Hi!
I'm Emerson, and I've been hard-at-work passionately making games for the last 6 years. As the sole developer of Tetra Studios, I strive to create incredibly fun experiences that anyone can enjoy. I also aim to constantly learn from those around me, and use those lessons to improve everything I do.
My personal contributions to each project can be found in the "Personal Contribution" section of this page.
Skills
Unreal Engine 4:
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6 years of experience.
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Advanced Blueprint Visual Scripting skills
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Global Online + Local Multiplayer games
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Desktop, VR experience
See TritonVR for a showcase of these skills.
Unity:
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5 years of experience.
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Advanced C# skills
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Global Online + Local Multiplayer games
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Console, Desktop, HTML, Mobile and VR experience
See Retail Wars or REAPERS for a showcase of these skills.
Creative Cloud Suite:
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Photoshop
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Premier Pro
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Illustrator
All branding on this website was created using these tools.
Project Management Tools:
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Trello
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Jira
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Git
See the TritonVR Trello Page for a showcase of these skills.
Microsoft Office Suite:
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Powerpoint
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Word
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Excel
See the REAPERS 35,000 word portfolio for a showcase of these skills.
Personal Contributions
As I am a solo developer, I do not have the time to make all of the project's assets from scratch. As such, each of the projects I have used some 3rd party assets to speed up development. Below is a list of which assets I used and my personal contributions for each project.
Retail Wars
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My Contributions:
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Technical Designer
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Writing additional code to help assist the team's programmer and to extend functionality of existing systems.
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Designing the core gameplay loop, iterating on the combat mechanics and balancing all the items was also my responsibility.
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Project Co-ordinator
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With the help of the other designer, we used tools like Jira and Trello to effectively plan and communicate our objectives to each team member.
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Clear and concise communication was critical here to ensure that misunderstandings and arguments were kept to a minimum.
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Level Design
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I was solely responsible for the Toymania level, including creating code to make all the interactions in the level work seamlessly (such as the train and Jack-In-The-Boxes).
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Marketing
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I was responsible for showcasing the game at conventions like Powerhouse Late, OzComicCon and PAX AUS. I helped communicate with the relevant parties to get the game out there.
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I was responsible for the social media page of the team, ensuring constant and varied posts were being published.
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I also created the project's Steam page, allowing us to gain a high number of impressions quickly.
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3rd Party Tools
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Synty Studio Prototyping packs were used to greybox the levels.
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TritonVR
My Contributions:
As the only developer on the project, I was responsible for the entire project. This includes
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Programming
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Global online multiplayer play:
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Lag compensation.
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Client-authoritative networking.
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All interactions being networked.
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Matchmaking with Epic Online Services
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Cross-play support between Quest and PC.
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Optimisation
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Getting the game to work on the Oculus Quest 1.
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Co-Location
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Creating a calibration system for co-located play.
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Ensuring it is streamlined for minimal user friction.
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AI:
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Creating AI Bots for the player to fight with or against.
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Using the Utility AI framework to increase the intelligence of the entities.
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Can swap weapons depending on the combat situation.
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Uses Environment Query system (EQS) to find cover.
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Remembers where players are and tries to hunt them down.
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Reloads at appropriate times to avoid running out of ammo.
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Creating AI Director systems for the Zombies mode:
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Tracks how "stressed" each player is, and spawns enemies accordingly.
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Dynamically controls the pacing of the combat to create peaks and troughs of intensity - allows the player to not be worn out by constantly spawning enemies.
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Weapons
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Allowing client-authoritative weapon handling to ensure seamless gameplay.
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Implementing a loadout system where players can chose from 26 weapons.
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Design
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Map Design
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Creating fun maps in as little as 2m*2m of space.
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Creating large-scale maps (the size of a basketball court) for increased freedom of movement.
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Weapon Design
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Creating accessible, yet awesome weapons for players to use.
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Fully realistic weapon handling:
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Eject the current magazine (either by grabbing it or by pressing a button).
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Grab a new magazine from your ammo pouch.
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Insert it into the weapon.
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Chamber a new round (if needed).
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Accessible Nitro Weapons
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Once ammo is depleted, or the player presses the reload button, the weapon will be unusable for a couple of seconds before re-activating.
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Allows anyone to enjoy the shooting without having to worry about the complexities of the reloading system.
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AI
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Balancing the bots to allow players a chance to fight back:
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Human-like reaction time delays.
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Accuracy improves the longer they fire at a target.
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Balancing the Zombie AI director system to create paced, yet high intensity gameplay.
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Third-Party Tools
As the project was made using UE4 Blueprints, some tools were needed to ensure a smooth gameplay experience:
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Aesthetics
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Synty Studios Asset Packs
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Soundly
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Blockout Tools
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Tools
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EOS Core
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VARest
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VR Expansion Plugin
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Advanced Sessions Plugin
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Oculus Platform BP
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AnimIK
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Game Analytics
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Vivox Core
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MY OBJECTIVES
Real-World Impact
I aim for all my projects to create positive real-world impact, which I try to achieve by creating unique experiences that all players can have fun with.
TRITON VR
During the Sydney Vivid 2022 Gaming Showcase, I showed-off TritonVR's LBE mode. As you can see by the giggling in the clip above, players fell in love with the physical movement that the game requires.
RETAIL WARS
As Retail Wars has been to 3 conventions, the game has had a huge amount of exposure. Over 500 players have experienced the game in-person, with consistent enjoyment from players throughout the entire development process.
Accessible and Enjoyable Gameplay
I believe that the best games are ones that anyone can have fun in regardless of experince. Thus, I strive to make all my games as accessible as possible whilst still retaining significant depth.
TRITON VR - Nitro Weapons
VR FPS games can often be inaccessible. This is because players need to learn how to realistically reload weapons (eject magazine, insert new magazine, chamber a round), which is overwhelming to new VR users (especially needing to reload during combat).
As such, TritonVR includes a category of weapons which can be reloaded with a button press or by depleting all ammo. This lets players focus on the shooting, without being bogged down by complex reload mechanics.
TritonVR LBE only contains Nitro Weapons, as it allows any player of any VR experience to enjoy the game.
RETAIL WARS - 2-Button Controls
In Retail Wars, players can use 2 control schemes at any time:
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Simple:
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Left Thumbstick = Move + Look (in the direction of movement)
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A Button = Pickup/Power Throw
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Optional:
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B Button = Dive
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X Button = Pickup/Arc Throw
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Advanced:
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Left Thumbstick = Move
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Right Thumbstick = Look
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Left Thumbstick = Pickup/Arc Throw
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Right Thumbstick = Pickup/Power Throw
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Bumpers = Dive
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By only requiring a minimum of 2 inputs, players could easily understand the control scheme, and by including an advanced scheme, experienced players were not impeded by the controls. This was vital at conventions where there was a limited amount of time to teach each user the game.
METAL MASHERS - Auto-Aim
Driving and shooting would be near impossible without some form of aim assistance. To allow players to keep forward momentum and not have to reverse or slow down to aim at a target, Auto-Aim kicks in when players are in range of an enemy.