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	June 6, 2013

		Red Storm Entertainment, a Ubisoft Studio Assistant/Associate Producer

		Wargaming.net Build Engineer

		Gameloft - New York Programmer

		Wargaming.net Build Engineer

		Virdyne Technologies Unity Programmer

		Wargaming.net Dev-Ops Engineer

Kain Shin's Blog Expert Blogs

Lifelong gamer with core experiences amongst JRPGs, CRPGs, SRPGs, Shmups, Beat-em-ups, retro twitch, and fighting games (formerly a competition level Soul Calibur and Street Fighter player). Will always have a special place in my heart for emergent simulations that follow the Looking Glass school of design.

Former games journalist for a humble hardcore gaming website. Spent some time as a chemical engineer before finally deciding to follow my passion. Graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in C.S. in 2000.

Entered the games industry in 2000 as a programmer on the Microsoft/Bicycle Casino (PC) line of products developed by Compulsive Development and Glass Eye Entertainment. Went on to join the team at Ion Storm to work on Deus Ex: Invisible War (PC/Xbox) and Thief: Deadly Shadows (PC/Xbox). Spent a short time at TKO Software working on the N-Gage 2.5 SDK. Became a senior programmer at Breakaway Games's Austin studio working on console and PC projects. Served as Lead Programmer on Mushroom Men for the Wii, which was developed by Red Fly Studio. Most recently a core gameplay/AI programmer on Dishonored at Arkane Studios in Austin, Texas.

Formerly served as a director of IGDA-Austin focused on running social activities for the organization and promoting visibility of the professional game development community in the city. Initiated the tradition of IGDA-Austin Microtalks before handing the torch over to the next generation.

Presentations and Non-Game-related Endeavors Located at:
http://ringofblades.org/

Likes science and nunchucks.

Currently serving as a weapon of Harmonix Music Systems in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Expert Blogs

Five Coding Lessons I’ve learned from Joe Houston
Posted by Kain Shin on Sun, 27 Jan 2013 08:49:00 EST in Programming
I've had many mentors over my 12+ years as a professional game programmer, but there is one ex-colleague in particular who has abstractly had more influence on my algorithms than any other.
Read More... \| 6 Comments

Measuring a Designer's Value
Posted by Kain Shin on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 07:32:00 EDT in Design
Out of all the disciplines, game designers seem to have it the hardest when it comes to evaluation during interviews. Their skillsets are difficult to quantify in a standard manner because they are, in essence, professional thought architects.
Read More... \| 14 Comments

About Entry-level Producer Positions...
Posted by Kain Shin on Sun, 28 Mar 2010 07:18:00 EDT in Production
I sense a disturbing trend amongst some of the fresh graduates, lately. A lot of kids are coming my way that fit a specific archetype: nice, smart, passionate, and utterly screwed by the false expectations fed to them by their educational institutions.
Read More... \| 18 Comments

WTF Do Producers Do All Day?
Posted by Kain Shin on Sun, 31 May 2009 09:53:00 EDT in Production
Over the years, I had mentored a few select individuals for associate producer positions in the hopes of growing a garden of local people around town that knew what they were doing and would spread the good habits on to the studios they would end up at.
Read More... \| 15 Comments

Predictive Aim Mathematics for AI Targeting
Posted by Kain Shin on Fri, 15 May 2009 08:33:00 EDT in Programming
A while back, I decided to look up algorithms for predictive firing on the internet, but I couldn't find any that incorporated acceleration in three dimensions, so I decided to give that the old college try.
Read More... \| 4 Comments

Am I Making the Best Career Choice?
Posted by Kain Shin on Wed, 06 May 2009 10:03:00 EDT in Production
What if you found yourself able to do anything you wanted to with your life? And you had a choice of either working for yourself, living at a friend's house until the efforts pay off, or working for somebody else for a stable salary?
Read More... \| 6 Comments

Kain Shin's Comments

Comment In: 5 tips for humor, from Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon's creative lead [News - 04/29/2013 - 01:09]
This worked on me ... This worked on me

Comment In: Is this AI tool right for you? A RAIN{indie} review [News - 04/18/2013 - 02:35]
Thank you for this. As ... Thank you for this. As an uber-experienced AI programmer, would you now consider the Behavior Tree the one-size-fits-most solution for any character-based AI within a game

Comment In: Tim Langdell's 'Edge' trademarks are finally cancelled [News - 04/19/2013 - 07:49]
It is time to hEdge ... It is time to hEdge our bets on how this will end.

Comment In: How to not fail in scale [Blog - 04/12/2013 - 09:43]
This is a good list. ... This is a good list. Allowing oneself to lose control is always a risky trust proposition... even with established lines of accountability. But it 's definitely better than becoming a bottleneck and robbing potential heroes of their own opportunities to invest.

Comment In: Predictive Aim Mathematics for AI Targeting [Blog - 05/15/2009 - 08:33]
Math is hard. Fist probably ... Math is hard. Fist probably better for weapon use.

Comment In: IGDA's official response to its controversial GDC party [News - 03/28/2013 - 04:19]
I am speaking as a ... I am speaking as a former director of the Austin chapter who resigned because I could not support an organization that encouraged membership fees without offering any support whatsoever to the local chapters and volunteers that work so hard to provide IGDA-central with their perceived value by those on the ...

[More Kain Shin Comments]