Hiya! I’m Sam Ricker, otherwise known as Startacker, or Startacker Astromancy. Although most people just call me Star. I’m a 24 year old game designer that has dabbled in many different forms of media. I grew up in the Boston area and am currently residing in Colorado.

I’ve had an ever-growing interest in game design since I was very young. I started learning level design in my free time between school work in 2014. Since then, I have released numerous projects that have been seen, played, and enjoyed by thousands of people online. My goal is purely for people to have fun with what I make. If that’s happening, I’m doing a good job.

Other than game design, I am also a student graphic designer that is currently taking classes towards a degree in graphic design and multimedia. I’ve also started working within music production, releasing a number of works over the years as both standalone albums and game soundtracks. I also have filled the role of community moderation since 2018, volunteering as a Server Moderator and Staff member for TF2Maps from 2018-2021 and in multiple positions for Potato’s MvM from 2019-2020, with some extra work in 2021. I moderated for SocksBX’s Twitch stream and Discord server from 2021-2023, and am currently on an extended break.

My art style leans towards a bold appearance with high contrast. I like to create striking imagery that uses many sharp and geometric shapes. For my music, I enjoy blending heavy, distorted, sampled instruments with in-depth atmosphere and texture to make something that is truly my own. I’m always looking for something to work on, and I consider myself a quick learner and avid experimenter.

I am Transgender/Nonbinary/Agender. The pronouns I use are she/her, they/them, and it/its.

More specific timelines of my program expertise include the following:

• Source Engine development kits since 2014

• Audacity since 2015

• OBS Studio since 2015

• Sony Vegas (13, 18) since 2015

• Visual Studio (2013, 2022, Code) since 2019

• Mediawiki wiki software since 2019

• Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator) since 2020

• Ableton Live since 2021

• Blockbench since 2021

• Blender since 2022

You can find me on Twitter

Or you can find me on Twitch

Or I can even be found on Youtube

Or you can browse my Bandcamp and Spotify

Or you can reach me on Discord, send to startacker

Or you can reach me through my email, contactstartacker@gmail.com

Note: Some of the links above have some explicit language.