From an early age I can always remember a keyboard below my fingers and a DOS command at my eyes. Computers have always captured my attention and there is no sight of that changing any time soon. My fascination with computers led me into my love of video games which then took me down the path of becoming a programmer.
The first time I played with any bit of code was a platformer game written in BASIC and the character was represented by a single ‘@’ symbol. I stumbled across the source files and realized that I was looking behind the curtain of what made those black and white pixels flicker on my screen to make a game. I poked around in the code to customize the levels and what ASCII characters represented the game’s characters.
Fast forward some time and I had a copy of Duke Nukem 3D before any kid my age should have a copy of it. I quickly was enthralled by the simulated 3D graphics including the gameplay that allowed you to interact with nearly everything in the world. I didn’t have many computer games that could hold my attention like Duke so I ended up scouring the file system until I came across Build.exe which was the editor for Duke Nukem 3D. After customizing the game, I knew this is what I wanted to do for a living! Move the clock forward a bunch of years and I did just that.
I, along with some friends of mine, formed my own game studio High Tale Studios in 2012. Over the years we have created our own IP and released games on a plethora of platforms. Our first title ZomNomNom was a zombie shooter where you, a receptionist for ViroCorp, must fight your way through energy-drink fueled zombies. The game was built around the touch-screen experience and because of that we launched it on iOS and Android. Our next IP, Acorn Assault, was about squirrels fighting in their own version of the French Revolution. Three titles have been released under that IP including an Xbox One title and a Gear VR game.
As I move forward in my career, I aim to improve the game industry that helped form who I am.