is the official blog of the IGDA Tools SIG.  It serves as a jumping off point for the discussion of the state of tools in the game industry.

The blog has three principal authors from various walks of the game industry, all interested in improving the state of game tools.  They are:

Jeff Ward, Toolsmith, Fire Hose Games

Jeff is a programmer and Toolsmith at Fire Hose Games, an indie game company in Cambridge, MA. Before that, designed the technology behind metrics middleware and consultancy company Orbus Gameworks, and helped design internal tools and build systems for Bethesda Game Studios for both Oblivion and Fallout 3.  In addition to his professional roles, Jeff has been heavilly involved with the IGDA as a moderator on their forums and contributor to various SIGs including the Education SIG, Student Action SIG and, of course, the Tools SIG.

View Jeff’s Posts | Jeff’s Twitter Feed (@fuzzybinary)

Geoff Evans, Senior Engine Programmer, Whitemoon Dreams, Inc.

Geoff is an contributor to open source game development tools via Insomniac’s Nocturnal Initiative (source hosted on Github.com), an open source project he helped found in 2008.  He enjoys long walks on the beach, inciting flame wars on the internet, and learning game tools development the hard way. Formerly, Geoff had been working on proprietary tools and engine technology at Insomniac Games for over 7 years.

View Geoff’s Posts | Geoff’s Twitter Feed (@gorlak)

Dan Goodman, Founder, Robotic Arm Software

Dan is the founder of Robotic Arm Software, a custom tool development and consulting firm, which specializes in the delivery of off-the-shelf-quality tools customized to client needs. Before Robotic Arm, he spent over a decade as an engineer, leading teams at High Voltage Software and LucasArts, and developing tools for level design, effects, in-game cinemas, asset management and build systems.

View Dan’s Posts

Contact The Authors

If you would like to contribute to the Tools SIG blog, or have a question about the blog, an idea for a post, or just a general comment, please feel free to contact us at toolsmiths -at- igda.org