Brent Iverson | |
---|---|
Citizenship | American |
Education | University of Michigan |
Years active | 1986-present |
Employer | Electronic Arts |
Notable work | LHX Attack Chopper Chuck Yeager's Air Combat Jane's US Navy Fighters |
Brent "Buzzboy" Iverson is a programmer best known as a simulations game developer. Among his credits are the PC DOS version of Chuck Yeager's Air Combat, LHX Attack Chopper, and Jane's US Navy Fighters, all published by Electronic Arts.
Iverson's experience with computers began at the age of fifteen when he went to a friend's house to play games on an Apple II. He liked working on computers but still planned to major in Art in college. However, after beginning his studies at the University of Michigan he learned that even talented artists rarely make a good living with their art, but that computer programmers make more money as a general rule. As a result, he majored in computer science. [1]
Iverson has worked at Electronic Arts (EA) since 1986, [2] he is now the Chief Technical Officer [3] and Senior Director of Development [2] of Electronic Arts' Redwood Shores studio. In November 2005 he participated on a panel of industry tech experts at an International Game Developers Association panel. [4] During that panel discussion, Iverson expressed his opinion of developing games within the limitations of marketing concerns:
"I think that technology and code you're given, design decisions you're given... aren't really limiters; they're actually enablers. If someone said, 'Make a great game,' and that's all the instructions you had, it would be pretty darn difficult to get started. But if somebody said, 'Make a great game about this movie that's coming out, or about dinosaurs, or pirates, that's a turn-based strategy game,' now all of a sudden you've got a lot of stuff that's laid out for you, and you don't have to think about those things anymore. Now you can say, 'How can I innovate in that space?' "I think technology a lot of times has that same effect.... Now you can stop worrying about that stuff and you can say, 'Well, what do I do that's really interesting to the customer on top of that framework?'" [4]
Iverson also wrote the MS-DOS and Apple IIGS versions of Deluxe Paint, a program originally written for the Amiga by Dan Silva. [6]
Maxis is an American video game developer and a division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by Electronic Arts in 1997. Maxis is best known for its simulation games, including The Sims, Spore and SimCity.
Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and military flight training which consist of realistic physical recreations of the actual aircraft cockpit, often with a full-motion platform.
LHX Attack Chopper is a combat helicopter simulation game published by Electronic Arts in 1990. Development was led by Brent Iverson who later designed Chuck Yeager's Air Combat. The game was released for MS-DOS and ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis.
Ray Tobey is an American video game programmer best known for writing the combat flight simulation game Skyfox for the Apple II, published by Electronic Arts in 1984. He was later hired by EA and wrote the fighting game Budokan: The Martial Spirit (1989).
AH-64D Longbow is a realistic combat flight simulator of the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter. Released on June 3, 1996, for the PC, this simulation was developed at Origin Systems. AH-64D Longbow was the second simulator released under the Jane's Combat Simulators line from Electronic Arts.
Jane's Combat Simulations was a brand of combat flight simulators and naval warfare games published for DOS and Windows by Electronic Arts from 1995 to 2000, and later by other companies under license by Jane's Information Group. It is named after editor and publisher of military reference books Fred T. Jane.
Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer is a flight simulation video game published by Electronic Arts in 1987. It was originally released as Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Simulator. Due to a legal dispute with Microsoft over the term "Flight Simulator", the game was pulled from shelves and renamed. Many copies of the original version were sold prior to this. Chuck Yeager served as technical consultant for the game, where his likeness and voice were prominently used.
EA Salt Lake was an American video game developer located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was owned by video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA).
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe Series is the first version of all three combat flight simulation games from Microsoft. It was released on 28 October 1998 and it is set in the European Theatre of World War II. This game spawned two sequels: Combat Flight Simulator 2 in 2000 and Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe in 2002.
Jane's Attack Squadron is a 2002 combat flight simulator developed by Looking Glass Studios and Mad Doc Software and published by Xicat Interactive. Based on World War II, the game allows players to pilot fifteen reproductions of that era's military aircraft and to carry out missions for the Axis or Allies. Although it contains dogfights, the game focuses largely on air-to-ground combat, hence the title.
Jane's World War II Fighters is the 1998 combat flight simulation video game. Set in the European theatre of operations during World War II, it is part of the Jane's Combat Simulations franchise. The game was considered a commercial failure, and contributed to the end of the Jane's Combat Simulations line.
Jane's F-15, also known as simply F-15, is a combat flight simulator video game developed and released by Electronic Arts in 1998 for the PC. It models the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle. EA's 2000 Jane's F/A-18 used an improved version of F-15's game engine.
Jane's IAF: Israeli Air Force is a military jet aircraft Combat flight simulation video game released in 1998. The simulation was created by the Israeli software developer Pixel Multimedia and was released under the Jane's Combat Simulations line from Electronic Arts.
Longbow 2 is the sequel to Jane's AH-64D Longbow from Jane's Combat Simulations. The game was developed by Origin Systems with executive producer Andy Hollis on board, and released by Electronic Arts on November 13, 1997.
Rodvik Humble is a British video game designer. He is the former chief executive officer of Second Life developer Linden Lab, Chief Creative Officer at ToyTalk, and former executive vice president for the EA Play label of the video game company Electronic Arts. He is the general manager for the Berkeley studio of Paradox Interactive. He has been contributing to the development of games since 1990, and is best known for his work on the Electronic Arts titles, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. Previously, he worked at Sony Online where he worked on EverQuest and before that Virgin Interactive's SubSpace.
SEAL Team is a Vietnam War video game which was released by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS in 1993.
Jane's ATF: Advanced Tactical Fighters is a 1996 combat flight simulator developed and published by Electronic Arts for DOS. It is the first entry in the Jane's Combat Simulations franchise. An expansion pack, NATO Fighters, was released in 1996, and a compilation package for Microsoft Windows was released in 1997 titled Advanced Tactical Fighters Gold.
U.S. Navy Fighters is a combat flight simulation game developed and published in 1994 by Electronic Arts for DOS PCs. The expansion pack Marine Fighters and a "Gold" compilation were both released in 1995.