Meet Dana Christo – UI Programmer at Bethesda Game Studios

Dana Christo knows her way around UI.

As a UI (User Interface) Programmer at Bethesda Game Studios, Christo has her hands on everything a player… well, interfaces with, like menus and controls. Sometimes her work on these elements can even spin off into new game additions or features, like Fallout 76’s much-loved Photo Mode!

Interested in learning more about life as a UI Programmer at Bethesda Game Studios? We sat down with Christo talk about her role, her career path and much more.

What was your first project as a member of the Bethesda Game Studios team?

My first project both at Bethesda, and in the industry in general, was actually Fallout 76. I interned at Bethesda Game Studios for three months while in college during the summer of 2017. I was a programming intern during that time working on several tasks in Fallout 76 to help out, and about a month in I got to try out UI programming and loved it! I did a lot of UI-related work for the last two months of the internship. After I graduated in January 2018, I joined full-time as an Associate Programmer working on the UI in Fallout 76. Fallout 76 is my favorite project I’ve worked on - I’m especially proud of the work I did on Photo Mode in 76 and how far it went from being a game jam I inherited to a full feature.

One of my favorite community-related stories was actually when I found out there was a subreddit for Fallout 76 photos. I can’t even describe how happy I feel whenever I see people’s Photo Mode pictures. I’ve seen some amazing shots on Reddit and Twitter, and I love seeing people’s creativity come out.

What lead you to become a UI Programmer?

I’ve wanted to make video games since I was 16 and found out that that was a career people could actually have. I didn’t necessarily care at first about becoming a programmer (I had no idea what computer science even was), I just knew I wanted to make games.

Getting into Bethesda and my current role was 90% luck. When I was in college, I saw a social media post about Xbox’s Game Changers GDC program, where they randomly selected 30 women in school for games, or new to the gaming industry, to get an All-Access GDC pass. I was extremely lucky to be given a pass and managed to get myself out to California for a week (thank you waitressing, TA jobs and my professors!).

While at GDC I went to a talk about Dishonored 2 and at the end I introduced myself to a recruiter and handed him my very hastily made business card. I’m 99% sure he remembered me after because I had rainbow hair at the time. The week after GDC, the recruiter emailed me about a contract role at Bethesda Game Studios as a programmer and a few miracles later, here I am!

What are you faced with working as a UI Programmer?

I usually review a queue of reports and actively field questions from people both on and off my direct team. General programming skills are typically used in my role, but a big part is finding solutions to a variety of problems. I have to make sure whatever solution I come up with isn't overly complex so someone else can take it over, not reinventing the wheel with tons of duplicate code, etc. Additionally, as a UI programmer, I work in ActionScript and C++, so any kind of scripting knowledge is useful. The UI system is more events and data-based, so being able to follow a higher-level flow when looking at the UI code is really useful.

But sometimes challenges can present themselves. I try to make the UI do exactly what the UI artist has created in their concept, but in reality, that can't always happen perfectly. Part of my job is to communicate with the artist and the designer if something can't be done or needs to be tweaked because of technological constraints. I have a lot of respect for UI artists/designers. Like, a lot. I couldn't even draw a rounded triangle in a menu on my own, so I'm convinced all the UI artists I work with are magic.

What do you love most about your job?

I love that I get to help create something that someone else will enjoy. When I decided I wanted to make games and started making mini games in high school, the number one thing that kept me going on that path was seeing my friends’ reactions to what I made as they played my games. It’s mind-blowing that something I helped make is played by millions of people who enjoy it. I also really love working on UI; I get to have a very direct impact on what players experience by working on the menus and controls. And it helps that my coworkers on the UI team are awesome.

In fact, I’d have to say my favorite thing about Bethesda Game Studios is definitely my coworkers. After I interned here, the number one reason I really wanted to come back full time was because I loved the team I worked with and all the people at the studio.

Tell us your favorite work-related story.

Skyrim VR was also being worked on while I was interning. One day when I was walking out to the lounge area, I saw a producer had set it up and he offered to let me try it out. I had never played Skyrim before, so I didn’t know what to expect. Suddenly, a giant spider is right in my face, and I just scream. Top of my lungs, right in the middle of the lounge, with a few coworkers watching. A video game spider is bad enough. When it’s giant and in VR, it’s terrifying! At least I gave my coworkers a good laugh and I got a great story out of it.

What are your favorite games or the games you find inspiration in?

I have so many games that have been my favorite, but Final Fantasy X-2 is the one that has been at the top the longest. I played it for the first time when I was 9 and I still find myself going back to it.

My top three that inspire at the moment would be Kingdom Hearts, which showed me that no idea is too crazy to be made; NieR: Automata, with its seamless camera system and flawless, fluid combat; and Persona 5 Royal, which blends all the game’s mechanics together to create a cohesive experience. Persona 5 Royal has an amazing story, and, of course, the coolest UI I’ve ever seen in a game. I think that inspires me twice as much since I work on UI myself.

What advice do you give someone who wants to be in this industry?

A lot of it comes down to luck. Make sure to take any and every chance you have that could lead to opportunities (like entering a lottery ticket drawing for GDC from a Facebook group you forgot you were in…). Other than luck, you should also focus on getting yourself involved in the game dev community, and take care to not burn any bridges, especially before you even build them. If you are trying to get into a development role like art, design or engineering, have a portfolio. It doesn’t have to be fancy or full of amazing things, it just has to exist. My portfolio consisted mostly of school projects and a few mini games that were under a week of work. They weren’t amazing but they at least showed that I could code.

Thank you so much Dana for taking the time to answer our questions. If you want to work with Dana or anyone at Bethesda Game Studios, visit our careers page and apply today!