Kingdom Maker

A live-service game, Kingdom Maker places players as rulers of their kingdom with a giant array of things to do including combat, farming, “boinking,” and assassinations.

Soon after I started, a major UI overhaul was started to prepare the game for worldwide launch. This required quickly becoming familiar with a 7+ year old code base and adapting it to the new user experience. My skills with coding and Unity UI best practices were useful, but I also continued to learn every day from some truly skilled industry veterans. This was my first foray into a continually running multiplayer game, and it’s been exciting to be a part of it.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Perforce, Rider, JIRA, Swarm, Jenkins, Kibana

BUG MAN

Completed as part of the Dallas Society of Play’s Hexcode Showdown Jam in 2020, BUG MAN used only the colors in the provided palette (dubbed Funky Future 8). For this project, I focused on making something that had a unique look without straying from the provided colors, even avoiding gradients and hue shifts.

To get these results, the bulk of the time was spent creating an interesting visual effect based on dithering techniques on a per-object basis. Since this was a solo effort, the actual gameplay suffered in the end, but the goal was to present something that stood out visually, and that was achieved.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Git, UI/UX, Blender, Extensive HLSL, SourceTree

AT&T INTERACTIVE TRAINING

The service representatives at AT&T try to help customers resolve issues over the phone to prevent sending on-site technicians to the home. To help improve results, a series of software packages has been created to instruct students on available products, how to install those products, and how to resolve common technical issues.

Two of the training products were well underway when I arrived, and I helped optimize and add features to each. I was tasked with designing and initiating the third, and most extensive project, the troubleshooting house. Initial results and feedback from this project are promising, and work continues to help AT&T’s evolving product structure and needs.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Git, UI/UX, Adobe Photoshop, Blender, HLSL, SourceTree, Optimization, Installation Creation, Minor Website Design

ALPHA MAGUS

Created with an international development team for a game jam, Alpha Magus required a complex dialogue system and the implementation of various puzzle mechanics. An existing code base for many of the first-person-exploration needs was expanded and adjusted for the project’s specific needs.

I took on the bulk of the coding and Unity implementation for this project, which also included numerous animation controllers, visual effects, and scripted cutscenes.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, UI/UX, PaintShop Pro, HLSL, Git, SourceTree

CPR TRAINING KIOSK

Leveraging the new HDRP, this project updated the training software used on the American Heart Association’s training kiosks that will be used across the country. Motion-captured body and facial animations were used in addition to the realistic graphics to give this new software package an impressive level of polish.

The software received inputs from the training manikin, sent interaction-specific commands to LED strips, and transmitted usage data to a remote web service. I programmed the majority of this application, including a complex, adaptable architecture that allowed for the simple shifting of lessons and interactive segments as the software developed.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Git, HDRP, ShaderGraph, Adobe Photoshop, ASMX Web Service, External Hardware DLLs, SourceTree

MEDICAL DEVICE REVEAL

A spectacular trip through a hospital hallway and operating room to reveal a new medical device at a trade show. This VR experience was built for the low-powered Oculus Go and it really pushed the device to its limits. A fully scripted tour, this project required extensive use of particle effects and efficient shader crafting.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Oculus Go, HLSL, Adobe Photoshop, Git, SourceTree, Optimization

THE PURGE AR

Pitting the player against a night full of invaders, The Purge AR makes use of cutting edge augmented reality technology on both Android and iOS devices. After the initial release, iOS made AR multiplayer possible, and The Purge AR was one of the first games to use this feature.

Being tasked with adding iOS-specific multiplayer technology to a released game was a tall order, but I was able to tap into the new capabilities of ARKit and make a two-player experience that few others have tackled.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, AR Foundation, ARKit, ARCore, Networking, UI/UX , HLSL, Git, SourceTree

FORENSIC DETECTIVE

Debuting at Crime Con, this augmented reality experience places the player in the midst of a crime scene, letting them examine the evidence first hand, and hear suspect testimonies to determine the murderer. Forensic Detective was an app that Apple frequently highlighted as an exemplary way to try out AR.

Some of the big challenges here involved on-boarding users unaccustomed to AR, and creating an intuitive experience to sift through the crime scene.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, ARKit, UI/UX, Adobe Photoshop, Git, SourceTree

CHILI’S STADIUM

This tie-in to the World Cup gave Chili’s customers the chance to face off in over-the-top augmented reality soccer. Character customization was a big component of the experience, with a significant number of options to personalize your character for use in the game and selfies.

Outside of the character creation, I was focused on additional elements of the UI and adding a lot of final polish to the project.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Vuforia, Multiplayer Networking, UI/UX, Git, SourceTree, Optimization

BOWLOPOLIS BOWLERDASH

A mashup of bowling and kart racing, this iOS game was in need of a 64-bit update and a port to Android. It’s a fun way for kids and adults to learn how to score a game of bowling while doing some gravity-bending driving.

Optimization and physics know-how were key to getting this project polished up for re-release.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, NGUI, Profiling, Optimization, Git, SourceTree

GEORGE FAN

Ultimately, a silly game, but it acted as a training exercise for scoping during a tight timeline. Unity’s terrain editor was used to create a dreamy woodland environment to expand on a childhood story of Plants vs. Zombies designer, George Fan. This short first-person-exploration game ends with an unexpected twist, and garnered the best praise possible from George Fan himself: “This is beyond amazing!”

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Git, SourceTree, PaintShop Pro, Audacity, Terrain Editor

ELECTRONIC PULL-TABS SUITE

A set of numerous pull-tab games for use in regulated markets in various states. These games try to recreate the excitement of slot machines while still operating within various restrictions. Each game pulled results from a networked SQL database and interfaced with a point of sale system.

It was a definite challenge to make polished, engaging games that could run on low-powered Windows tablets, particularly when using an older version of Unity.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, SQL, Point of Sale DLL, TexturePacker

SUDDENLY, THE KING OF FRANCE!

Mixing up shooting and match-3 puzzles, Suddenly the King of France set players atop an animated cannon blasting oncoming revolutionaries with regal accouterments. The intensity of the game ratchets up over time, giving players a chance to shoot for a high score.

This was one of my first uses of my own 3D models, so I kept it simple and comical, and was able to achieve a nice consistent look that fit the game well.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Git, Blender, SourceTree, Audacity, PaintShop Pro

GATES OF AVALON

This role playing game is likely to appeal to those looking for a throwback adventure with action-oriented combat, light puzzles, and several mini-games. As in most big adventure games, the user interface—my primary area of contribution—is a critical aspect, allowing you to manage weapons, perform intricate crafting rituals, and to understand your character’s stats.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Plastic SCM

PING

An exploration of diagetic user interface, this challenging sonar combat game required the player to experiment with a set of strange systems to deduce the proper mode of destroying targets. All geometry was created specifically for this claustrophobic game in Blender. The sound design leveraged readily available sound effects and text-to-speech tools, making it something like no other.

It was satisfying to watch streamers struggle to grasp how the combat worked and have a real sense of accomplishment when they figured it all out.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Blender, Audacity, Git, SourceTree

OLDER GAMES & PROTOTYPES

There have been many previous games to those listed above, releasing on PC and all mobile platforms—even Windows Phone. Each of these games was a learning experience, and many had a lot of redeeming qualities. Additionally, I’m frequently toying with a new prototype to see if an idea has promise, or as a way of learning a new technique.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Git, SourceTree, Git Desktop, Pyxel Edit, Blender

OLDER COLLABORATIONS

Two notable collaborations through the years were for game jams. One, a Game Boy styled game where a young boy explores the outdoors on a search for bugs. The other, was a comical take on Luigi’s Mansion, where a key element involved Luigi singing along with a boom box.

These were both cute little games that required intricate knowledge of different systems in Unity. The GameBoy game relied on a 2D tileset tool I created for the editor. The Luigi game was a fun exercise in getting different audio sources to sync properly and adapt to different stimuli.

Tools & Skills Used:
Unity, Git, SourceTree, Pyxel Edit

GAMES-RELATED WRITING

For several years, I spent my after-hours as a senior editor at PixlBit.com, writing and editing news, reviews, and previews for games and gaming-related topics. During this time, I wrote numerous reviews, which expanded my knowledge-base of game mechanics and systems extensively.

Recently, I’ve started doing short write-ups to help fellow game developers with things I struggled with or found a good solution too. I’m just getting started on this endeavor, but you can read what I have so far on my Gamasutra blog.

STRUCTURAL AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Since it was such a big part of my life until I became a full-time developer, I have to include my days as an aerospace engineer. My specialty was structural crack growth analysis, and I led several teams on large-scale projects for the F-16.

My time in this field gave me the opportunity to become adaptable at learning new technologies, new theories, following strict guidelines, and working under pressure.

Tools & Skills Used:
Crack Growth Analysis Software, Numerical Methods, Physics, Material Science, ABAQUS, Excel, vi, Unix, VAX, Fortran, PaintShop Pro