Game Design
I like to talk about videogame design – quite a lot.
Either through analysis of other people’s work or my own.
Game design is likewise one of my research topics.
15 December, 2022 Shark people – I need you!
I'm nearing the end of my Masters (alarmingly if I stop to think about how much work is left) and so the time has come to find participants. Read in full...
24 July, 2022 Akulabyte
Akulabyte is a separate project through which I'm documenting the progress of my foray into games design, specifically for wildlife sim. Read in full...
8 April, 2021 Marina Ortega, Freelance Concept Artist
Marina Ortega is a freelance concept artist whose credits include Beyond a Steel Sky, Magic The Gathering and the Tropico series. Read in full...
2 January, 2021 Myles Lambert, Freelance Environment Artist
Myles Lambert is a Freelance artist who has worked on series including Wolfenstein, Gears of War and Batman: Arkham. Read in full...
18 May, 2020 Hell Knight introduction – Doom 3
The Hell Knight adorns the Doom 3 box artwork. The monster is also featured in arguably the best cinematic sequence of the entire videogame. Read in full...
8 May, 2020 The Marauder – A love letter
The Marauder is one the most significant and divisive additions to the Doom franchise. Personally, I love him. Here's a few reasons why. Read in full...
29 April, 2020 Surface materials
For week four, I've decided to break the habit of the lifetime and actually try to make some of the results here vaguely useful. I emphasise the term vaguely. Read in full...
20 April, 2020 Scrutinising Piles
We're into week three of my self/Covid-19-isolation imposed daily photogrammetry challenge. I honestly thought I'd get bored and pack it in after one day. Go me. Read in full...
10 April, 2020 What lurks in a Staffordshire Garden
Week One's entries to my daily photogrammetry challenge, revolved around Doom. This week I'm going with a similar theme - our garden. Read in full...
8 April, 2020 Robert Hodri, Senior 3D Artist at id Software
Robert Hodri is a Senior 3D artist at id Software, having most recently worked on Doom: Eternal. He was kind enough to answer some questions about his experience in the games industry. Read in full...
22 March, 2020 Opening cutscene – F.E.A.R.
I kick off my obsession with game cinematics, with a shooter often overlooked in retrospective discussion of action games at the time. 2005's F.E.A.R. Read in full...
19 March, 2020 HRG: Target Obliterator Basic Art Assets
Previously, Tom and I created the single greatest hyperreality game experience known to man. Today, we raise the quality to diety-like standards. Read in full...
21 November, 2019 Hyperreality Target Practice
It's time to take our awesome new motion capture stage and create something that could actually resemble a game. I emphasise my use of the term 'could'. Read in full...
11 November, 2019 T-Rex follow-up
I recently compared laser scanning with photogrammetry for creating game assets, to see which would be the superior approach. Turns out, combining both might actually be the preferable solution. Read in full...
4 November, 2019 T-Rex Skull
Laser scanning and close range photogrammetry go head to head. Which will transpire to be the superior solution for getting my lovely, replica Tyrannosaurus Rex skull into a game engine? Read in full...
16 September, 2019 Laser scanning my face into Unreal Engine 4 (and id Tech 4)
Can you imagine a bigger waste of time for a game engine? Except for Alien: Colonial Marines, Lawbreakers and anything Peter Molyneux released post Lionhead Studios. Read in full...
2 September, 2019 Building hyperreality games – Introduction
Our motion capture stage at Staffordshire University was recently the subject of a massive upgrade. One of the benefits of which is live streaming into game engines such as our beloved UE4. Read in full...
16 February, 2019 Speed lighting – Quick, atmospheric lighting tests in Unreal Engine 4
I recently put together a small journal entry which explains some key lighting principles, demonstrated as predictably as ever with Unreal Engine 4. Read in full...
15 January, 2019 An introduction to lighting using Unreal Engine 4
Despite what my portfolio might lead you to believe, creating a compelling sense of tone, mood and narrative through lighting requires more than just chucking a load of blobs at the screen and hoping for the best. Read in full...