d3t welcomes Emma Marshall, Graduate Programmer

24th Apr 2024

Tell us a bit of information about your experience/career background?

I’ve just finished my PhD in Particle Physics at Lancaster University, where I worked with data from the ATLAS experiment at CERN to look for new physics. With this I spent a lot of time coding, and found it was my favourite part of my PhD! I decided I wanted to move out of academia into a job that would let me code all of the time. Combined with my love of video games, game programming felt like a great choice.

Why d3t?

The culture at d3t seems really great, everyone I’ve spoken to has only had good things to say! In addition, I like that the studio is co-development as it means I get the opportunity to work on and get experience with lots of different things. I’m looking forward to being able to be in the studio with lots of other people who love games.

What do you love about games?

I love the way a well told video game can make you feel. I’m a big fan of RPGs and the way a story can be told through the interactive medium of a video game. My favourite example of this is The Witcher 3 (which d3t worked on!). The story was so in-depth and so many player choices were considered, something you can’t do with book, TV, or film! In particular, I love the way video games can tell a story with the environment, well placed objects that give you information about the world without having to lore dump on you.

What games are you currently playing, and what is your favourite game?

I’m currently replaying Elden Ring, it was my first foray into Souls-like games and I was hooked! Because of this, I ended up playing all of the Dark Souls games one after the other last year. I’m a big fan of Souls-like games as I love the challenge of throwing yourself at a boss and forcing yourself to get better with every attempt. My favourite game is definitely Hollow Knight though. The amazing art combined with the interesting storytelling, amazing music and game mechanics make it such a great game.

Do you have any fun facts or hobbies?

I have pet rats! They’re all named after Hollow Knight characters (Monomon, Lurien, Herrah, Quirrel and Cornifer). Cornifer actually made an appearance as an additional asset in my coding interview! Outside of playing games I also spend a lot of time climbing and cycling, as well as playing tabletop games like D&D and Warhammer.