Glenn Storm

Senior Game Designer

Leading design to develop experiences that tell a memorable story

I'd like you to see what my coworkers have said about me. I'd like to focus on the individual skills you are looking for in a Game Designer. I'd like to highlight exactly where those skills have been demonstrated in my work history.

Current Resume Link:
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Game Design Portfolio:
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LinkedIn Profile:
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"Having worked with Glenn both at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) and the New York Film Academy (NYFA), I know that he is both an extremely talented game designer / developer as well as a teacher and leader.

At ICT, Glenn was the lead game designer on a project entitled Bravemind that he, myself, and a few dozen others worked on. Glenn displayed what it means to be a true leader by performing "heads-down" daily development, instructing and helping others on implementations, designing scenarios, and guiding development practices. The project was a success in no small part because of his efforts, leadership, and time committed.

At NYFA, Glenn taught game design and C# programming classes. Many students told me how much they learned and enjoyed his classes. He and I worked together designing different teaching methods that could best help the students learn.

Glenn is a life-long learner who takes the time to dig into the details of complicated subjects in order to thoroughly understand them. He and I worked together to improve his C++ skills. The quality of code and projects that he created in just a few months was astounding.

I've really enjoyed both working with Glenn and getting to know him."

- Adam Reilly, Lead Prototyping Engineer at Proof of Learning

I am a Senior Designer, responsible for overseeing and executing many aspects of the games I've worked on, including but not limited to, features, mechanics and systems design, level/world design and helping to determine the conventions, processes and practices used to create the shipped product.

Game Designer positions:
Hot Iron Productions, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies

Game Design Instructor positions:
Hot Iron Productions, New York Film Academy

Game Design Mentor positions:
Hot Iron Productions, CG Spectrum

"Glenn is an accomplished game designer and storyteller who possesses the experience and insight needed to develop games with varying complexities and a wide range of practical and conceptual goals. Glenn is also a tireless teammate who dedicates himself entirely to the art and science of gaming and storytelling. He shows a true passion for joining the long tradition of storytelling with the state-of-the-art in gaming and media. Glenn always seems to find the time and energy to run one more test, write one more section of dialogue, or edit one more script. He is a welcome addition to any development team and can fill a variety of roles as needed."

- Lindsay Vance, Sr. Director of Instructional Design, Global Campus at San Diego State University

"Glenn is one of the most thorough thinkers I have worked with throughout my career. When challenged with the rapidly evolving field of game design, Glenn has aimed to put the same kind of validity to decisions as a scientist. He consistently put work as a priority, documented and communicated every last detail of a design and did it with project management in mind. There is much that I learned while working directly with Glenn, and was lucky enough to feel treated as a peer. Feeling comfortable to openly discuss and challenge design decisions made for clear direction early on in the development process of our common project while at USC Institute for Creative Technology. I look forward to seeing his future work with the strong sense of narrative that he brings."

- Jonathan Bobrow, Founder & CEO at Move38, Inc.

I create and present clear and concise documentation and written, visual or verbal presentations for my teams that describe layout, content, mechanics, systems, and features.

Game Design Documents (of note):
Proof Theory, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog, Signature

Speaking Presentations:
New York Film Academy course lectures including storyboarding and level design, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

Written Presentations:
Red Glare screenplay, "Sentiology: The Study of Experience" research paper

Development Leadership Meetings:
Realtime Associates projects, USC Institute for Creative Technologies projects, NYFA student studio projects, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

I build basic level layout using off-the-shelf and proprietary tools and either complete the shippable product myself, work with other designers and/or the guide art teams, while maintaining the highest qualitative standards and meeting the quantitative needs and deadlines. I have also been in multiple professional AAA studio situations where learning and utilizing proprietary tools to maintain those standards is necessary, and I am very comfortable learning new systems, applications and (programming) languages.

Professional Level Design:
Realtime Associates Star Wars and Sonic the Hedgehog Projects, USC Institute for Creative Technologies STRIVE and Bravemind projects, NYFA Student studio projects, Hot Iron Productions Proof Theory project+
Professional Proprietary Tool use:
Warner Bros Feature Animation, Dreamworks Feature Animation, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies

Proprietary Tool development:
ICT, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Student projects

"I have come to known Glenn as a very pragmatic and down to earth developer. With his keen sense of design he is always focused on creating a great experience, without losing sight of the bigger picture or given constraints. Not only is Glenn focused on the end product, he is also always able and willing to look at relevant processes to try to improve where possible. His knowledge of game development in general and game design in particular is extensive and he's a pleasure to work with."

- Arno Hartholt, Director at USC Intitute for Creative Technologies

"At USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, Glenn has worked with me on multiple efforts in a variety of roles, applying virtual human technology, instructional design principles, 3D and web development techniques to problems in negotiation and resilience training, as well as an online application breaking down barriers to mental health care. Glenn is a very creative, passionate, intelligent, fast-learning and industrious worker that when matched to the right project, can deliver excellent results. I've always been impressed with the Swiss-army knife of skills that he brings to an effort, whether it is user interface design, 3D environment modeling or game scripting. Most recently his design and development contributions on a sophisticated web-based authoring tool for a conversational virtual character platform have been very impressive. He is passionate about the product goal and achieving success, but you can also rely upon him to attend to all details at every stage of development."

- Eric Forbell, Solution Manager / Architect at Deloitte Consulting

I implement gameplay, game flow and game system structures through the use of scripting tools, even custom tools I write; and work closely with the game programming teams, adhering to their standards and techniques, to deliver rigorously tested and effective content that meet the needs, goals and deadlines of each team.

Professional Gameplay Scripting:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Student Studio projects, CG Spectrum Game Design projects

I follow up with art, audio, story, design, engineering and production departments on progress of game features, including but not limited to levels, cinematics, side-missions, puzzles, character design, music composition and sound design; and update teams as needed with early notification, regular contact and check-ins.

Integral Stakeholder and Communicator:
Warner Bros Classics, Warner Bros Features, Dreamworks Features, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA faculty and lead in Student Studio projects, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

"Glenn is a great collaborator, no matter the topic he is ready to jump into the discussion and provide well thought out ideas and concrete suggestions. When assessing issues he does an excellent job of looking at them in the context of the entire project in addition to the immediate needs of the situation. Glenn is not afraid to get his hands dirty either, diligently working on the myriad of tasks related to game creation. He has a good sense of what different art and game production processes entail, facilitating any of the many discussions or tasks of this nature."

- Matt Liewer, Technical Artist at Age of Learning, Inc.

"Glenn is an intelligent, experienced designer with a keen insight into the user experience in a variety of contexts - from games to applications to training environments. His knowledge of best practices and procedures, as well as his clear sense of logic make him a valuable asset to any project that needs solid, informed design.

When we worked together on various projects, I knew that Glenn would bring both the theoretical and practical understanding required, as well as the passion to apply it in the best way possible."

- Kevin Feeley, Proposal Coordinator at USC Institute of Creative Technologies

I am always eager to be a liaison with quality assurance teams to address bugs and gameplay issues because this is our path to a stable and polished product; and given that bugs found before we ship is an opportunity to make the product that much better, bugs are gold.

QA liaison:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies

I help to assess the progress, quality and user friendliness of the project via methods such as experiential analysis, usability testing, test evaluation, focus tests, user interviews, in-house play tests, and through the maintenance of user stories.

Design Research:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Student Studio projects

User Test Plan Developer:
ICT, NYFA Student Studio projects

User Testing Conductor:
ICT, NYFA Student Studio projects

Bug Tracking Management:
NYFA Student Studio projects, Hot Iron Productions

"I have had the opportunity to work with Glenn on a number of projects. What has always stuck out to me about his approach is his intensity and rigor. When he makes a design decision, it's not because it merely "feels right"; instead, it is always backed up by a solid framework of theory and practical knowledge. This, along with his passion for his work makes him a very strong contributor to each project."

- Christopher Weeks, Senior UX Designer at Scopely

"During my tenure at the New York Film Academy, I had the opportunity to work with Glenn several times. His leadership style struck a good balance of being hands-on enough that myself and my colleagues never felt directionless, while also being hands-off enough that we had freedom to experiment with our projects in ways that helped us learn tremendously. Furthermore, Glenn helped guide me through the process of crafting my thesis paper. His skills in critique meant he always had feedback to offer that was useful and aided the improvement of my thesis each week, meanwhile his leadership skills proved once again to strike that perfect balance that allowed me to write at my own pace without losing track of the project. Overall, my time working with Glenn was greatly positive, and his experience and expertise in a variety of subjects and skill-sets allowed for the creation of some excellent projects and many learning opportunities."

- Jayn Holly Coburn, Game Designer + Aspiring Filmmaker + Artist

I provide constructive feedback on all aspects of the product, by means of professional critique tailored to the team member via my relationship with them and knowledge of their craft; and by that interaction between team members, I find opportunities to increase the quality of the product, by keeping the relevant needs in mind while creatively applying the most significant ideas available from anywhere, and with an eye on supporting teammates and advising them how that feedback may be implemented with best practices, even if we hold those for a future product or use it in another context.

Art/Animation Critique:
Warner Bros Classics, Warner Bros Features, Dreamworks Features, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects

Design Critique:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

Meaningful Team Connection:
Warner Bros Classics, Warner Features, Dreamworks Features, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Student Studio projects, CG Spectrum Game Design department

Team Leadership:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects

I help create a consistent implementation of gameplay by working to define best development practices as a process we can all follow, holding each other to the high standards we would feel proud of, and finding more efficient conventions to streamline workflows for the design team, including our critical work to communicate between teams.

Direct Gameplay Implementation:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Student Studio projects

Art Leadership:
Warner Bros Classics, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects

Design Leadership:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Student Studio projects, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

"What I enjoyed most about working with Glenn is the dedication and quality of work that he brought to each project. Given his versatility, Glenn takes on a variety of roles, often simultaneously. But in each instance, he demonstrates a focused commitment and passionate attention to detail. Glenn also has a unique ability to bring together a variety of people (including artists, programmers, and researchers) on difficult tasks such that the results live up to his extremely high standards. A project with Glenn on board is in good hands."

- Cyrus Wilson, Digital Production Technology Architect at Apple

"I was extremely fortunate to have Glenn Storm as a mentor and professor during my formative years studying game design. In all things that he does, Glenn's attention to detail, but more importantly, his complete technical and theoretical understanding of design proves his continued expertise in an evolving market. At the forefront of his design process is the philosophy of "advocating for the player" which he used to great effect not only in his demonstrable game projects, but even the way in which he presents information to his students. I look forward to a time, should I be lucky enough, to work with Glenn in the future!"

- Hunter Fox, Game Designer at Tic Toc Games

I am a mentor for design teams, as a demonstrable contributor with high standards and a guide to the best practices that we can all follow together, and I encourage each members' professional growth based on their native skills and professional interests.

Design Mentor:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects, NYFA Game Design Department Mentor, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

I have trained designers in best practices, design heuristics and basic level design tools, like Maya, level editing tools and scripting, including advanced level design topics such as architecture, lighting, level pacing, environmental story-telling, item placement and gameplay balancing, with a heavy emphasis on using data from testing to drive continual improvement during development from early rapid prototyping through polish.

Art/Animation Training:
Warner Bros Classics, Warner Bros Features, Dreamworks Features, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects

Game Design Training:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects, NYFA Game Design Department courses (includes mechanics, game coding, level design, storyboarding, game balancing, etc), CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

"Glenn was my instructor for 3 years at New York Film Academy. I had him for several classes including Game Design Lab, Storyboarding, Coding and Level Design. He not only showed his wide range of expertise in each field he taught but was able to manipulate and adapt his style of teaching to any situation. He not only taught the fundamentals of a subject but how to excel and use what we learned to solve all kinds of problems. Glenn is hardworking, adaptive and always on task. I would work with Glenn in a professional capacity because any project he is on is sure to go above and beyond expectations!"

- Danny Dysart, Game Design Teaching Assistant at New York Film Academy

"Glenn has the split personality required for a really good game professional, particularly a game designer. On one hand he can be meticulous, worrying about how many microseconds a jump takes, or if a particular part of the floor has the right type of behavior associated with it. On the other hand he can run with wild ideas, pushing the boundaries of what has been done, and more importantly, what has yet to be done. It is this balancing act that makes him a truly unique designer. Having worked with Glenn twice, I can only hope that our professional paths cross again. My conversations about where gaming can go inside and outside the office have truly pushed my expectations of what the medium is possible of."

- Darold Higa, Senior Systems Designer, Economy at Sledgehammer/Activision

I have an Associates degree in Fine Art (drawing and painting emphasis), a Bachelor's degree in Film/Video (experimental animation), and a Masters degree in Film/Video from CalArts (writing and directing); the high standards of which led to a 10-year career in AAA studios developing feature animated films and set me up for maintaining those standards in a successful career working as a Game Designer on multiple projects with large budgets, long timelines, and big teams of specialists, including award-winning game titles (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog) where I designed the combat for multiple levels and combat AI for multiple enemies and bosses, along with my primary designer role.

AA from West Valley College
BFA & MFA from California Institute of the Arts

Additional Courses:
Character Design by Phil Mendez, Storyboarding by Karl Gnass, Design Research Methods by Rob Curedale
Professional AAA Studio Experience:
Warner Bros Features, Dreamworks Features
Sole or Lead Game Designer Experience:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions

Game Design Direction Experience:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects, Hot Iron Productions Proof Theory project+

I have advanced knowledge and experience with level editing tools (Unity, Unreal), including scripting (Blueprint, C#, Javascript, UnrealScript), full-cycle development as well as mapping and modding.

I have advanced knowledge of Maya (and some in Blender, 3D Studio) in modeling, UV mapping, rigging and animating, including character, prop, vehicle, vfx, and level elements.

Professional Game Engine Experience:
Unreal Engine, Gamebryo, Unity

Professional Game Scripting Languages:
C#, Blueprint with C++, GLSL, Java, JavaScript (HTML5), ActionScript, UnrealScript, PHP
10 years professional work as character and visual effects animator for feature films

Game Art and Animation Leadership, Training or Mentorship:
Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, NYFA Student Studio projects

"Glenn is one of the most experienced and focussed leaders and instructors I've ever worked under. At school he was my instructor in 3 classes teaching C# and Game Development. At every point during the production process his ability to keep the team focussed was extremely valuable. His communication style is not complex at all. His ability to switch from Instructor to Team member seemed so natural to him. I found his approach to be extremely fair to every individual, irrespective of your background, skill level or preference. His range of work experience with people and projects in this industry is very clear."

- Obi Eze Ajoku, Program Manager 2 at Microsoft

"Glenn has been instrumental in adapting well-worn design practices to our institution's unique workflow. As a research-focused facility, producing good data has traditionally out-weighed the usability of technologies we create. Glenn has communicated across groups, and up and down the various chains, that these things don't need to be mutually exclusive and shown us how to organize towards accomplishing both. I thoroughly enjoy working with Glenn, and appreciate his fresh and informed take."

- Josh Williams, Chief Product Officer at Mizu R&D

I have experience with the Adobe suite of tools, including photoshop, illustrator and after effects, and I am comfortable with visual scripting tools (DAG systems, like Blueprint), including those used in game systems, animation compositing, material creation, audio mixing or physics (like Houdini).

I have working to expert knowledge of Microsoft Office suite of tools, including excel, word and power point.

I actively pursue channels that report and review industry trends of modern game design, including but not limited to reviews, industry news, game leader interviews, design research beyond game design, and lively discussions within the game development community. I see these trends, movements and events as data points to utilize along with the memory bank of other ideas all designers should maintain and apply to address the most significant needs our current designs require.

Extremely comfortable with creative applications for drawing, painting, 2D animation, storyboarding, image manipulation, video editing, effects compositing, audio processing, presentations, etc
I regularly use MS Office and have used a variety of other offline and cloud productivity applications for standard business
Favorite Game Industry Trend Sources:
News ("Bellular News") and Reviews ("Zero Punctuation"), Gameplay Videos, industry discussion on blog/news sites such as Gamasutra, Game Developers Conference sessions, Industry Interviews (Mark Cerny and Amy Hennig re: Game Director role), Industry Technical Previews (Mark Cerny PS5 overview)

I have a thorough understanding of combat design and combat AI design; including melee combat systems, enemy design and boss design, including how these designs combine to create a balanced progression of combat situations with variety, rhythm and gradual progression in several dimensions.

Combat Design Experience:
Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog, NYFA Student Studio projects, personal projects (Unreal), Hot Iron Productions Proof Theory project+

Combat AI Experience (including boss AI):
Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sonic the Hedgehog, personal projects (Unreal), Hot Iron Productions Proof Theory project+

"Glenn is a fantastic designer and one of the best leaders I have had the pleasure of working with. As an instructor, Glenn demonstrated a deep understanding of agile development and C# development. I had several courses that Glenn instructed in which his experience with game development was invaluable. Glenn has been a wonderful mentor of mine not only offering great advice with my early career but helping out whenever he can. Any team would benefit from having him as a part of it."

- Nathan Hales, Computer Science Support Specialist at University of Advancing Technology

"Glenn has incredible talent and can work independently and deliver great results. I wholeheartedly endorse his work."

- Skip Rizzo, Research Director at USC Institute of Creative Technologies for Medical Virtual Reality

I have strong interpersonal skills centered on empathy, listening for common understanding and working within shared values. I have strong verbal, written and visual communication skills that I freely choose to match the presentation mode, timing, and venue to the audience for best effect.

Interpersonal Skills (including formal presentation):
Dreamworks Features, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Game Design Instructor, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

I seek to receive all manner of feedback, and I listen carefully and probe with questions to clearly understand the intent of the critique. I am equally able to give thorough, thoughtful, constructive and tailored feedback that helps team members attend to significant elements, understand relevant perspectives and feel confident about best practice techniques that can maintain high standards we all want for the project.

Professional Critique Experience:
Warner Classics, Warner Features, Dreamworks Features, Realtime Associates, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, Hot Iron Productions, NYFA Student Studio projects, NYFA Game Design Instructor, CG Spectrum Game Design Mentor

"Glenn is a great resource of information and skill in the work place. He is not only intelligent, but also easy to work with and easy to approach with questions and ideas. He never makes you think you could ever have a stupid question and is great to brain storm with. He is not only cheerful but also fun to work with and he never lets you down in a pinch.

I highly recommend Glenn Storm and would be happy to work with him many times over again."

- Jay Busch, Technical Program Manager at Google

Glenn Storm

Senior Game Designer

Portfolio Available Online Here : http://GlennStorm.com

LinkedIn Profile Available Here : linkedin.com/in/glenn-storm