Student creates new software

Jeramy Spring, senior computer and animation design major at Kent Tuscarawas, develops a level for a video game yesterday. Spring draws outlines and maps on paper before creating a digital copy. SEAN DAUGHERTY | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Carl Schierhorn

Like many high school students during study hall, Jeramy Spring spent lots of free time on his graphic calculator. Only he took it to the next level – literally.

Spring, senior computer and animation design major at the Kent Tuscarawas campus, said in high school, “I used to program games onto my TI-84 calculator to waste time in study hall.”

Spring, who specializes in video game-level design, said he has been interested in video games ever since the first Nintendo was released in the 1980s.

“Ever since I can remember, I was just fascinated with the games. I used to spend hours upon hours playing them,” Spring said.

Like every other kid, Spring played the games just because they were fun. In 1996, Spring said his interest for playing the games morphed into an interest of how to create them.

“I wanted to learn about making games, but the Internet wasn’t created yet, so I read some books on game development,” he said.

During high school, Spring said he took many classes such as math and programming, which are the basis of creating video games.

Once Spring started his college career at Kent State, he was able to take his first computer animation and design classes.

“In late 2002, I was able to make my first level of a game with a few little buildings; not really textured at all,” Spring said.

Later that year, Spring said he got really interested in level design and decided to specialize in this area.

Spring gave an example of what he would and wouldn’t do as a level designer.

“My job would be to animate a gun in a video game, and that’s all. Game coders would actually trigger the firing of the gun,” he explained.

Spring began to share his love for design in 2005 when he started teaching gaming workshops to local high school students. He will begin to teach Kent State students next year.

“He’s always been very active,” said Vas Patibandla, assistant professor and program developer for computer design and animation at Kent Tuscarawas.

Patibandla added that Jeremy also contributed to the investigation of a number of technologies that are now used in the gaming curriculum.

Spring said he is excited about his future plans and would like to work for a company such as Shiny Entertainment in California, which produces video games for Play Station 2.

If that doesn’t work out, however, Spring has a more “realistic goal” to teach level design and video-game design in Northeast Ohio. Spring said he has also thought about opening up a gaming company in Ohio.

Spring said he wants to help the industry grow, because “as of now, the industry is not drawing as many people or ideas from this part of the United States.”

The high school kid who dreamed of greater things during study hall has a perfect ending to his ultimate dream.

“I would love to see my name roll in the credits at the end of any game.”

Contact School of Technology reporter Holly Mueller at [email protected].