Josiah Lebowitz
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Major: Multimedia
Area of Emphasis: Game Design

Jonathan Gardner
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Hometown: Cortland, OH
Major: Software Engineering
Area of Emphasis: Game Programming

Matt Dondelinger
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Hometown: Espanol, NM
Major: Multimedia
Area of Emphasis: Game Design

Kurt Loudy
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Hometown: Fremont, OH
Major: Multimedia
Area of Emphasis: Game Design

Brent Malinski
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Hometown: Arizona
Major: Software Engineering
Area of Emphasis: Game Programming

Chris Blume
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Hometown:Worthington, Ohio
Major: Software Engineering
Area of Emphasis: Game Development

There’s all sorts of aspects to game dev… the arts side, the design. But I just want to do the programming.

When I was 11, I taught myself to program. There was no one to help me out, so the only way to do it was look at the code and play around, and see if I change this, everything crashes, and if I change this, everything works.

I’m currently working on a 3D engine. My goal for it is to make it completely platform independent. …The biggest challenge is writing it correctly. It’s very easy to write a game and say this works on PC, so I’ll write the code so it works on Windows, but then later on, I’ll realize that it doesn’t work on this system or that system. So you have to design the code to kinda abstract away the details.

When I graduate, I would like to sell my engine. Hopefully, I can start my own company by just selling this engine.

When I was looking for a college, I was looking for a college that especially talked about game programming. There’s a world of difference between business programming and game programming. So when I started looking around, I saw that UAT actually focused on programming games. Not many colleges do that.

To be honest, what I get out of my classes is the chance to talk to a professor if I ever have a question. A lot of the work I’m doing is on my own, or with my own interest area. So if I ever run into a problem, I can take it to a professor and say, “I know this doesn’t have to do with what you are teaching, but I have this question….”

I’m trying to find a way to get into the game industry and stay there, and secure my own future.

Advice: The teachers will help you out, they will show you what to do. But you have to take it a step further. You’re not going to just say, “I’ll do my homework and play video games.” Instead, “I’ll do my homework and then program.”…The teacher can help you and show you, but you’re really not going to get good unless you take it on yourself.

Laura Brock
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Hometown:Hawaii
Area of Emphasis: Game Design

I started playing video games when I was in middle schools. That’s when I decided I wanted to have something to do with games.

Originally, I started going on an artistic track, but now I think I’m going to focus more on organization and production of games. Getting teams together that work well, that are organized… stuff like that.

I’m a people person and I like organization and I like games. It’s such a creative process and it’s a great merging of technology and artistic elements. Basically I’m going for production so I can work with people who are trying to put something together. Working with people is one of my stronger aspects.

I was an art director for The Governing. I did concept art and texturing. I did concept art for the wellspring mod. And for the Worth of Souls mod, I did level design and texturing and I helped with the story. I just basically worked with everyone about what we wanted to get across with the story and the levels.

Creating something that is fun is really hard. Motivation is key. Organization is key. You have to have passion and drive and know what you want to do. You have to stick with it and make sure that you see the project through. It’s hard work. No slacking, basically.

I want to get a job in the game industry, hopefully as a production assistant. I want to be a behind the scenes…

Expect a sharp learning curve. …there’s a lot of valuable knowledge here, but the knowledge that you need is so much…

Matt Tonks
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Hometown: Los Alamos, NM
Major: Software Engineering
Area of Emphasis: Game Programming

I was in a year into a bachelors at U of NM… and some friends of mind who were coming to UAT showed me the website and got me interested into it…

One of the coolest things about game programming is that it’s very cutting edge, and a little cut throat too. Everyone is working on technology that usually hasn’t been seen before or at least is pretty experimental… It’s kind of the leading edge of software development and that’s an exciting field for me.

Cor is a total conversion mod that we are doing at the school. It’s using the Unreal 2004 game engine. I’m the project lead and programmer. We have really learned a lot about just general team organization, on top of the specific skills … modeling, programming, all the things that you need for making a game… I’d say 20 percent of what I’ve learned is actual skills like programming and the rest is how to manage a team and get the product you want, deal with conflicts in a team and make everyone happy.

My first advice is not to jump on the first mod you see. Really do your research about the mod and the people on it and make sure they have the proper planning and set up…

It takes a lot of time and effort to plan it all out and set it up and go.

It would be really fun to be an engine programmer on a software team of a game company.

My sort of far out there goal is to have a part-ownership or some kind of company that I can control and do what I want. …I think it would be a blast to start my own company and make the games how I want to make them.

Nikki Graham
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Hometown: Philadelphia
Major: Multimedia
Area of Emphasis: Game Design

I started out majoring in fashion design and that lasted about a month. Then, I moved onto writing. I was in that program for about a year, but then I realized I wasn’t really getting into the New York scene of writing and being a writer. All I wanted to do was make games. So I took some time off and thought about it and finally figured that I could just do that, and combine my strongest skills, which are writing and my passion. So I came here.

Cor is probably the most exciting thing that I’ve got to work on. It’s really unique. I love the fact that all of our characters can transform seamlessly into vehicles and accurately, from an engineering perspective. What I’m doing is providing a back story and a story progression. It’s really unique that this multiplayer only, total conversion for Unreal is going to have so much story.

Don’t join a mod unless you are completely prepared to commit, and ready to dedicate probably years of your life to this project—even after you graduate. If every member of the mod isn’t committed and willing to do their part, it will fall apart. It’s important to respect the people you work with, and go the extra mile to make sure that the communication happens. One of the things that we‘ve done is have a web site, with a section for our assignment. Everyone gets an assignment every week, and if you don’t do it, you’re sort of in trouble. If there wasn’t that much organization, we’d be much further back. Stay organized and committed and be able to work well on a team.

I really want to be just involved in the game…

If I had to pick a dream job, it would be a member of the live team for a massively multiplayer game. I’d love to be a community relations manager or a writer for the game.

Consider how difficult and how much work it takes to be involved with this kind of stuff. I’d be happy to work 18 hours on a Saturday on this game. It feels right to me and I’m happy to do that.

Will Jang
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Hometown: Torreance, California
Major: Software Engineering
Area of Emphasis: Game Programming

I was actually raised in Korea, and came here when I was 10. I went to college in California, and I was a computer major since there. Then I was thinking, ‘do I really want to go into software engineering job where I’ll be working in cubicles and doing software engineering all day?” …I thought the general programming major wasn’t for me, so I was researching online…

It’s a mixture of things. One part – I enjoy programming – the logic of it. The other part – I like video games. I would like to get my ideas into development.

I transferred here this semester, so I’m taking all of the required introduction courses… there are different game culture classes. I think game history is pretty interesting because you look back into how games were persisting even back into Egypt and how it evolved into video games. …I think it’s pretty interesting and a good foundation for what you want to learn later on.

If you come here not knowing what you want to do, this isn’t the right place. You want to come here with a desire to succeed. The school can only give you so much help. You have to actually apply yourself and have a burning desire to get into the industry. There are so many people who want to get in, and this is kind of a stepping stone to get in. If you don’t apply yourself, and just expect to get a degree and get in, then you probably won’t have a good experience.

I will graduate in 1 ½ years… if I work hard enough, with the things I learn here, with the skill set, I should be able to be a senior level programmer in 2-5 years. As a senior level programmer, you can have more influence in the design as well.

Mark Hartlieb
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Credits: 32

Hometown: Bellaire, Ohio

Area of Emphasis: Multimedia, Game Design

Current Projects: I'm the project lead for a Unreal 2004 mod called "Asylum".

Goals: My #1 goal is to play a major part in a gaming project that rivals projects of today's big name companies. Creating that original idea and being able to place that idea into a game is the impact I want to make in the industry.

Why I came to UAT: I've always wanted to develop games ever since I was a little kid, but I never knew what kind of school to get into for it. And then I found out about UAT and how it's ranked in the top three for its gaming program. So here I am and I love it.

Alex Utting
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Credits: 114

Hometown: Hillsboro, Kansas

Area of Emphasis: Multimedia, Game Design

Current Projects: I am currently working on Lost Shadows, an Unreal 2 single player mod. I’m lead Character Modeler and Animator.

Goals: I would love to be a character modeler and animator out of school, and then of course hopefully get to design my own game.

Why I came to UAT: I came to UAT because they taught 3d Studio Max. Nowhere in Kansas did they do that.

Nathanial LaMartina
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Credits: 100

Hometown: Boise, ID

Area of Emphasis: Multimedia, Game Design

Current Projects: Seas of Venus (BF1942 mod), Battle Cars (UT2004 mod), Aeon Crisis (animated prologue)

Goals: To enjoy and be successful with the talent that I have been given

Why I came to UAT: I chose to come to UAT because out of all the colleges I looked at, I really wanted at four-year degree. And I wanted involvement in art, as wells as 3dsMax and Maya.

Mark Parisi
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Credits: 100

Hometown: Rochester, NY

Area of Emphasis: Multimedia, Game Design

Current Projects: Seas of Venus, a Battlefield 1942 mod. I'm the one that all the information goes through and I make sure that everyone can talk with anyone. The art team might not understand the programming team and the programming team might not understand the art team. So it's my job to filter that and make sure everyone is on the right page.

Goals: I'd like to get a job design games and have my own company designing games that I like.

Why I came to UAT: After I graduated from the University of Buffalo, I went searching to get into the game industry. but everyone told me that I couldn't get a job without experience, but you can't get experience without working in the industry. So I went searching on the internet and I found UAT and this was a place where I could experience, so that's why I came here.

Kurtis Smith
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Credits: 89

Hometown: Mesa, AZ

Area of Emphasis: Multimedia, Game Design

Current Projects: Too many to completely list. I am currently working on a couple of mods for Battlefield 1942. One of those is Galactic Conquest. I'm also working with a small team on an add-on expansion for Savage. Some other involvements include creating some content for an engine modification using the Quake 2 source code.

Goals: I'd like to do the same things that I'm doing now (maybe more), but getting paid for it.

Why I came to UAT: The school actually offered a bachelor's degree in Game Design.

John Mead
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Hometown:Mesa, AZ

Area of Emphasis: Game Programming

Current Projects: Programming Team Lead for Operation Annubis, a Battlefield 1942 mod.

Goals: I'd like to get a job design games and have my own company designing games that I like.

Don Williams
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Hometown: Fairfax, VA

Credits: 63

Area of Emphasis: Game Design

Current Projects: Project lead for Unreal 2004 mod, Game of the Year.

Goals: I would probably be like to be a game designer, and above that, an animator.

When I first knew I wanted to be a game designer: Supermario 64. The first time I played a 3D game. It was Sept. 28, 1996. It was awesome. I still remember it.

Why I came to UAT: I came to UAT for its reputation. I had heard good things on web sites and video game groups. They had talked about how UAT was the place to be.

Alon Waisman
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Hometown: Nashua, NH

Area of Emphasis: Game Design

Credits: 88

Current Projects: Chatterbox Radio Show, a talk show on video games. It would be really aweesome if I could carry it to a large platform...either syndicated or getting a larger audience.

Why I enjoy UAT: I've grown up all my life a big geek, and at UAT, we're all geeks, so I'm happy here.


Goals: Prosperity, happiness and world domination if time allows.