My Roles: Lead Designer, UX Designer
Platforms: iOS/Android
Team Size: 2-10
Duration: 3-years
Industry Ball is a mobile game planned to be released in 2023 for iOS and Android under the business Game Dream.
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What is Industry Ball?
* Endless amount of stages, all with procedural design elements
* Breakneck gameplay, inspires short and sweet game sessions
* Wild powerups ensure each playthrough is different from the last
* Boss rooms that test the players patience, stamina and endurance
* Unlockable skins, that all offer different stats and personalized looks
* Local Highscores to compete with your disrespectful friends
For inquiries related to this project, please visit gamedream.ca
Industry Ball, a game by Adam Roberts and Jarrett Reid
music: Incompetech - Blown Away
My Roles: Game Designer, UX Designer, Level Designer, Sound Designer, QA Analyst
Team Size: 3
Duration: Approx. 8-months
Playable Demo: https://3friends.itch.io/uncapped?secret=HE7UXUCWdfqNMuvs6fM6VDC1iSI
Uncapped is a physics-based, sci-fi first person puzzle adventure that was developed by three students over 8 months for our final year at Sheridan College's Bachelor of Game Design program. Unity Engine was used to develop the game.
The project was focused on developing our skills with Level Design procedures like paper-prototyping, grey-boxing and teaching, testing, and challenging the player's understanding of the mechanics.
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Key Points of Development
- Unity 3D was used to program, grey-box, set up gameplay triggers, manage prefabs and develop vastly complex 3D spaces that tested the player's understanding of the game mechanics
- Industry tools like Git Hub, Trello, Slack, and JIRA were used to organize events, goals, tasks, and bugs within the player experience
- Software Testing was an integral part of development. Excessively manually tested, recorded, replicated the game's bugs and hiccups through means of bug databases and testing sheets
- Our 8-month production pipeline was used to organize tasks into sections like: paper-prototyping, programming mechanics, level design, art/asset implementation, bug testing, and sound design
- Conducted playtest sessions to assess enjoyment, understanding, and challenge of specific moments, mechanics, and the overall experience
Design
Uncapped features a light-ball gun which sends light-balls flying with a click of a button. Users must use angles, movement, and timing to hit switches within elaborate puzzles and levels.
Three levels were created over the development period. The levels can be accessed through the HUB area. They can be completed in any order which gives the game an interesting sense of freedom.
The levels were designed by using a skill chain diagram to properly map out which skills are required to complete the level. Movement and shooting for example are considered fundamental skills while platforming and jumping would be considered more advanced. The rooms within Uncapped all build off one another. The mechanics we use within the game are all taught, tested, and challenged.
Quality Assurance
The game was heavily tested through various methods. We conducted three separate playtest sessions over the course of the development pipeline which gave us vital feedback to the flow of the levels and mechanics we designed.
Bug databases were used to track, describe, rate, and replicate bugs as needed. Trello and JIRA were our primary tools for testing.
Testing templates where we could name, describe, and write down steps to replicate the bugs were essential with tackling more threatening issues.
Uncapped is a sci-fi first person puzzle game which features mind-bending physics puzzles
This picture was taken during our capstone meeting with Drinkbox Studios leads.
Modular pieces were essential to creating levels that we could always iterate on with ease. From ceiling and wall tiles, to hallways and staircases, our tool kit made the level design process very intuitive.
We used this skill chain diagram to map out the mechanics in each puzzle. It was an essential guide for designing each stage with progression in mind.
Here's a brief analysis of one of our early puzzle rooms.
Paper designs were used to map out areas, moments, and the physical space of puzzle rooms. We collectively used the same legend to make sure each puzzle could be implemented and understood properly.
My Roles: Game Designer, Level Designer, Asset Artist
Team Size: 5
Duration: 1 week
Let’s Build It! was a digital game developed by a group of seven students in the BA Game Design program at Sheridan College. The game was created for Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and is currently on display and playable in their waiting room.
Design
It was designed to be accessible to a wide audience, including children with disabilities, impairments, or limited mobility. This is made possible through the ScreenPlay controller, which uses “100 contact floor sensors” arranged in a grid to detect the position of the player(s).
I led major design decisions relating to game structure and overall flow, pitched the original concept and I also created various art assets for the game using Photoshop
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Game Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2FbgDuH6zoVZ0xxUmlrUkdRWm8/view
Global News Article:
http://globalnews.ca/video/1955365/high-tech-waiting-room-helps-keep-kids-healthy
Let's Build it! was featured on Global News during their time at Holland Bloorview Hospital.
Let's Build It! is was game developed by students in five days at Sheridan College for Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.
Using Photoshop, I created various art assets for things like: resources, collectibles, and Wonders of the World.
My Roles: Director, Writer, Animator, Texture Artist, Modeler
Duration: 2-months
Home follows the thrilling, over-the-top and emotional journey of a robot who embarks on a remarkable expedition to explore unclaimed territory. The colony awaits patiently for the return of the robot from his seemingly endless journey.
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I animated, wrote and edited this film. Blender was used to animate every scene.
This project stands out as one of my best pieces as it allowed me to express my knowledge with a 3D modeling and animation tool as well as showcasing my design sense and direction outside of games
Short film designed, edited, and executed by Adam Roberts. Created in Blender, we explore the melodramatic expedition of a Robot that yearns to get home.
music: Daft Punk - Touch
Here's the rough story board sketch I made to map out every scene and the motion in the scenes.
Raw image of my Blender scene
My Roles: Director, Writer, Animator, Artist, Voice Actor
Duration: Approx. 4-months
Transcend into the mind of an angsty metal head who has more to say than you think!
Designed, written, and animated by Adam Roberts with the guidance of Kurtis Scott during my Co-operative Education term at Toronto's Smiley Guy Studios, in 2013.
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From conceptualizing to writing the script, I was formally taught how to professionally and efficiently complete every part of an industry 2D animation in the course of a year with the guidance of members of Smiley Guy Studios. This experience allowed me to lead the design and story of an animation within an industry environment.
This project not only showcases my ability to conceptualize and work on something from start to finish, but it is one of my few projects that really get to show off my sense of humor!
The MetalHead is a short directed, and animated by Adam Roberts with the guidance of Kurtis Scott from Smiley Guy Studios, based in Toronto, Ontario.