Personal Experiments
In addition to professional and school projects I'm always tinkering with little mechanics and systems. Sometimes this happens at Game Jams, working with friends to make something cool as fast as we possibly can. Sometimes It's Solo Projects I release on Itch that explore a particular design idea or question. And sometimes they're experiments so unwieldy that they never see the light of day and sit Abandoned on my hard drive. They're my favorite ones.
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While the general manifesto for these gameplay tests is "quick and dirty", I'm able to take some beyond that and give them a public release.
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Bouncing Sun let me explore different facets of "soft" platforming, with air vents. Each level takes on a different element of that movement, and I built the aesthetic for each level out of that, coating their basic blocked out versions in visual effects, palettes, music, and background details that I felt complimented the gameplay of the level.
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Often these small games stem from design questions or challenges.
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How many players can play on one keyboard?
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How do you handle combat in a visual novel?
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How can I permit creativity in a "tanks" game?
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What if you had to walk instead of drive in Mario Kart?
Sometimes the answer to those questions is "no, stop it, this is bad" and that can be just as interesting. At any rate, I find it very beneficial to learn these things before I've sunk unreasonable amounts of time into planning. A
For the past 3 or so years I've been attending TOJam, Global Game Jam, Ludum Dare, and others with a couple of my friends as 'Bear Vegas'. We exclusively make dense, obtuse little games that stress our knowledge and abilities and force us to improve in different areas. We've made more than 6 games together, including:
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A machine learning inspired game of catch with your robot son
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An accurate simulation of the Toronto subway system
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A simulated online platform fighter where your framerate is your health
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If you're ever attending TOJam or Global Game Jam at the George Brown campus, come say hi! We'll be there.
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