Why hello hello!

Microsoft MVP

Microsoft MVP, Xbox division

You’ve paid me a visit, so it’s only fair that I tell you a bit about myself, so here’s the deal :

Sometimes I write games, sometimes I write about games, sometimes I write about how to write games.

I’m the Co-Coordinator of the Xbox Live Indie Games Uprising events. Our goal is to showcase the most outstanding titles available on the platform while promoting overall awareness, and as of September 2012, we’ve just completed our second.  I am  Managing Editor at  Armless Octopus, a blog where we cover indie games, with focus on Xbox Live Indie Games.

Developer

XNA

Moreover, I’m a C# developer with a focus on XNA, and have just finished my first XBLIG, Piz-Ong. I’m currently building a cross platform starter kit for MonoGame, an open source and framework for XNA. In this framework I plan to include a particle engine, audio manager, drawing helper, and animation tool. It will work on the Xbox, PC, Win8, and Windows Phone 8.

xboxboxartDave-Voyles_Resume_March

Unreal Engine

I’m also heavily involved in the Unreal Engine  community, and am well versed with the Unreal Development Kit, where I waspreviously crafting a number of unfinished projects. I’m an UnrealScript programmer and also a 3D artist, proficient with Maya and 3DS Max 2012. Check out all of my Unreal Engine projects here. Another  project has me remaking Mega Man 2 in the Unreal Engine, although this is currently on the backburner.

Unity 3D

I’ve worked on two game jam projects with Unity 3D. The first of which was Betraille, a What Would Molydeux title created in April of 2012 over a 48 hour period with several other individuals. It’s available for free on Indie City right now.

During the 2013 Global Game Jam I worked with a team of several gifted developers to complete A Pulse In The Dark, another game created in 48 hours with the theme of “Heart beat” which we had to work from. A playable build for the web browser is available here.

Windows Phone 8

I’ve just finished crafting my first Windows Phone 8 app, a children’s title called “Spell and Speak which utilizes the text-to-speech API. My next app will be very similar, but take advantage of the phone’s excellent speech-to-text API.

Spell and Speak for Windows Phone 8

Author
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Cover of my most recent book

 I’ve recently completed writing the  UnrealScript Game Programming Cookbook, which covers advanced programming techniques for the Unreal Engine. It’s available in both physical and digital forms, such as Amazon’s Kindle, and .pdf.

Moreover, I write tutorials from time to time to help those who may come across the same issues I have.  In addition to that, I’ve worked as a technical reviewer for Packt Publishing on two books: UDK Game Programming with Unreal Script: Beginner’s Guide  and Unreal Development Kit: Beginner’s Guide.

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Personal

My full time position has me working as  Project Manager for Conelle Construction in Manhattan, where we oversee high-end commercial and residential renovations for celebrities and wealthy individuals.

I’m a former personal trainer, and also a very active runner, in addition to playing on a number of lacrosse teams to stay in shape. An avid musician, I’ve been playing the guitar for 15 years and just picked up the piano. Having always had an affinity for flight, I am finishing my private pilot’s license too, flying Cessna 172′s and recently completed my first solo flight.

Should you ever come looking for me, you can find that I reside on Long Island, NY, and work in Manhattan.