Philip N. Riley

(979) 255-5356

phil_riley@hotmail.com

Portfolio: http://philriley.info

OBJECTIVE

Enhancing my diverse Production experience with new opportunities.

EDUCATION

Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
The Guildhall at SMU
Masters of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Design, May 2015

THESIS – Roguelike: Procedural Level Design in Skyrim – May 2015
Masters methods and new applications of procedural level design within The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics, May 2006

Design Skills

Producer:

 
Agile, Scrums, detail oriented, solution focused, data driven, creative, out-of-the-box thinking, optimization and process streamlining, improving communication, team building

Level Designer:

 

  Level, world and systems building, scripting, procedural level design, modular & reusable assets

Editors:

 

  Unreal Editor, Gamebryo, Hammer/Source SDK

Tools:

Adobe Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, JIRA, Wiki, SVN
Programming Languages:

C#, LUA, DOS Batch, Unreal Script, Papyrus

Game & Platform Experience

Zynga, Inc., June 2012 – Present

Producer, Willy Wonka Slots and The Wizard of Oz Slots (December 2015 – Present)

  • Run Daily scrums, manage Epic and Task boards, hold art review of machines and features, weekly play tests
  • Drive creation, testing and merging of test code toward release on three-week sprints.
  • Process optimization, tool & report building. Drive new feature costing, kickoff, development, and release.

Senior Producer, xPromo and Growth (December 2014 –November 2015)

  • Maintain campaign launch calendar. Generate high-value creatives that balance performance and brand. Schedule, test and optimize campaigns and creatives against value metrics.
  • Optimized existing and created multiple new processes to improve workflow and scalability
  • Managed worldwide campaign for Empires & Allies, driving ~$1MM in total value thru July ‘15

Producer, Publishing and User Acquisition – PAC (October 2013 – Present)

  • Coordinate multiple internal and external teams to identify, optimize and deliver high performance creative across several channels
  • Launch, track, analyze, iterate and optimize creative and marketing efforts. Increase/maintain high CTR, CVR, and Yield across tier 1 titles with aggressive optimization and refreshes.
  • Work with game teams to maintain balance of brand guidelines with performance
  • Reduced operating costs by $1M/year

Producer, Mobile Social Channels – MSC (June 2013 – September 2013)

  • Fast-tracked existing ZDC team into new project. Transitioned ZDC to alternative studio ahead of schedule.
  • Streamlined existing roadmap, converged multiple codebase forks into one version
  • Triaged and reduced open backlog items by 90%.
  • Scrum master, managed JIRA database, prioritized roadmap, emailed daily updates

Producer, Zynga.com – ZDC (February 2013 – May 2013)

  • Guided team on multi-month project removing Facebook Connect dependency
  • Scrum master, managed JIRA database, prioritized roadmap, emailed daily updates
  • Coordinated with internal and external teams for new title launches, tech integration, and SEO needs
  • Re-launched site ahead of schedule with eight 1P titles and streamlined UX

Assistant Producer, Zynga.com – ZDC (June 2012 – January 2013)

  • Sole producer on team of 50+ engineers, designers, PMs and QA, supporting Zynga.com, online game portal with ~1M DAU.
  • Ran scrums, managed JIRA database, coordinated roadmap, emailed daily updates
  • Took over site with six active titles. Helped launch sixteen more titles with internal and external teams (1P & 3P)

 

The Guildhall at SMU, August 2010 – May 2012

Associate Producer on BRIG (July 2011 – December 2011)

  • Led a team of thirteen through a six month production cycle on a new UDK title
  • Team generated new assets, animsets, textures/materials, levels, game mechanics
  • Built custom particle effects, decals, and prefabs for Level Design use.
  • Led all meetings, presentations, and documentation duties
  • Created and maintained Game Design Document from pre-Alpha through RTM.
  • Scrum master, maintained backlog, tracked progress against milestones

 

Lead Level Designer on Io (March 2011 – May 2011)

  • Worked on a team of eight during eight week production cycle
  • Created and maintained the Level Design Document for a three-stage boss fight in unique first-person tower defense game.
  • Created scripted prefab boss structures, and Kismet-controlled creep deployment
  • Modelled & textured custom explosive projectile rounds

 

Associate Producer on Korium (October 2010 – December 2010)

  • Led a team of six through the creation of a Torque 2D game over eight weeks
  • Led all meetings, presentations, and documentation duties during development
  • Scrum master, maintained backlog, tracked progress against milestones

 

Level Designer/Scripter on several individual projects (October 2010 – May 2012)

    • Bedlam (GoW) – scripting creates random level layout

– Partitioned level assembled in random order
– Preserves checkpointing, allows full bi-directional travel

    • Containment (HL2) – X-COM: Chrysallid mechanic spreads zombies

– Scripted unit prefabs creates an AI ecosystem
– Fast zombies infect Combine troops, becoming Zombines.
– Zombine death generates a new fast zombie

  • Derelict (GoW) – advanced scripting creates high replayability
    – Random level layout brings Space Hulk boardgame mechanics
    – Maps vary in size and challenge. Internal spaces, Dead Space feel.
    – Non-linear experiences flip the battlefield
  • DM-17 (UT3) – reimagining of the classic Quake deathmatch level
  • Galt’s Gulch (Fallout 3) – a side quest that explores difficult amoral choice
  •      – External and internal area featuring multi-stage main and side quests
    – New vault to explore, multiple NPC interactions

Work Experience

AMS Services/Vertafore Corporate Data Center, August 1997-August 2010

Network Engineer I, II – (February 2005-August 2010)

  • Administrator for multiple production AD domains.
  • Relocated the data center in 8 months, moving 600+ servers with minimal downtime
  • Maintain, troubleshoot and optimize existing servers
  • Converted rackmount servers into blades and VMs. Designed network architecture supporting fault-tolerant systems.
  • Develop, document and optimize ongoing Disaster Recovery solutions.
  • Lead engineer for hardware, OS, backups, MS Virtual Server, and VMWare ESX
  • All Computer Operator duties listed below

Computer Operator I, II, III, IV – (September 1998 – January 2005)

  • Seven years as lead operator and sysadmin. Assisted in new hire interviews.
  • Upgraded infrastructure, power, networking, and installed/configured new servers to expand datacenter from 20 to 600+ servers.
  • Managed multiple production AD domains, AV deployment, critical updates, hardware/software diagnostics, server upgrades/replacements, hardware
  • Design and manage backups for 600+ servers in a complex network environment
  • Create, document and distribute new solutions, instructions and workflows

New Agency Sales – (August 1997 – September 1998)

  • Cold call sales and follow ups, selling value-added services to current customers

Computer Skills

Software: MS Office, Virtual Server, Hyper-V, Clustering, IIS, Sysprep, HP Data Protector, Symantec AV, Ghost, VMWare ESX, JIRA

Hardware: HP/Compaq/Dell Servers/Blades, Tape backups, Networking, RAID, SAN, SCSI

Certifications

MCSE: Security – Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer for Windows Server 2003 with Security designation, earned in 2008. Also: MCP, MCSA, MCSA: Security, MCSE

Life Experience

Texas A&M Corps of Cadets¸ Company K-2, Class of 1997

  • Senior year – 3rd Platoon Officer, responsible for development of one third of the outfit
  • Awarded USN Scholarship in 1995

United States Navy, Midshipman 1995-1997

  • First Class aviation cruise with VQ-3, TACAMO, Tinker AFB, Summer 1996
  • Second Class cruise onboard U.S.S. O’Bannon, Persian Gulf, Summer 1995

 

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