I am a creative dynamo. I have a wide range of skills and talents, and a tremendous store of creative energy. However, I am not currently seeking a position outside my own company.
Game Designer: I have designed a wide range of games, including the video game Icebreaker and the card games Fluxx and Aquarius. I specialize in games that are easy to learn and enjoyable for all; 3 of my games have been listed on the prestigious Games 100. My card game Fluxx did so well in our small press First Edition that it was licensed for wider release by the prominent game company Iron Crown Enterprises. Most of my games (including my newest one, called Proton) can be purchased through my website.
Software Engineer: I have over 10 years experience as a computer programmer. My experience ranges from video games to on-orbit spacecraft software. My primary expertise is with C and C++, though I've also worked with HTML, Java, Pascal, Basic, and FORTRAN. Systems experience includes UNIX, 3DO, VxWorks, Sony Playstation, Macintosh, 80386 embedded systems work, and the PDOS real-time operating system. I am known for writing highly readable code; my former boss Lawrence Schick once described the Icebreaker source code as "the most well documented code I've ever seen in my 13 years in the computer game industry."
Writer: I am highly skilled at writing that is both engaging and understandable, with experience that includes everything from novels to technical documentation, including political essays, user's manuals, board game instructions, children's stories, abstract fiction, role playing game materials, opinion pieces, patent applications, and advertising copy. I currently write a weekly column for my website.
Web Designer: For the past couple of years, I've been creating and building wunderland.com, an enormous, content-rich website. Wunderland.com features a weekly webzine with regular features like local news, a cartoon, cool links, movie reviews, and a serialized novel. The site also features an online gift shop where websurfers can purchase my games and other cool new products, through a secure e-commerce server. Overall, the site currently gets 1500-3000 hits per day.
Artist: I did all the artwork for Fluxx and Aquarius, using a combination of freehand and computer-based art tools. I also draw the weekly web cartoon Iceland as well as all of the icons and buttons at wunderland.com. I've created final art for numerous advertising materials, including promotional postcards and stickers, magazine ads, and window decals. I've also done technical sketches for NASA, test animations for the video game Icebreaker, patent drawings, rules illustrations, game money for live role playing games, T-shirt designs, logos, and maps.
Photographer: I've been an amateur photographer since childhood; in 1996, I invested in professional equipment and have since developed a strong photography portfolio, which is available online in an Electronic Book entitled Andrew Looney's Image Wall. My photos of long haired women are the most popular feature at wunderland.com; the top index page currently gets upwards of 1000 hits per week. My photos have also been used in Looney Labs print advertising, the most successful of which was a full page ad for Aquarius which appeared on the back cover of the program book at Origins '98.
Organizationalist: I'm highly skilled at developing systems for getting and staying organized. This includes the organization of ideas, physical objects, collections, supplies, file systems, and anything else that accumulates in quantity.
Looney Laboratories (1996-Present): As the creative director for Looney Labs, a new product development studio, I designed and drew the artwork for a series of gift products, ranging from an intricately detailed calendar T-shirt to family games including Fluxx, Aquarius, and Proton. I also built and continue to maintain an extensive, content-rich website (www.wunderland.com), complete with an internet storefront and a weekly webzine, and have been responsible for the preparation of numerous marketing and advertising materials.
TSI TelSys (1996-1998): I spent two years working as a free-lance consultant on various part-time, short term projects at TSI TelSys, doing embedded systems programming for their vxWorks-based telemetry workstations, as well as some graphical applications work in Java.
Magnet Interactive Studios (1994 - 1996): In addition to creating the video game Icebreaker and serving as its game designer, I wrote virtually all of the software for the original 3DO version by myself (excluding only some ancillary functions), amounting to roughly 20,000 lines of code in C++. I later provided technical assistance for the Windows and Macintosh porting efforts. (After Icebreaker, I became the game designer for Incredible Idiots in Space, until that project was shelved.)
NASA/Goddard, Flight Software Systems Branch (1991 - 1994): In the flight software group at Goddard Space Flight Center, I played a key role in the design, development, testing, and documentation of the bootstrap flight software for the Coprocessor, a new 30836-based flight computer which was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope during the first servicing mission in December 1993.
NASA/Goddard, Microelectronics Systems Branch (1986 - 1991): At Code 521, not only did I meet my wife Kristin, I also played a key role in the design and development of new software for use in telemetry data systems, which are used to transmit data between the ground and different orbiting spacecraft. Efforts included the design, implementation, testing, and documentation of numerous projects, starting with basic TCP/IP networking capability, followed by file transfer utilities, SCSI device drivers, a multi-system 8mm tape drive backup system, and an X-windows based remote user interface system.
I have a B.S. degree in computer science from the University of Maryland at College Park. I graduated in 1986 with a 3.1 GPA.
Please email me for a copy of my Employment FAQ (including desired salary, availability, and references).