| William
Anderson (Game Developer)
I've been a game developer, product manager and senior designer for well over two decades now, having worked in-house for many of the top developers and publishers in the world. I'm a US and international business consultant, designer, writer and ghost writer for many years now, contributing game development articles to industry books and web sites. Member of ASA - American Screenwriters Association. A Digital Arts Mason.
Director of the Game Designers Network, Game Artist Network and Game Programmers Network on
Linkedin:
  
If you need any design help with your game projects just write me.
To see some samples of my
work, just drop by my Picture Page on MySpace.
Games Worked On:
* (Unannounced), Xbox 360 Title
* (Unannounced), Nintendo DS Title
* (Unannounced), Wii/DS/PC Title
*
Midway Game Party, Wii (1.4 -Mil Units Sold!)
*
Pinball Hall Of Fame: The Williams Collection,
PS2/PSP/Wii.
* Peanuts Baseball, PS2.
*
Hard Rock Casino,
PSP/PS2
* Scarface, PSP (Greatest Hits)
*
Daxter, PSP (Greatest Hits)
* Shaolin Streets, Xbox 360.
* Gauntlet Seven Sorrows, PS2
* Army Men Sarges War, X-Box/Game Cube
* Maximo Ghost to Glory, PS2. - (Greatest Hits)
*
Treasures of the Deep (Consultant for
Namco)
* Pac-Man Ghost Zone, PS1.
* Abes
Oddysee, PS1. (Greatest Hits)
* Max Mayham.
*
Demolition Man.
* Dyno Blaze, 3DO.
* Izzy’s Quest, Sega Genesis/
SNES.
*
Cutthroat Island, (Movie to Game
Consultant)
*
Out of this World (Design Consultant for
Virgin)
* Jungle Book, Sega Genesis
* Aladdin, Sega Genesis - "Over 4 Mil. Units Sold"
* Cool Spot, Sega Genesis/
SNES/ Game Boy
* Global Gladiators, Sega Genesis. - "3rd Party Game of the Year"
* Double Dragons, Game Gear
* Monopoly Deluxe, PC.
* RoboCop Vs The
Terminator, Sega Genesis
* Terminator, Sega CD
* Dweaby’s Quest, Atari ST
* Legends The Tower of Doom, Atari ST
* Legends The Underworld, Atari ST
* Hole-In-One Miniature Golf, Atari ST
* Caves of the Trolls, Atari 8-Bit
* Sub-Wars, Atari 8-Bit
* Dungeon Quest, Atari 8-Bit
* More!
Companies Worked
With/For:
* Awaken Games.
* FarSightStudios.
* Keystone Games.
* Ready at Dawn.
* Jailed Games.
* Midway Home Entertainment.
* Eagle Claw Studios.
* 3DO.
* Capcom.
* Namco.
* Abracadabra.
* Oddworld Inhabitants.
* ZONO.
* Alexandria.
* Spectrum Holobyte.
* Virgin Games / Virgin Interactive.
* Astra System Software.
* Corona Micro.
* Dynacomp.
Systems Designed Games
For:
* Nintendo Wii, DS,
Game Cube, Game Boy, SNES.
* Sony PSX, PS2, PSP.
* Microsoft Xbox 360.
* Sega Genesis, Game Gear.
* Atari ST, Atari 400/800.
Development Tools Designed/Worked on:
* World Builder for Eagle Claw Studios
* World Builder for Capcom
* World Builder for Namco
* tUME World Builder for Virgin Games
Other:
* Handled performance reviews and promotions.
* Years of experience working trade shows/ setup.
* Experience managing trade show meeting scheduling.
* Lots of experience working with the press.
* Sculptor and Artist.
* Industry Writer.
* Freelance Screenplay Ghostwriter.
Specialties:
* Extensive knowledge in development and publishing.
* Developed 50+ GDD’s.
* Designed 200+ game environments.
* Experience in UI, A.I and game controls.
* Worked on 2 major Walt Disney Licenses.
* Worked with 7UP and Olympic Committee.
* Worked on 3 Hollywood movie scripts to game projects.
* Experienced with Word/ Excel/ Visio/ SketchUp.
* Some experience using Studio Max & Maya.
* Decade of experience in HTML/ASP development.
* Experienced in SQL Database development for the web.
Experience:
Awaken Games: Game Industry and Development/ Game Design Consultant
Awaken Games provides game industry and development consulting services to game development studios and publishers around the world.
FarSight
Studios: Producer/ Assistant Producer/ Designer
* Development assistant to Director.
* Project Producer, Midway's Game Party, Wii Title.
* Assistant Producer, Williams Pinball Classics, PS2, PSP & Wii Title.
* Assistant Producer / Designer Hard Rock Casino.
* Assistant Producer / Level Designer Scarface.
* Assistant Producer / Charlie Browns All Stars Baseball.
* Design coordinator/ designer
* 3D Environmental designer.
* Scenario, tutorial development.
* Text localization.
* Help with product research.
* FarSight's web site manager.
* FarSight’s pinball hardware engineer.
William has 2 recommendations (2 co-workers) including:
Craig Alexander, Lead Artist, Farsight Studios
Chris Kline, Senior 3d Artist / Audio Engineer, Farsight Studios
Ready at Dawn
Studios: Game Designer
* Game Designer on Daxter for Sony PSP.
* Responsible for level design.
* Character A.I and Design Coordination.
* Designed mini-online game system.
William has 2 recommendations (2 co-workers) including:
Brian Fletcher, Environment Artist, Ready at Dawn
Daniel Choe, Game Designer, Ready At Dawn Studios
JGI: Lead Game Designer
* Lead Game Designer on Shaolin Streets.
* Developed the game story and play structure.
* Helped with design of combat system.
* Worked with programmers ..ment systems.
* Designed about four production level for the project.
* Designed Camera AI/ Character AI and Controls.
* Help with pitching the game concept to publishers.
William has 2 recommendations (1 manager, 1 co-worker) including:
eiko oba, Animator, Jailed Games, Inc.
Daryl Pitts, President/Executive Producer, Jailed Games, Inc.
Midway Home
Entertainment: Lead Game Designer
* Member of Midway’s company restructures team.
* Original lead world designer Gauntlet Seven Sorrows.
* Developed game structure and helped with story.
* Designed the over all world structure for the game.
* Designing player character and NPC combat A.I.
* Did competitive research work on other titles.
Eagle Claw Studios: Creative Director
* Studio Founder.
* Studio & Project Promotion, Fund Raising.
* Lead Game Play Designer of FPS title for the PC.
* Designed a 3D Game Development Tool.
* Outside development consultant/ level designer to 3DO on Army Men Sarges War.
William has 2 recommendations (1 co-worker, 1 client) including:
Steven Goodale, Designer, 3DO
Susan Manley, Consultant, Consultant
Capcom: Senior Game Designer
I worked for Capcom for many years, where I was senior game designer on Maximo Ghost to Glory and managed the game play design and design staff for the product.
* Senior Game Designer on Maximo (PS2).
* Produced the game design bible.
* Helped with funding approval with Capcom Japan.
* Created the game structure and story plot.
* Designed Maximo’s combat system with Producer.
* Designed most of the in-level play mechanics.
* Designed 2/3'rd of all levels for the game.
* Designed the power-up management system.
* Worked on Character A.I. and Game Camera.
* Did final product tuning work.
* Recruited, trained and managed design staff.
* Helped with yearly performance reviews for staff.
* Evaluated and recruited outside Sound studio.
* Helped to design world builder tool for project.
* Evaluate and report on external Capcom productions.
* Responsible for new concept development.
* Pitched new concepts to company directors.
William has 1 recommendation (1 co-worker) including:
Keith Weatherly, Senior Software Engineer, Capcom
Namco: Manager of Design / Producer
I joined Namco USA as Manager of Design responsible for coming up with new concepts for the company and handle the transition and staffing of the studio from PC/Sega Saturn development to Sony Playstation development. I was also responsible for evaluating outsourcing companies and in-coming products for the company.
* Responsible for converting studio to PSX Development.
* Produced 6 New Namco concepts in 3 months.
* Helped to evaluate outside studios for Namco.
* Helped to secure Treasures of the Deep from Black-Ops.
* Lead Game Designer on Pac-Man Ghost Zone.
* Managed production funding approval.
* Managed a production staff of 17.
* Help to design world builder tool for project.
William has 1 recommendation (1 co-worker) including:
Maurine Starkey, CEO, ScrubJay Studio
Alexandria / Oddworld: Lead Designer / Manager of Design
I joined Alexandria, Inc. as lead designer on Izzy’s Quest, the mascot character game for the 1996 Olympics, published by US Gold (Now
EIDOS). Later promoted to Design Coordinator of all productions at the company. Much of Alexandria would evolve into Oddworld Inhabitance where I was promoted to Manager of Design and design lead on Abes
Oddysee.
* Lead Game Designer on Izzy for the 1996 Olympics.
* Promoted to Design Coordinator.
* Managed all designers for the studio.
* Joined Oddworld Inhabitants on 2/21/95
* Designed primary game play mechanic for Abe's Oddysee.
* Produced 4 worlds of game play.
* (Much More)
William has 2 recommendations (1 report, 1 co-worker) including:
Phil Trumbo, Art Director, Alexandria Digital Studio
Scott Rogers, Artist, Alexandria Inc.
Virgin Games: Senior Game Designer
I was the first game designer ever employed in-house by Virgin Games US and helped to build and train the design staff during the early 1990’s. I also was the design lead on Global Gladiators (3rd Party Game of the Year), the award winning Cool Spot for
Genesis/SNES and senior designer on Aladdin for Sega Genesis (4K Units Sold/ Developed in less than 4 months)
* First Game Designer employed by Virgin Games US.
* Helped to created Design Group with David Bishop.
* Co-Managed all designers for the studio.
* Did first pass designs on many products for License approval.
* Senior Game Designer of Aladdin (Genesis).
* Lead Designer of Cool Spot (Genesis/SNES)
* Lead Designer of Global Gladiator (Genesis).
* Did the GDD for Jungle Book and many other products.
* Help to design world builder tool tUME for project.
William has 4 recommendations (1 manager, 2 co-workers, 1 partner) including:
Dan Chang, Managing Partner, Echidna
Julian A.Moran, Owner, MonkeyJAVA Studio
David Perry, Team Leader / Lead Programmer / Game Designer, VIRGIN GAMES INC.
Stephen Clarke-Willson, Vice President, Worldwide Product Development, Virgin Interactive
Astra System Software: Lead Game Designer/ Programmer
* Help to start new game development group.
* Designer/ Programmer of Dweaby's Quest.
* Designer/ Programmer of Legends the Tower of Doom.
* Designer/ Programmer of Legends 2 The Underworld.
Corona Micro / Elcom Systems: Lead Game Designer/ Programmer
* Help Start Shareware Game Division.
* Designer/ Programmer of Caves of the Trolls.
* Designer/ Programmer of Sub-Wars.
* Designer/ Programmer of Dungeon Quest.
* Designer/ Programmer of Micro Art.
Dynacomp: Programmer/ Designer
* Designer/ Programmer of Diamond Hunter for Atari 8-Bit.
Recommendations For William
FarSight Studios...
“Will's enthusiasm for this industry and his work comes through on a daily basis. Even though his lengthy experience would warrant wanting to approach tasks on his own, he is always welcoming to new ideas and collaboration. His creativity and detailed organization are much appreciated and I thoroughly enjoy working with him.” September 11, 2006
Craig Alexander, Lead Artist, Farsight Studios
worked directly with William at FarSight Studios
“I've worked with Will for a while now and he has proven to be a valuable asset to the company. He has lots of game design experience and has excellent presentation and organizational skills. I'd highly recommend him.” August 21, 2006
Chris Kline, Senior 3d Artist / Audio Engineer, Farsight Studios
worked with William at FarSight Studios
Ready at Dawn Studios...
“I had the pleasure of working with Will at Ready at Dawn Studios. I found him to be one of the most creative, professional and good natured people I’ve ever worked with. I appreciated that Will valued a good brainstorming session… and was always open to ideas or suggestions. I’d work with Will again in a heartbeat!” April 14, 2008
Brian Fletcher, Environment Artist, Ready at Dawn
worked directly with William at Ready at Dawn Studios
“Will carries with him a lot of insight from a design and industry perspective, having extensive experience since the 16-bit era of platform video gaming. He masterful with fun underlying and progressive
game play mechanics which was extremely valuable during the development of
Daxter. It was a pleasure working with him.” September 2, 2006
Daniel Choe, Game Designer, Ready At Dawn Studios
worked directly with William at Ready at Dawn Studios
JGI Entertainment, Inc. ...
“He is very experienced and enthusiastic about work. I was really impressed by all 2D level design and flowchart and documentation he has done and they are very organized and well structured. Not only coming up with cool ideas but also knowing how it would be executed. He is matured and
realiable, very easy to work with!” August 30, 2006
eiko oba, Animator, Jailed Games, Inc.
worked indirectly for William at Jailed Games, Inc.
“Very enjoyable to work with. Wide breadth of experience with 2D map and 3D game design. Remarkable attention to detail in overhead map design work. Keen understanding of game marketing principles and product positioning.” February 3, 2006
Daryl Pitts, President/Executive Producer, Jailed Games, Inc.
managed William at Jailed Games, Inc.
Eagle Claw Studios...
“Bill was contracted to do our papermaps on Sarge’s War, I was so impressed I pushed management to pay extra and bring him in to teach all of our level designers his techniques. The detail and clarity of design he conveyed was inspiring and has changed how I've done level concepts since.” September 6, 2006
Steven Goodale, Designer, 3DO
was William's client
“I worked with Bill on Eagle Claw and found him to be creative, well organized and proactive. I would work with Bill again in a heartbeat.” March 31, 2006
Susan Manley, Consultant, Consultant
worked directly with William at Eagle Claw Studios
Capcom...
“Working with William was a pleasure. He always managed to communicate complex game design concepts to the engineering department allowing us to more easily implement his visions. His positive attitude and passion for his work was a great asset to our team while creating the Maximo game franchise.” February 22, 2007
Keith Weatherly, Senior Software Engineer, Capcom
worked directly with William at Capcom Digital Studios
Manager of Design / Producer
Namco USA
“Bill Anderson is creative, hardworking and passionate about games. He understands the ‘fun’ factor needed in game design. He will include his team members into his vision and guides this creative energy so everyone has ownership in a project. This makes him a valuable mentor. He has earned his chops, knows what makes a good game. Our industry has the best proselyte for games in the person of Bill Anderson.. I look forward to working with him again.” March 22, 2008
Maurine Starkey, CEO, ScrubJay Studio
worked directly with William at Namco USA
Alexandria, Inc. / Oddworld...
“I collaborated with Will as a team co-lead and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of visualizing his fresh, inventive design concepts. His passion and commitment to creating a high quality, engaging gameplay experience made him a pleasure to work with.” June 6, 2007
Phil Trumbo, Art Director, Alexandria Digital Studio
worked directly with William at Alexandria, Inc. / Oddworld
“If anyone is a mentor to me in this industry, it's Bill Anderson. He took the time to give this "sprite monkey" a shot at working in game design and I will always be thankful for it. He generously taught me many of the foundations of game design and skills that I use to this day. I had the pleasure of working with Bill for several years, not only at Alexandria, but also Namco and Capcom where he was instrumental in team building and creatively leading the teams that created several top-selling games. But leadership skills aside, his most important trait is that he loves games. Whether as a manager or "down in the trenches", Bill is a strong asset to any game production team.” May 7, 2007
Scott Rogers, Artist, Alexandria Inc.
reported to William at Alexandria, Inc. / Oddworld
Virgin Games...
“Bill thinks clearly and communicates well. He quickly understood the limitations of our tUME map editor software, and he was able to communicate his feature requests clearly and concisely. By implementing his requests we were able to improve our product for all our customers. Thanks Bill!” February 25, 2007
Dan Chang, Managing Partner, Echidna
was a consultant or contractor to William at Virgin Games
“He had show a great passion for his work and took total responsiblity for the projects he would be involved in as a Sr. Lead Designer. I had the pleasure of not only working with him, but learning from one of the best game designers of the generation. He was imaginative, creative and worked on a high level of professionalism while at Virgin Games.” February 15, 2007
Julian A.Moran, Owner, MonkeyJAVA Studio
worked directly with William at Virgin Games
“Worked with Bill back in the early 90's at Virgin Games in Irvine, California. We won numerous awards for our work, at that time he was our main level design & layout dude! Amazing work.” February 14, 2007
David Perry, Team Leader / Lead Programmer / Game Designer, VIRGIN GAMES INC.
managed William indirectly at Virgin Games
“Back in 1991, as we were developing our internal studios at Virgin Interactive, we decided to look for full-time game designers. It might be hard to believe, but most game design in 1991 was done by programmers and artists. I don't remember how, but Bill showed up with a game design he had done in a notebook. It was for an RPG game ... but we were looking for a level designer for a Super NES platform game. Because of Bill's great looking RPG design, and incredible enthusiasm, we decided to give him a shot at the level design for Cool Spot. Needless to say, Bill's work was not only terrific, but really pioneering as well. He also did most of the level design in Disney's Aladdin for Sega Genesis, which I believe is still one of the top 10 best selling games of all time on a single platform. Bill worked with new tools, developed processes and approaches, and worked with our art director and programmers (particularly Dave Perry) to help define a production process that was probably (I say in all modesty) the most efficient in the world at that time. Bill has tremendous enthusiasm for game design and a real desire to create quality products and I heartily endorse him as a game designer, both from a high-level point of view, and from a detailed implementation point of view.” February 13, 2007
Stephen Clarke-Willson, Vice President, Worldwide Product Development, Virgin Interactive
managed William at Virgin Games
Interests:
* Business Management and Consulting.
* Teacher of Game Design in the US and Internationally.
* Article Writing, Book Ghostwriter and Movie Screenplay Ghostwriter.
* Production Analyst.
* Sculpting.
* Photography.
* Inventing.
* Web Site Development.
* Street-Rod Builder.
Groups and Associations:
* Son's of The American Revolution.
* GDN - Game Designers Network.
* GPN - Game Programmers Network.
* GAN - Game Artist Network.
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