ABOUT ME
I specialize in technical and systems design and have worked in both Unreal and Unity. I’m also familiar with popular DCC tools like Blender and photoshop to make and discuss changes to assets, hold a diploma in computer programming, and have a background in tech sales making me highly cross-functional. I pick up new tools and workflows quickly, and can look at the big picture as well as the little details.
CURRENT TOOLS
Unreal Engine 5
Blender
Photoshop
Perforce
Trello
G Suite
SHAREABLES
DOCUMENTATION
As a huge fan of Halo, I was pretty disappointed with Infinite’s progression systems. I tried to put myself in their shoes and design progression and commendation systems that rewarded playing the game however you wanted, highlights not just your skill but your experience with the game, and as a bonus promotes the purchase of campaign and/or game pass.
PROPOSALS
Here’s a proposal for a multiplayer FPS game I’ve been wanting to make. I have 2 goals with this project.
Make a game that can compete in engagement with similar F2P FPS games
Design it in a way that a VERY small team can feasibly achieve step 1
Notable design choices include material-centric customization, balanced long-life progression systems, and budget-friendly architecture like taking advantage of Epic Online Services and a peer-to-peer networking model.
PERSONAL PROJECTS
SHANUBIS
I challenged myself to build a survival-horror game using only assets from Epic’s free-for-the-month packs. I rigged the statue character, designed and built stealth mechanics, scaling difficulty progression, UI, and enemy ai, then designed a level that was easy to get turned around in but had memorable landmarks.
Features
Risk & Reward Difficulty Scaling
As you make it further in the game, it becomes more difficult as more “titans“ start hunting you
Breaking containers gives you the items you need to survive and escape but also alerts the titans to your location
Finding lucky charms increases your chance of finding survival items making the game easier
If you want to make it harder on yourself, avoid the charms, they’re not required to beat the game and you get an achievement for doing so
Stealth
Listen for the titans’ footsteps and “hunt music“, if you can hear it, hide
Watch for glowing yellow eyes, if you can see them, you may be in their perception cone
Throw rocks to create distractions and break containers from afar
Memorable Confusion
When designing the map for Shanubis, I needed the monster to be able to surprise the player from anywhere but also provide the player fair chances of escaping. This becomes super important later in the game when there are multiple roaming monsters.
I also wanted new players to feel like they were getting turned around in a maze, but provided enough distinguishable landmarks so that after a few runs, players would be able to get their bearings more easily.
Originally I had the monster start chasing immediately but due to player feedback, I changed it so that the player can explore and get the low down of the map first which adds tension due to the unknown for new players. I then have their exploration trigger the monster at an intersection where even experienced players don’t know where he could come from.
HALO FAN PROJECT
This was a concept and technical test I built in Unreal Engine. The video shows a WIP version of my UI and player customization system that uses a single material with a UV atlas for all the pieces and merges the models at runtime which allows character models to remain performant in games with high player counts.
Performant Customization
For the Halo project above, I used Blender to place the second UV of every armor piece into one of 16 slots (Helmet, Visor, Arms, Chest, Knees, etc). I then made separate materials in Unreal Engine for each slot so they had proper metallic, roughness values, etc, and made one master material that layered all of them.
At runtime when it merges the meshes into one, I can reference which pieces the player has selected as well as what colors they’re wearing and I can send the relevant textures and color codes to a dynamic material instance of that master material. The master material will know what material properties to use for each part of the mesh based on the secondary UV channels of each mesh.
Fallout 4 Slow-Motion VATS Replacement
A slow-motion replacement mod for VATS. Press the VATS button to enter slow-mo instead while keeping the VATS style. Drains action points while using.
This is the base of a larger mod or could be used alongside another mod that overhauls the action point system so it’s not as freely available.
CHARACTER CAMERA CONTROL
Interactive Doors, Drawers, & Objects
A single unity script with some anchors that can be applied to a game object and after setting some parameters, turned into a door, a drawer, or an interactable object.
1st/3rd Person Character Controller
A modular camera and character controller written in C# for Unity, modeled after Skyrim’s controller system. It features switching between 1st and 3rd person, distance, free cam and recenter upon movement, and self adjustment to avoid clipping and objects getting in the way.
Same Mechanic Different Implementation
The 2 videos above show the same combat mechanics from a 2D style and 3D style perspectives. They both have their own challenges in terms of implementing art style and coding the combat mechanics and encounters. For example in the 2D version while shooting straight, the ship is inherently capable of shooting targets at the edge of the screen, whereas in the 3D version in order to do that the ship would need to be able to turn due to the perspective camera having a growing frustum further from the camera. I alleviated this by increasing the fov and having the enemies primarily centered on screen.
One Hand Friendly Mobile Combat Experience
Both versions feature a lerping input mechanic where you can see the white dot on the screen is where I touch the screen in relation to where the ship goes. Having it offset the further you touch from the side of the screen allows you to play one handed very comfortably.
GAME JAMS
Enigma Game Jam
Theme: Supernatural
I made this 3D Vampire Survivors clone over 2 weeks using free assets in Unreal Engine 5. I designed and built the abilities, progression, and meta-progression systems that allow you to upgrade your abilities across multiple playthroughs.
You play as a Lich that is depicted as the boss battle of a raid. Defend yourself against the oncoming waves. There’s enough bosses for 20 minutes of gameplay and endless waves after that.
Features
Boss wave every 2 minutes, defeating some bosses upgrades your fireball projectile
Collect souls to level up and pick from 3 randomly selected upgrades based on the abilities you currently have
Any souls you collect in-game get added to your total souls and can be used to buy upgrades that make future runs easier
BRACKEYS 2022.1
Theme: It Is Not Real
My friend and I worked on the idea together, he did most of the art and I programmed all the interactions, UI, and transitions.
You start by controlling a guy playing a vr escape room game. When you finish that he takes off the headset and you control him from a pov of someone playing a sim game on the computer. When he interacts with the door in the game, it opens the door behind you. All the rooms depicted are the same but from different perspectives, encouraging the player to question their own reality.
Outcomes
We spent a lot of time figuring out the logistics of how to transition from scene to scene in a way that made sense from the context of a 2D point and click game. It ended up being shorter than we hoped because we ran out of time to do anything with the second scene.
I learned a ton about working with UI elements, 2D and 3D widgets, and cursor collision in Unreal Engine.
GMTK 2021
Theme: Joined Together
You and your ai companion (whose voice was actually generated by an ai) are sent to clear up interference so you can send a distress signal.
The boss has generated an environment that alters health and power. When his health goes down, his damage goes up, but so does yours. You both start out dealing little damage but it quickly builds as you hit each other for more and more each time.
Outcomes
I spent too much time looking for environment art that had the look I was going for and still ended up unhappy with what I found.
The damage/health system wasn’t very engaging, it allowed you to take some hits, run away. then just one shot the boss. If I were to do it again, I would start by flipping the effect so as you got weaker you did less damage, then boost the boss's health and accuracy so you couldn’t avoid him as easily.
BRACKEYS 2021.1
Theme: Stronger Together
Two Robots, Hydro and Gen X, are the last experiments that were left in an abandoned and crumbling laboratory. Hydro loves water obviously and Gen X can fly, switch between the two so they can help each other to escape.
Outcomes
I realized I totally forgot lighting and doing it again, I would have given some life to those materials.
Also should have added some simple tutorial popups.
GMTK 2020
Theme: Out of Control
You’re the captain of a burning ship and the automatic sprinkler system has stopped working. Take manual control and put out fires as they pop up on keys representing the rooms of your ship.
Try to buy time so as many of your crew can evacuate as possible. If it gets too hot and you prefer to save your ship, you can open the airlock but all remaining crew will die.
Outcomes
This was entirely made out of UI elements so I learned a lot about working with Unity’s UI, draw calls, scaling.
The Text is kind of hard to read and doesn’t show up fast enough to tell the player what to do before the fire starts spreading.
CONTACT ME.
If you like what you see and want to chat with me about how I can help your team or want to know more about anything here, my email below is the best way to contact me anytime.