email: tom @ mira.nu

HL2 Team Game Project

Current under development, Weekday Warrior is a Half-Life 2 project to create an inventory-driven adventure game reminescent of Maniac Mansion or Leisure Suit Larry.

These are some very early screenshots, and the game will be completed in June of 2006.

So far, my roles in this project have been:

Source Control Repository Manager
User Interface Designer and Quality Control Lead
Player Input State System Design/Implemetation
Minigame Implementation

click here to enlarge

Software Team Tech Demo Project

During the third term, the class of programmers was divided into two groups and tasked with designing a tech demo game built out of the Quake II engine source code.

The game was to be a Diablo-style point and click RPG game.

My tasks in the project:

Novodex Physics Integration
The Novodex Physics System was integrated into the Quake II engine to provide physics for several special objects in MetalQuest. Collision between the player, arbitrary convex and concave shapes and the level geometry are all possible in this integration. A small demonstration of all this working is the "Chain and Box" shown to the right. Monsters also explode into random convex shapes that roll around in the level, when killed.

User Interface
Quake doesn't come with a mouse-able interface by default, so one had to be created. In MetalQuest, an inventory and dialog system needed to be created to support gameplay. A sample is shown to the right. Interactive menus and draggable windows are functional in the game.

Check out the website

click here to enlarge

Team Game Project

During the second term, the whole class of Software Developers, Level Designers and Artists were divided into two groups and tasked with creating a Total Conversion Mod in the Unreal 2004 game engine.

My team's game was titled: "Blood Ritual"
This game involves the battle of two alien races who must pick up the heads from dead members of the opposing team and returning them to their team's "Totem." Very similar to the "Headhunter" mod for Quake I.

We used UnrealScript to create the custom game code.
My primary task was the weapon and projectile effects programming.
I also was the main liason between artists and programmers for importing assets into the game.

The most valuable lessons learned on this project were working as member of a team develping a game, and learning how a modern game engine works, from asset management to engine structure.

Check out the website and download the mod at: http://students.guildhall.smu.edu/bloodritual

Game Studies Project

For our game studies class, we were tasked with designing a single-player Unreal 2004 mod emphasizing the importance of storytelling. This mod included a single playable level and in-game cinematics that told the story of the characters.

I was the team lead of this project of six people. The timeframe for completion was three weeks.

Find some more information here