Meet Jota!

We have so many fantastic people at Teravision Games and we’d love for you to get to meet them! This month, we’d love to introduce you to Jota! (Pronounced ho-ta!)

What’s your role at Teravision Games? 

I am the Coding Director and Lead Developer.

What was the first game you ever played? 

That would be Circus Charlie on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. I was little and went to my aunt’s house, it was the first time I experienced videogames and was blown away. And I still am! From there I played everything I could get my hands on, and still do. You never know when one great game is waiting to be discovered, and since the first game I played, I learned that every single game has something to share.

And what’s your favorite game, ever? Ever ever ever, you can only pick one. 

Hard question, but going with Spelunky HD. It’s a beautiful game that manages to be always fun in each match, with the right balance of content, challenge and secrets. As a  game developer, my dream is to create games with procedural content that can be played hundreds of times, and feel fun, fresh, and different all the time.

I’m also a big fan of Derek Yu, the creator of Spelunky, and his way of making games. Very close by are the first two Banjo games: Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie. I haven’t ever played a single 3D platformer with this diversity and openness (sorry, Mario….)

There are quite a lot of runner ups: Fallout 3 (with all the bugs and faults it’s still one of the most immersive games I have ever played), X-COM (any turn-based game of the franchise, I truly love turn-based games like this one) and Super Mario Galaxy, probably the most breathtaking of all the 3D Mario games.

What’s your favorite soundtrack to listen to while you’re working? 

Mostly The Beatles, especially the older stuff, maybe something really repeated, but their music is truly timeless and perfect to focus. I also love hearing a bit of diversity in my music: Lady Gaga, Beethoven, Joy Division, Linkin Park, System of a Down, Nirvana, and tons of music in Spanish.

What are three tools of the trade you couldn’t do your job without? 

Pen and paper, a good text editor or IDE like Visual Studio. The simplicity and power of pen and paper to keep my thoughts organized, write down ideas or even scribble new ones.

What’s one of the best bugs you’ve ever seen in a game you helped make? 

There was this time in a VR game where I needed to put something in the hand of the player, and by accident, I put the actual player in the hand of the player. When I tested the mechanic, the player would spin furiously trying to attach itself at its own hand, flying through all the levels.

Not good if you suffer from nausea….