This description is fairly verbose (I tend to write a lot), so for those with little time, the key words are bolded. This way they can read it fast and I can flesh it out as much as I’d like to.
Description
General
I’m a guy who’s eager to learn new things and have high expectations of myself (“Either do it properly or not at all” is almost a motto). I tend to always be organizing or finding ways to optimize something and strives to be pro-active. I enjoy when I know what I’m doing, why I’m doing it and how to do it, and will do what I can to know those things (by googling or by asking someone). I think I expect some of these things from those I work with – high expectations and foresight, at least. I somehow tend to end up leading groups, I’m not sure how, but I’ve learned to not fight back and fill the space if needed while still not aspiring to it when there’s leadership which works.
I’ll probably find more to say about myself as time goes on.
Relation to Games
I live and breathe video games, mostly as a cultural medium and as an industry. I’ve followed Gamasutra’s daily mails for a few years and spend more evenings reading articles about games than actually playing games. When it comes to playing, I do my best to control when to analyse a game and when to just enjoy the game. A lot of time, mostly day-time, is also spend at building games or studying about game design.
Hobbies
The thing I realized when I began university is how strange it is to study the same thing you’ve had as an hobby. I’ve sort of settled that now (why not do useful stuff when you enjoy your useful stuff?) by spending a lot of spare time in Student Union-activities. It’s still useful stuff, and I’m finding that a lot of it has things in common with game development. Working in tight teams, minding your boards’ (or studio’s, I guess) reputation, dealing with the best way to get information to the members and get them interested in what you do, critically think about rule systems – game design and student politics isn’t as far away from one another as one might (like to) think.
I’m also driving this blog, of course – this is sort of a vent out of thought I want to write down or spread. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less.
Résumé
EDUCATION
Game Development – Design, University of Skövde (Aug 2008-June 2011)
Degree of Bachelor of Science with a major in Computer Science, with all it entails of quick learning, critical thinking and self-studies. Except the program courses I went to two basic programming courses (one for C++ and one for Lua/XML), a course in basic sketching, a course in more advanced design and usability and a basic speech course. Standard program is focused on game studies, cognition in relation to software design and has two game development projects.
”Nature – Math/Data”, Blackebergs Gymnasium (Aug 2005-June 2008)
Three years of math, computer science and computer networking. I studied a lot to improve my grades and got out with an average 17 of maximum 20, which corresponds to 2/5 of the highest grade and 3/5 of the next highest.
NON-PROFIT WORK
Expo host, “Framtid” (Mars 2010)
“Framtid” is the student unions day for companies to meet students (and hopefully the other way around, too) in a expo-like way. My tasks was to install and afterwards uninstall the monters, move materials from the union office to the expo hall and back, make students want to come and similar things.
Functionary GSP Game Jam (January 2010)
The incubator Gothia Science Park (GSP) arranged a “game jam” as part of the “Global Game Jam”, and my part was – as the only functionary – to help the arranger arrange computers, power and network connections for the computers and such and then close it afterwards.
Voluntary Nordic Game Conference 2009 (May 2009)
My work at the conference was to help the people in the wardrobe. However, I also helped 13 students (12 from my university) by booking a “motel” (sort of) for us for the days of our stay. The evaluation of this was that it all worked well, but that the mail correspondence was a bit messy.
Design workshop (August 2008 – present day)
The Design workshop is a gathering of game design students learning each other what they can. During my studies, I’ve been one of three in the core team driving it, which has entailed planning them, finding people willing to hold them and then market them. I’ve also held a few myself.
(NON-PROFIT) COMMISSIONS OF TRUST
Delegate for the Student Union of Skövde in SFS assembly (Mars 2010-present)
- Represent the Student Union’s opinion nationally.
Chairman of AGES (2010)
AGES is the association (hereafter “club”) for the students at the Computer Game Development program at Skövde.
- Lead the board’s meetings, co-ordinate the board’s efforts and be the safe-guarded that the board members did what was decided.
- Assist each member in planning and executing game events (game tournaments, E3 stay-up) and social events (introduction to the new students, tea evenings).
- Review and modify the regulations to allow membership in club-union Sverok.
- Proof-read protocols
- At an afternoon’s notice mobilize the club’s members for a sudden movement of our place (or “HQ”, if you will).
- Be the club’s face out, towards members and other student clubs and student union alike.
Secretary SKHILS (2009)
SKHILS was a branch of the Student Union. Before our year, the branch had been three different ones with good connections to its students. The decision of the merger came from the union parlament, but noone knew about that and so we usually got the blame. My tasks were:
- Write protocols (while participating in the meeting)
- Create the new branch’s visual profile
- Market and establish the union branch in the student’s minds.
Class representative in some boards (2005-2008)
“Some boards” in this case means class representative in the pupil’s council and “team council” as well as team representative in the “school conference” (where the pupil’s organs met with the teachers in important matters), secretary for some team council meetings and chairman for more class meetings than I dare count.
SOFTWARE KNOWLEDGE
Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash
C++, Lua, (some basic) Python
Game Maker, UDK
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Swedish – Mother tongue
English – I think it’s pretty good written (I need some warm-up when speaking it), but you’ve read my blog – what do you think?
WORK
Teleperformance (Mars-July 2008)
I worked as a telephone salesman towards current customers. My work was to call people through an automated system and in a polite way make the customer want to buy my offer. I went from really, really bad to quite good before I suddenly one day broke my feet, got into a wheelchair for a few months and knew I would move out of town for my studies just before I got out of it.
Summer job at SEB (June 2007)
The tasks I got the job to do was to manually compile a survey and register error reports into a newly made data base. I did this faster than expected, and because of that got to make miscellaneous work. I didn’t learn much from this, except that surveys should be automatized as much as possible.
