Gary Preston
- Occupation: Freelance Programmer
- Location: Leeds, United Kingdom
I started commercial software development in 1997 for a local software company developing information systems whilst studying Software Engineering at Bradford University.
I graduated in 2000 with a Masters Degree with distinction and continued to work for the same software company before finally setting up as a freelance programmer when the company closed its programming department and moved into hardware sales. Since then I’ve worked on and lead the development of a variety of projects from financial and chemical mixing systems to window design, costing and ordering software as well as several web sites.
Programming has been an enjoyable hobby for me ever since my first Acorn Electron, with my interest in game programming piqued after reading a series of tutorials by Bullfrog published in the Amiga Format magazine. Although I’d often thought of applying for a game programming job rather than another information system contract, the money and stability of my work at the time coupled with “I`ll do it when I have more experience with xyz” always stopped me.
During the early months of 2005 I decided to change my focus slightly and take on more interesting work. I`m now developing games and enjoying every minute of it. The work may be harder, the hours longer and overall more challenging but it’s that extra challenge that makes the work much more interesting, especially when you get to play the end result.
