Paudric Smith - Portfolio Dashboard

I am a Computing in Game Development graduate with a passion for programming.

My main roles for the development of "Carnival of Evil" which is a video game we are making for our collaboration module are Player Controls, Player Mechanics and Sound Designer. I've helped out on some UI as our UI member had left the group and I also worked on a pulse shader for interactable objects.
                                            

                                                        

I focused on object oriented design and adhering to the SOLID principles to write efficient code as much as possible throughout. These principles establish practices that lend to developing software with considerations for maintaining and extending as the project grows. Adopting these practices can also contribute to avoiding code smells, refactoring code, and Agile or Adaptive software development. 

    S  -  Single-responsibility Principle
    O -  Open-closed Principle
    L  -  Liskov Substitution Principle
    I   -  Interface Segregation Principle
    D -  Dependency Inversion Principle

For more information click ==> SOLID PRINCIPLES <== 

You will find pages in this portfolio going into detail on some of the tasks I've completed and a technical journal for each sprint.

"Carnival of Evil" is a first person horror game being produced by "Groovy Games" using Unity 3D.

The team consists of Antanas Zalisauskas, Patrick Nugent, Aleksandrs Laivins and myself.

It's a Puzzle, Mystery game set in an abandoned carnival out of town were you play as a detective trying to save hostages that are chained to different rides. If you don't solve the puzzles in time the hostage dies. The carnival is divided into 3 separate distinct area's each with there own puzzle, mini game and antagonist.

Can you unravel the mystery of the how and why your family have been held hostage and who is behind the whole thing?

Some of the technical challenges I faced during the project development were:

• Finding all the specific SFX and music for the game genre and since not all the sounds can be found easily I will have to design and make some Foley sounds. 
• Programming using a game engine for the first time and getting used to the editor and getting familiar where everything is located.
• Using the SOLID principles for programming framework.
• Implementing game events with scriptable objects that can take in any parameter.
• Adding and deleting a shader material of an object during runtime whenever the player gets within a certain range.
• Merge conflicts when people are working on the game at the same time.

The feel of the player character as you journey through the game will have to be enjoyable and gamified while also being realistic so the controls must convey that as well as the player mechanics.

The sound of a horror game is part and parcel of the horror genre so it must be used and executed correctly through out the game timeline. 

  Player Controls
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• Researched the new input system for Unity which makes it easier to add new controls when needed, improve performance by using callbacks and easier to add multiplayer if needed.
• Implemented logic and programmed the Classes and methods needed to control the player using the keyboard/mouse and gamepad.
• Designed an ergonomic keyboard keys layout to improve ease of use, eye to screen time length and reduce repetitive hand stress.
  
  1 = THUMB FINGER, 2 = INDEX FINGER, 3 = MIDDLE FINGER, 4 = RING FINGER, 5 = LITTLE FINGER
  
  
                                           

  Player Mechanics
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• Researched player mechanics for first person shooter.
• Designed player mechanics for the main character that the user controls like how he moves, his stats and how he interacts with the world.
• Implemented logic and programmed C# Classes and methods for the player.
• Implemented player stamina bar to control how long he can sprint and regenerate.
• Player can shoot the killers and stun them after 10 shots
• The player can be damaged by objects in the world and die if health reaches zero.
• He can pick up health and ammo crates which change his stats.
• Can equip and unequip his torch and gun.

  Sound/Audio Designer
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• Researched how to best design sound in Unity.
• Resourced all desired SFX, Music, UI and Ambient sounds.
• Added Foleys and music to the game in a calculated way. 
• Added a random footstep generator so walking or running sounds more realistic.

  Other Work
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• UI - Worked on some UI to help out the team as the UI guy had left. Implemented a system that updates and displays the players health icon and displays a blood splatter effect when hit. Added ammo icon that updates and displays when bullets are used or picked up. Added a crosshair for with and without the gun being equipped. Implemented a fortune teller card for the Zoltan clues. 
  
  
• Shader - We needed a shader material that could be applied to any object's Mesh Renderer to show a pulsating outline around it if we wanted to tell the user that this object can do something or be interactable.

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Throughout the development of this project we had SCRUM sprints that would last a week or two. I keep track of all my work in a technical journal with the details on every task undertaken including code, screen shots, gifs, videos and referenced materials. In every sprint section I reflect on the task process and my conclusion of the sprint as a whole.

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The resources page holds all referenced materials used throughout the year long project such as audio, images, videos and websites.

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For my Research Methods module I had an assignment to write a research paper related to my collaborative game module. I choose to write a paper on voice pitch in horror games as there was nothing out there that covers this topic but only in horror movies. 
This page goes into more detail and has the full paper "Maximizing user experience in a horror game through pitch" is on display in PDF form.