PROJECTS
CAREERING INTO THE FUTURE
After finishing my degree, I worked for Back On Track Teens, creating a prototype of a gamified careers advice solution for teenagers known as “Careering Into The Future” based off research they conducted.
In the prototype, players are required to complete challenges to unlock information on various jobs related to their Back On Track Profile. Besides unlocking information, players will unlock new content in-game i.e. challenges, rooms, buildings and maps).
Working in a team of 2, my responsibilities focused developing the game in Unity. That includes:
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Data handling
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Objective System
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Player controllers and player character
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Design & coding minigames
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Level design
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Asset creation - 3D models, UI
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Basic tool creation
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Applying feedback to gameplay and systems
This project allowed me to grow as a game developer by providing valuable knowledge and experience to improve my workflow in Unity and as a game developer. This includes working with an API, creating tools, working on other disciplines (art) and learning new programming practices.
PISTON POGO
A personal project that I had wanted to create for some time, inspired by a 2D game jam project I saw a 2-3 years back and designed for WebGL. I chose WebGL as I wanted to create a game suitable for web portals. Furthermore, it was something new and more challenging to develop for.
It's a skill-based platformer and therefore not easy to complete. Although, the player can toggle between normal and reduced game speed instantaneously to help perform certain actions; an example being wall bouncing to reach higher platforms.
By creating this project, I was able to:
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Explore UI/UX design further
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Explore modelling and texturing further
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Improve system design
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Dive into shaders
AIN'T THAT A BITE
In my final year at university, a collaborative assignment took place. We had to make 2 prototypes and Ain't That A Bite is the product of one of them.
Ain't That A Bite is a tower defence game set in the 1950s and made in Unreal Engine 4 through 2 stages:
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Prototyping stage (1 day a week, 10 weeks)
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Intense development stage (5 days a week, 6 weeks)
Zombies will come in waves to wear down your defences and break through to your plane. Successfully fight through 4 waves to fly to freedom.
In my team, I was project lead and lead technician. My responsibilities included:
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Incorporating core features - defences, wave manager, game mode, player character, player controller, AI & enemy classes.
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Checking on others - ensuring everyone knew what they were doing and keeping to set deadlines.
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Setting up and handling Sourcetree - teaching juniors how to use it and the importance of it.
By taking the project lead role, I was able to develop my leadership skills. I also learned how to efficiently use source control, both in contributing to a project and managing others' work.
ELEMENTAL CUBED
In May of 2022, Game Jam Summit 2022 took place with a week long game jam and I participated in a team of 3.
The game jam theme was "Opposites" and so we came up with the idea about imbuing elements onto the sides of a cube you control. The player's goal is to match your elements to the opposing elements in the world to overcome a variety of puzzles.
My primary role in this project was to:
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Create player controller - player input
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Create player pawn - movement, imbuding elements
Other responsibilities include:
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Handling some UI elements - gathering and editing icons for elements, player moved counter
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Other gameplay elements - jump pad, end goal
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Contributing to the level design for levels 1-12
STEALTH MASTER
As part of my second year at university, I had a collaborative assignment. We had to produce 2 prototypes before presenting them to lecturers and having chosen to move on with.
Stealth Master is a single-player stealth game with powers and funky gadgets, set in an underground base. They are various ways of playing given the objectives and gadgets at the player's disposal; covering stealthy and lethal options for dealing with every encounter.
It was developed in 2 stages:
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Prototyping stage (1 day)
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Intense development stage (7 weeks)
Using Unreal Engine 4 as part of a collaborative assignment, consisting of 20 students. I was a junior technician, primarily in charge of certain gameplay aspects such as the enemy classes and the player's powers.
For instance, I created an enemy drone, designed to detect & alert guards. Furthermore, I created a power to possess enemies, allowing the player to take control and cause a distraction.
By developing Stealth Master, I was introduced to project management and version control such as Jira & Sourcetree. Also, the game was developed throughout the pandemic, which resulted in experience communicating and working on a project remotely.
BRAWLING BOTS
Combat robotics has been a part of my life for a very long time and considering I was in my final year at university and I had to produce an individual project over 24 weeks, I thought it was fitting to create an action game based on combat robotics with everything I had learnt over the years.
The game consists of:
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1 Game Mode - Rumble
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4 Robots
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AI
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Local Co-op - 4 players
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Gamepad Support
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Damage System
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Tiebreaker System
To win players must defeat opponents either by knockout or having the most points based on specific categories - damage, control and aggression.
Brawling Bots provided an excellent opportunity to expand upon my skillset. I learned and practised low-poly modelling, creating assets for the game.
