Ape Axe Legend is a game jam submission of mine from 2024, where the player and a magical axe are bonded together magnetically, creating a unique and engaging parkour experience. The project was very well received, so I put together a team of three to expand on the concept in Unity for a full game release. So far, this project has greatly improved my skills in quality assurance and playtesting, as well as my problem-solving, creativity and understanding of vector math. I have developed a completely physics-friendly movement system. No external forces are cancelled out by player input, meaning it will pair perfectly with the physics-based axe mechanics. It covers camera controls, standard movement, slope movement, slope transitions, jumping, slope jumping, moving platforms, and platform edges. All without interfering with any forces applied to the player. Currently, I am working on axe functionality, and once that is complete, we can begin on level design.

My mobile development class tasked us to form groups and create a mobile app of our choosing over the course of the semester. I took that opportunity to propose Rollio, a gyroscope-controlled mobile game inspired by the classic Labyrinth maze tilt puzzles. My group will be taking this idea and wrapping it in a clean UI to produce a fun and challenging mobile gaming experience. This class project was an opportunity to learn tools and practices for mobile development, and also a chance to test the understanding of project scope I have gained through my time in college. I developed fun and functional tilt mechanics using Unity's physics tools, an expandable tile map using Unity's tile system, and UI logic to allow for level progression and completion. Using all of those tools, I developed 5 levels, creating a fully functional mobile app. 

The UW-Madison x Respawn Entertainment game jam presented a one-week challenge under the theme "Symbiosis," inspiring me to draft and pitch the idea for Ape Axe Legend. As a team, we took my idea for a player being magnetically bonded with an axe and built on it to create a unique parkour experience. The game jam had many collaborative learning moments, as features and development were rapidly evolving over the duration of the week. I learned a great deal about the development process, including the importance of a clean level design pipeline and ensuring a solid difficulty curve that suits your intended audience. Our entry was a success, featuring the 3 levels, animation and sound logic, level progression, and movement mechanics that I developed using Godot's built-in tools. I am currently developing a full-fledged version of this game in Unity.

An indie startup by the name of Stellius is working on one of its first titles, called Re:Kindled. The game is a roguelike that utilises light as a central mechanic for stealth and strategy. I joined development as a technical designer, and with this being my first Godot project, I learned how to use the engine from scratch through two mini projects. My experience has taught me how to transition my development skills between game engines and work remotely on a team project. In its current state, I have generated ideas for and utilised the game development document, and developed a ray-cast-based light detection system to test and figure out the best light detection strategy. 

Many students struggled with the Vector math to create a first-person controller in the first iteration of the camp. To help with this, I recreated the curriculum to be a 2D platformer in a 3D environment, and taught about some additional Unity tools to fill in the blanks.  

Developed map designs for a potential lazer tag mini game on the Stellius server, and played a role in concept work.

A development club was looking for game pitches that loosely paralleled the process of finding work in the game industry. Excited for the opportunity, I pitched an idea for a boss rush that fit the theme, and the club decided to go with it. In the first semester, I documented a gameplay loop and the core mechanics, as well as designing and storyboarding a potential boss fight. When the second semester came around, I took on a club leadership position, stepping back from my previous design role to coordinate design discussion and collaboration between club members. Working with the club taught me how to collaborate in large groups and foster healthy discussion. It also provided me with some design documentation experience. 

Developed various systems such as ui, movement, camera, tutorial, character interaction, level progression, collision, inventory, puzzle logic. Played a part in the initial conceptualisation and facilitated playtesting.

Designed, playtested, and balanced features such as enemies, plants, placement positions, wave patterns, and economy.

Used my self-taught Unity skills to develop a high school summer camp on Unity development. We created a first-person controller as a class, with me walking them through the steps. I made sure to go through all of the basics they would need to explore Unity on their own after the camp was over.

Utilised knowledge from my pre-calc class to create a beam effect that follows Symmetra's weapon, and damage increases linearly as it hits the enemy. 

Made a first-person controller (including some animations) from scratch to teach myself Unity.