Wolfgang Engel
Occupation(s)Writer and designer
Notable workShaderX, GPU Pro, and GPU Zen books series
TitleCEO of Confetti

Wolfgang Engel is a videogame designer. He is the founder and CEO of Confetti. Previously he also worked as the Lead Graphics Programmer for Rockstar Games. He is also the founder and editor of ShaderX and GPU books series.

Career

As a developer, Engel has developed videogames in addition to games for the television series Wetten, dass..?.[1] He was the Lead Graphics Programmer at Rockstar Games, where he led the graphics development of the RAGE engine. During his time at Rockstar he contributed to Rockstar Games franchises including Midnight Club, Red Dead Redemption, and Grand Theft Auto.[2] At that time Engel also developed the Oolong gaming engine for iPhone, that eventually shipped about a hundred games.[3] In 2008 Engel introduced light pre-pass rendering as a method of deferred shading variant in the development of videogame graphics,[4][5][6] and is known as an expert in shader programming.[7]

Engel then founded Confetti Interactive and Confetti Games in 2009,[8][9] where he serves as CEO.[citation needed] Confetti is a think-tank for real-time graphics research in the videogame and movie industry, graphics tools developer, and programming services company. Tools Engel has helped develop for the company include Aura, a global illumination system; Ephemeris, a skybox/skydome system; and PixelPuzzle, a Post FX pipeline system.[8][10] As a part of his role with Confetti, Engel works with external clients, and provides consultations to other game developers. Confetti contributed to games including Tomb Raider, Battlefield 4, Murdered Soul Suspect, Star Citizen, Dirt 4, Vainglory, Transistor, Call of Duty Black Ops 3, Battlefield 1, Mafia 3, Quake Champions, and Phyre.[11]

Writing

Engel has written or edited more than 20 books on graphics software development in use by the videogame industry, in line with contemporary techniques and practices.[12] The book series he has authored include the ShaderX, GPU Pro, and GPU Zen books series.[11] The ShaderX4 book was awarded the Game Developer Front Line prize in 2006.[citation needed] His books have also included edited collections of pieces by other industry experts and designers,[13] and Engel has also served as technical editor to books published by other authors on the same subject matter.[14][15] Engel also writes articles for developer magazines and game tutorials for videogame-oriented websites.[1] Engel has also spoken at public conferences regarding various techniques in videogame creation[16] and is a faculty member and advisor to the Academy of Game Entertainment Technology.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Sanchez-crespo, Daniel; Dalmau, Daniel Sánchez-Crespo (6 June 2018). Core Techniques and Algorithms in Game Programming. New Riders. ISBN 9780131020092 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Arif, Fahad (3 June 2014). "Xbox One eSRAM is Very Fast Memory, Proper Use Can Result Into Significant Performance/Speed Gains".
  3. ^ "8 Sensational iPhone Game Engines (2D and 3D)". 14 July 2009.
  4. ^ Lake, Adam (6 June 2018). Game Programming Gems 8. Course Technology. ISBN 9781435457713 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ McShaffry, Mike (25 June 2014). Game Coding Complete. Course Technology PTR. ISBN 9781133776581 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Duggan, Michael (16 July 2010). Torque for Teens. Course Technology. ISBN 9781435456433 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Nitschke, Benjamin (22 May 2007). Professional XNA Game Programming: For Xbox 360 and Windows. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470173770 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b "Confetti Interactive: Creating Graphics For Games and Entertainment". gamesbusinessreview.com.
  9. ^ Arif, Fahad (13 June 2014). "PS4 API is Something That Graphics Programmers Love - Specific GPU Optimizations Will Improve Performance".
  10. ^ "Wolfgang Engel Video Game Credits - MobyGames". MobyGames.
  11. ^ a b "The Big Interview: Confetti Interactive On Video Game Lighting, Graphics Rendering And More « Video Game News, Reviews, Walkthroughs And Guides – GamingBolt". gamingbolt.com.
  12. ^ Madhav, Sanjay (6 March 2018). Game Programming in C++: Creating 3D Games. Addison-Wesley Professional. ISBN 9780134597317 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Engel, Wolfgang (28 July 2015). GPU Pro 6: Advanced Rendering Techniques. CRC Press. ISBN 9781482264623 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ St-Laurent, Sebastien (6 June 2018). The Complete Effect and HLSL Guide. Paradoxal Press. ISBN 9780976613213 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Leiterman, James (6 June 2018). Learn Vertex and Pixel Shader Programming with DirectX 9. Wordware Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781556222870 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Nitschke, Benjamin (22 May 2007). Professional XNA Game Programming: For Xbox 360 and Windows. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470173770 – via Google Books.
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