Digital Audio Wasteland - Spring 2024
Digital Audio Wasteland (or DAW for short) is my team’s final project for the Game Development Major at the University of Utah, which can be downloaded from steam at this link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2916780/Digital_Audio_Wasteland/ . This was a massive undertaking for me and my team, but I am incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished! I served as the game’s VFX Lead, as well as one of our head Level and Mechanics Designers.
Project Roles
Head Level/System Designer
Responsibilities/Work
Head of development for one of our two main levels: the Abandoned Mall
Lead small team in creation of the level in question
Designed the space, NPCs, and puzzles for the level, and personally saw their completion carried out
Created several One Pager Design Documents for both mechanical design and level layout
Heavily involved in meetings and decision making for core game mechanics and features
VFX Artist and Group Lead
Responsibilities/Work
Production head of the three VFX artists on project, leading the others while also making effects myself
Developed both Cel Shader and Outliner in Unreal Engine 5
Effects designed to lead player through the world and solve puzzles
Work with the rest of the team to decide what has the highest priority
Ensured effects were properly placed and utilized, including hooking them up in Unreal Blueprints
Fractured - Student Project (2023)
I had the fortune to serve as the head engineer on Fractured, a top-down, narrative and dialogue-driven game for my Alternative Game Development class. It was made over the course of a school semester at the University of Utah as a part of their EAE Program. Our group was comprised of less than a dozen people; I was the only dedicated programmer on the team. We built this game from the ground up using the Unity engine, with all design, programming and art assets done by student team members.
As Head Engineer, I built all the major systems featured in the game. I scripted all character movement and interaction, including the dialogue system which was built entirely from scratch. I also implemented a time-of-day system, a journal to house information gained through dialogue, and a system designed to allow the player to ask NPCs questions for further information. In addition, I created an API for scripting cutscene events, and worked closely with the Art Team and Director to ensure that assets were placed appropriately within the game.
I also worked with the Director as a second Scrum Master, to keep team members on task and motivated. This entailed prioritizing specific tasks to be included in the upcoming sprints.
Gravisite - Student Project (2022)
Gravisite is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer made in Unity for the Traditional Game Development class at the University of Utah over the course of a semester. Our small team of seven students did everything from conception to completion.
As one of three engineers, I was in charge of basic character movement, as well as the design and implementation of player abilities and mechanics. In addition, I scripted the various level gimmicks, and even designed several portions of each level. The game was a highly collaborative process, with no part of it being done by only one person. Our team communicated and developed the project together, altering ideas and scope to fit our time frame while allowing time for polish and bug fixing.
We operated in a system similar to Scrum, with meetings and sprints to finish certain game aspects on schedule. While my principal job was as programmer and engineer, I also took an active role in project organization and keeping others on task; allowing us to finish ahead of deadline.