About

 

Hello! I’m Cole Miller, a game designer, writer, and Unity programmer from Wisconsin!

I have a deep passion for creativity, arts, and love all things video games! 

In May of 2022, I graduated from UW-Whitewater with a B.S. in Media Arts and Game Design and a Computer Science Minor.

I ended my college career as a Summa Cum Laude with a G.P.A. of 3.93.

Education at UW-Whitewater

During my time at UW-Whitewater, I’ve learned how to use a plethora of programs and to apply creative thinking towards game design and programming. In the four years that I have been involved in the Media Arts and Game Design (MAGD) major, I have grown a considerable amount in my comfort using programs such as Unity, Visual Studio, Eclipse, GitHub, several Adobe Products, and more. MAGD has allowed me to take courses that fall outside of programming, such as sound and visual design, which broadened my understanding of the game industry and the many elements that are necessary to design video games. Additionally, courses such as philosophy, film, and creative writing have helped me understand and enjoy the complexities of developing narrative within video games.

 

One important part of my education was exploring different avenues of game development. Whether it was critical analysis of different titles by delving into and understanding what defines a genre or developing them myself, I have been lucky enough to spend the better half of a decade from high-school to college learning about video games. I strive to continue to do so as I grow as a designer, whether through playing new games or studying design philosophies, and my education has been crucial in this mentality. Over the course of my educational career, I have learned to appreciate what makes for an effective game in any genre or category, even if it is not within my expertise. On top of this, my education has enabled me to begin understanding the types of games I most enjoy creating and playing, which prominently include narratively-focused experiences.

A Passion for Gaming

I’ve been playing games for as long as I can remember. I don't think I ever expected such a small passion to grow into what it has become today, but over the years, video games have turned into one of the largest defining facets of my life.

My first console was the PlayStation 2, which my parents were nice enough to buy as a Christmas present for my brother and I several years after its release. I remember opening the box excitedly with my brother and seeing Lego Star Wars: The Video Game sitting next to it.

We played that game for hours upon hours, and we even enlisted our mother to help us beat the final parkour level that our 10-year-old hands didn’t yet have the coordination to beat.

Ever since then, gaming has become a major part of who I am, as a hobby, a way to communicate with friends, and as a career choice. 

From accidentally infecting my parent's desktop with glitches at a young age to owning my very first laptop, and then finally building my own computer, video games and technology are a part of me that have not only defined the way I enjoy my own time, but defined the social life I have with friends and family. 

Cole (right) and his brother Jon (left) at Cole's graduation ceremony 

Cole (left) and his friend Dillon (right) meeting voice actor Sean Schemmel (middle) at the 2019 Milwaukee Comic Con

Cole (right) and his Simonswerk co-workers at a go-karting work event 

Some of my favorite moments over the years have been playing multi-player games with my friends and family. I even played through all of Portal 2’s cooperative story with my grandfather when I was fourteen. 

Games have a quality that transcends the medium, they provide real experiences from something digital, with memories that last years and can become even stronger than ones we have in person.

While many people still dismiss the value of video games, I have always believed in their ability to teach and provide people with new perspectives to think from, and powerful memories. The experiences that I have had with friends in my favorite games over the years are some of the most memorable ones of my life.

My love for designing video games has been cultivated over the majority of my life as I played countless games with family and friends. As I grew up and started thinking more critically about games, I began to learn the intricacies of what went into creating them. I yearned, and continue to strive, to create something that inspires and ignites joy in another person as much as my favorite games have for me over the years.

Undertale, A Night in the Woods, Pokémon: Platinum, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Last of Us, God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2 - these games and many more helped me realize that with enough drive, grit, and determination, anyone can make an experience worth remembering.

To this day, I still strive to create video games that embed the same passion and joy that games have provided me with over the course of my life, so that I can make a positive impact, no matter how small, on the world around me.

Hobbies and Personal Life

Outside of video games, I have many hobbies that I enjoy in my past-time. While I may not still be a Wisconsinites, I am a huge Green Bay Packer fan (Go Pack Go!), which has expanded to a love for watching any game in the NFL.

I also enjoy occasionally watching the Milwaukee Bucks, especially when they’re winning, but not nearly as much as the Packers.

My love for sports began to grow after I began to watch my first competitive eSport ever, the Overwatch League, back in 2018.

 

Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers

After playing many hours with friends over the years, my enjoyment for the eSport only grew. Ever since watching the inaugural season, I have become a huge fan of the League and my love for the competitive nature of it has bled into other sports, including the NFL and the NBA.

Outside of sports, I enjoy creating YouTube videos and streaming on Twitch from time to time, as well as playing and making music. I have made many videos on YouTube in my spare time with friends and on my own, and it is something I enjoy doing to fill my creative needs.

On the music end of things, I love to sing (and I’m quite the slayer on Karaoke night) and I played in band for 7 years of my life playing the trumpet. I even played for three years in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra in high school. Music has been a large part of my life, and I try to incorporate it whenever I can, as it is something I think everyone can enjoy! I also love writing, and I have made many short stories in the past. I find writing and designing to be very similar for me.

I love analyzing the plot of movies and shows with friends, and I thoroughly enjoy thinking about the structure of stories and character arcs in my free time. Overall, the thing I love doing the most is creating. Whether it’s games, YouTube videos, streams, music, writing, or simply doodling in a notebook, I have a passion for creating things that other people can enjoy, but most of all, things that I can enjoy for myself.

After college, I took some time figuring out what exactly I wanted to do in life. I worked at Simonswerk (a hinge distribution warehouse in Whitewater, Wisconsin) while working on a personal project that I eventually published to Steam. I had a restless feeling for a while as I continued to stay in Wisconsin. I had always wanted to move out of state towards warmer weather and opportunity, and when a chance presented itself, I packed up my things and drove 15 hours across the country to Fredericksburg, Virginia. 

While to many it seemed abrupt and impulsive, I believe that when you truly want something, you need to take the opportunity first rather than figuring out solutions to every problem before hand. I now look to the future with a fresh new perspective, ready to put in whatever work I need to in order to achieve my goals and take the next step in my career!