Triston Guest

Block: Volley Defender!

Test Your Reflexes

Battle
By: Guney

This game was made for my senior project. I set out to create a medieval themed reflex game in Unity VR. In the process, I decided I wanted to focus more on the arcade-like nature of the game, and added in a system to quickly switch out shield types. This change added much more fun to the gameplay.
The core mechanics of the game are to block arrows, and you have several tools to help you accomplish this. This includes the ability to slow time, which helps when you feel underwhelmed and makes you feel epic as you slam back a horde of arrows. Once you reach a high enough score for the level, it progresses to the next one. I plan on adding a system to gain currency and upgrade shield durability in the future, and adding a town hub.
One of the core scripts used in this project is the Projectile script, credited to Volkan Ilbeyli. This script is used in the instantiation and trajectory calculations of the enemy arrows.

Some of the code I'm most proud of are my ShieldHit and ShieldStates scripts. In these lines of code lie the main function of my game, telling the player when shields are hit and the strengths and weaknesses of each. Shield Hit detects when the player has blocked an arrow, and specifically calls out the Phase Arrow which passes through any shield other than the Mirror Shield.

In Shield States, we set up several variables including shield types, shield health, and the halo effect that each shield gains when in contact with specific arrows. There is a ton of logic going on, but the main gist of it it all is that each shield can detect what it has come in contact with and react accordingly if necessary. Each shield when damaged gains 3 seconds of invulnerability, allowing the player some room for error and providing some time before the shield is fully destroyed.

• Class: GIMM 480
• Program: Unity
• Language: C#
• Credits to Darth Artisan for the Unity Trees.

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Theia

An Ambitious Vision

Voiceover by Olivia Thomas and Connor Wall

Theia was a collaborative group application in GIMM, where my team worked directly with the Idaho Access Project. The app was created with React Native, its purpose is to assist visually impaired individuals with navigating via Bluetooth beacons. It was an incredible experience and I am proud to have been a part of this rewarding project.

My roles in Theia were mainly UI/UX design and UI/UX testing. I designed the primary layout wireframes using Adobe XD and set up a survey using Qualtrics so that we could gather data on our apps functionality and client reactions. These surveys helped us find out that iPhone List Pickers were ill advised when designing for Accessibility features such as voiceovers, and that there were several tricks that several clients used. It was inspiring to see some of the individuals who tested our app use Accessibility features in unique ways, and provided us with invaluable feedback. It was an incredible experience to work with the Idaho Access Project and with a great team of talented GIMM majors.

• Class: GIMM 490
• Programs: Adobe XD, Qualtrics
• Language: React Native
• Devices: Android;
• Team Members:


• Tyler Chapman
• Chase Ford
• Jadryan MacLain
• Olivia Thomas
• Issiac Torrero
• Connor Wall

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Nanobot Swarm

Just Like The Simulations

UnderBridge
By: Free Game Music 1

This project implemented Unity Machine Learning to create an enemy AI. I wanted to make the gameplay short and fun, and an oversight in my Unity's layering system provided the perfect solution. Originally the players projectiles would only effect the center torso and push the bots away. With a small change in Unity the player could target legs instead, sending the bots spinning like a top!
This was accomplished using MLAgents. Check out their github at https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/ml-agents I trained the agents using rewards, giving it rewards for touching the player, and taking a penalty while it was not facing or approaching the player. An additional penalty was taken when the player shot the Agent.

• Class: GIMM 400
• Program: Unity
• Language: C#

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Electric Eden

Delve into the Ancient Laboratory

My roles through Electric Eden's development were Gameplay Designer, Gameplay Developer and Level Designer. I concepted the gameplay kit from diagram to implementation, working through a couple iterations and receiving feedback from other classmates.

We ended up with 10 Primary Gameplay Kit items; Accelerators, Bash/Roll Points, Electronic Doors/Keycards, Laser Wires, Mushroom Launchers, Power Cores, Powered Lifts, Sparks, Teleporters, Turrets, and Wheel Rotors, most of which can be seen in the video walkthrough. I was responsible for their implementation in the Unreal Engine, using Unreal Blueprinting and Blueprint Interfaces (BPI) to create a versatile and functional set of gameplay elements we could work with. I created a 'Puzzle Matrix' spreadsheet in Google Sheets to help my fellow designers and myself to come up with ideas for puzzles with these elements.

The Puzzle Matrix

Wheel Rotors

I also was responsible for the enemy AI, implementing their Idle, Patrol, Chase, and Attack state functionality.

Enemy AI

In addition, I also helped set up the user interface, health system, and collectables.

Below you can see several screenshots of the levels I designed and assembled in Unreal. I was responsible for the first pass at set dressing, before handing it over to my classmates. The third room was not assembled by me, however I was responsible for the gameplay elements and additional set dressing.

Level Design and Set Dressing

During the process of working on Electric Eden, I got to work in the largest group project that I have ever been a part of! It was an incredible learning experience, and working with a team of 9 other classmates brought on a large sense of comradery throughout the development process. Overall, I really enjoyed getting to work with a group of very talented people, while challenging myself to new heights of skill I had yet to achieve before.

• Class: GAME 754 Pro-Production
• Engine: Unreal 5
• Language: Unreal Blueprints

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HIVE DIE

Roll the HIVE, grow the HIVE!

The HIVE went through several iterations before becoming the paper prototype you see in the video! I started with the base concept, managing a colony of insectoid creatures led by a Queen, and drafted up a set of rules and events that I could progress through on paper. This ruleset was different in that each insect in the colony had a separate dice, workers were D6s, soldiers d8's, et cetera. However, playing on paper was taking too long to generate data, so I started to run through in Excel.
After playing through a couple games at ten rounds each, I was starting to realize that the system was just not fun to play. Something needed to be done. So I created a second version of the system where the HIVE was represented by a single dice that the player needed to upgrade to become stronger and larger.
After seeing how the game played now, it was much smoother, and I was starting to have fun with it! Always a good sign. I began with the digital implementation now that it was working strongly in concept. I decided to use Godot; the project was fairly small-scale, so I wanted a light-weight engine to use. In addition, I'm fairly comfortable in Godot, having worked on a few projects in it over the years. The following is some of the code I used in the project!

The majority of HIVE DIE's digital version was created in just a single day of coding! This was a project that really helped boost my confidence. I saw that with a solid background of having tested the concept on paper, I was able to quickly integrate it into a digital format! I had several friends playtest it so I could make hotfixes on any bugs that they found, in order to have a stable version I'm proud of.

• Class: GAME 734 Systems and Simulations
• Engine: Godot
• Language: GDScript

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Upheaval of Ages

Times Are Changing In Zaros

Crypt of the Necrodancer Tracks
By: Sferro and Tommy '86'

My current ongoing project is a turn based text RPG adapted from a tabletop campaign world of my creation. It is currently in its beginning phases, but I have high hopes for a narrative, story driven game on a world with countless hours of worldbuilding. This project uses the Godot system and its built-in language, GDScript. Godot is an interesting system, using individual nodes that can be easily integrated into each other. I've had a lot of fun learning it, and plan to continue working with Godot in the future.
Below you can see several snipped examples, being the Battle, PlayerMenu, and Story States scripts. Thanks are given to HeartBeast for his Mobile Godot Tutorials.

• Class: GIMM 490
• Program: Godot
• Language: GDScript
• Credit to daarken for Saurus Temple Guard Image

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