Vector Unit is a

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 large ...

founded in December 2007 by Ralf Knoesel and Matt Small. The company is best known for its title, ''

Hydro Thunder Hurricane ''Hydro Thunder Hurricane'' is a boat racing video game developed by Vector Unit and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. The game was released on July 28, 2010 as part of Microsoft's Xbox Live Summer of Ar ...

'', released on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade in 2010.

History

Vector Unit was founded in December 2007 by Ralf Knoesel and Matt Small. The two originally worked together on ''

Blood Wake ''Blood Wake'' is a naval combat video game released in 2001 for the Xbox as part of Microsoft's wave of launch titles. It was developed by Stormfront Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Set in an Asian-themed fictional world, ''Bl ...

'' at

Stormfront Studios Stormfront Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. In 2007, the company had over 50 developers working on two teams, and owned all its proprietary engines, tools, and technology. As of the end of 2007, ...

. Following ''Blood Wake'', Small took a job with EA Redwood Shores. Knoesel and Small kept in contact, and started a small side project. One night, Small received a message from Knoesel which read "So I've been having these thoughts... about quitting and doing the small games thing." The two decided to quit their job and begin their studio. Vector Unit was incorporated on January 28, 2008. Although officially the company consists of only two employees, a team of five contractors were brought in to complete their first title, ''

''. Creative Director Matt Small was interviewed on the difficulties of starting a new company by Gamasutra in April 2010. Small noted that with a small team members are required to take on multiple roles. "You get to choose at least 80 percent of the time which hats you wear, and then sometimes you end up forced into wearing a particular hat."

Technology

Vector Unit uses a proprietary engine known as the Vector Engine to develop their games. The engine allows for real time "baking" of assets; when assets are first run in the game, they are optimized for that particular platform. Visual scripting is used to allow editors to write scripted events without a comprehensive understanding of code. FMOD is used for audio and ''Bullet Physics Library'' handles all in-game physics. 3D models are created in Maya and artists are able to see how the asset would look in-game via a plugin. Level construction and placement of props are done in BarracudaEditor, the team's level design tool. During the development of ''

,'' Vector Unit maintained a PC build of the game which allowed artists and other team members to test their assets in-game without moving to an Xbox 360 Debug Kit.

Games developed

Additional work

References

External links

* {{Thunder series American companies established in 2007 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Companies based in San Rafael, California Video game companies established in 2007 2007 establishments in California