Code Intern | Happy Volcano

Happy Volcano is an award-winning game development studio located in Leuven, Belgium currently working on The Almost Gone and several other projects.

My missions :

My internship can be divided in three different tasks :

- Tools Development, generic tools outside Unity3D made to be re-usable and software quality tools inside Unity3D for The Almost Gone

- Switch Port of The Almost Gone

- Development of a prototype of a 2D RPG for Switch and iOS on Unity

What I learned :

This was my second internship in the video game industry but it was the first time that I was directly involved in game development. It was also my first professional activity in a foreign country.

During this internship, I worked on several aspects of game development.

I learned how to make generic tools that can be used in different environments, for different games but I also had to dive into the large code base of The Almost Gone for the tools inside Unity. Being able to understand code written by other developers is one of the most important skills for a software programmer.

Nobody had worked on Nintendo Switch before in the company. I learned a lot by doing researches for the Switch Port of the Almost Gone. Working on a specific and very popular hardware is also a very valuable experience.

I was the only programmer during the development of the 2D RPG prototype, so I had to exploit the Game Design Document and take care of the software design and the implementation of all the project (Gameplay, UI, Menu, Sound, etc...).   

Finally, I improved my game programming skills and learned how to work directly with artists and game designers. I learned how  to understand what they want and to implement their work and ideas in a video game. I also improved my English since the majority of the team did not speak French.