Artist

Joining us from a pontoon bridge temporarily propped against the sides of the Olduvai Gorge comes Jaromir 'pg' Salaj. Composed in a strict Terza rima stanza form, Jaromir arts art. Once he arts his art, it stays arted, ya feel me? His hobbies include spinning his own yarn from the wool of the Ibex using a wooden drop spindle which he then stretches into skeins using a copper niddy-noddy.

Oh, most importantly, since 1987 Jaromir has been King of Porridges. Among his mushy subjects may be counted Kashk, Atole, Congee, Jeonbokjuk, The Old Frumenty, Jatjuk and The Standard Oatmeal. Also Wandouhuang, which is considering defecting from the Realm of Puddings. Don’t say a word. And Polenta is another department entirely, don’t even bother asking him about that. Despite his regal robes, he’s winningly modest about his position, loyally maintaining that nothing beats a good dish of Bryndzové Halušky. Yeah, exactly: you can take the boy out of the Bryndzové Halušky, but you can’t take the Bryndzové Halušky out of the boy, right?

Things You Were Too Afraid To Ask...

Every once in a while, we interrogate one of our own and put their answers up for all the world to see. Read on to find out more about what Jaromir does, how he ended up at Splash Damage, and more.

What do you do at Splash Damage?

I'm a Texture Artist. I'm responsible for covering environments with appropriate surfaces, setting materials and ... well, that's it! ... I never realized how simple my job is! :)

Why did you want to work in the games industry and how did you get started?

I didn't, actually. As far as I can think back, I've always been very creative but not that smart. That probably explains the fact that I spent lot of time playing computer games and later on working with Photoshop without realizing that there must be somebody who is creating the art for all these games. Or maybe my parents were carefully hiding this fact by telling me how nice it is to be a lawyer? Who knows. When I finally realized the truth, Illusion Softworks were just opening new studio in Bratislava. Luckily – there were no IQ tests!

Do you have any tips for people wanting to break in?

Just look at the other interviews on this site - there are so many ways! If you really love doing a particular thing, you are get better at it every day. And that's basically what you need (it's not necessarily true everywhere, but if you are reading this, you are probably alright).

What games have you worked on? Which one did you enjoy the most?

I worked on Chameleon at Illusion Softworks, and later on the cancelled Elveon at 10Tacle Studios. I enjoyed working on both, but Brink is my best experience yet.

How did you end up at Splash Damage?

I was looking for some adventure and Splash Damage were looking for texture artist. The company had a great reputation, so I applied. At the beginning of the interview, they let me sit alone for 10 minutes in a room full of Brink concept art. Honestly, that was a waste of nine minutes! After one minute, I realized that I REALLY want to work on this! And then a bunch of quite relaxed guys entered the room, so I pretended that I could speak English. It worked!

What is it like to work at Splash Damage?

It's fun! I like the diversity, and here are 70 different, but extremely talented and creative people from all around the world. This environment is making me better too – it is an amazing opportunity to grow as an artist.

What are the best and worst parts of your job?

The sound is amazing! I particularly like the moment when our environments are finally put together with ambient sound. Slowly walking around, listening to the echoes of your footsteps, ambient noises... beautiful... now why are these guys shooting at me !?! And the worst? Definitely that one day, I remember it very clearly, when the coffee machine was suddenly broken. You might see me smile, but I never fully recovered from this loss.

What was your first gaming experience?

It was a very simple racing game and I’m even not sure if it actually had a name. I played it on a PMD 85, which was an 8-bit personal computer. Wikipedia says it 'was famous for its keyboards with extremely tough keys'. Well, it was the summer of 1985 in former Czechoslovakia, and the line between computing and bodybuilding hadn’t been drawn there just yet.

What types of games do you like, and what's your favorite game of all time?

I’m not attached to any specific genre. From a visual point of view I really like Mirror’s Edge with its minimalistic approach, excellent design and lighting. As for gameplay, I like games with ideas that force you to be creative. I don’t know about it being the best game ever, but right now my favourite game is Crayon Physics.

What's the meaning behind your nickname?

Can't talk about that here. :)

What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

When not staring at pixels, I like reading (and very rarely even thinking) about visual semiotics. But right now I'm excited about exploring London! And I love Brixton, with all its diversity and strong community movements.