Ian C G Bell
Potted Bio
I was born in England in 1962 on the Samhain,
I attended St Albans Abbey Public (ie. private) School on a State scholarship and received an Exhibition place at
Jesus College, Cambridge to study Mathematics - specialising initially in pure mathematics and
finally optimisation techniques. Despite obtaining a first class maths degree, the computer science
department required i take a Computer Science Diploma prior to my intended PhD in Artificial
Intelligence. I obtained the diploma but was so disenchanted by the nature of the material
(with the exception of predicate calculus and formal semantics) that i left academia to concentrate
on artistic programming.
While at university i wrote the computer game
Free Fall
and coauthored the original 3D space game
Elite which sold well enough to finance many years of hobbyist programming
and study of martial arts.
A project with Oxfam for a political/economic adventure game exposing the reality of US foreign policy
in Central America collapsed and i have since been working on a new, somewhat psychaedelic, computer game.
I currently work from home in rural East Anglia, UK.
Some of my hobbies and interests can be inferred from my homepage but
also include juggling and massage.
My consultancy rates regarding programming and design are reasonable.
I am not to be confused with
Ian Andrew Bell
who trades as "Ian Bell Consulting".
Specialities
Algorithm design and programming relating to:
Real time graphics (esp. procedural); audio; collision detection and mechanics;
optimisation; lexical processing; approximation methods; strategy formulation; third world issues.
Compact assembly coding. Game Aesthetics. Gameplay issues. UV Body Art
Primary Languages
C/C++, Assembly (6502,ARM,Intel).
Qualifications
1st Class Honours Degree in Mathematics (MA), University of Cambridge UK (1985)
Diploma in Computer Science, University of Cambridge UK (1986).
A & S Levels:: (1981):
Maths: A ; Further Maths: A2; Physics: A1
AO Levels:: (1979):
Biology: A
O Levels:: (1978/79):
History: A ; Economics: A ; Physics: A ; Chemistry: A ; Maths: A ; Further Maths: A ;
French: B ; English: B; English Literature: B
Previous Work
Machine control and Finite Element Analysis programing for Malaysian Rubber Producers Research Association.
Freelance game design and programming (notably "Elite"). Conversions of Elite to a variety of
6502 platforms. Codevelopment of PC voxel-based character
animation system for Revolution Software. Development water, fire and smoke effects for
Sony Playstation for Pterodactyl Software. Independant development of procedural ray stepping techniques.
Stereotypical Classification :
Vegetarian anarchist heterosexual artist programmer mathematician.
Favourite Films :
Aliens [Amazon UK],
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
,
Brazil [Amazon UK],
Chinese Ghost Story #1 [Amazon UK] and #2 [Amazon UK]
, Local Hero
, Monty Python & the Holy Grail
[Amazon UK]
, Withnail & I.
.
Favourite Director :
Terry Gilliam.
Favourite Composers :
J S Bach, Carlo Gesualdo.
Favourite Books :
"Storming Heaven" by Jay Stevens;
"The Cosmic Serpent" by Jeremy Narby
[Amazon UK]
