David Mertz
For other uses, see Mertz (disambiguation). |
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| David Mertz | |
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| Biographical information | |
| Born |
N/A |
| Title(s) |
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| Time period |
July 1999 – December 2003[1] |
| Nickname(s) |
Alpha_Male |
David M. Mertz is a game developer and writer who worked at Gearbox Software.
Contents
Biography[edit]
At Gearbox, he held several positions such as level designer, senior level designer, and lead level designer. He got involved with level design, content creation, and design and content team management.[1]
With Rob Heironimus and Randy Pitchford, he co-wrote the story for Half-Life: Blue Shift. He also designed the Santego Military Base for Half-Life: Opposing Force and several Blue Shift levels.[2]
Trivia[edit]
- In the room right below Shephard's dormitory (only accessed by noclipping) can be found an Easter egg, consisting in initials and a date ("DMM 1999"). "DMM" is the signature of David M. Mertz; "1999" is the release date for Opposing Force. Mertz did it again for Halo PC in 2003 (Halo ported for the PC by Gearbox), in the multiplayer map Timberland, where he signed "DMM 2003" behind a group of trees.
- With other Gearbox employees, he gave his name to an HECU recruit seen in Santego Military Base in Half-Life: Opposing Force and a Black Mesa scientist accommodated in the Level 3 Dormitories in the Black Mesa South Wing featured in Half-Life: Decay.
Work for the Half-Life series[edit]
Half-Life: Opposing Force[edit]
- Boot Camp[2]
- Vicarious Reality[2]
- Multiplayer maps
Half-Life: Blue Shift[edit]
Selected gameography[edit]
- Half-Life (Dreamcast port) (2001)
- Half-Life (PlayStation 2 port) (2001)
- Half-Life: Opposing Force (1999)
- Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001)
Gallery[edit]
Mertz's signature in Santego's hidden room.
Ditto.
Boot Camp.
Vicarious Reality.
Ditto.
Black Mesa Biodomes.
Power Struggle (multiplayer map).
Insecurity.
Captive Frieght.
Ditto.
Focal Point.
Ditto.
Power Struggle.
Company biographies[edit]
- Dave Mertz - Level Design
- (No text.)
- David Mertz - Level Design
- Before joining Gearbox Software, David was a graduate student at Virginia Tech working towards a Master’s Degree in Biomedical engineering. While David has been editing levels since the days of Doom, his path to professional game development started with levels created for Quake and Quake 2 and popular game variants such as Rocket Arena and Rocket Arena 2. Like many members of the Gearbox team, David is an avid deathmatch fan and plays under the alias “Alpha_Male”.
- David Mertz - Level Design, Game Design
- Before joining Gearbox Software, David was a graduate student at Virginia Tech working towards a Master’s Degree in Biomedical engineering. While David has been editing levels since the days of Doom, his path to professional game development started with levels created for Quake and Quake 2 and popular game variants such as Rocket Arena and Rocket Arena 2. For Gearbox, David was responsible for the building the Boot Camp of Half-Life: Opposing Force and co-designing Half-Life: Blue Shift. Like many members of the Gearbox team, David is an avid deathmatch fan and plays under the alias “Alpha_Male”.
