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Aspirations

System Designer

I aspire to become a system designer for indie or triple-A games. Having spent much of my life playing complex games like Path of Exile and Civilization, I have developed an in-depth understanding of their intricate systems. I have studied the formulas behind these systems and am passionate about creating and implementing innovative game mechanics.

Building for Balance

Becoming a system developer involves the crucial task of balancing game mechanics. One of my favorite aspects of design and development is ensuring that systems are both intricate and well-balanced. I strive to create multiple engaging pathways for players, keeping the gameplay complex and interesting.

Creative Developer

From summer art classes and perspective drawing to 3D animation with tools like Maya and ZBrush, my journey has always been fueled by creativity. As I delved into programming, I mastered the fundamentals and now aim to combine my artistic background with technical skills to build unique and engaging game mechanics.

Gameplay Architect

While I specialize in system design and development, my ultimate goal is to create systems that enhance gameplay. Balancing these systems is crucial, but ensuring they contribute to enjoyable gameplay is paramount. I aspire to develop engaging mechanics that allow my systems to shine, making the overall experience both complex and fun.

About Me

My passion for video games began at a young age with titles like Diablo II and Starcraft, igniting a lifelong interest in game development. I started my journey with Roblox and LUA scripting, and expanded my skills through summer camps where I learned various game editors and coding practices. In high school, I ventured into 3D modeling and animation, but ultimately found my true calling in programming and game design.

overing new hiking trails. I have always had an adventurous spirit, whether it's developing a new project or finding an awe-inspiring trail to explore.

As I continue to develop my skills, my goal is to become a proficient systems designer and developer. I am passionate about creating intricate game systems and efficient solutions, and I am dedicated to breaking into the game development industry. Whether by joining a renowned company like Grinding Gear Games or starting my own game company, I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

Languages

Good

Python

HTML 5

CSS

Decent

C++

OpenCV

Java

Bad

PHP

SQL

Skills

Multiple Programming Languages

My experience spans several programming languages, including Python and Java. During an internship, I shifted to web development and also contributed to a game developed in C#. With a solid foundation in C++, I am now ready to focus on creating impactful projects in Unreal Engine, including the current one I am working on.

System Designing and Developing

Creative Artist and Developer

I have been doing art since I was little able to draw all sorts of things that my mind envisions. I find that this creativity extends to programming as well, letting me create interesting and unique systems. I also had a few years of 3D-animation and game art in high school, so I know a lot of the programs used in the industry.

Version Control Experience

Throughout my schooling during my undergrad I learned to use github for many projects. While this built the fundamentals of using github, I became profecience in github when working for Web Ascender. Now I know different methodologies for version control and different sprint and cycles for producing content.

Projects

Project DeathDealer

High Concept: Project DeathDealer is a Vampire Survivor game (wave horde survival game) featuring static and unique rifts (difficult areas) and boss fights. Unlike most horde games where bosses spawn at random intervals, DeathDealer includes difficult bosses to aspire and kill faster each run.

Leveling: In Project DeathDealer, players switch between selecting spells and passives when they level up. Players can have unlimited spells to choose from when leveling up but are incentivized to select the same spell multiple times to increase its base damage. Levels 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 are for picking spells, while every other level grants a passive bonus to the character.

Gameplay: You start the game in the middle of a giant map. Your character begins with a basic attack that you can use with your mouse click to gain initial experience. Spells you acquire are fired automatically at a set interval (reduced by cooldown) and have interesting interactions. You must defend against waves of multiple types of enemies.

Future Prospects: I plan to implement more items in the data tables and introduce custom drop rates for certain enemy types. Additionally, I aim to add boss portals to provide pinnacle content for players to aspire to.

Solo Project: This project was undertaken to get my feet wet with Unreal Engine. Everything, except for VFX and some sprites, has been done solely by me. However, I hope to involve other talented individuals in the future.

GitHub→ Youtube→

Project Rampent Reload

High Concept: In Rampant Reload, your goal is to make it through levels as fast as you can. This doesn't mean moving as fast as you can but shooting and hitting. The idea is you have a small clip size and the faster you use them the more points you get making speed a very important factor. There are enemies as well as targets to gather points and cause hinderances.

Zones: Zones consist of cover points, enemies, targets and player buffs. Traversal through a zone is like old arcade shooters where the screen moves for you to the next cover point. Once you cleared that position you may move to next. The goal is to get to end door without dying and getting as many points as you can along the way.

Gameplay: You are equipped with two different guns by default. A revolver and a dual shotgun. If you reload fast inbetween unloading a clip whilst hitting a lot of targets, you will get special ammo types once your reload is done. Some of these ammo freeze enemies, others ricochet multiple times before ending.

Future Prospects: I plan to keep working with 8D Productions until the game is released (expected end of 2024), or until other obligations cause me to stop. I strive to get parts of the code base up to new standards by that time.

Group Project: This project was undertaken by 8D Productions a small group of graduates from many different schools. We have currently six people working on the game currently. Nate (project lead) and I are the programmers while the rest work on the visual/audio aspect.

Github Privated

Youtube→

Project Rampent Reload: DocuGen

DocuGen is a tool we built within project Rampant Reload. It allows us to rapidly create templates for XML documents, script files to reference those XML documents and also create tooltips based on the XML content for the Unity editor to utilize.

DocuGen is not on its own repository yet. Once Rampant Reload releases and all the bugs and kinks are out of the program, it will be released to open source. This was made by both me and my project mate, Nate.

Github Privated

Youtube→

Rapidly-exploring Random Tree

Here is my implementation of an RRT, or a Rapidly-exploring Random Tree. This was a project undertaken during my undergrad in which I had to create an RRT from scratch (using journals talking about RRT for reference) and then visualize the process on screen. I used pygame to generate the visuals.

GitHub→

Youtube video not available.

Genetic Algorithm

This was my favorite project during my undergrad. This genetic algorithm implementation is used to solve the N-queens problem, which is placing N queens on a N by N board without any queens able to attack each other. Genetic algorithm uses randomization and mutations to find the solution fast via computation.

GitHub→

Youtube video not available.

A* Algorithm

This was my first AI project that used hard coded nodes that referenced each other. These nodes only referenced other nodes that it could "see", which means that there is no drawn lines blocking its visibility. In retrospect, I wish I implemented a method that used collision detection. Still a reasonably fun project.

GitHub→

Youtube video not available.

Web Ascender: AC&E

This was my 2nd Web Ascender project that I worked on. I really loved this site and how it turned out even if I didnt have 100% creative freedom because I was provided a base template from photoshop. It was a great privilege to work with the guys on backend and learn how to link up to the API they worked on.

Website→

Youtube video not available.

Web Ascender: Dewitt Fence

This was my first solo project. Almost all the work was done by me with a ton of help from the Web Ascender team. On this project the whole creative process was undertaken by me. I used Wordpress specifically on this project which was a nice change from actually writing all base HTML myself and it exposed me to the quick workflow it provides.

Website→

Youtube video not available.