mind•haven | portfolio

Entertainment Technology Centre (Australia), Carnegie Mellon

Game Sketching is a research project to develop tools and techniques to quickly and cheaply "sketch" the essential experience of a game design. A sketch is to a game what an animatic is to a movie. The goal of the project is to take a game script (character, set and interaction descriptions) and build a sketch of the interactive experience in two weeks or less, through the use of puppeteering and other time-saving methods.

Panda 3D

Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon

Panda is a 3D game engine jointly developed by Disney and Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). I designed and developed a new Level Editor for Panda by extending Alias Maya. Panda powers Disney's Toontown, Schell Games, SilverTree Media, and the ETC's Building Virtual Worlds course.

Building Virtual Worlds

Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon

Building Virtual Worlds (BVW) is a project course where interdisciplinary teams build immersive and interactive virtual worlds using unconventional user interfaces. I served as Producer, Designer, Artist (and sometimes Programmer) on the worlds. My project Tale of the Lunar Moth was selected for the 2005 BWV Show.

Tale of the Lunar Moth

platform: PlayMotion

Tale of the Lunar Moth is a children's fable about a moth's journey to see the moon. The story is told through a modern incarnation of Asian-Pacific shadow puppets.

Jane Doe

platform: PlayMotion

Jane Doe is a murder-mystery told through the memories of an unnamed dead girl. A futuristic detective utilizes a post-mortem mind-reading device in order to discover the identity of a serial killer.

Dreamscaper

platform: PlayMotion

Dreamscaper is a game set in a surreal landscape where the player grows plants that turn into large manmade structures and must defend his creations from a barrage of evil frog zepplins.

Pink Panther

platform: PlayMotion

Pink Panther puts you in the role of the notorious Pink Panther where you must 're-envision' the works of famous painters in an Art Museum while evading the traps and guards of Inspector Clouseau.

Night of the Dancing Dead

platform: Head-Mounted Display (HMD)

Night of the Dancing Dead is a bizarre thriller where an unlikely protagonist must save a little girl by dancing at zombies. As the ghouls mimic his groove, they come to pieces.

Mac OS X

Platform Experience, Apple Computer

Mac OS X is Apple's next-generation operating system. I can say that I worked on Carbon / Cocoa interoperability. Carbon is the transitioning API for the Mac OS X used by Microsoft and Adobe. Cocoa is Apple's modern object-oriented framework for developing applications.

Video Game Programming Course

Continuing Education, Austin Community College

Taught in Python, Video Game Programming was a class created for students without a programming background. As instructor, I designed the course syllabus, graded project assignments, and gave lectures.

Shark Tale

Edge of Reality

Based on the DreamWorks animated film, Shark Tale the game takes players on an adventure as the infamous Oscar the fish. With a blend of original and film-inspired gameplay, players immerse themselves in the gritty environments of Reef City and music from the film's soundtrack. As a game programmer, I designed and implemented the camera system, scripting API, HUD, and various gameplay features.

Pitfall: The Lost Expedition

Edge of Reality

In Pitfall, players assume the role of Pitfall Harry collecting treasures and rescuing his fellow explorers lost deep in the dangerous Peruvian Jungle. From evil henchmen and wiry natives to spiny porcupines and deadly crocodiles, our hero must avoid a slew of treacherous obstacles. As a game programmer, I designed and implemented AI for Harry's adversaries and mini-games in the Native Olympics. I also wrote a Visual Editor to aid in the creation of enemy AI that would be used in future game titles.