STEPHEN PHIPPS
Gameplay Programmer
CV Highlights
- Recently completed a masters in Game Design from Heriot-Watt University
- Two years previous experience as a software developer in an Agile environment
- One year in Software Development
- One year in Web Development
FULL CV
stephenphippsCS@gmail.com
05 MINI 2D PLATFORMERSDOC 234—34/2
Below are a series of micro-projects made using Unity. Each project was given a working time of 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. The overall goal of the assignment was to explore different key aspects of game design and development in short but specific timeframes.
In an effort to establish a solid base line I made all of the projects connect together through a basic 2D platformer.
DEUS: 088/26812—81
REX-13: 978-0882681/283Area of Focus
- Utilizing environments and lighting
Reflection
The forest background has parallax movement, and the light rays gently sway to evoke the feeling of light cutting through the tree canopy as the wind and nature cause the branches to move. This project made me interested in incorporating more environmental storytelling in projects going foward.
DEUS: 088/26812—81
REX-13: 978-0882681/283Area of Focus
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Establishing the groundwork of a Finite State Machine(FSM)
Reflection
The original inception for this project was an attempt at recreating the boss fight against Hornet in Hollow Knight.
I settled for a fairly basic system where the enemy attempts to approach the player and swing a sword at them but if the player spends too much time running away or is at a set distance far enough the enemy will randomly choose to shoot a bow twice in the players direction before continuing to chase the player.
While not always working as intended, I am happy that I was able to implement the player having a ‘hit state’ and getting knockdown on a sucessful attack from the enemy AI.
This was my first attempt at creating a FSM. I made use of the Unity Animation Player for this but I’m confident I could recreate the system in Godot or Unreal with a bit of time. I definitely want to become more experienced with this architecture/pattern and want to explore more ways to use it in the future.
DEUS: 088/26812—81
REX-13: 978-0882681/283Area of Focus
- Exploring elements of level design in a 2D space
Reflection
I’ll admit this project was a rushed one. I didn’t give myself as much time with the level design as I did the other two and it shows in the final work. It’s basic and lacks a lot of design that I wish I had the time to implement. On a more positive note though it efficently reuses a lot of the assets/code from the other two projects, such as a simplified enemy character that when the player is close enough he attempts to chase and attack the player.
If nothing else i’m satisified with what was accomplished in the short time frame I had. I’d love to go back and recreate this project with my improved skills and resources