Head Count: Michael Long

Michael Long is senior programmer at Human Head Studios. Hailing from southern Indiana, Michael has been fascinated by technology and games for as long as he can remember. Franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Mario were among his favorites growing up. Playing games eventually led to playing with code and he never looked back. Michael went on to earn his degree from Indiana University Bloomington in Computer Science and he has been in the game industry ever since. One of his favorite parts of being a game developer is the chance to creatively solve unique problems that combine programming, design, art, and other disciplines. His favorite experience developing a game was programming for Prey, in which he focused primarily on character AI and system level tasks. Currently, Michael is working on our free-to-play MMO bullet-hell game, Survived By. In his spare time, you can find Michael developing his own game engines and messing around with other software.

Advice for Aspiring Programmers
“If you want to get into making games, just make games. Start small, and build your own little game, even if it’s terrible. Just get the whole experience from that, see how you like it and build from there.”

Three Games that Everyone Should Play
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Super Metroid
3. Quake III Arena