Maximilian Stürzl
Game Programmer and Designer

Download: pdf
Cover letter and references are available on request.

Profile

I am a game programmer and level designer, located in Frankfurt, Germany.


Employment History

Sixteen Tons Entertainment, Tübingen (February 2019 to Present)
Lead Programmer,
UI, Gameplay, Tools, Backend and Systems programming for EMERGENCY and EMERGENCY HQ.

  • UI Programming: Worked on most of the UI in EMERGENCY including layout, shaders, optimization, animations (Blueprint and code based) mostly in C++ using both UMG and Slate but also in Blueprint, as well as UI scripting for EMERGENCY HQ
  • Gameplay Programming: Gameplay programming in Unreal Engine 5 in C++ (mainly) and Blueprints (when needed)
  • System Programming: Designed and implemented systems that interact with each other on a game wide level
  • Tools Programming: C++ based tool development both in UnrealEd and in the game itself as well as backend and code generation tools outside of the game (C#/.Net). Also worked on improvements on the testing tools used in EMERGENCY HQ and some tools to fetch and reset data for the game
  • Backend development: Worked and managed a lot of the backend for EMERGENCY using technologies like Microsofts PlayFab and Azure
  • Multiplatform development: Worked on multiplatform features in both EMERGENCY and EMERGENCY HQ, including frontend-backend communication, authentication, user-to-user interaction, in-app-purchases, multiplayer and backend

GearEight Games, Schwetzingen (2017 to 2022)
Co-Founder and Programmer,
Founded the company and released the game DRAG mid 2017 for Android and January 2018 for iOS.

  • Programming: Technical Director and Programmer in a 2-guys Team
  • Tools Programming: Wrote level editors and management tools, as well as multiple plugins for Unity, including a localizer
  • Game Design: Game Design and management role for all projects
  • Co-Founder

SRH Hochschule Heidelberg, Heidelberg (May 2016 to October 2018)
Lecturer,
Game Programming (October 2016 to December 2016, June 2017 to September 2017, April 2018 to October 2018)

  • C/C++: Functional, procedural and object oriented programming (C++), introduction to programming as a concept, interaction between hardware and software
  • C#: Programming patterns, JIT languages, algorithms
  • SFML, SDL: Frameworks for visuals and audio (creating a game in C++)
  • MonoGame: Framework for visuals and audio (creating a game as a team in C#)

Tutor,
Game Programming (May 2016 to July 2016, April 2017 to May 2017)

  • C/C++, C#: Teaching and repeating topics from lectures, training for exams
  • XNA: Support for the creation of a game

Tutor,
Game Engines and Scripting (January 2017 to February 2017)

  • Teaching: Workflow of game engines, importers and common editors. Post effects and shader pipeline in game engines
  • Supervising: Helping students debugging and solving problems in the engine. Help in decision making about workflows

upjers GmbH, Bamberg (April 2015 to September 2015)
Game Design Internship,
Game Development (Mobile)

  • Game Design: Worked on the game design of Color it up! and Glowing Darkness, as well as some unreleased titles.
  • Level Design: Worked on the level design of Glowing Darkness and was in a leading position for Color it up!.
  • Game Concepts/Game Design Documents: Wrote concepts and documents for unreleased titles.
  • Tools Programming: Wrote and/or extended the level editors for Color it up!, Glowing Darkness and unreleased titles.
  • Sound Design: Worked on the sound design for Glowing Darkness.
  • Content Creation: Created and validated content for Color it up!, Glowing Darkness, upjers Quiz and unreleased titles.

Deck 13 Interactive, Frankfurt am Main (June 2011 to July 2011)
QA Internship (Student),
Game Development (PC, Console)

  • Quality Assurance: Stress testing the game Tiger and Chicken

Education

M.Sc. Applied Computer Science, SRH Hochschule Heidelberg, Heidelberg (2016 - 2018)

B.Sc. Virtual Reality - Game Development, SRH Hochschule Heidelberg, Heidelberg (2013 - 2016)

Abitur, Hohe Landesschule, Hanau ( - 2013)

Languages
  • German - native speaker
  • English - fluent

Technical Experience

  • Programming Languages: C/C++, C#, Java, ECMAScript (JavaScript), php, Lua
  • Game Engines and Frameworks: Unreal Engine 5, Unity, Source SDK, XNA/MonoGame, .Net, SDL, SFML, Steam VR, Oculus VR, OpenGL
  • IDEs: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio (Mac), Eclipse, NetBeans
  • Artistic Tools: Blender, Maya, Photoshop, Illustrator, Gimp, InkScape, Paint.net, Audacity, Vegas Pro, SketchUp
  • Web Development: HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, AngularJS
  • Databases: SQL (MySQL), Azure Tables/Cosmos DB, Redis, MongoDB
  • Version Control: git, SVN
  • EDP: MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, Visio, Project), VBA, Open Office, Libre Office

Shipped Titles

  • EMERGENCY - Sixteen Tons Entertainment - PC 2023
  • DRAG - GearEight Games - iOS/Android 2017
  • Color it up! - Upjers GmbH - iOS/Android 2015
  • Glowing Darkness - Upjers GmbH - iOS/Android 2015

Student Projects

  • Game Loop - Visual Scripting Tool for Unity with focus on card games - Master Thesis - 2018
  • Slartibartfast - Texture generation tool for terrestric planets - Bachelor Thesis - 2016
  • Fallout Board Game - Writer, Artist, System Design - 2017
  • Far Cry Board Game - Game Design, Level Design, System Design - 2015
  • Alone in the Dark - Local Multiplayer Tower Defense in C#/XNA - Programming, System Design, Level Design - 2014
  • Digital Novel - First C++ Project - 2014
  • Dozentopolis - Primitive Flight Simulator for Oculus Rift - Artist, Programming - 2013

Scientific Work

Planning and development of a dedicated system for the creation of card games in the Unity Game Engine - Master Thesis - 2018

Generierung von Texturen für terrestrische Planeten - Bachelor Thesis - 2016

Modern Game Engine Architecture - Analysis of the Unity Game Engine structure compared to the models proposed in Game Engine Architecture (Gregory, 2009) - Scientific Work - 2016

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