DAVID PITTMAN

david.pittman@gmail.com
http://www.dphrygian.com

(972)762-0889
6820 Preston Rd Apt 317
Plano, TX 75024

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EXPERIENCE

Gearbox Software
	Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, Programmer Intern
	June 2006 - September 2006
	o Refactored Gearbox's custom AI diagnostic tools to handle squads as well as individuals
	o Created an AI debugging HUD for text and visualization of shot traces and covered regions
	o Developed an AI HUD interface to allow users to toggle display of only the data that matters to them
	o Wrote physical prediction for "backboard shot" grenade targeting interface

The Guildhall at SMU
	Master's Project: Practical Development of Goal-Oriented Action Planning AI
	October 2006 - March 2007
	o Wrote symbolic AI goals in terms of desired world state properties
	o Created modular actions comprised of world state effects and preconditions
	o Implemented an A* search to formulate valid and efficient action plans to satisfy AI goals
	o Optimized this complex algorithm to perform well in UnrealScript
	
	Directed Focus Study: Stealth-Oriented Game AI Demo
	April 2006 - June 2006
	o Simulated sensory perceptions with radius tests, frustum intersections, and BSP raycasts
	o Created a FSM to model bot awareness levels and handle both individual and group behavior
	o Wrote an A* search to compute shortest paths over an arbitrary waypoint graph
	
	Grimoire, Lead Programmer
	October 2006 - March 2007
	o Half-Life 2 Deathmatch mod, 15-person team (5 programmers)
	o Selected by faculty as lead programmer
	o Created all-new third-person camera system
	o Implemented various camera behaviors with Strategy design pattern
	o Scheduled tasks for team members and wrote documentation
	o Worked with game designer to define the implementation of all gameplay systems
	
	Ransacked!, Lead Programmer and Game Designer
	January 2006 - March 2006
	o Unreal Tournament 2004 mod, 11-person team (4 programmers)
	o Elected by team as lead programmer
	o Wrote stealth mode shader effect for gypsy character
	o Programmed network-replicated randomized spawn locations for game objects
	o Built lock-picking "weapon" and triggers for gypsy character
	
	Rhapsody of the Ancients, Sole Developer
	July 2005 - September 2005
	o Implemented a robust 2D physical sim to model gravity, friction, and collision forces for game objects
	o Programmed a 2D graphics engine (alpha blending, additive blending, parallax scrolling, normal mapping, fonts, and script-defined animations)
	o Developed an easy-to-use, layer-based map editor for placing tiles and objects
	o Integrated FMOD for music and sound
	o Produced all art and music assets
	
	Interpreted Scripting Language
	April 2006 - May 2006
	o Wrote a grammar for a C-like syntax with weakly-typed variables and built-in vectors
	o Created a lexical analyzer to convert natural language to tokens
	o Implemented a parser to construct a syntax tree from the token stream
	o Built a compiler for generating custom bytecode from the syntax tree
	o Created a stack-based virtual machine which supports recursive function calls to execute the code
	
	3D Rendering Engine
	October 2005 - June 2006
	o Created a custom abstract interface to Direct3D and OpenGL APIs to produce identical images in each
	o Wrote synonymous HLSL and GL assembly shaders for per-pixel lighting and parallax mapping
	o Implemented and performance-tested a custom math library (2D and 3D vectors, 4x4 matrices, quaternions, bounding volumes, parametric lines, intersection tests)
	o Programmed a Quake map loader (BSP, textures, lightmaps) and fast ray traces against the BSP
	o Developed a patch-based LOD terrain system

University of Nebraska-Lincoln
	MIPS Processor and Application
	August 2004 - December 2004
	o 4-person team to develop a processor, assembler, and sample application
	o Developed a five-stage pipelined processor in VHDL
	o Uploaded design to Altera programmable board to run applications

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EDUCATION

The Guildhall at SMU
Master of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development, March 2007
Specialization in Software Development
Current Overall GPA: 3.789

University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Minor in Mathematics, May 2005
Overall GPA: 3.746

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SKILLS

Languages: C/C++, Java, UnrealScript, assembly, HTML, Visual Basic
APIs: Win32, DirectX, Direct3D, OpenGL, HLSL (FX), GL assembly, FMOD
Artificial intelligence: A* pathfinding, finite state machines, fuzzy logic, flocking and group AI, behavioral planning
Physics: Newtonian dynamics, movement, collision detection and response, numerical integration schemes (forward Euler, implicit/backward Euler, midpoint, Runge-Kutta), spring-mass systems, rigid body motion
Graphics: BSP, outdoor terrain rendering, animation, lighting, shaders, effects, scene graphs
Software engineering: Debugging, design patterns, object-oriented programming
Math: Calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, numerical analysis and algorithms
Applications: Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, Unreal Engine 3, UnrealEd, Adobe Photoshop, Windows XP, UNIX, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Project), Perforce, Subversion (SVN), CVS