Sam Oscar Lantinga is a

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

. He used to be the lead software engineer at

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three graduat ...

, where he was known to the community as Slouken. He is best known as the creator of the

Simple DirectMedia Layer Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) is a cross-platform software development library designed to provide a hardware abstraction layer for computer multimedia hardware components. Software developers can use it to write high-performance computer games ...

, a very popular

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

multimedia programming library, and also developed the compatibility database for

Executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used. Overview An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...

, a proprietary Mac OS emulator.ARDI site credits
He was the lead programmer and a co-founder of the now-defunct

Loki Software Loki Software, Inc. (Loki Entertainment) was an American video game developer based in Tustin, California, that ported several video games from Microsoft Windows to Linux. It took its name from the Norse deity Loki. Although successful in its ...

, which ported several game titles to

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

. A Linux client of ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

'' was developed, and negotiations with

Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing (sometimes also referred to as LGP) was a software company based in Nottingham in England. It ported, published and sold video games running on Linux operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsored the deve ...

were under way until Blizzard cancelled the project. It is unknown if Lantinga was involved with this port. He also founded Galaxy Gameworks in 2008 to help commercially support the

. He left Blizzard Entertainment to "relax, spend time with family, and explore some ideas to expand the Galaxy Gameworks business." Soon after he launched a new website for Gameworks including an extensive list of developer testimonials. Lantinga went on to work for

38 Studios 38 Studios, LLC, formerly Green Monster Games, LLC, was an American entertainment and intellectual property, IP development company founded in 2006 by Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling and named for his jersey number. Originally based in ...

, which shut down in May 2012. Lantinga is currently employed at

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

Games credited

The following is a list of game products Lantinga either developed on or was involved in porting.Sam Lantinga's Resume
(archived 2008)

Blizzard Entertainment

* ''

Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by u ...

'' * ''

'' * '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos''

Loki Software

* '' Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns'' * ''

Tribes 2 ''Tribes 2'' is a first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line in 2001 as a sequel to '' Starsiege: Tribes''. Setting Set in the year 3941 of the fictional Earthsiege universe, ''Tribes 2'' ...

'' * '' MindRover'' * ''

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri'' is a 4X video game, considered a spiritual sequel to the ''Civilization'' series. Set in a science fiction depiction of the 22nd century, the game begins as seven competing ideological factions land on the planet ...

'' * ''Rune'' * '' Rune: Halls of Valhalla'' * ''

Heavy Gear II ''Heavy Gear II'' is a mecha based first-person shooter video game. Set in Dream Pod 9's Heavy Gear universe, the game was developed and published by Activision in 1999 for Microsoft Windows; it was ported to Linux in 2000 by Loki Software. It ...

'' * ''

Heretic II ''Heretic II'' is a dark fantasy action-adventure game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision in 1998 continuing the story of Corvus, the main character from its predecessor, '' Heretic''. It is the fourth game in the '' Hexen: ...

'' * ''

Heroes of Might and Magic III ''Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia'' (commonly referred to as ''Heroes of Might & Magic 3'', or ''Heroes 3'', or abbreviated HoMM 3) is a turn-based strategy game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Comput ...

'' * ''

Railroad Tycoon II ''Railroad Tycoon II'' is a business simulation video game in the ''Railroad Tycoon'' series developed by PopTop Software and published by Gathering of Developers. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation and Dreamcast Game ...

'' * '' Civilization: Call To Power''

Ambrosia Software

* ''Maelstrom''

References

External links

Sam Lantinga's Homepage
(archived 2008-05-22)
Homepage for SDL, Sam's cross-platform open source game library

Sam Lantinga at Wowpedia

Sam Lantinga Slings Some Answers (2001 interview)

The Sam Lantinga interview - November 11th, 1999 (Linux.com)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lantinga, Sam Living people Video game programmers Free software programmers Linux game porters Blizzard Entertainment people Valve Corporation people University of California, Davis alumni Year of birth missing (living people)