DAVID J. SUSHIL, AWARD-WINNING GAME DEVELOPER
About Me
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
My name is David J. Sushil. If you’re anything like me, video games have provided a great deal of joy in your life. My very first console system was an Atari 2600 – a hand-me-down from an older cousin. I was maybe five years old. But even back then, I always wanted to make games more than I wanted to play them. I remember storyboarding design ideas as a kindergartner!
As I grew older, I began learning all the skills I needed to be productive in the game industry – programming, art, music and sound – you name it. In most areas I’m self-taught, having put countless hours of practice, trial and error, and good old fashioned elbow grease under my belt.
My hobby began to blend with my academic career, and as an undergraduate at the University of Central Florida, I worked in the research lab of Dr. Valerie Sims, a cognitive psychologist with an interest in video games. I ended my stay at UCF with a BS in Psychology and an MS in Modeling and Simulation.
Around that time, I incorporated my own business, Nickelpig Media LLC (now dissolved) with the intent of releasing some of my creative projects. My first independent PC title was Orbles, an action puzzle game with multiple modes of play and a soundtrack featuring music from local Florida bands. It was well received critically, but not nearly the commercial success I had hoped it would be.
But that project gave me the experience and confidence I needed to apply for a job teaching Game and Simulation Programming at DeVry University. I’m sure at least a few people felt as though they were rolling the dice on me – at 24 I was the youngest faculty member onboard by a long shot – but I haven’t let them down. By the end of my second year at DeVry, I had lead faculty training sessions, developed course materials, and had been awarded both the Ron Taylor award, and the PRIDE award, DeVry’s highest honor for faculty.
I currently live in Orlando with my lovely wife Kimberly and an undisclosed number of cats. In my spare time I enjoy working in the yard, designing and programming games, and causing all sorts of mischief.
I launched this site as a way to chronicle my experiences and provide additional content for my students. It continues to provide me with endless hours of fun, and there’s not a month that goes by where I don’t hear from someone who found a tutorial or example file useful. So feel free to contact me if you’d like!
As I grew older, I began learning all the skills I needed to be productive in the game industry – programming, art, music and sound – you name it. In most areas I’m self-taught, having put countless hours of practice, trial and error, and good old fashioned elbow grease under my belt.
My hobby began to blend with my academic career, and as an undergraduate at the University of Central Florida, I worked in the research lab of Dr. Valerie Sims, a cognitive psychologist with an interest in video games. I ended my stay at UCF with a BS in Psychology and an MS in Modeling and Simulation.
Around that time, I incorporated my own business, Nickelpig Media LLC (now dissolved) with the intent of releasing some of my creative projects. My first independent PC title was Orbles, an action puzzle game with multiple modes of play and a soundtrack featuring music from local Florida bands. It was well received critically, but not nearly the commercial success I had hoped it would be.
But that project gave me the experience and confidence I needed to apply for a job teaching Game and Simulation Programming at DeVry University. I’m sure at least a few people felt as though they were rolling the dice on me – at 24 I was the youngest faculty member onboard by a long shot – but I haven’t let them down. By the end of my second year at DeVry, I had lead faculty training sessions, developed course materials, and had been awarded both the Ron Taylor award, and the PRIDE award, DeVry’s highest honor for faculty.
I currently live in Orlando with my lovely wife Kimberly and an undisclosed number of cats. In my spare time I enjoy working in the yard, designing and programming games, and causing all sorts of mischief.
I launched this site as a way to chronicle my experiences and provide additional content for my students. It continues to provide me with endless hours of fun, and there’s not a month that goes by where I don’t hear from someone who found a tutorial or example file useful. So feel free to contact me if you’d like!
Pictures
| Click the thumbnails below for larger images. | |
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In 2008, I had the opportunity to meet Ralph Baer (middle) and his assistant Bill Harrison (left). Ralph is known as the Father of Video Games, and invented the Magnavox Odyssey (the first home video game console) as well as the Simon handheld game. |
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A picture of me with my first group of Senior Project students. From left to right: Ian Farrell, Anthony Bonfiglio, James Morgan, Matt Cordero, Zach Brown, and me. Note the awesome Panzer Thrash arcade cabinet, the software for which they developed! |
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My wife Kimberly and I at DeVry's 2008 PRIDE event, which was held in Boca Raton, FL. PRIDE is DeVry's highest honor for faculty. |
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In October of 2010, I won Best Design for Vanessa Saint-Pierre Delacroix & Her Nightmare in indiePub's 3rd Independent Game Developers Contest. To my left is my wife, Kimberly; to my right, illustrator Kyle Leavitt. We were invited to present our game at GDC Online in Austin, Texas. |  |
Vanessa Saint-Pierre Delacroix & Her Nightmare was nominated as finalist in the 2011 Indie Game Challenge. Here I am at the awards ceremony with industry veteran Paul Trowe, whose company, Replay Games, is publishing Vanessa. |
Agonography
| Canada Hunt [PC, Wii]. Los Angeles: Maximum Family Games. Nov 2009, May 2010. |
| CSX Moves [PC, Web]. Orlando: GameSim. In Development. |
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John Brummel University's Blunderbuss Olympics: Vol. 1 [Web]. Sept 2008. <http://www.davidjsushil.com/blunderbuss/index.html>. |
| Not Without You [Windows Phone 7]. Orlando: Bad Pilcrow. Aug 2012. |
| Orbles [PC, Android]. Orlando: Nickelpig Media. Feb 2005, May 2010. |
| Snail Shot Torpedo [PC, Xbox LIVE Indie Games]. Orlando: Bad Pilcrow. Dec 2009. |
| The Thieving Tower [Android, Windows Phone 7]. Orlando: Terncraft Games. Aug 2012. |
| Vanessa Saint-Pierre Delacroix & Her Nightmare [PC, Windows Phone 7]. Austin: Replay Games. 2011. |
Contact Me
| davidjsushil@gmail.com | |
| http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjsushil | |
| http://www.facebook.com/davidjsushil | |
| YouTube | http://www.youtube.com/user/davidjsushil |
© 2011 David J. Sushil. All Rights Reserved. For more information, e-mail davidjsushil@gmail.com.