Role: UI Engineer

Tasks: UI Implementation and UI Systems

Along with the rest of the team at Bit Fry Studios, Inc., I was thrilled to develop the next generation of sports games. Ultimate Rivals: The Rink and Ultimate Rivals: The Court shook up the idea of what being a "sports video game" really means. Heavily inspired by arcade games, these titles are as much fighting games as sports games.

1. Mix together a pinch of strategy, a dash of adrenaline, and a five gallon bucket of officially licensed sports stars.

2. Heat to a boil.

3. Enjoy responsibly.

Role: Game Developer

Tasks: FMOD Studio Integration, Remote ImGUI Integration, Tooling, Gameplay, UI

Minecraft Earth is a mobile game using Augmented Reality (AR) to bring the Minecraft franchise to your kitchen, porch, or even on a road trip. While on the Minecraft Earth project, I programmed new content, polished content, had tons of fun with an awesome team, and learned a lot in the process.

• I overhauled audio systems in Mojang Studios' proprietary Bedrock engine to integrate FMOD Studio for our sound designers.

• I authored pipeline improvements such as tools, scripts, documentation, and tutorials for our content teams (sound designers and both 3D and UI artists) to decrease workflow friction and increase iteration speed.

• I adapted to working from home as COVID 19 prompted Microsoft to move to a fully remote office environment.

• I coached members of our content teams through learning Git source control and several of our in-house development tools.

• I collaborated with another programmer to introduce a proxy web app to our backend remote ImGUI integration.

• I also added and fixed many gameplay features and UI screens.

Role: Tech Lead

Tasks: Effects, Tooling, Gameplay, UI

In my senior year studying Computer Science and Game Design at DigiPen Institute of Technology, I worked as a tools programmer and technical artist with several artists and a sound designer making Rakshama, an interactive cinematic experience in Unreal Engine 4. The project started as a combat game in the prototype stages and morphed to a two act interactive art showcase. The first act is a 2D intro animation sequence. The second is a 3D cinematic with gameplay controls before and after. After the cinematic completes, the player can walk around the set and examine the art assets, models, and VFX effects of the set.

On the right, you can see our final result (top) and an early milestone (bottom) when the project was still planned as a combat game. You can check out more project details on the DigiPen Animation Gallery.

I ended up as the only programmer on the project when we transitioned from a game to a cinematic experience. My contributions included particle effects, shaders, player controls, and an animation key smoothing automation tool. In fact, the tool I envisioned and implemented is very similar to the one that got implemented in a subsequent update to Unreal's animation system.

Role: Gameplay Programmer

Tasks: Effects, Tooling, Gameplay

During my junior year at DigiPen, I joined a team of senior students, Nogard Games, as a gameplay programmer. Our project was Garden Guardians, a four-player, couch co-op, veggie-vs-meat, brawler game made in Unreal Engine 4. Among other responsibilities, I spearheaded the combat system programming and weapon VFX.

• I architected and authored the combat systems, including:

  • Melee and projectile attacks

  • Buffs and debuffs

  • Knockbacks

  • Cooldowns

  • Weapon pickups and switching

• I designed a variety of materials and particle effects including:

  • Weapon pickup glow

  • Various attack and block VFX

• I created a spline tool to place repeating shapes on 3D curved surfaces.

Role: Lead Designer and Gameplay Programmer

Tasks: Prototyping, Engine, Gameplay, UI, Playtesting

I used my sophomore year at DigiPen to create Lineage in a custom C++ game engine with the rest of the Grim Games team. Since we made the engine and game from scratch, I started by prototyping and building out the core engine tech the game would need. From there, I designed and programmed gameplay, organized playtests, and coded menu input and logic.

• Implemented physics simulation and collision

• Programmed serialization and a visual level editor

• Coded simultaneous multi-level layered rendering and simulation

• Wrote gameplay components and an action system

• Prototyped in a proprietary DigiPen game engine (Zero Engine)

  • World aesthetics

  • Player controls

  • Combat mechanics