Line Developer
Sarna News
The BattleTech Line Developer is the lead developer and director of the BattleTech tabletop universe.
Overseeing things from start to finish, the Line Developer solicits and manages the efforts of the writers and artists, freelance or otherwise, who produce the physical online publications of BattleTech. While generally operating in concert and collaboration with a variety of elements on the creative team, the Line Developer is also effectively the final word in the BattleTech universe and its canon, ultimately determining the overall direction and tone of the books and storyline.
In the current Internet era the Line Developer is also an increasingly accessible means of seeking canon clarifications via either the Ask the Lead Developers or Ask the Writers sections on the BattleTech Forums.
The first BattleTech Line Developer during FASA times was probably Mike Nystul or Sam Lewis, although the position was not well defined and rarely referred to as such in the early years of BattleTech.
In the year 2000, Randall N. Bills ascended to the position of Line Developer, having previously been the Assistant Line Developer since 1996. He remained at the position throughout the FanPro LLC times and the start of the Catalyst Game Labs era, moving on to become CGL's "roving developer" across all game lines while Herbert A. Beas II took over as BattleTech Line Developer in 2007. Bills resumed the mantle from Beas in 2013 for an interim time period and in 2017 Brent Evans became the new Line Developer.