Uses This

Who are you, and what do you do?

I'm map. Or, if you prefer, Martin Pittenauer. I co-founded TheCodingMonkeys 11 years ago. We created SubEthaEdit, which won an Apple Design Award and kickstarted the idea of collaborative editing. Something now pretty common thanks to Google Docs and virtually unheard of outside of academia back when we started.

We helped to transform Toronto's city hall into a giant pixel display playing Space Invaders and Pong, co-developed BoinxTV, an Apple Design Award winning video production suite and then became a indie game studio driven by our passion for -- what could be more German -- board-games. Carcassonne, "which remains a benchmark of masterful iOS translations of classic board games" according to Apple, is the flagship product. Most recently we expanded into original game ideas with RULES! a puzzle-game designed by frequent collaborator Marcel-André Casasola Merkle. It won two German developer awards and made the App Store's "Best of 2014" list.

I also write for a feminist pop culture magazine called "Kleinerdrei", work on two podcast shows and experiment with short-form video documentary series about games development called "Monkey Business".

What hardware do you use?

I'm living in Berlin on the weekend and work in Munich during the week, so my MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) is my trusty companion on the road and at the desk. Working in a train has become second nature by now, I just wish Wifi would be more reliable. My iPad Air comes in handy for light writing, gaming and other entertainment.

I recently got an iPhone 6 Plus. I figured that I would keep trying to reach the upper left corner of an iPhone 6 with my thumb, becoming frustrated with it. With the Plus I don't even have illusions about that.

For podcasting I like to use Beyer Dynamics DT 770 Pro headphones for editing, Beyer Dynamic DT 297 headsets for the show, an Rode NTG2 for on-the-go and a Tascam DR-680 for multi-track recordings.

I filmed most of "Monkey Business" with a Panasonic DMC-GH2 with custom firmware. For lenses I use a Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 and a Lumix 20mm f/1.7.

And what software?

I love using Mailplane for my email, Tokens for generating promo codes and presskit() to create press kits for our games. (The creators of presskit() also have a pretty great list of other resources for game development.)

If I find some time to work on prototypes, I rely on SourceTree, Xcode and Unity. I also just have to mention erlang, which makes running a server like Carcassonne's feasible for a small shop like ours.

For writing I use iA Writer Pro and Markdown. My Podcasts are edited with Hindenburg and leveled by Auphonic. And for video editing I use Final Cut Pro X.

What would be your dream setup?

Well, of course there are things that would be nice to play around with, especially in terms of audio and video gear. Voigtlander Nokton lenses, for example. Or for that matter, anything on 2 Player Productions' gear-list. But my little experiments in that regard don't warrant a lot of expensive stuff. Generally I'm pretty happy with my current core setup.

If we are talking about real dreams, I guess my "Wanderlust" and growing frustration with Germany's political and technological landscape would seduce me to say: A desk with a Mac Pro in Portland.