Video Game Designer, Programmer
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Area
- Current
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- Freelancer at evansims.com
- Past
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- Independent Professional at Nijikon Industries (Second Life) (Self-employed)
- Writer at Lockergnome
- Web Developer, Editor at RPGDot.com
- Community Coordiator at Rynet Worlds
- Columnist at Marco Island Sun Times
- Editor at Stratics
- Web Developer at PJCC Worldwide
- Education
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- University of Advancing Technology
- Parkland College
- Recommended
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3 people have recommended Evan - Connections
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42
connections
- Industry
- Computer Games
- Websites
Evan Sims’s Summary
I’ve had a passion for video games ever since the second grade, when I first played Oregon Trail on my classes Apple II. It was all downhill from there.
When I was 11 my parents bought me my first PC, and I soon discovered classics like Myst, Monkey Island, Loom and the forward-thinking WorldsAway. These games consumed me, and it didn’t take me long to realize that this is what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to build games.
Today, not much has changed. My passion for games has only grown, and with it my interest in creating them. I recently graduated with a B.A. in Game Design from the University of Advancing Technology. I spent 4 years studying the ins and outs, the whys and hows of game design. Even before that I had my hand in a number of game projects, including the groundbreaking Ultima Offline eXperiment (the first server emulator for the classic MMORPG Ultima Online.) I’ve worked with numerous development toolsets and engines, and I’ve done my share of level editing and scripting, and have programming and limited 3D modeling experience.
Web development is also an interest of mine. I’ve been working as a freelance web designer for the last 13 years, and have extensive experience with XHTML, CSS 1/2/3, PHP, MySQL, Javascript (including AJAX), Perl and ASP.
A recent project of mine, “Squawk”, was a tool that bridged the 3D virtual world of Second Life with web services like Twitter and Delicious, among others. I got an amazing reaction from it, and it sold rather well. It was featured as one of Read/Write Web’s Top 10 Twitter Apps (#2!) and Mashable’s Top 20 Coolest Jaiku Tools. InformationWeek and Dr. Dobb’s Journal had me and a number of other popular Second Life developers speak at an in-world event on our creations, which was a very cool experience.
I’m looking to join a team that will not only embrace my creativity and craving for new challenges and new ideas, but will embrace it and push for more.
Evan Sims’s Specialties:
Game design and development; scripting, level design, writing, quest design, missions, storytelling, user experiences, mods/modding, python, lua, perl, C++, C#, XNA, level editors, Xbox, Wii, PS3, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, NWN, NWN2, Unreal Engine, Q3Radiant, Warcraft 3, WorldForge. Web development; XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, LAMP, WAMP, Javascript, AJAX, web standards, accessibility. Photoshop. Illustrator. APIs. Platform independence. Windows. Linux. Mac OS X.
Evan Sims’s Experience
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Freelancer
evansims.com
(Information Technology and Services industry)
August 1996 — Present (13 years)
I have been offering web design, programming and computer repair services under my domain moniker since 2000, and freelancing prior to that since the mid 90s. I've honed my skills over the decade I've been in business, always following the latest technologies and developments of my industry.
I've been blogging on and off since 2000, where I have been covering technology news and providing tutorials on web design, programming and working with platforms and web APIs. -
Independent Professional
Nijikon Industries (Second Life) (Self-employed)
(Self-Employed; Myself Only; Information Technology and Services industry)
March 2007 — August 2007 (6 months)
Nijikon Industries was the name my virtual identity Vincent Shore operated business under in Second Life. Nijikon specialized in gadgets and technologies that bridged the 3D virtual world with popular web services. Squawk was our first project, a "social aggregator" that bound Second Life to Twitter, Jaiku, del.icio.us and Ma.gnolia.
Squawk and the rest of Nijikon's assets were acquired in August 2007 by a social networking firm. -
Writer
Lockergnome
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
2003 — 2004 (1 year)
I was a writer for the popular Lockergnome website for a period of roughly a year, reporting news and reviewing products for their Windows section.
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Web Developer, Editor
RPGDot.com
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Computer Games industry)
February 2002 — May 2002 (4 months)
Briefly held a position as a news editor and web developer for gaming news site RPGDot.com. Wrote a number of backend applications for RPGDot's daily operations.
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Community Coordiator
Rynet Worlds
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Computer Games industry)
1997 — 2002 (5 years)
I was a GM (Game Master; an inworld support specialist, among other roles) with Rynet Worlds during much of it's lifetime, coordinating players and community events, developing storylines and helping answer support calls.
Rynet Worlds specialized in creating small-scale virtual worlds using open source tools; their Ultima Online servers were among the most populated on the network during their times. -
Columnist
Marco Island Sun Times
(Privately Held; Newspapers industry)
2001 — 2001 (less than a year)
For roughly a year I wrote a weekly technology column for the Marco Island Sun Times, a local paper for the southern Florida island where I lived for eight years.
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Editor
Stratics
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Games industry)
January 2000 — December 2001 (2 years)
I was a news editor for the popular online gaming site Stratics, first as a specialist in Ultima Online server emulation and later as a Stratics Central reporter for Myst Online: Uru Live.
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Web Developer
PJCC Worldwide
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
June 2000 — November 2000 (6 months)
Wrote a large number of internal web and desktop-based systems, as well as some functionality that still exists in the external website. During the later part of my time there, I became the lead programmer for the site and helped move the entire infrastructure from Windows NT / Internet Information Server / SQL Server to Linux / Apache / MySQL, greatly reducing downtime, overhead and licensing costs while improving site performance.
Evan Sims’s Education
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University of Advancing Technology
Bachelors , Game Design , 2003 — 2008
Senior at UAT, expecting to graduate with a Bachelors degree in 2008.
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Parkland College
Computer Science 2002 — 2003
Started my degree at Parkland but transfered out after second semester after deciding their program wasn't for me.
- Activities and Societies:
- Anime Club
Additional Information
Evan Sims’s Websites:
Evan Sims’s Interests:
Video Games, Gaming, Gadgets, Technology, Computers, Coding, Programming, Social Networks, Social Engineering, Web 2.0, Web Design, Web Applications, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, AJAX, MySQL, Perl, PHP, C#, C++, Visual Basic, Podcasting, Blogging, Mashups, User-Driven Content, Game Design, Game Programming, MMORPGs, MMOGs, MMOs, Massively Multiplayer Games, Second Life, LSL
Evan Sims’s Honors:
Presidential Honor Scholarship - "Presidential Honor Scholarships are awarded to those individuals who display the ultimate academic potential as demonstrated by their performance."
Evan Sims’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
