Pete Isensee
Email
Pete
www.tantalon.com
pkisensee.spaces.live.com
Experience
Development Manager, Microsoft,
Oct 2007 - present
Microsoft XNA Professional Game Platform development
team manager. Leading a large team of software engineers creating the low-level
technology used by all Xbox 360 and Windows games. Technology components include
3D graphics libraries (Direct3D),
audio libraries (XAudio),
Xbox LIVE client libraries, and various input libraries, as well as industry-regarded
performance tools like PIX.
This technology is delivered quarterly in the Xbox 360 Software Development Kit (XDK) and the
DirectX Software Development Kit.
Development Manager, Microsoft,
Feb 2006 - Oct 2007
Microsoft XNA Developer Connection development
team manager. Led a team of software engineers supporting game developers working
on Xbox 360, Windows Vista and other Microsoft gaming platforms. The XNA Developer
Connection evaluates game performance issues, optimizes game code, answers technical
questions, and engages in research, development and education that improves the
lives of game developers worldwide.
Lead Software Engineer, Microsoft,
Jan 2001 - Jan 2006
Xbox Advanced Technology Group development
team lead. Led a team of ten software engineers working on Xbox and Xbox 360 research
and development, performance issues, game technology and tools.
-
Coordinated and created example Xbox game code for inclusion in the Xbox
Software Development Kit.
-
Coordinated and regularly presented at Xbox development seminars, game
conferences and other Xbox-related events.
-
Specialized in storage, networking, online technology, and Xbox certification
requirements.
-
Drove code conventions and other best practices across Xbox teams.
-
Authored numerous developer white papers on a wide range of topics from Xbox
LIVE issues to storage best practices to game networking.
Senior Network Engineer, Emerald City, Dec 1999 - Dec 2000
Internet and client-server developer for Emerald City Technologies, a company
that created massively multiplayer 3D games and game technology for the
Internet.
-
Network engineer for back-end server and download technology used by Emerald
City products.
-
GUI client engineer for Windows front-end application.
-
Chief architect for Emerald City base C++ library. Designed and programmed STL
wrappers, generic exception handling mechanisms, standard file and HTTP logging
technology, and XML parsers.
-
Helped standardize all software libraries, tools and applications on the
Unicode character set for all platforms, with an efficient translation layer to
hide the conversions on non-Unicode platforms.
-
Created various COM controls used by Emerald City servers for rapid IP address
lookups, encryption, secure hashing, and key generation.
-
Automated nightly builds and library component testing.
-
Automated generation of HTML documentation from Emerald City C++ source code.
Senior Software Engineer, World Opponent Network (WON.net, now
Uproar), Aug 1998 - Nov 1999
Internet developer for WON.net. Enhanced existing lobby-based software designed
as the entry point for dozens of existing Win32 multiplayer games. Used by over
10,000 players on a daily basis. Lead developer of WONplay, a web-based
technology for downloading and launching multiplayer games with a single click.
Initially rolled out with Hoyle casual card and board games; later used for
Bezerk games like Acrophobia.
-
Created smart downloading technology that used compression, customizable
filters, background threads and other methods to minimize download times and
get players into games faster.
-
Generated a strong banning mechanism to uniquely identify a PC and allow WON to
lock-out online miscreants.
-
Created authentication client DLL designed for peer-to-peer authentication and
encrypted messaging with WON servers. Optimized size from over 500K down to
90K.
-
Documented the WON game API that outside companies used to create WON-enabled
games.
-
Developed Internet utilities, including a Win32 application that can be
launched from a website via a Java applet or ActiveX control.
-
Helped engineer Internet communications library for thin and robust high-speed
game transmissions in 3D multiplayer games.
Software Design Engineer, HyperBole Studios, Jan 1994 - June 1998
Lead engineer and systems architect of HyperBole’s
VirtualCinema high-performance media playback engine. Managed a
six-person team that used object-oriented solutions and leading video, graphics
and database technologies. Championed standard coding conventions and defensive
programming techniques. Helped educate management on the vagaries of software
development.
-
Engineering lead for The X-Files Game,
released on 7 CD-ROMs for Windows and Macintosh, 4 CD-ROMs for PlayStation, and localized for six
different languages including Japanese. Over 1 million copies sold.
Game postmortem.
-
Architected and developed HyperBole’s cross-platform C++ code base (250,000
lines of code) to support Windows 95/98, Windows NT, PowerMac and PlayStation
platforms.
-
Created coding specifications and engineering requirements, task estimates,
project schedules, code measurements and weekly status reports. Generated code
library technical documentation, game docs and release notes for QA and
technical support.
-
Created highly optimized C++ template classes for standard containers, lists,
stacks, queues, smart and auto pointers (in the days before the STL was widely
available).
-
Profiled and optimized critical sections of the game engine, including dirty
region clipping, memory allocation routines and graphics blitting loops.
-
Assisted the PlayStation port team in assessing porting feasibility, generating
project estimations, and performing ongoing technical reviews.
-
Programmer for both Quantum Gate (single CD-ROM; released in 1994) and The
Vortex (three CD-ROMs; released in 1995).
Software Engineer, Peopleware, June
1990 - Jan 1994
Programmed a large-scale multiuser database application for seminar and meeting
management. Helped create and upgrade reusable software modules built on a
powerful database library.
-
Designed and coded a large portion of MeetingPro 3.0, including the graphics
routines, list boxes, and standard data entry fields.
-
Developed a new standard interface for the software that increased typical user
productivity by 30%.
-
Documented all technical aspects of the product for in-house use and created a
full set of database benchmarks.
-
Coordinated beta programs with customers, elicited user feedback and answered
technical support calls.
-
Network supervisor and hardware troubleshooter for 25-workstation network.
Education
B.S. Computer Engineering, cum laude; English minor, Pacific
Lutheran University
Operating Systems
Xbox 360, Xbox, Win32, Win64, Mac OS
Languages
C++ (since 1993; emphasis in STL, class design,
templates, generic programming, security, optimization and robustness)
Software Tools, Libraries and Protocols
Visual C++, STL, TR1, DirectX, WinSock, PC-Lint,
TCP/IP, UDP,
HTTP, XML,
SMTP, IPSEC
Professional
Featured speaker at the Game Developer Conference
Other events and conferences:
-
2007 Game Connect: Asia Pacific:
Multicore Programming Two Years Later,
Effective Game Programming for Windows Vista, and
A Baker’s Dozen: 13 Tools and Technologies for Your Next Game.
-
2007 FMX/07: XNA Game Studio Express.
-
2006 Gamefest:
Sublime C++ for Games
-
2006 Northwest C++ Users Group: C++ on Next-Gen Consoles: Effective Code for
New Architectures
-
2005 University of Washington: Xbox 360: Challenges and Opportunities.
-
2005 C++ Connections: Xbox and C++: Common Performance Issues in Games.
-
2005 Microsoft Gamefest: various presentations.
-
2004 Stanford Tech Talk series: Life in Microsoft Xbox.
-
2003 University of Southern California E.D.G.E. conference keynote: The Future
of Gaming on Xbox.
-
2002 Australia Game Developer Conference: Inside
Xbox Live.
-
2001 - 2006 Xfest (US and London), various presentations.
Contributing author to:
-
Game Programming Gems 6, March 2006,
Chapter: Utilizing Multicore Processors with OpenMP
-
MDSN Magazine, October 2005,
Article:
OpenMP and C++: Reap the Benefits of Multithreading Without All the Work
co-authored with Kang Su Gatlin
-
Game Programming Gems 4, March 2004,
Chapter: Bit Packing: A Network Compression Technique
-
IGDA
Online Games White Paper, 2003
-
Game Developer Magazine, March 2003,
Article: Developing
Online Console Games
-
Game Programming Gems 3, July 2002,
Chapters: Secure Sockets and Custom STL Allocators
-
Game Programming Gems 2, August 2001,
Chapter: Genuine Random Number Generation
-
Game Programming Gems, August 2000,
Chapter: Fast Math Using C++ Template Metaprogramming
Editor for:
Interests
Music, wines, games