All Star Panel of Judges From
Zynga, Ubisoft Entertainment, BioWare, Massive Black, THQ, Sony (SCEA), Heavy Iron Studios, High Moon Studios, Hudson Entertainment, Double Helix, Vogster Entertainment, titmouse games, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Short Short Super LLC., and Junction Point Studios
With Epic Games, GameRecruiter and Blink Style Co-Sponsor
Wednesday, August 19, 2009---Fort Lauderdale, FL---GameRecruiter announced today a panel of eighteen all star judges from sixteen different game industry companies for the IGDA Unreal Engine 3 Worldwide Level Design Contest, a first-time level design mod competition that is open to all IGDA members, students and game industry professionals. Please see a list of our judges bios, photos, and quotes at http://igda.gamerecruiter.com/allstarpanelofindustryjudges. Rules and contest submissions guidelines are available at http://igda.gamerecruiter.com
Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, says, “This level design contest is structured to help aspiring game developers get recognition for their work and gain valuable experience within the mod community. We’re supporting this competition to encourage folks to be creative and make cool content with the Unreal Engine 3 toolset.”
"One of the most exciting aspects of this industry is innovation and change. Whether through technology, art, bold new design mechanics or the ever increasing socialization that we're seeing across all platforms today, the industry as a whole is more exciting than ever. It takes fresh talent and bold new visions to keep this ball rolling and I can't wait to see the creativity this contest will discover," adds David Glenn, art director of Zynga.
Chris Tremmel, creative director of Activision Blizzard \ Luxoflux, says, “When asked, I jumped at the opportunity to sit on the panel for this competition. Good designers are hard to come by, and level design is such a dark art, it’s great to see high profile events like this taking place. Honestly, the sheer amount of effort that goes into crafting a complete level is staggering. This should be quite inspiring. PLUS, you guys that win can take our jobs at some point in the near future! Good luck everyone!”
Adds Neill Glancy, game director of Junction Point Studios, "Its always great to see new talent, and I hope with my industry experience I can give the contestants some good level design pointers."
"The best thing about working in games and publishing in particular is being exposed to other people's creativity. Seeing the products of imaginations at work fires up my own creativity, forces me to challenge my ideas and processes and makes me strive to improve my own work and expand my creative horizons. I am looking forward to seeing what the contestants create! You can never have too many skeletons,"says Scott Rogers, creative manager of THQ.
Adds Shane Lacy Hensley, owner of the Pinnacle Entertainment Group, “I'm a big believer that a great game is built on a triangle of art, design, and programming. The competency of the engineers is evident in the stability of a game, and the art you can see at first glance. But design is an art that takes time to evaluate and is entirely subjective. It's also extremely hard and takes a lot of work and iteration. And "iteration," it must be remembered, is code for failing over and over again until you get it right. I hope as a judge I can point out the work, dedication, and brilliance that goes into good level design as well. Making games is a boom or bust proposition filled with joy and heartache. The greatest game you ever worked on may be a total bust--and the game you care the least about may be your greatest success. At some point you stop being a gamer and become a professional--giving your best to all projects and taking a little time to enjoy the ones you love best. I hope to bring an appreciation to the often unsung role of the game designer--particularly world-builders and level designers--who carefully craft your play experience in a way you might not even recognize on the surface.”
Andrew “Andy” Ashcraft, owner of Giantsdance Games, says, "I'm excited to be judging this contest! Level design is one of the most complex design issues in next-gen games because we can do so much. A great level design must be easy to navigate; it must create a mood; it must have locations that cry out for certain types of game-play - like sniper roosts, killing fields or ambush points; and also reward exploration with those 'ah ha!' moments that lock the level into our memories. There's a lot there for a game designer to consider and make use of. Contests like this one bring all of our skills up a notch, and make every game we touch more polished."
"There are two big hurdles in games: One is finding your way into the industry, the other is trying hard to stay fresh when it's so easy to become a jaded veteran. I thought it would be rewarding to take part in an even like this because it only helps our industry to try to find and reward new talent and vision, because these are the things that move us all forward," says Aaron Habibipour, creative director and head of titmouse games.
Jack Mamais, professor at Savannah College of Art and Design, says, “I am happy to be a part of this exciting contest. It is always great to get a look at upcoming talent and their amazing efforts. I hope I can utilize my experience and love of games to help make this a successful and productive endeavor.”
Co-sponsored by Epic Games, GameRecruiter and Blink Style, this IGDA-hosted competition is partnered with the $1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest. GameRecruiter.com will help registered participants of the IGDA Unreal Engine 3 Worldwide Level Design Contest enter the $1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest, and contestants will therefore be eligible to win prizes in addition to those provided specifically for the IGDA competition. This includes cash prizes, as well as autographed posters, comic books and art books.
Thanks to Epic Games GameRecruiter will provide complimentary copies of Unreal Tournament 3 via Steam to all contestants who register for the IGDA Unreal Engine 3 Worldwide Level Design Contest. Contestants will utilize their personal copy of Unreal Tournament 3 as their level editor and enter their level design modifications in any of four contest categories utilizing original content or existing assets from the packages within UT3. Final level design mods should be submitted to IGDA contest judges no later than Monday, October 5. Final review and response will be provided to all IGDA contest participants by Saturday, October 25. Submissions for Phase 4 of the $1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest will be accepted until August 31, 2009.
Adds Marc Mencher, CEO of GameRecruiter and Board Chair of the IGDA South Florida chapter, “The contest represents another great way that IGDA helps game industry professionals broaden their experience. There will be more events like these, as we partner with other game industry entities.”
Joshua Caulfield, Executive Director of IGDA, says, "The IGDA is excited to see the caliber of judges this event has drawn. This is a rare opportunity for designers to interact with some of the folks who have made this industry great. I hope that the contestants see this as more than a chance to submit an entry, and take advantage to meet and interact with some of the most impressive folks in our industry."
Contest submissions for the IGDA Unreal Engine 3 Worldwide Level Design Contest will focus on categories including Best Capture the Flag Level, Best Warfare Level, Best Vehicle Capture the Flag Level, and Best Deathmatch Level. The best maps will combine great game play with strong visuals and good performance.
Rules and contest submissions guidelines for the International Game Developers Association Unreal Engine 3 Level Design Contest are available at: http://igda.gamerecruiter.com. Entry to the contest is free.
About David Glen – Art Director of Zynga
David has most recently been working as Art and Creative Director for various projects at Zynga, the fastest growing social gaming company in the world with over 19 million daily active users. His past roles have included 5 years as a Lead Environment Artist at Blizzard Entertainment, bringing together the visual style for the world of “Diablo II” and the “Diablo II: Lord of Destruction” expansion pack. Together with the same core team, David went on to help found Flagship Studios and create yet another immersive action oriented massive multiplayer role-playing world with the originial IP of “Hellgate:London.”
David Glenn's Quote: "One of the most exciting aspects of this industry is innovation and change. Whether through technology, art, bold new design mechanics or the ever increasing socialization that we're seeing across all platforms today, the industry as a whole is more exciting than ever. It takes fresh talent and bold new visions to keep this ball rolling and I can't wait to see the creativity this contest will discover."
About Scott Rogers – Creative Manager of THQ
After deciding that game designers have more fun, Scott Rogers embarked on a 16 year career creating exciting game designs for a number of titles including Sony's “God of War,” Capcom's “Maximo: Ghosts To Glory” and its sequel “Maximo VS. Army of Zin” and Namco's “Pac-Man World.” Scott is currently the Creative Manager of THQ on several games including “Drawn To Life” and “Darksiders.”
About Shane Lacy Hensley – Owner of the Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Shane Lacy Hensley is a 20-year veteran of the pen-and-paper and video / computer game industry. Shane’s own company, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, has been going for 17 years, creating multiple award-winning products such as “Deadlands” and “Savage Worlds” and maintaining a large and loyal fanbase around the world.
Shane served as as a lead designer on the award-winning “City of Heroes / City of Villains” at Cryptic Studios (now Atari) before moving on to become Studio Head of Superstition Studios and later President of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment.
His long experience includes work for such companies as SSI (one of the industry’s first computer game companies), Hasbro, Topps, WizKids, TSR, West End Games, FASA and of course Cryptic Studios and Cheyenne Mountain. He has written or designed hundreds of products, including role-playing game books, collectible card games, web-based games, historical miniature games, large and small-scale MMOs, first and third-person shooters, novels, and short stories. Shane is a frequent Guest of Honor at conventions world-wide and a consummate gamer.
About Neill Glancy– Game Director of Junction Point Studios
Neill has shipped over twenty games spanning five console generations, from the Sinclair Spectrum to the Playstation 3®. In his twenty-three years creating games, Neill has played the part of artist, animator, sound designer, game designer, project director and creative director. Most recently he was the lead designer on John Woo Presents Stranglehold at Midway Games. Neill has been a speaker at GDC and the Milan International Film festival. Neill is currently a Game Director at Disney’s Junction Point Studios in Austin, Texas.
About Aaron Habibipour – Creative Director, Head of titmouse games
Aaron Habibipour has nearly a decade of experience in the game and film/TV industries producing award winning titles and content. Before Founding titmouse games along side the founders of titmouse, inc. (makers of the adult swim hit “Metalocolypse,” and the recent fan-favorite “G.I. Joe: Resolute”) Aaron was Senior Producer for the “Guitar Hero” series at Neversoft Entertainment and left after wrapping up development on the highly anticipated “Guitar Hero: Metallica.” His previous titles include “Gun,” “Darkwatch,” and “Iron Phoenix,” all of which have garnered numerous awards for innovation and excellence. Not only have his games rated highly with critics, but have also gained the artistic respect of the game industry.
About Andrew “Andy” Ashcraft– Owner of Giantsdance Games
Andy Ashcraft is one of the lucky few that entered the industry as a game designer in the mid-nineties. Over the course of his career, he’s designed (or been involved in the design of) role-playing games, adventure games, strategy games, AI-based games and shooters. He lives with his very funny wife, Jackie Kashian, and an iguana named Tiberius Drackus in sunny Van Nuys, California. Please wish him luck on his recent startup, Giantsdance Games.
About Anthony Doe – Senior Game Designer of Ubisoft Entertainment – San Francisco
Anthony has ten years of experience in game design and design team leadership. Currently he is the senior game designer at Ubisoft San Francisco, where he provides high-level design direction for several 3rd party titles in development. Prior to Ubisoft, Anthony was the lead game designer on “Call of Duty: World at War” (2008) for the Wii, and also served in lead design roles for such titles as “Spider-man 3” (2007) and “Star Wars: Episode III” (2005). Anthony started in games “back in the day” as an art intern on “Barbie: Super Sports” (1999) and animator/designer on “Throne of Darkness” (2002). He is thankful to be part of the greatest creative industry on earth - as well as proud to serve as a judge for the 2009 Worldwide Level Design Contest. Anthony graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in English Literature and Anthropology.
About Kevin Brown – Art Development Manager of Sony Computer Entertainment America
Kevin A. Brown is Art Development Manger at Sony Computer Entertainment America in Santa Monica. In this position, Kevin is responsible for managing the entire art department of roughly 54 artists, animators, modelers, technical artist and SFX artists.
Prior to joining Sony Computer Entertainment America in Santa Monica, Kevin was Director of Content at Brash Entertainment in Hollywood and shipped “Space Chimps,” “Jumper” and “Six Flag’s Fun Park.” Before joining Brash, Kevin spent 5 years at Microsoft Game Studio as Studio Art Director and worked on “Mass Effect,” “Gears of War,” “Age of Empire” and “Zoo Tycoon” to name a few. He also spent 5 years at Electronic Arts as an Art Director establishing the “Tiger Woods” Franchise. And in 1994, Kevin started his video game career as a 2D/3D artist at Coolhand Interactive and shipped “Star Wars Rebellion.”
Kevin A. Brown is a founding member of Blacks in Gaming and holds a seat on the board of director at Entertainment Arts Research. He is also the Game Art Chair for Siggraph 2010 at ACM SIGGRAPH.
Kevin attended San Jose State University with a major in Graphic Design and Illustration. Kevin A. Brown lives in Studio City, California with his family.
About Chris Tremmel– Creative Director of Activision Blizzard \ Luxoflux
Currently working out of Santa Monica at Activision’s Luxoflux Studios, Creative Director Chris Tremmel is an industry veteran of 17+ years. Tremmel started off in test at Interplay Productions back in the early nineties. In less than a year, Chris was promoted out of test into a game design position and has never looked back. Through out the years Chris has gone on to work at some of the most successful game studios in the world; Virgin Interactive, Crystal Dynamics, Electronic Arts, and Activision just to name a few.
With over 15 million units sold, Tremmel has worked on a plethora of genres including but not limited to; action platform games, hack & slash, racing games, and RPGs, both single player and multi-player experiences. Chris has professionally developed games on pretty much every console like platform since the original NES® and Gameboy®. Although now a days, Tremmel does spend a fair amount of time managing, and guiding other creatives on the team, at the end of the day Chris prides himself on “making fun for a living” whether it is through level design, prototyping, concept pitches, or just daily interactions with the team. Over the years Tremmel has worked on such titles as; “Gex,” “Boogerman,” “The Lord of the Rings” hack and slash games from EA, “Transformers,” and others. Chris is currently working on a new unannounced “next-gen” game for Activision in Santa Monica.
About Mario Maltezos – Creative Director of Heavy Iron Studios
Mario Maltezos is currently Creative Director at Heavy Iron Studios. As Creative Director he works closely with Lead Designers and the design department on defining the game vision and systems early on in development and throughout production to ensure proper balance and the highest creative quality. Mario started his career at Ubisoft Montreal in 1997 where he worked for almost 9 years in a variety of roles from Lead Level Designer to Creative Director. He traded in the snow banks for palm trees when he moved his family out to California to work as the studio Design Director at the Collective and later Vivendi Games as Creative Director. At Vivendi, Mario was responsible for the creative quality of all Sierra Entertainment games as well as contributing guidelines for internally and externally developed titles. Some of the games Mario has contributed to include: “Tarzan: Untamed,” “Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu,” “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” “Silent Hill: Homecoming,” “Bourne Conspiracy” and “Ghostbusters: The Video Game.”
About Adrian Ludley– Creative and Art Director of Hudson Entertainment
Adrian Ludley is currently heading up Hudsons Digital Download releases on Xbox, PS3 & Wii in San Francisco as Creative and Art Director. His long and illustrious career began as a hobby in computer programming, specifically 6502 machine code. Self taught at the time. Born in Yorkshire, England his grandparents loved sci-fi and fantasy movies and he grew up on Sinbad adventures, Jason and the Argonauts, Flash Gordon, etc... he sketched often, got into oil painting landscapes but eventually moved to computers. At the age of 16, armed with a Commodore 64 and a joystick, he plotted still images for leisure, he had been smitten with the computer bug and knew he wanted to do something involving them. He quickly built enough images to obtain his first game industry job in the early early 80's and he has been Designing and Creating Art for 22 years in games ever since. Adrian has been involved in the creation of over 30 memorable games including Art Director on 50 Cent Bulletproof. Adrian is a tight knit family man that spends time with his wife and kids when not at the office. On his downtime he also continues to be an avid gamer. Adrian Ludley's quotes: Why I joined this contest as a judge: "I have always loved the Mod community, it is a creative space where money and marketing does not have a foothold, pure imagination. I can't wait to see what people come up with." Hardest Hurdle in games: "I have been fortunate enough to not hit any hard hurdles, but i would say through the years the hardest thing is finding and being apart of an awesome team that stays together. The nature of the industry is very nomadic and i would like to see people and companies settle down." What can I bring:"I bring 22 years of video game experience both as an artist and designer, from the early home computers to the next gen consoles of today and intend to continue for many many years to come. I have seen a lot of environments and played a ton of games. Come on contestants, surprise me."
About Eric Williams – Owner of the Short Short Super, LLC
Eric Williams is a design consultant currently working with multiple publishers and studios such as EA, THQ, BioWare, Ready At Dawn, and many others. He was the lead combat and systems designer for the “God of War” franchise.
Prior to working with Sony, Eric cut his teeth as a designer with Paradox Development, the studio that created “Thrill Kill,” “X-men Mutanty Academy,” and “Backyard Wrestling” before being acquired by Midway.
About Carlos Dominguez– Technical Artist of High Moon Studios
A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Carlos Dominguez received his Bachelor of Science degree in Game Art & Design from The Art Institute of California - San Diego in 2007. In addition to his Game Art & Design degree, Carlos holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of San Diego. Before attending The Art Institute, Carlos worked on projects for companies such as: Qualcomm, Oracle, MTV, and Boeing. Since then, Carlos has transitioned from the world of engineering to the stimulating world of video games as a Technical Artist for High Moon Studios in Carlsbad working on AAA game titles like “The Bourne Conspiracy.” When not playing CoD or UT, you can find him teaching Level Design, Game Prototyping, and Scripting at The Art Institute of California.
About Jason Manley –Owner of Massive Black
Bio and Photo Information will be available on our site http://igda.gamerecruiter.com/allstarpanelofindustryjudges
About Mark Acero – Senior Combat Designer of Bioware
Bio and Photo Information will be available on our site http://igda.gamerecruiter.com/allstarpanelofindustryjudges
About Jack Mamais –Professor of Savannah College of Art and Design
Jack graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism. Following this, he spent his early career as a Creative Director and Production Manager for Southern Cable Productions in Savannah. He then moved to Los Angeles and joined Activision as a Producer for the hit PC games “Mechwarrior 2” and their sequels “Ghost Bear’s Legacy” and “Mercenaries.” Afterwards, he went on to direct the PC Game “Heavy Gear 2.”
After Activision, Jack joined Check Six Studios in Venice, California as Creative Director and Chief Operating Officer. There he worked on the title “Spyro:Enter the Dragonfly” for Sony®’s Playstation 2® and Nintendo®’s GameCube®. After leaving Los Angeles, he moved to Germany and worked as Lead Designer on the critically and financially successful PC Games “Far Cry” and “Crysis” for the game developer Crytek.
After departing Crytek, Jack moved to Chicago and joined Midway Games where he helped develop a new I.P. for the studio. Recently, Jack worked at Vogster Entertainment as a Lead Designer for an upcoming multi-platform game.
About Miguel Oubina– 3D Generalist of Nuclei Inc.
Miguel is responsible for all aspects of educating IGDA South FL members and students character creation for the IGDA Unreal Engine 3 Worldwide Level Design Contest using 3D Studio max in a classroom setting. Miguel graduated with a BA from Florida Atlantic Univeristy’s Computer Arts Program. While working towards his degree he also worked for Navteq’s Mapper division. While at Mapper he was responsible for creating 3D buildings and textures for use with Navteq’s realtime 3D GPS systems.
From college he went on to found Nuclei, Inc. which has gone on to work with several clients including HGTV. He also teaches game design at Miami Dade College.
About International Game Developers Association
The International Game Developers Association is the largest non-profit membership organization serving individuals who create digital games. The IGDA is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community.
About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic’s breakthrough game, “Gears of War,” won over 30 Game of the Year awards, and the sales of "Gears of War" and “Gears of War 2” have eclipsed 11 million units. Epic's Unreal Engine 3 is the three-time consecutive winner of Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award and is this year's Hall of Fame inductee. Unreal Engine 3 has also been recognized as the number one game engine by Develop magazine.
About GameRecruiter
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About Blink Style
Blink is an engaging media firm with a broad range of services related to print, interactive, online or broadcast in order to brand any companies long term strategy. Blink is about creativity that evokes emotion and gains reaction. Their firm is a culturally savvy company whose mission is to make you the next phenomenon. They focus on a company’s sales cycle and product image to develop or redefine a brand.
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About Nick Parde – Lead Level Designer of Double Helix
Bio and Photo Information will be available on our site http://igda.gamerecruiter.com/allstarpanelofindustryjudges