Matt Franklin

 San Francisco, CA 94110
matt@independentcreator.com
EXPERIENCE
Independent Creator
July 2006 – present Sole Proprietor San Francisco, CA, USA
I am developing independent games for the hardcore gamer market.
Animal Ocean Design
July 2006 – present Technical Director San Francisco, CA, USA
I am working as part of a two-person team that offers clients custom programming, web sites, graphic design, and animation.
  • Client Web Development: Javascript for cross-browser performance, RSS, XML, Data-driven Flash, Flash Action Scripting, pod-casting, blogging, AJAX, PHP, ASP, cgi, PERL, ...
  • Tools for Increased Productivity : Developing application scripts and standalone tools to improve workflow.
Double Fine Productions, Inc.
November, 2002 - July, 2006 Lead Gameplay Programmer, Tools Developer San Francisco , CA, USA
PSYCHONAUTS (XBOX, Playstation, PC), November, 2002 - January, 2005 Unnanounced, February, 2005 - July 2006
  • Tools Developer: I architected and built a debug client framework. I developed a terrain sculpting tool for Maya, and worked with artists to improve the tool's utility and user experience.
  • Graphics Programmer: For our publisher demo, I worked with the graphics team for several months to create an ambient plant life system.
Homestead.com
August 1999 – November, 2002 Software Developer, Technical Lead Menlo Park, CA, USA
I worked on a number of projects during my three years at Homestead. Following are the most significant:
  • New editor: I spent the last two years developing Homestead's next cutting-edge tool with a small team. I played a large role in early technology research and architecture design, and now we're reaping huge benefits from its power and flexibility as we approach beta. We can rapidly write UI layout and functionality in XML, and add more programmers to the project with minimal chaos because of our stable APIs and automatically tested code base.
  • Code review: As team size and code complexity grew during the development of our new tool, I noticed some problems with our process. I successfully designed and evangelized a simple, quick, and effective code review process for our team. Other teams are now interested in implementing it as well.
  • Internationalization: I worked long hours on a small team to make a tough schedule, made tougher by the fact that we were working with a separate company located across the country. We succeeded in delivering a Japanese version of the tool on time.
  • Server side: I've done substantial work developing and load testing C++ ISAPI DLLs currently used on our site for login, file transfer, and other operations.
GrandMastaDon Games
January - May, 2002 Project Lead/Lead Programmer
(amateur Game Boy Advance title)		 Mountain View, CA, USA
I worked with a four person team (three coders and one artist) to create a playable demo of an action-puzzle game for the GBA. I coded the initial engine in C over the course of several weeks. After initial play testing to verify that the concept worked, we set and then met a self-imposed deadline. We now have not only a game engine, but also an easy-to-use graphical level editor and resource pipelines that allow us to easily add new art and animations.
EDUCATION
Stanford University
September 1995 – June 1999 BS, Computer Science Stanford, CA, USA
Coursework covered computer science theory and practice, with advanced courses on graphics. I developed an optimized raytracer, and worked with a small group work to create a real-time strategy game and a rudimentary multithreaded operating system. Other coursework included the honors math track, and short fiction writing.
References
Available on request.