Worked in the games industry for 8 years, 11 years developing software and over 4 years as a team lead, with 12 published titles.
Bachelor of Science (Major in Computer Science), Waikato University, New Zealand 1992 –1995
“Programming in Microsoft C++”, AuldHouse Computer Services, New Zealand, 1995
"Programming in Syngergex", Starkmann Ltd., England 1998
Computer Languages:
| C++ | 6.0 Years |
| C | 1.8 Years |
| C# | 4 Months |
| Java | 9 Months |
| Pascal/Modula2 | 1.8 Years |
| Synergex | 1.0 Years |
| SQL | 5 Months |
| Lua Script | 2 Months |
Game Engines:
| Lithtech | 7 Months |
| Renderware | 1.0 Years |
Platforms:
| PC | 6.5 Years |
| GBA/DS | 2.5 Years |
| PS2 | 1.0 Years |
| XBox360 | 3 Months |
| Brew 1.1- 2.0 | 10 Months |
| MAC | 2.0 Years |
| Symbian (Nokia NGage) | 1.5 Years |
| VAX/Alpha | 1.5 Years |
Senior Software Engineer (Lead) February 2005 – September 2008
Backbone Entertainment., Canada
Lead two mid size programming teams though the full development cycle.
Skills: VC++, DS, Wii, PS2, Xbox360, Perforce, Leadership, frame work design & architecture, Tool & Pipeline/Build process development, AI, Task estimation.
Published Titles: Shadow born (Shelved at Beta, NGage), Monster Lab (DS & Wii), Diner Dash (XBLA, PS3)
Duties:
- Pre-production work, including game engine assessments & selection, game requirements, TDD construction (programming/tools/pipeline etc).
- Designed & oversaw construction on an cross platform database, tools & pipeline process.
- Team lead on the largest Nokia cell phone title ever developed, involving tamagotchi style creatures interacting with the NGage (Faking incoming text messages, Alarms & other interesting features!).
- Lead Developer duties, including working with managers & clients, accurate task estimation, assignment & follow up.
- Designed & implemented the resource pipeline & automated build process. Proactively insured smooth development with minimal broken builds.
- Designed & built an automatic testing system for QA.
Game Developer (Lead) March 2004 – December 2004
RainJester Entertainment Inc., Canada
Designed, implemented and tested wireless cell phone games under brew & Java platforms for international markets.
Skills: VC/VC++, Java, Brew, Source Safe, Leadership, Game Design, Game Engine Design & Development, Tool Development, AI.
Published Titles: BlueStreak 2210 (Brew), Toque GT (Brew)
Duties:
- Worked on every aspect of the game development life cycle, from concept to quality assurance, including game design.
- Coordinated developers, management meetings, progress reports, staffing issues and other lead developer duties.
- Wrote very efficient, compact and fast code due to the memory constraints & speed of the hardware.
- Developed tools, including compression/archive utilities, level editors & palette managers.
- Engine design & development, including tile maps, image scaling/rotating, palette manipulation & AI techniques (A* path finding algorithm)
Game Developer February 2000 – December 2003
Magellan Interactive, Canada
Responsible for designing and programming educational children’s games, using propriety in-house and 3rd party cross platform game engines.
Skills: VC++, Java, Source Safe, PS2, GBA, Mac, Direct X, RAD Games tools (Miles, Smacker & Bink), Lithtech (3D), Renderware (3D), IET Engine Development.
Published Titles: Barney On Location (PC), Disney Trivia (PC/Mac), MatchBox – Cross Town Hero’s (GBA & PS2/PC), DragonBall Z – Collectible Card Game (GBA), Clifford – Cliffords Word Carnival (PC/Mac), Scooby Doo – Case File #2 The Scary Stone Dragon (PC), Swashbucks (Web/Online), Hooked On Phonics (PC), Veggie Island (PC).
Duties:
- Designed, implemented and tested children’s games using both 2D and 3D game engines on a variety of platforms including PC, MAC, PS2 and GBA
- Acted as the Lead Programmer on various projects while communicating and coordinating responsibilities amongst fellow developers, project managers, artists and publishers in order to ensure the timely completion of projects
- Worked in a high-stress environment involving tight deadlines for well-known companies such as Hasbro, Nickelodeon, Nintendo and Walt Disney Interactive
- Prepared and tested solutions to localisation issues, such as multi-byte languages, in order to provide easy and efficient after-release localisation
- Created a traffic control system for a GTA 3 style game (MatchBox – Cross Town Hero’s), including NPC AI, intersections, spawning etc.
Computer Programmer (Contract) January 1999 - June 1999
British Steel, England
Worked on the interface of a Steel Making Management System.
Skills: C++, Open VMS, Millennium conversion, X-Designer, Front Page, HTML
Duties:
- Designed, implemented and tested the front-end interface of a Real Time Process Control Steel Making Management System
- Worked as part of a team and organized data compatibility between company divisions
- Dealt with interfacing real time peripheral data devices (temperature probes, flow meters etc.)
- Created on-line HTML pages for design specifications, user manuals and other documentation
Computer Programmer (Contract) June 1997 - June 1998
Starkmann Ltd, England
Worked for a book distribution firm, upgrading and converting the order processing and accounts systems to be 2000 compliant.
Skills: Synergex, VAX/VMS, Millennium Conversion
Duties:
- Hired initially for a three month contract to upgrade and remove bugs from the system, while training a permanent junior programmer
- Extended contract to convert the two systems to be 2000 compliant including: writing conversion programs for the vast databases, software compliance, rewriting several libraries, parallel testing the completed systems and final change over issues
- Consulted in management discussions, such as the increased data sharing between the order processing and accounts systems
- Provided software and technical support to trainees and end-users
Computer Programmer May 1995 - March 1997
Forest Research Institute, New Zealand
Skills: C++, C, Pascal with objects, SQL, Data loggers
Duties:
- Designed and developed software applications for internal use and the commercial market
- Provided after-sales software support to clients and internal IT support to colleagues
- Upgraded and maintained the existing software
- Involved with other developers to help in the construction of inter-departmental software, STANDPAK
- Spokesman for divisional issues at Information Technology meetings
Tramping/Trekking, Travel, Photography, Kayaking & of course computer games.
References & Code samples available on request.