Personal Projects

Recognizer - Unity

Goals:

Create a small arcade FPS game inspired by the simplicity of Devil Daggers and the aesthetics of Tron.
Take inspiration from a developed product but modify it with new concepts/mechanics to make it feel special yet familar

Gameplay:

Classic first-person shooter action with a scoring system based on time survived against waves of Nav-Mesh based AI enemies.
The High Score can only be saved by escaping via a portal - die on the field and your efforts count for nothing
The Teleporter moves around the map, the player needs to keep a eye on the beam of light indicating the teleporter's location throughout
Killing more powerful enemies drop powerful weapons introducing additional risk/reward
The explosion effect when enemies are killed was a core 'feel' component of my own design, using Voronoi Shatter in 3DS Max

Achievements

First Game self-produced that successfully and seamlessly plays on keyboard or controller
Recognizer was showcased at ComiCon London 2017 and 2018

Goals:

Create a 'complete' playable game within the 48 hour time limit of the Game Jam that met the brief of 'Out of Control'
Provide a more hectic variant of my dads favourite game, Lemmings, with a focus on colour and silly fun from an easy to learn and impossible to master mechanic
Make something to do with Chickens

Gameplay:

You need to help a collection of chickens move from one coop to another, clicking on them to guide them through the many hazards of each level
A certain number of chickens need to reach the new coop for the player to be successful, the levels are designed to specifically provide spatial difficultly in managing all the chickens all the time

Learning:

With only 48 hours on the clock, this was a great experience that proved how important iterating on an idea is in the prototype stage before committing time to production
The importance of regular play testing, feedback reactions and maintaining focus on core elements/USP
Identified that I needed to practice implementing UI in Unity as I struggled with it under the time pressure
Sleep is an important component of game development

Achievements:

Delivered the game within the time limit and as a complete experience as a solo developer
Out of over 5400 entries, my game was ranked 723rd for 'Fun' and came 1047th Overall.
Received a number of favourable comments that identified that Lemming inspiration, which I consider a rewarding success! :)

Goals:

As a small team of 3, produce a meaningful and memorable experience without the use of violence/aggression as the core mechanic
Take inspiration from UsTwo's 'Monument Valley' to create a visually striking exploration experience where the geometry of the environment is the challenge/puzzle(s)

Gameplay:

Point and click movement (implemented using Unity's Navigation Mesh) players will guide Adyr through puzzling environments on his trial to reach manhood
Vertical-focused movement with the player always rising to reach the goal - collecting totems to prove his worth to his tribe
Secret messages also pepper the levels and reveal a sacred moral that players can uncover throughout multiple playthroughs

Learning:

The difficulties of working in isometric perspective vs. traditional perspectives but also how this alternate perspective can be leveraged in level design for specific effects and experiences
Visual identity and themes as a grounding method to envelop players in a certain mindset and as a method of delivering story
As primary programmer for this project, I specifically worked on technical prototypes for features - iterating and failing fast to find appropriate solutions
The important of comprehensive design documentation as a foundation for discussion, iteration and ideation

Goals:

To learn some basic tools and to familarise myself with Unreal Engine 4 via Udemy courses and YouTube Tutorials
Imprismed was to focus on presenting my learning in a short experience - using a single mechanic of pressure pad activated doors to create puzzles
Use C++ and Blueprint based implementations for basic mechanics

Gameplay:

First-Person perspective walking with click to 'pick up' weighted boxes which when placed on certain pads open doors
Verticality, jumping and colours are used to create geometry-based puzzles
Shaders and materials are used to provide simple visual interest and navigation hints

Learning: