F1 2018 - F1 2021/Unannounced Projects - Codemasters and Electronic Arts
Development
During my time at Codemasters (and now EA) I have worked on the F1 series, and am credited on six projects, four of which are F1 2018 through to F1 2021. During my time at Codemasters I have predominantly functioned as a senior UI Programmer.
During the development of F1 2021 I worked as the UI programmer for F1 2021's flagship feature: Story Mode. Story Mode is a UI rich feature and the development of this included adding lots of new screens to the game as well as requiring changes to existing screens (such as the HUD and "Meet the Press" sections) to accommodate Story Mode's bespoke requirements. The hub where the player character rests before and after races allowed the user to interact with their TV (for news), tablet (for social networking) and a laptop (to view their emails). All three of the screens, projected onto surfaces in a 3D environment, generated and displayed dynamic content based on how the player character was performing (winning or losing) and what they had said to the media in press interviews. I also implemented an interface for the player character's phone where they would receive phone calls from their friends, family and colleagues. There was an additional screen which allowed the user to interact "out of character" with the game mode. This provided access to their podium pass rewards as well as allowing them to review cinematics and advance from the hub to the next screen.
During F1 2021's development I was also required to cover several other areas due to sickness in the team. This required me to quickly get to grips with areas of the game that I was not familar with such as the process for exporting the game's 3d art from source files into game readable files.
Click the image above to view the Story Mode gallery
For F1 2019, I served as the UI programmer for the new Leagues feature. This was another UI rich addition to the game that allowed users to create, moderate and run their own online leagues with up to twenty other users. This feature empowered users to create their own leagues, setting track listings, team/driver allotments, incredibly versatile scheduling options and more. League owners were able to moderate their league, changing dates, tracks and settings, initiating votes, applying grid penalties and bans, as well as other punitive measures. They could also make user lineup changes on the day a race was scheduled by assigning reserve players a place in the race in the case of a no show.
During this time I also overhauled the studio's profanity filter to make it more intelligent and am still responsible for maintaining that system. I've since integrated the profanity filter into the game's UI tech, allowing relevant UI widgets to have inherent access to the filter.
Click the image above to view the Leagues gallery
Leadership
I have had several opportunities to lead during my time at Codemasters. My line manager went on paternity leave during the final weeks of leading up to alpha and as a result I was asked to cover for him while we closed out the remaining feature work. The move to alpha can be a very demanding and difficult time so I am proud that I managed to deliver in my line manager's stead.
After F1 2019 released I was asked to help found the studio's Live Ops team and spent 6 months shaping and then running that team before returning to mainline development for F1 2021. During those six months I worked with the producer to prioritise and cost work as well as identify features that would have a positive impact on the quality of the game. With this done I then delegated the tasks amongst the members of the team and ensured the work met each patch deadline. This included liaising with the QA department to make sure our patches were receiving the required testing coverage. During downtime between patches, the team picked out small pieces of tech debt to tackle. After finishing development on F1 2021, I once again returned to the Live Ops team.
Mentoring and Team Spirit.
When I joined the UI team in 2018, the F1 studio had just split in two (one team to work on the even year titles and one team to work on the odd year titles). The new team was much smaller and development needed to accelerate quickly. As a result I was expected to hit the ground running. As newly hired team members were joined I was often required to deliver the starter project (designed to introduce new starters to our practices and tech). It was my responsibility to act as their "buddy" through the first few months of their employment and I pride myself on being friendly and approachable.
During the past 4 years I have organised many team activities and nights out. I also occasionally run Dungeons and Dragons sessions for the team. This type of activity was especially important during the initial months of Covid. Many of our team members had come from abroad to work for us, moving away from family and friends and, as a result, had limited access to social interaction during the pandemic. I took it upon myself to keep in check with their mental wellbeing and organise extra activities to help them feel connected.
