This Travis Vroman guy - who is he, anyway?
Resume
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Project Experience:
“To Hell and Back 3” - US Interactive and Training: July 2007 – January 2008: Technical/Environment Artist
- Modeled assets for the environment.
- Unwrapped and textured in-game assets.
- Developed shaders for use in game.
- Helped train others on importing assets into game engine.
“Tears of Blood” Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale Honors Program Project: January 2008 – April 2008: Technical/Environmental Artist
- Converted modeled assets for use with the Torque Game Engine Advanced(TGEA)
- Wrote scripts for TGEA using TorqueScript
- Brought components into the engine for the environment and built BSP Structures
- Wrote scripts for custom materials in TGEA for normal maps, specular, environment maps, etc.
Work History:
Gaslight Studios, Inc.: January 2009 – June 2009: Developer/Artist
- Game engine programming and scripting
- Asset creation including modeling, texturing, and world building
- Working remotely in a team environment
GarageGames, Inc.: December 2008 – Current: Freelance
- Assisted with development of material editor for Torque 3D Game Engine
- Working remotely in a team environment
CompUSA: June 2005 – February 2007: Computer Repair Technician
- Diagnosed and repaired numerous computer problems daily; including the ordering of replacement parts from manufacturers
- Spoke with customers directly and kept them up to date until the job was completed
- Worked in a team environment
Education:
The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale: October 2004- March 2009: Fort Lauderdale, FL.
- Bachelor of Science in Game Art & Design
A brief history.
For starters, I was born in Virginia in September of 1985. However, 10 months later I was moved to Florida, where I grew up and reside now. I have enjoyed video games since I was a kid. I also grew up having a great appreciation for the fine arts since both my father and grandfather are artists. I applied to the Middle School of the Arts (now known as Bak Middle School of the Arts) for Visual Arts (drawing, painting and sculpting) where I received excellent teaching in the ways of the fine arts. I also spent a year and a half at Dreyfoos School of the Arts, but left to attend a school closer to home.
While in high school, a few friends of mine and I would get together and write programs for our calculators, typically games. My interest in game development began mainly with modding the the Original Unreal, then the PC version of Grand Theft Auto 3. I also stumbled over GarageGames who licensed something known as Torque (formerly V12, the engine developed by Dynamix for Tribes 2). I obtained a license to the engine for $100 and a license to Milkshape 3D and began learning the basics of creating artwork for games.
While in my art class one day, a representative from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale gave a presentation about their programs available. One of them was Video Game Art and Design, something I never imagined existing. Needless to say, I would up going there and graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Game Art and Design.
While there, I became involved in several projects. Some were successful while others: not so much. However, a few days after posting a blog on GarageGames’ website my progress in coding a Material Editor add-on (something the engine completely lacked at the time), I got an e-mail from a GarageGames employee asking if I would like to help integrate a material editor into the engine’s real-time editor system. I agreed, and a few months later the team and I had a working material editor added. This editor is what will ship with Torque 3D when it is released (it’s now in beta, slated for release soon).
I’ve also made a few small projects on my own. However, lacking the funds to ever have them go anywhere, they still sit on my hard drive and do nothing. One such example was a script driven 2D lighting system for GarageGames’ Torque Game Builder 2D engine. In addition to this, I’ve also done some web development work in the past, and have coded for several contract jobs.
None of this could make up for what I really want to do, though. I love making games, and love watching them be played once they are made. There’s not much that is more satisfying than looking at a released product and saying to yourself, “hey, I helped make that!”, other than the actual process itself of making the game and having it come together.
World of Warcraft.
Yes, this topic deserves its own section. I've been a player of World of Warcraft now since shortly after its original release. I have two level 80 characters (Mage and Death Knight), a level 73 Druid, a 70 Warrior, a 50 Paladin and a 49 Rogue. I do have others, but they aren't high enough level to make them worth mentioning. I have loved all aspects of WoW since I first started playing it. I still remember the first time I sat down and played. I was blown away at how great the character interaction was, and the environments were simply stunning. I also remembered the first time I zoomed out all the way on the map and say how large the world really was. And to think it's gotten over twice that large now. World of Warcraft continues to impress me, and the next expansion I know will be no disappointment. My interest in the lore as well as te topics discussed at Blizzcon have added to this, and have made me want to work on WoW at Blizzard even more than before.