Who am I?

My name is Regan, I have just recently graduated from Staffordshire University with a degree in Computer Games Development, looking to gain some experience in the games industry.

What Am I Currently Working On?

I am currently working on my brand new project, Death's Door, a top-down, action RPG filled with melee combat fun. I have recently published the demo onto itch and am actively testing and acquiring feedback. If you'd like to help out or even just play my demo then you can do so here:

My Love For Games

My passion for video games began when I was very young and first played World of Warcraft. I was mesmerised by how a world that isn't even real could be so vast, and contain so much depth (most of it I never actually explored for multiple years since I kept creating new characters before I'd hit level 20).

League of Legends was another big inspiration for me, mainly for the complete opposite reason of my fascination for World of Warcraft. The map was small, and the same every game, yet people play thousands and thousands of games without getting bored? (me). I was so impressed by how a game could be so simple, yet so complex at the same time. My competitive nature was also a big factor in my love for League of Legends, as I loved the idea of practicing my skills, then having something to show for it.

Video games have also played a huge role in shaping some of my closest friendships. The social aspect of gaming has heavily inspired me to create games, because I want to create places for people to build friendships, and share experiences together. Up until recently gaming was considered a very antisocial hobby, and I'd like to contribute towards changing that common misconception.

AFK

When I'm not on my computer, I like to keep active by going to the gym, playing basketball, and going to concerts. Music is a big part of my life, it helps me focus and keeps me in that flow state. Some of my favourite artists are The Backseat Lovers, Fontaines D.C, and Wunderhorse.

If you wish to learn some more about me, then you can do so here:

My first character! (probably, I dont actually have a picture it was 15 years ago.)

The great lan party of '16.

My Projects

Death's Door

Top down, Action RPG

1ManArmy

A top down, hit and run, with just a phone and a thumb.

Highway Code

A group project I worked on in my Senior Collab module.

Farming Prototype

A farming prototype project I created during my final year of university.

Death's Door (September 2024 - Present)

Death's Door is a top-down action RPG in which you are a soldier, stuck between life and death, searching for an end to the on-going war between the people of Thedas and the skeleton army of Rood. Discover the true nature behind the fight, and defeat anything that stands in your way.

This is my most recent creation that I am currently working on. It is a top-down soulslike game developed in Unity. The demo has currently been released on Itch, so if you'd like to test it out then you can do so here:

Some of the main features include:

  • Fully Fledged Player Controller - Uses a player state manager to ensure only one action can be performed at a time. Also contains an attack combination system as well as special abilities to fight in your own style.
  • Flexible Enemy State Machine - Contains a state machine system, allowing me to create multiple different idle's, attack's and chase states, and combine each simply by just dragging and dropping to create hundreds of different combinations, ensuring each enemy has its own unique behaviour.
  • Interactables and Dialogue System - An interactable's system allowing the player to interact with certain objects throughout the game like puzzle switches, doors and NPC's. This includes a fully implemented dialogue system allowing the player to learn more about the world they are exploring.
  • Upgrade and Currency System - A system that allows players to collect souls by killing enemies, and exploring, which can then be spent on upgrading the player character.
  • Save and Load System - Players can rest at checkpoints in order to save their progress, meaning they can pick up and play whenever they like, without having to worry about losing their progress.
  • Dynamic Character Customiser - Players are able to create their own character, adventuring in style, with over 100,000 different combinations.

1ManArmy (April 2024 - May 2024)

1ManArmy is a mobile game developed on the Unity engine, for iOS. It is a top down, hit and run type dungeon crawler, where the player must kill enemies, upgrade their character, and defeat bosses. I created this game for one of my third year modules at university. It lacks some polish, due to the short time constraint, but it was a valuable step in development for me as it taught me so many things. Some of the notable features in the game include:

  • XP and Upgrade System - through the implementation of Scriptable Objects
  • Enemy spawner - includes difficulty progression mechanics
  • Boss fight - includes different phases made using State Machnines in the Unity Animator
  • Daily Lives and Currency System - allows player to spend these on new skins
  • Perfectly scalable UI - can fit any iPad or mobile device
  • Mobile Friendly Controls - requires just one finger to play
  • Decoupled using C# events

This project was my first mobile project and came with many lessons. If you would like to read my critical reflection report I made after developing the game then please click below:

1ManArmy Critical Evaluation

I also made a short game trailer for my project, something I have very little experience in but if you would like to see some gameplay then please take a look:

DISCLAIMER: I did not make any of the assets, sounds or animations in this project, all were obtained through the unity marketplace, mixamo, and various free sound websites. If you would like to know more about this project then please dont hesitate to contact me.

Highway Code (April 2024 - May 2024)

During my final semester I took part in a group project, where we had to develop a game from scratch. We made Highway Code, a local co-op chaotic driving game where the players must drop off more packages than the other player to win. I was mainly responsible for implementing a flexible and functioning split-screen system, the shared and individual UI's for each player, and the contraband package system, which is expalined in more detail below. Here is a short trailer:

DISCLAIMER: I did not make any of the assets, sounds or animations in this project, if you would like to find out who did then please contact me.

This was my first time developing a game in a large group, and it taught me alot:

  • Version Control - within a large group project
  • Rapid Prototyping - to demonstrate at our pitches for our game ideas
  • Unreal Engine - Implementing Split-screen and detailed systems
  • Technical Design - The importance of a technical design document

This project was my first mobile project and came with many lessons. If you would like to read my critical reflection report I made after developing the game then please click below:

Highway Code Critical Evaluation

My Main Contributions

Split-Screen System

I implemented a flexible split-screen system, that would allow our game to be played single-player or local co-op. This was most of our teams first time developing a multiplayer game, so I made sure to inform the developers the practices that would need to be changed, like using loops when accessing a pawn instead of using functions like GetPlayerPawn, as well as other things like drawing UI to the player's screen instead of the viewport.

Contraband Package System

I made a Package system as part of our changing world states manager, which basically calls a world event to occur every so often, changing gameplay for both players. This package system spawns a contraband package at a set location, that both players must fight over to deliver for 3x more points than a regular package. Players can steal the package from the other player by driving into the other player.
Functionality:

Delivery:

Farming Simulator Prototype (January 2024 - March 2024)

During my final year we was tasked with creating a blueprint prototype for a game based off of a select few design specifications. I wanted to try working with a tile based building system, similar to games like Farmville and Rust. I also wanted my building system to require some strategy, which led me to develop the water system. Please watch the video below, then continue reading where I will talk a little more about some of the specific systems in my game.

Water System

The main excitement for building games like this is the progress the player feels, so I wanted to make sure that the player would be able to feels their farm progressing. The water system does this because it requires the player to start by manually watering the soil, in which they've got to time it correctly to ensure they get the maximum yield. Later they can then buy a sprinkler which will allow the player to automate the watering. However, these sprinklers require water to be powered so the player must also build enough water towers to ensure that there is enough to power the sprinklers. A demonstration of the water system can be seen below:

In conclusion I am quite happy with how this prototype turned out, the foundations are strong and the building system allows me to easily implement new buildable objects in order to improve the core game loop and expand upon the game.