Ken Demarest
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Llewellyn Demarest III is a computer game programmer
, business person, and artist
.
As a technical innovator, he helped advance the state of the art in video games by developing the first 3D
, texture-mapped
characters ever seen in a computer game with BioForge
. As a Director of Technology at Origin Systems
, Demarest recognized the potential for graphic massively multiplayer online game
s (MMOs) and developed the technical prototype for Ultima Online
using Ultima VI
as a code base
. His later work would result in the first attempt at a persistent-world real-time strategy
game, NetStorm: Islands At War.
In social gaming
, Demarest was part of the early work blending 3D MMOs and social game play both stand-alone and on networks such as Facebook
and MySpace
.
As an artist for Shadow Garden he wrote 'Sand', the most popular and frequently sold work on the platform developed by Zack Simpson. Sand is in the permanent collections of numerous museums world-wide including the Discovery Science Center
and Sony Wonder Technology Lab. Demarest's later work supported technology that benefits humanity including MorSand, a 2006 Tech Award Laureate, and CellBazaar, a 2007 Laureate.
Demarest is now the founder of Terra-Byte Consulting, an MMO
, Social Network Games, and web
consulting company.
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
, business person, and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
.
As a technical innovator, he helped advance the state of the art in video games by developing the first 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
, texture-mapped
Texture mapping
Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture , or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.-Texture mapping:...
characters ever seen in a computer game with BioForge
BioForge
BioForge is a 1995 computer role-playing game published by Origin Systems for the PC. The game was marketed as a movie-like production, because of its in-depth plot and extensive voice acting...
. As a Director of Technology at Origin Systems
Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
, Demarest recognized the potential for graphic massively multiplayer online game
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
s (MMOs) and developed the technical prototype for Ultima Online
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
using Ultima VI
Ultima VI
Ultima VI: The False Prophet, released by Origin Systems in 1990, is the sixth part in the computer role-playing game series of Ultima. It was the last in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy....
as a code base
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
. His later work would result in the first attempt at a persistent-world real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
game, NetStorm: Islands At War.
In social gaming
Social gaming
Social gaming commonly refers to playing games as a way of social interaction, as opposed to playing games in solitude, like some card games and the single-player mode of many video games...
, Demarest was part of the early work blending 3D MMOs and social game play both stand-alone and on networks such as Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.
As an artist for Shadow Garden he wrote 'Sand', the most popular and frequently sold work on the platform developed by Zack Simpson. Sand is in the permanent collections of numerous museums world-wide including the Discovery Science Center
Discovery Science Center
The Discovery Science Center, formerly known as the Taco Bell Discovery Science Center, is a science museum in Santa Ana, California, with more than 100 hands-on science exhibits designed to spark children's natural curiosity...
and Sony Wonder Technology Lab. Demarest's later work supported technology that benefits humanity including MorSand, a 2006 Tech Award Laureate, and CellBazaar, a 2007 Laureate.
Demarest is now the founder of Terra-Byte Consulting, an MMO
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
, Social Network Games, and web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
consulting company.
External links
- Mine-Control Home Page
- Ken Demarest profile on MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Sand Exhibit at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, CA
- Sand Exhibit at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...