Space Invaders: The Bizarro Dimension

Role: Independent

Platform: PC (Website)

Software: HTML, CSS, JavaScript (with PixiJS API)

This game is similar to the classic Space Invaders, but there are a lot of twists thrown into this game that makes it unique in its own way. This game was made using JavaScript and the external libraries PixiJS, Howler, and Google WebFonts. I designed and developed this game by myself. I learned a lot of things about Javascript as I was making this game, and now I know how I can use it to make games. I think one of the biggest challenges with this project was getting everything to work properly. Making a big game like this leaves room for a lot of bugs, and I had to playtest a lot in order to get rid of as many of them as possible. In the end, I am very proud of this silly little game that I made and I had a lot of fun making it. Click this link to play it.

Space Invaders: The Bizarro Dimension is a top-down shooter resembling the original Space Invaders, created individually. Similarly to the original Space Invaders, you shoot aliens, but there are a number of twists that make this game extremely different from the original.

This game was created using JavaScript with the PixiJS API. Some HTML and CSS was also used for the page the game is on.

The art is entirely composed of 2D sprites.

Click this link to play it.

Space Invaders: The Bizarro Dimension is a top-down shooter resembling the original Space Invaders, created individually. Similarly to the original Space Invaders, you shoot aliens, but there are a number of twists that make this game extremely different from the original.

This game was created using JavaScript with the PixiJS API, which allows for user input and sprite graphics. It can be played in a web browser, and some HTML and CSS was also used for the page the game is on.

Click this link to play it.

Talisman of Ethshar

Role: Effects Designer

Platform: PC, Mobile

Software: Unity

This is a puzzle game set around the world of Ethshar from the open-ended series of fantasy stories by Lawrence Watt-Evans. This game is about connecting dots in specific patterns to create talismans, and was made in Unity. As I was in a team of 5, my primary role in this project was creating the overall look of the game, including the special effects that appear when the player wins. I mainly learned how to import assets into a Unity project and use them effectively. Click this link to play it.

Talisman of Ethshar is a puzzle game created by a group of 5. It's themed around the world of Ethshar from the open-ended series of fantasy stories by Lawrence Watt-Evans. To solve the puzzles, you draw lines to connect dots in particular patterns in a single stroke to create talismans.

While my team and I were working on this game, we got to a point where the game worked fine but it didn't look appealing. We were supposed to be constructing magical talismans, but instead, it just looked like we were connecting dots.

To solve this issue, I did two things to add the magical appeal to the game. The first thing that I did was add particle effects to show that the talismans emitted magic when drawn correctly. The second thing that I did was change the color of the lines that were drawn once the talisman was correctly drawn to show that the ink used to draw the lines has magical properties too, and they were activated once the talisman was drawn correctly.

These additions helped to establish that the player was creating something magical, which was the intended theme of this game.

Click this link to play it.

Vitamin Deficiency

Role: AI Programmer, Enemy Designer

Platform: PC

Software: Unity

This is a rougelike where you play as a farmer and you fight against vegetable monsters. This game was made using C# in Unity. I teamed up with 3 other people for this project, and I designed and animated all of the enemies and bosses. I also programmed different AI and attack patterns for each enemy. As such, I learned how to use the Unity animator in depth and how to use abstract and virtual methods to create different enemies. Click this link to download and play it.

Vitamin Deficiency is a top-down rougelike created by a group of 4. In this game, you play as a farmer, shooting mutated vegetables that are causing havoc.

Vitamin Deficiency was created in Unity using C# as the scripting language.

The art is entirely composed of 2D sprites.

Click this link to download and play it.

Vitamin Deficiency is a top-down rougelike created by a group of 4. In this game, you play as a farmer, shooting mutated vegetables that are causing havoc.

Inheritance was used to create the enemies. There is a base class that all enemy classes are children of, which contains shared information such as max health, move speed, different AI states, and different functions to perform for each state. Specific methods are overridden to make each type of enemy attack and move differently.

The bosses are a unique case in that they have different phases depending on how much health they have. As such, they have their own state machines determining which phase they are currently in, and that dictates their AI patterns and attacks.

All animations for each enemy is handled by Unity's built-in animation system. The animations themselves are hand-drawn by me and are imported into the project as sprite sheets. This gives me control over each animation with how quickly they animate and it allows me to use animation events to manipulate their AI so they smoothly change from one state to another.

Click this link to download and play it.

Flying Eyeing

Role: Independent

Platform: PC

Software: Unity

This project was made for a class where students had to make a game every week. The theme for one week was B-Movie Monsters, where we had to make a game in the style of old B-Movie horror films. I decided to take the assets from one of my other games, The Flow of Time, and restructure it so you play as the monster and now you chase after humans. I polished the game to give it the aesthetic of an old B-Movie, from the intentionally bad title to the grayscale shading over the whole game. I did not face any major challenges with developing this game. Download and play it here.

Flying Eyeing is a quick arcade-like game created individually. You play as a flying eyeball designed like a B-Movie monster and you attack humans. Some of them will fire at you with guns to stop you too.

Flying Eyeing was created in Unity using C# as the scripting language.

The art is entirely consisted of 2D sprites and a shader was used for the grayscale screen to make it look like a B-Movie.

Download and play it here.

The Flow of Time

Role: Independent

Platform: PC

Software: Unity

This project was also made for the same class where students had to make a game every week. However, there was one week where students were allowed to polish a previous game. For me, that project was The Flow of Time. It's a quick top-down shooter, and it has a unique mechanic that allows time manipulation. The player can speed up and slow down time as they please, and everything is affected except for certain objects. Figuring out how to create the time manipulation mechanic was a bit difficult, but once I figured it out, everything started falling into place and the rest of the project went smoothly. Click this link to download and play it.

The Flow of Time is a quick top-down shooter created individually. You play as a person with time manipulation powers and you have to defeat a giant eyeball boss in 10 seconds or else you lose.

The Flow of Time was created in Unity using C# as the scripting language.

The art is entirely consisted of 2D sprites.

Click this link to download and play it.

The Flow of Time is a quick top-down shooter.

The game includes a main menu and a credits page. Players can also exit the game anytime.

The game containns a tutorial level that teaches the player the controls and the intricacies of the time manipulation mechanic. The main game is a simple boss battle that has to be won within ten seconds.

After completing the game, players are presented with a congratulations screen. If they lose, they are sent to a lose screen and are given the option to retry the boss fight.

Click this link to download and play it.

Blind Jumping

Role: Main Programmer, Level Designer

Platform: PC

Software: Unity, Trello

This is a 3D platformer, where you can't see anything except for what's immediately in front of you and you have to navigate through the platformer using sound. I worked in a team of three for this project over the course of the semester, and I was the lone programmer for it the entire way through. On top of having to navigate through the map blind, we also decided to add a dash of horror to add flavor to the dark atmosphere. As such, I included sections where the player would land on a field and they would be chased by a monster. There were many challenges that I had to overcome to make this project work, such as making spacial sound work, fine-tuning the character controller, and making the enemies scary enough to enforce the horror without making them too difficult to avoid. Download and play it here.

Blind Jumping is a 3D platformer created in a group of 3. You navigate through a platform level by using sound, since your vision is nearly nonexistent. Horror elements are added to add spice to the dark atmosphere, such as scary sounds and enemies that chase you.

Blind Jumping was created in Unity using C# as the scripting language.

The art only consists of basic 3D shapes and models, since you can't really see them anyways.

Download and play it here.

Blind Jumping is a 3D platformer where you navigate through a platform level by using sound, since your vision is obscured, and it is hard to see what is ahead.

Blind Jumping was created in Unity using C# as the scripting language.

The game utilizes a variety of different sounds, as well as Unity's 3D sound settings and features, to direct or misdirect players through the level. The different sounds help players identify things and the 3D sound features help players locate things without seeing them.

Download and play it here.

UFO Attack

Role: Independent

Platform: PC

Software: Unreal

UFO Attack is a flying shooter that takes place in space.

The game includes a main menu and a controls page that informs the player of the control scheme. Players can also exit the game through the main menu.

The game contains a scene where the player is informed of the enemy they face and what they must do to take it down. The main game has the player fly a blue ship, shooting the purple turrets that guard the big golden ship as well as red enemy ships.

After completing the game, players are presented with a flashy scene of the golden ship exploding and then are presented the win screen. The win screen changes depending on how much health the player has when they win. If they lose, they are sent to a lose screen and are given the option to retry the game.

Click this link to download and play it.

Wizzrobe Wonders

Role: Independent

Platform: PC

Software: ZQuest

Wizzrobe Wonders is a small adventure made in a Legend of Zelda quest editor called ZQuest.

Since The Legend of Zelda was particularly famous for its puzzles, I wanted to focus on that for this project. This was my first project with this game engine and I had 5 weeks to make it, so I wanted to start small with a side quest and a dungeon.

Before I started developing this quest, I drew a paper map that showed the overall layout of the dungeon, showed the intended locations of every item, door and enemy, and showed the critical path that the player should follow to beat it. I received a lot of feedback on this design and the layout in the final project is a little different from the paper map to better fit the gameplay.

The quest contains a narrative that serves as the backstory and the primary motivator for the quest. The dungeon itself also has lore that is established through text and enemy design. Several items can be found in this quest to help the player beat the dungeon and complete the quest.

Discovery

Role: Independent

Platform: PC

Software: ZQuest

Discovery is a complete adventure made in a Legend of Zelda quest editor called ZQuest.

I had high ambitions for this project, as I wanted to expand out from creating a single dungeon and create a full Zelda adventure on the same scale as the original Legend of Zelda. This was only my second project on the ZQuest engine too, so I still had a lot to learn about the engine as I worked on this.

Before I started developing this quest, I drew a paper map that showed the overall layout of the world, showed the intended locations of multiple different entities, paths, and dungeons, and showed the critical path that the player should follow to beat it. I received a lot of feedback on this design and the layout in the final project is a little different from the paper map to better fit the gameplay.

The quest contains a narrative that serves as the backstory and the primary motivator for the quest. The dialogue from NPCs also give the player hints about where to go or what items they need. Progression in this quest is tied to the items, as many areas can only be accessed with specific items. Several items that can be found in the quest are also optional and they merely serve to help the player beat the game more easily. Most of these optional items can be found in areas that the player doesn't have access to when they pass by them for the first time. This rewards exploration and paying attention to the environment.