Getting to know the MILC team: Stefan Malinovic

Tell us about yourself!

I am Stefan, a 31-year-old country boy from a small village near Belgrade in Serbia. Growing up, I was very hyperactive and the only thing that could keep me in one place was video games. I completed my first Mario game just after my 3rd birthday.

Besides video games, I love philosophy – especially stoicism –, heavy metal and rock music, motorcycles, designing video / board games, thinking about prototypes and businesses, and movie nights with my family.

What is your professional background, and how did you end up working with MILC?

Although I have a law degree, I managed to get into the game industry as a DevTester, learning by making games at home and attending game jams with friends. I worked my way up as a level designer, 3D artist, and later technical artist for the US-based software company Playstudios. It was then that Bojan, who worked for MILC, approached me because they needed help with 3D assets.

He knew I would love it because it’s a metaverse platform, and at the time I started really getting into the crypto world. I love the concept of the metaverse and the prototyping aspect of it. I also love that we’re creating something that doesn’t exist in reality that has a positive impact on human life, and I think its impact will only grow in the future!

Do you have any advice for anyone looking to start a similar career?

Oh yes! Approach people who are already working in the industry. Never stop creating, and I mean literary. You need to create something every week at least to stay sharp and fast while you improve the quality of your work. Also, participate in game jams with friends.

What is your workflow when creating a new building in the MILC Metaverse?

• First, I get requests from my managers, Markus and Martin. They give me the general idea and some requirements.
• Then I just go and scout a location in our metaverse that inspires me. I fly through the 3D world using the Unreal Engine editor to try to imagine how the new building will fit our vibe.
• As soon as I’ve come up with an idea, I make a rough sketch of it and then move to 3D software where I create it from scratch.
• After modeling comes the fun part of optimizing, UV unwrapping – which means preparing the 3D model for adding surfaces – and creating textures. I then import the model into the Unreal editor, where I work on materials and technical tweaks. And when the building is finished, it is placed in our metaverse.

Which of your designs in the MILC Metaverse are you most proud of?

Oh, that would be the entire Oldenburg town and its Opera. I really enjoyed working on that.

What is your favorite video game?

I have a lot of favorite games, and some of them are “Star Wars Episode I: Racer”, “World of Warcraft”, “Red Alert 2” and “Assassin’s Creed” (all of them :D)