Sjoerd De Jong, also known as Hourences, is a Dutch-Belgian

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

level designer In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty ...

and the founder of Teotl Studios. He serves as

technology evangelist A technology evangelist is a person who builds a critical mass of support for a given technology, and then establishes it as a technical standard in a market that is subject to network effects. The word ''evangelism'' is borrowed from the context ...

for

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, ...

, promoting

Unreal Engine 4 Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal (1998 video game), Unreal''. Initially developed for Personal computer, PC first-person shooters, i ...

in the northern half of Europe.

Career

De Jong started making levels for video games at the age of 15, when he purchased a copy of ''

Unreal Unreal may refer to: Books and TV * ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings * ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime Computing and games * ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...

'' in 1999. Shortly after, he started to make a name for himself in the ''

'' community, not only for the many maps he released, but also for his work on popular ''

Unreal Tournament ''Unreal Tournament'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The second installment in the '' Unreal'' series, it was first published by GT Interactive in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, and lat ...

'' mods such as "Operation Na Pali", "Xidia" and "Jailbreak". With a few more custom maps and contributions to mods for ''

Unreal Tournament 2003 ''Unreal Tournament 2003'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes, and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The game is part of the ''Unreal'' franchise, and is a sequel to 19 ...

'', he was contracted by

to create 6 maps for ''

Unreal Tournament 2004 ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. Part of the ''Unreal'' franchise, it is the third game in the ''Unreal Tournament'' series and the sequel to ''Unreal Tournament ...

'', two of which were included in the

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film * Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhe ...

. He has worked on several games, including ''

Killzone ''Killzone'' is a series of first-person shooter video games for Sony Interactive Entertainment's (SIE) video game consoles. The main series and the PlayStation Portable (PSP) installment were developed by Guerrilla Games, a subsidiary of SIE, a ...

'', ''

The Chronicles of Spellborn ''The Chronicles of Spellborn'' was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) initially released on November 27, 2008, developed by Spellborn International and distributed by Frogster Interactive, Mindscape and Acclaim Games; set ...

'' and ''

Huxley Huxley may refer to: People * Huxley (surname) * The British Huxley family * Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895), British biologist known as "Darwin's Bulldog" * Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), British writer, author of ''Brave New World'', grandson ...

''. In March 2010, following his work on ''

Syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndica ...

'', he founded Teotl Studios. The studio's first project was the first-person action-adventure game '' The Ball'', which was originally a mod for ''

Unreal Tournament 3 ''Unreal Tournament 3'' (''UT3'') is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games. Part of the ''Unreal'' franchise, it is the fourth game in the ''Unreal Tournament'' series, and the eighth g ...

''. His most recent work, '' The Solus Project'', came out in 2016.

Video game credits

*2004 – ''

'',

(level designer / artist) *2004 – ''

Street Racing Syndicate ''Street Racing Syndicate'' is a multiplatform racing video game produced by Eutechnyx, and released by Namco on August 31, 2004 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Windows-based personal computers. The game was also released for the Game B ...

'',

Eutechnyx Eutechnyx Limited (formerly Zeppelin Games Limited, until 1994, and Merit Studios (Europe) Limited, until 1997) is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They a ...

(3D artist) *2004 – '' Shellshock: Nam '67'',

Guerrilla Games Guerrilla B.V. (trade name: Guerrilla Games) is a Dutch first-party video game developer based in Amsterdam and part of PlayStation Studios. The company was founded as Lost Boys Games in January 2000 through the merger of three smaller developm ...

(environment artist) *2004 – ''

'',

(Environment artist) *2006 – ''

Warpath Warpath may refer to: * Great Indian Warpath, a network of trails in eastern North America used by Native Americans Games * ''Warpath'' (video game), a 2006 FPS video game by Digital Extremes for the PC and Xbox *'' Warpath: Jurassic Park'', a 19 ...

'',

Digital Extremes Digital Extremes is a Canadian video game developer founded in 1993 by James Schmalz. They are best known for creating ''Warframe'', a free-to-play cooperative online action game, and co-creating Epic Games' ''Unreal'' series of games. Digital ...

(level designer / artist) *2008 – ''

'',

Spellborn International ''The Chronicles of Spellborn'' was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) initially released on November 27, 2008, developed by Spellborn International and distributed by Frogster Interactive, Mindscape and Acclaim Games; set ...

(senior level artist) *2010 – ''

'',

Webzen Games Webzen is a South Korean developer and publisher of video games. The company, together with its subsidiaries, also engages in software licensing and related services all over the world. History Webzen merged with NHN Games, which was dissolved wi ...

(level designer / artist) *2010 – '' The Ball'', Teotl Studios (creative director / project lead) *2011 – '' Q.U.B.E.'', Toxic Games (lighting / material artist) *2012 – ''

'', Starbreeze Studios (senior level designer / artist) *2012 – ''

Unmechanical ''Unmechanical'' is a 2.5D puzzle video game developed by now defunct Swedish studio Talawa Games and published by Teotl Studios. It was released in 2012 for Windows. It was later available for iOS. It is available on Steam, GOG.com, GamersGate ...

'', Talawa Games (creative director / project lead) *2014 – ''

Rekoil ''Rekoil'' (working title ''Rikochet'') is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Plastic Piranha and published by 505 Games. It features downtrodden "Minutemen" pitted against their oppressors, Darkwater Inc, in a world where ...

'', Plastic Piranha (level artist) *2016 – '' The Solus Project'', Teotl Studios (creative director / project lead)

Books

*''The Hows and Whys of the Games Industry'' (2007). Self-published *''The Hows and Whys of Level Design'' (2008). Self-published

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Sjoerd Belgian non-fiction writers Belgian male writers Dutch writers Indie video game developers Living people Unreal (video game series) Video game artists Belgian video game designers Dutch video game designers Video game designers Year of birth missing (living people) Male non-fiction writers