Genesis
A light-gun game inspired by vector graphics that reimagines the credit crawl sequence from Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001). I developed this game as my submission for the C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. collaboration ↗. The project served as a personal platform to explore new technologies, including motion-captured camera techniques, synchronizing gameplay to music, a blocking system for sequencing events, and vector-based rendering.
Related Projects
GENESIS 2K24
A head-tracked rhythmic rail-shooter that traces the cyberspace aesthetics of Rez (2001) back to their origins in Chicago's art and technology scenes. In collaboration with Charles Voita and Bill Derrah, I led the development of this remake of my 2023 entry for the C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. project. The game reimagines the Electronic Visualization Laboratory's (EVL) 3D vector graphics for Star Wars (1977) and incorporates head-tracking from the CAVE system (1992), set to Phuture's genre-defining Acid Tracks (1985). It was exhibited at the BitBash 2024 festival.
Experimental Games Workshop
A presentation at the Experimental Games Workshop (EGW), held during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. With co-presenter Adam Pype, I discussed our project C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D. and the collaborative work of the Haunted PlayStation 1 collective. The EGW is a GDC tradition of over 20 years that showcases games at the forefront of gameplay, organization, and creative direction. A full video is available in the GDC Vault, linked above.
C.H.A.I.N.G.E.D.
A large-scale, collaborative follow-up to C.H.A.I.N., this project connects over 40 developers' games into a branching narrative. After each entry, the player chooses between two games, representing forks in the timeline. My primary contribution was designing the technical architecture that enabled this branching to occur within the launcher itself, rather than individual games. This key decision made the project feasible to implement across multiple engines and contributors. You can play the full collection here and read an interview about the project.
Soap Soup: Sodium
An atmospheric exploration game created for the 2024 SOAP SOUP collaboration, a modding project where artists create abstract rooms using a fixed set of elements. My entry is a sensory experience that places the player in a sodium-lit parking lot on a midsummer night. I designed a soundscape of cicadas and a distant storm, and used sophisticated spherical projection mapping for the visuals, focusing on creating a realistic and immersive atmosphere of warm light and deep shadow.