ANNIE VANDERMEER : Designer / Writer / Narrative

(a.k.a. Murderblonde)

What I Can Offer

20+ years of experience in design/narrative/writing in AAA and indie development, for both new and licensed IPs.
Worked on projects nominated for multiple awards in Narrative, Innovation, & Outstanding Achievement.
Adaptability across multiple design disciplines, including narrative, content, gameplay, levels, and systems.
Development of stories arcing over months, thousands of words, a few sentences, or just the contents of a room.
Experience directing, managing, and collaborating with individuals across multiple departments.
Eagerness to learn as well as mentor, gain new skills, engage with new challenges, and collaborate with others.

Work Experience

Tiny Bull Studios

March 2022 - present

Unannounced Project (consoles)

Lead Writer

Developed voices of all main and secondary characters from existing narrative briefs
Wrote all dialogue, quest text, and item descriptions; edited related text & drafts to keep consistent tone
Worked closely with Narrative Lead to develop aspects of the game’s setting, such as history and cultures
Played builds and provided detailed feedback to team about narrative, combat, level design, and UI

Linx Agency

May 2022 - present

Various Projects

Narrative / Writer / Game Design Consultant

Led a writers room responsible for helping an indie team create a backstory, characters, demo writing, and theme consistent with the team’s existing prototype and tone requirements
Wrote extensive barkstrings and chatter for enemies and NPCs in an upcoming AAA title for a well-known IP
Assisted in the development of an on-retainer writer’s room for a popular AAA multiplayer title
Consulted with a small film group on the development of an ARG/scavenger hunt in downtown New York City

Digimancy Entertainment

August 2022 - January 2024

Various Internal & Co-Development Projects

Narrative Lead

Project Armadillo: [Project Lead] Developed a core Game Design document, including systems and story; directed
art and production in creation of a pitch deck and demo
Vanguard: Worked with Remedy Entertainment in developing narrative systems for new AAA IP; assessed
multiple different toolsets for suitability for project (and others in the studio); wrote text for game items/pickups
Broken Roads: Worked with indie developer Drop Bear Bytes on creating quests, writing dialogue, and developing
future expansion content; gave feedback on characters and game systems
In-House: Crafted and helped refine pitches for multiple projects, both third-party and new internal IPs, and advised in staffing for new projects, including recommendations for job candidates and contractors

Tiamat Collective

September 2019 - present

Internal Projects

Founder / Project Lead

Founded company to support contracting work and personal creative endeavors as well as those of colleagues
hue: a game about a choice (PC, 2023): Wrote, designed, scripted, and did all art for visual novel game crafted through the RenPy engine
The Passenger (PC, 2020): Wrote, designed, scripted, and did all art for adventure/visual novel game crafted through the RenPy engine

Magic DAYW

May - July 2022

Unannounced Project (Mobile)

Narrative & Game Design Consultant

Extensively reviewed and commented on original project designs, and wrote up thorough design overview and advised project direction
Revamped structure for design documentation and highlighted needed work for further refinement
Created or reworked core systems, including a model for asynchronous multiplayer dialogue interactions
Crafted extensive visual models of design features to demonstrate proposed look and flow

ArenaNet

2009 - 2013, Dec 2019 - April 2022

Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons

Senior Content Designer

Spearheaded design and feature proposals for Arborstone, the game’s hub, and collaborated on implementation
Created open-world content, including events, activities, mini-dungeons, and base spawns
Worked with narrative and other design departments to create new lore and compelling continuations of past fiction

Guild Wars 2

Content Designer / Senior Content Designer

Living World Season 5, Dec 2019 – May 2020: Collaborated with content and narrative designers to shape instanced and open-world storytelling, built content for both quests and multiplayer activities
Design Principal, Jan-Feb 2013 Living World team: Outlined design tasks, created and implemented content, acted as point of contact for all team design issues, helped set standards for future Living World story content
Personal Story team, 2009-2012: Worked with team to shape personal story throughout game, and with design partner on developing cohesive flow and theme throughout our assigned “chapter”
Crafted quest instances, implemented combat and player interactions, wrote first drafts of dialogue, tested and polished with additional audio and music cues, shot and implemented cutscenes
Collaborated with writers to develop and expand world lore, and document extensively on the internal wiki/Confluence

Subverse

March 2021 - May 2021

Just Cause Mobile

Narrative Designer (Contract)

Helped reshape missions from rough formats into streamlined ones, altering tone as needed while keeping flow intact
Wrote over 50K words, including mission text and character dialogue

Witch Beam

August 2019 - March 2020

Unpacking

Narrative Designer (Contract)

Worked with core team to write a master Narrative Doc as a guide for the game structure
Built and iterated upon lists and visual mockups of plot-based items to fill game spaces, including use and placement

System Era

January 2018 - October 2019

Astroneer

Content Designer

Created focused content to expand player-world interaction and utilized procedural probability system for placement
Balanced and implemented multiple new systems (Research Items, Scrap, Puzzles) and updated others (Hazards)
Developed new ways to create player experiences, such as the directed gameplay system (the “Wanderer” update)

DoubleBear Productions

2009 - 2019

PANIC! Series

Writer/Designer, Art Lead, Project Lead

Worked with creative lead to create original IP, including determining tone, systems, and art style
PANIC in the Multiverse! (Unreleased): Worked with lead designer to develop game systems and content; wrote lore and cutscenes; directed artists in creating original artwork, including pixel art/animations and 2D/UI art
PANIC at Multiverse High!: Wrote majority of original story and text; adapted IP to new game format; structured and scripted entire game; adapted art for setting; compiled and released all game builds

Dead State

Senior Writer / Designer

Created new IP with project lead, and developed game systems, content, backstories, UI style, character design turnarounds, item text, and character dialogues
Designed and implemented levels, balanced item stats, managed loot placement, and character skills

Additional Responsibilities

Helped with Dead State Kickstarter campaign and fulfilment, including writing “Making Of” book and print manual
Headhunted and interviewed potential talent, crafted interview questions and tests for artists and designers

Fantasy Flight

2016 - 2021

Multiple Projects

Contract Writer, Narrative Design

Wrote multiple short stories for several IPs, including Legend of the Five Rings, Arkham Horror, and Twilight Imperium
Legacy of Dragonholt: wrote 30K+ words for new print product launch with classic IP, introduced creative team to Twine

Bungie

2013 - 2014

Destiny

Game Designer

Developed public events, populating game areas with them as well as combat encounters, lore drops, and harvest nodes
Coordinated with writing team on event dialogues, wrote roughs for all public events, patrols, and over 50 lore entries

Obsidian Entertainment

2006 - 2008

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir

Designer, Lead Writer

Crafted and implemented Party Conversation System mechanic
Structured, edited, and wrote majority of text; created multiple areas; developed new loot system

Other Titles

Writer / Designer / Production Design Assistant

Alpha Protocol: Organized writing tasks, worked on multiple characters, and created all emails/dossiers/news/banter
Aliens RPG: Wrote dialogue for several major characters, & gave design input on levels and boss encounters
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer: created dozens of specialty items, and wrote epic-level descriptions
Neverwinter Nights 2: Created all items/weapons/armor, aided in level testing and bug-fixing for item models
Multiple projects: worked with lead writers and designer to cast/perform/direct voice-over performances

Papaya Studio

2004 - 2005

Taxi Driver (Unreleased)

Writer, Designer

Wrote overall story, majority of cutscenes, and in-game banter, and collaborated with audio on sound design

Education

Macalester College

1999 - 2003

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Literature

Graduated with honors
Specialized in Contemporary Literature with a focus on genre fiction (sci-fi and fantasy)

Skills

Working knowledge of multiple 3D toolsets, both proprietary and common use
Experience with both visual and text scripting, including UE Blueprints, RenPy, and Twine
Familiar with development tools such as Confluence, One Note, JIRA, Perforce, Trello, Slack, and Teams
Co-host & editor of the show, which utilizes Riverside.fm, and Adobe Photoshop / Audition / After Effects / Premiere
Extensive VO experience including drafting character sides, selecting takes, casting, directing actors, and performing