Halo: Reach custom map 'Serenity'

Just a quick one.

I made this quite a while ago, but mapmaking for the Halo franchise is really one of the first places that I got into game design. Bungie's 'Forge' tools were fantastic for both tweaking and complete overhauls, and after dabbling in it I ended up creating a lot of custom maps and gametypes for both Halo 3 and Halo Reach. I don't have access to a lot of the files right now, but I thought I'd share some images of  'Serenity'.

Also, here's a link to the map download page if anyone would like to  try it out!

Project Harmony

'Project Harmony' was a project I worked on with two other friends of mine last summer.  We were commissioned to create it by an organisation called 'Touchpoint', who visit Universities and recieve pitches from students about a project that combines multiple areas of media, from drama to games to music. We jumped at the chance, and pitched an idea about 'combining music creation with video games that people would be able to recognise and enjoy without a background in either'.

The pitch obviously went down well because we were given some funding to help us make a demo of this game, and then show it to an audience of students 8 months down the line.

This was the first time I'd worked on a game of this scale outside of course stuff, so it was a pretty huge leap. Many late hours were spent designing the initial world before we parted ways for the summer, but the story of a world surrounded in privatised musical culture was something we were really excited about.

One snag we came across was that working from three (yes three) seperated countries made it incredibly hard to keep tabs on what was going on, and whether people were keeping to schedule or not. Eventually we settled into a routine of daily skype meetings and use of 'Tortoise SVN', a great piece of software that made it much easier to have a consistent vision between the three of us.

Here's a video of one of the demo builds we managed to get finished in time for the show. More than a few all-nighters were pulled towards the end but we ended up with a playable demo that got a great reception from people at touchpoint, and the students who came to attend.

VVVVVV Custom Map

Continuing the theme of custom maps, I thought I'd post something else I did which draws on a similar set of skills, but in a very different genre.

VVVVVV's beautifully simple 'gravity switch' mechanic really hooked me the first time I played the game, and when I found out it was possible to create your own story I decided it would be a great way to work on designing levels with a pre-determined set of rules and items at my disposal.

Here's a quick walkthrough of the content I made. I skipped the deaths for ease of watching, because some of it is quite tricky. I have to say that this way of playing it though doesn't really do the design justice because it removes the process of the player thinking about what to do. For a real challenge try pausing the video at the start of each room and see if you can figure out the solution before I do it!
I really wanted the player to have to think about the levels, rather than it all be about dexterity and platforming skill. Hope you enjoy!

Joe

'Angry Bots' Audio swap with Unity

I've been meaning to experiment in Unity for a while, but building a whole game on my own has always felt like too much to do straight away. I've played around making simple brick-breaker things, but anything more than that seems like a long climb. The combination of 3D assets and programming skills has been a big part of this, and so I decided to do something a little more manageable.

An so I present a fun little project- Audio replacement in 'Angry Bots', the standalone demo that comes with the free version of Unity:

 

 

I was really impressed by the way Unity is laid out, and so the process of finding the audio clips wasn't too hard. Recording them was fun as well (it's all my own voice in the video), but the real challenge came when sorting through the game's architecture, and finding out what triggered the audio, and where the .ogg files were stored. My Javascript knowledge was pretty much non-existent at the start of this project, but by the end it had improved massively. I still wouldn't be able to do anything good from scratch, but in terms of looking at existing code, understanding it and modifying it I feel like I'm well on the way.

Next up is going to be an overhaul of something similar in UDK, only with out the unintended comedic value this seems to have!

Starcraft 2 map-making.

I've always really enjoyed building maps for games I love. I think I've been  doing it since I spent all winter building Scalextric tracks with my Dad that snaked their way around the house, rendering whole rooms unusable for weeks at a time. There's something intrinsically satisfying about seeing something you've built work as intended, and this is what drives me to continue map- making.

I'm very new to Starcraft and RTS games in general, but I'd heard good things about the map-creation software and so decided to jump right in at the deep end. I felt that it's always good  to have knowledge with another piece of software, and it also seemed like a good way to learn about the the balance of the game. After doing some reading I learned just how crucial things like 3rd base positioning or ramp size are. Starcraft's balancing is incredibly delicate, and a ramp being one 'hex' two wide has effects that can snowball. For example, say the ramp to natural is too wide. This means a Protoss player has to use twice as many forcefields to block it. As a result, more sentries must be made, which requires a lot of gas. Colossus (or any high tier unit) are now delayed, and the balance of the game falls apart. Things like this meant that what was meant to be an afternoon's work turned into a whole long weekend of tweaking and playtesting. I'm still awaiting feedback from more 'experienced' players, but I'm very pleased with the results.

Here are some images of the two maps I've created, called 'Desolation Cove', and 'Xel' Naga Walkways'. They are playable on SC2 right now, just search the names and give them a go. Any feedback is welcomed! (unless you're a High Templar).

Die Taktik

Recently I had the fantastic oppurtunity to work with Jennifer Walshe (no relation), and the Stuttgart Young Opera society on an opera meant for a younger audience, entitled 'Die Taktik'

I was tasked with collecting footage from video games of all types, editing it, and then submitting it to Jennifer Walshe, who would then distribute it to her team. This was then used on 3 huge screens behind the stage, creating a mesmerizing display to add to the ensemble and performers on stage.

I was a fantastic experience to see footage I had spent months collecting on the main screen, and I learnt a lot about working with a team, and seeing the project evolve. Jennifer Walshe has an amazing record of projects, and it was a real honor to work with her and the team in Stuttgart who handled the legal aspects of what we were attempting.

Developers from Microsoft to individual hobby programmers were really excited to be a part of it, and working with the smaller games that I had found online was probably the most satisfying thing. Games like 'Gymnast' or 'Space Engine' are barely known, and to see them cemented in Stuttgart opera history thanks to me was a great feeling.

Here are some still images, and a link to the website: Oper Stuttgart

Like I said, this was an incredible experience, and I learnt a lot about engine limitations (and getting around them), image composition, and team co-ordination. This was a huge project, and so it was key that everything ran smoothly.

Joe

Welcome

Welcome!

It's about time I had a website somewhere to post some of the stuff I'm working on. This is mainly for showing to potential employers but I'm happy for it to be shared around.

I'm still exploring everything from mods, to audio creation and everything in between, so what you're seeing is really a mix of all of this. To be honest I'm 100% commited to working in the industry, but I'm still figuring out what to specialise in.

My course at Brunel has given me a fantastic opportunity to explore the all the openings available to be, as well as creating connections that allow to work on external projects, both gaming- related and otherwise.

Thanks for taking the time to look around, and remember to email me at joseph_walsh@ymail.com with any questions.


Joe