Bil Simser

Account Type:

member

Location:

High River, AB Canada

Member since:

January 14, 2002

Last Login:

February 22, 2011

Last Update:

October 28, 2007

Bio:

Skills

Primary Skill:

Advanced Programmer

Secondary Skill:

Skilled Director

Tertiary Skill:

Skilled Writer

Summary:

Programming
I've been programming since I was in my teens, back when we had Timex Sinclairs 1000 and Commodore PETs (gotta love BASIC). Since then I've picked up various languages (after all, they're all just variations on a theme) so I'm extremely proficient in C/C++/Pascal/VB/Smalltalk and traditional OOA and OOD methodologies. I have my BFA in Graphic Design and a BS in Comp. Sci. from the University of Toronto.

Most of my work is community based as I'm either working on Open Source projects or releasing software free to the community. These include a C++ wrapper class for DirectX called CDX and several tools (over 30 of them) for The Sims game community which can be found here.

I also do work on and off again with various individuals from the gaming community. People like Don Hopkins (creator of the Sims character system), John Pritchett (TradeWars, an old BBS game, author and designer), Seth Robinson (L.O.R.D) and others. We get together from time to time to kick around ideas and put together "things we'd like to do someday if we had unlimited resources and 300 hours in a day".

Want to see various work, tools, and interviews? Just google me. There's plenty out there to digest for those that are interested (interviews, white papers, etc.). My personal vanity site can be found here where I have links to all my projects.

Tools
Besides the plethora of tools I've created for The Sims I've also created tools for games from Raven, iD and PopTop games. I tend to focus on game tools. Game companies have enough to deal with and tools generally fall by the wayside, being ones that were built inhouse without any desire to be released. Of course we know in the game community this isn't so. Tools are the primary factor in extensibility to games. That's where I've focused my efforts, bringing tools to the communities where none existed or building on previous efforts.

Writing
I love writing but can never find enough time to get enough of it (as programming usually takes first priority). I've written one book called Game Programming with CDX and DirectX 7 based on my own library (how's that for self-serving?) and am looking for ideas for the next book. I've also contributed to various community book efforts and look forward to making my mark in the Torque world.

Currently...
...I'm working as an independent Solutions Architect with contracts worldwide, mostly focusing on SharePoint and .NET. Hey, it's a living. I'm also the Microsoft MVP in the Office and SharePoint areas for Calgary, Alberta and generally a nice guy when you get to know me.

Recent Activity

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Blogs:

Bil Simser has posted 8 blogs

Resources:

Bil Simser has submitted 2 resources

Forums:

Bil Simser has created 27 threads and 247 posts