Andrew Blackwell
Personal Profile
I have just finished a four year period at Mere Mortals Ltd. and I am currently
looking for new opportunities in the games programming field. I originally elected
to pursue a career in games programming because of the variety of interesting
aspects involved and the challenging nature of the work. Some of my strongest
skills are problem solving, forward planning and debugging. I rise to challenges
and am dedicated to producing good work to time. I work well independently and
in a team, with artists and designers as well as other programmers, and have
often been complimented on my willingness to take time to help out others both
at work and in my social life.
I enjoy solving mathematical and programming problems. I spend much of my
free time gaming on consoles and PC as well as role-playing, tabletop
wargaming, collectable card games and boardgames. My other interests include
listening to live music, particularly blues and blues-rock, and visiting the cinema
with friends.
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8 years experience and excellent understanding of coding in C and C++ at
university and in the industry
Industry experience with Python, CG Shaders, Bullet, FCollada, XML and C#
Skilled with PS3, PSP, Wii and X360 SDKs, DirectX and OpenGL
Industry experience with Visual Studio, Code Warrior and ProDG Debugger
Experience with HTML5, Java, Javascript, Lua, Pascal, Visual Basic and
Assembly programming
Great mathematical ability and understanding of mathematics required in
many games programming fields, including transformation and lighting,
physics and ray tracing.
Experience working with and developing my own DirectX based engine and
other proprietary engines
Experience in networking for PSP, X360, PS3 and also with DirectPlay and
Java
Full UK driving license
Industry Experience
Mere Mortals Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne - ( 2006 – 2010 )
After completing my degree I returned to Mere Mortals as a games programmer. I
mainly worked on game code, but also worked on graphics, networking,
animation, motion controls, save systems, user interfaces and tools
programming.
During this time Mere Mortals moved from developing for the PS2 to the new
generation of consoles, and I was involved in developing and refining engine
code for PSP, Wii, X360 and PS3. I was given responsibility for maintaining the
Flash Exporter tool, which I always tried to improve and add new features
requested by colleagues whenever there was time.
At certain points I was given small projects to work on independently and without
supervision, and as time went on I started taking more a lead role on larger
projects. This meant having more responsibility and leading the crunch periods
required to get titles to market. I also developed skills in Python and CG shaders
here.
Placement Year, Mere Mortals Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne - ( 2004 – 2005 )
As part of my degree I had a 12 month placement at Mere Mortals. During this
time I worked on several titles for PS2, sometimes independently but often as
part of a team. As well as coding the work also involved contributing to some
design decisions. I had a chance to develop my project management and team
skills in communication and collaboration with the art and design team. Also I
became familiar with Mere Mortals proprietary game engine and editor and SN
Systems ProDG suite for PS2, and the general development process from
conception through to mastering and submission.
Published Titles:
Pétanque Master ( Wii, Big Ben Interactive )
Ski-Doo Snowmobile Challenge ( Wii, Valcon Games )
World Sports Party / Vacation Sports ( Wii, Ubisoft )
Ultimate Boardgames Collection ( PS2, Empire Interactive )
PDC World Championship Darts ( X360 & PSP, Oxygen Interactive )
PDC World Championship Darts 2008 ( PS2 & Wii, Oxygen Interactive )
Ultimate Boardgames Collection ( Wii, Valcon Games )
Ultimate Boardgames Collection ( PSP, Valcon Games )
PDC World Championship Darts ( PS2, Oxygen Interactive )
Family Board Games ( PS2 )
Pétanque Pro ( PS2 )
The Great British Football Quiz ( PS2 )
Poker Masters ( PS2 )
21 Card Games ( PS2 )
Junior Board Games ( PS2 )
Education
2002 – 2006
University of Teesside
BSc (Hons) Computer Games Programming Second Class Division 1
Final Year (2005 – 2006)
Final Year Project:
Artificial Intelligence for a Real Time Strategy Game:
65 %
This project was the creation of AI for worker agents in a RTS scenario. The first
stages were the design of the game systems for the agents to interact with based
upon research into the genre. A game engine using DirectX was created to
process the world and the systems required. An object-oriented design was used
with central control administered by the world model. The AI for the agents was
designed using a two-tier state machine system controlled by a central thinking
state. Agents attempt to complete goals of collecting and transforming resources
and constructing buildings, and fulfilling their own needs for food and rest. The
system performed well with up to 200 agents.
Modules:
Advanced Graphical Algorithms
Games Artificial Intelligence
Games Physics
Online Games Programming
%
62
80
60
65
Years 1 & 2 (2002 – 2004)
The syllabus for these two years included 2D and 3D Graphical Mathematics,
Rasterizing and Rendering, Games Software Design, Animation and Simulation,
C and C++ for Games Programming, DirectX and OpenGL, logic, assembly and
Computer Hardware.
I achieved an average mark of 89% in the first year and 67% in the second year
2000 – 2002
‘A’ level
Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington
Mathematics
A
Computing
A
Chemistry
A
Biology
B
AS level
General Studies
C
Key Skills
Level 3
1995 – 2000
Longfield Road Comprehensive School, Darlington
Communications, Application of Number and IT
10 GCSE Grades A* - C
Mathematics
Science: Double Award
Information Technology
English Language
English Literature
A*
A*
A
B
B
Geography
French
Technology
Religious Education
A
B
B
C