Here's a short summary of some things that I've worked on. This isn't an exhaustive list, just an informal summary with more detail than a CV or resume. If you're more interested in that, you can take a look at LinkedIn.

For discussion of my free/open source software development, you can look at the GitHub links on this page. As a BSD user for a long time, I have contributed bug reports and bug fixes to a lot of small and large projects targeting GNU Linux and multiple flavours of BSD.

Video Games

MX vs. ATV: All Out

MX vs. ATV is one of the longest running off road racing franchises, dating back to the PS1 era. The games try to find a nice balance between friendly, arcade-style gameplay and serious simulation of the details of MX and off road racing in general. I joined Rainbow Studios Phoenix in 2019 to provide updates and ongoing multiplayer support for MX vs. ATV and future entries in the MX vs. ATV franchise. Sorry about the Steam lobby bugs, those kept cropping up despite a lot of work every DLC release.

CounterSpy

CounterSpy is a 3D side-scrolling stealth game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android. It has a really solid 50s/60s spy aesthetic that evokes a lot of the visual and audio language of both the Cold War and classic spy serials like Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and yes, James Bond. It's smaller in scope than a lot of other things I've worked on, but it brings a hell of a lot of soul.

Happily, CounterSpy has received a lot of really kind press and award nominations, including a BAFTA nomination for best debut, an honorable mention for best debut from the Game Developer's Choice Awards, and a nomination for best Action/Arcade game from Pocket Gamer.

I worked with Dynamighty primarily on the online features like the rival spies that create dynamic score challenges for players, leaderboards, progress syncing between all five of our platforms. But like with all small team projects, it also involved lifting in other ares, especially in the core tech. I had a blast being part of the team that was bridging the gap between "our engine supports this platform" and "our engine has shipped games on this platform".

BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It's the first sequel to BioShock developed by Irrational Games, the team that developed the original BioShock. I am admittedly biased, but it combined some brilliant art, graphics, and environments with a narrative that was willing to take a lot more risks and show more sophistication than many other shooters. It did quite well critically and provoked a lot of interesting reactions.

I originally went to Irrational to work on some really exciting features of the game that ultimately didn't end up shipping. I then started working on build-related things and making sure the artists and designers had what they needed to make the game as great as it is. The moment when my boss told me that he didn't think Infinite would have shipped at the time it did without my help is probably my proudest professional moment.

Ace of Spades

Ace of Spades is a hybrid first-person shooter and Minecraft-style build-your-enviornment game. A version is now available on Steam, but my work was on the earlier Voxlap version. It's a simpler version than what ultimately released on Steam, but it's got a pretty sweet core gameplay loop based around modifiable terrain and very deadly shooting.

I did a lot to help Ben out with this, mostly on the tech and networking side of things. The best part of working on it was definitely the sense of community that had developed with the game. Ben spoke for the team, but every single one of us was completely stoked by how amazing and creative everyone playing the game was.

Dog Show Friends

Dog Show Friends was a Facebook pet-training game. Like most pet games, you could train your dog and level up through a variety of activities. The game had a strong run on Facebook in late 2010 and early 2011, and was editorially featured by Facebook during that period.

I worked with 4mm Games on backend components and scaling for the game during its traffic growth. I also helped prototype some additional gameplay features, specifically some minigames that we hoped would make the game more engaging for everyone. There was a lot to learn working on the game, especially about how much of an impact little tweaks could have and the importance of speed and turnaround.

DefJam RapStar

Def Jam RapStar is the world's finest rap karaoke game for Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. You can sing along to some of your favorite hits or freestyle over a selection of beats and record videos of your performances. At one point, there was even an online community that tied in to the game where you could share your videos and compete in virtual rap battles. Unfortunately, that online community is no longer around as of 2012. I worked with 4mm on that online community and other online features for the game.

Zwinky

Zwinky is an online virtual world for teens. At the time I worked on it, it was primarily flash based and let people chat, create and dress up avatars, play minigames, and generally flit about. I worked on the backend services and servers for it, and was mostly concerned about performance enhancements.

Zwinky Cuties

Zwinky Cuties is basically the tween version of Zwinky. It's a virtual world marketed at younger girls than Zwinky, but offers a lot of the same experiences in a more kid-friendly package. I worked primarily on backend services for the game, but also did gameplay work on pets for the game.

Other Interactive Things

Ideawheel

Ideawheel is a site for putting together random interesting ideas and sharing them online. Developed along with members of the OpenFurry team.

Tappy Terror

Tappy Terror was a game/interactive experience for the HOPE conference. We used the RFID chips embedded in attendee's badges to create a territory-control online game that changed as conference attendees moved between rooms.

Recess

Recess was a student project to build an MMO-like experience based more on social dynamics and interpersonal gameplay experiences than your standard MMORPG. Imagine that instead of a game like D&D being the starting point for MMOs, something more like Settlers of Catan or Diplomacy was. The project was not an overwhelming success, but it was an interesting exploration. You can read more about it in this presentation on the topic which was targeted at students in other game design classes at Columbia.

Furry

Stories and poetry

I write a lot of short stories and poetry in the broader "funny animal" and horror genres. Some of those get published by furry outlets and blogs, including some of my poetry in the (now sadly no longer going) blog [adjective][species]. You can also find some of my works in this genre along with comics-style doodles on the gallery site Weasyl. Some these have also been self published under my pen name/alter ego peri llwynog, who you can get in touch with on itch.io.

Bookmarfs

Bookmarfs is an online book club/discusison group/vlog that caters to furries. Our book selections aren't necessarily furry, but our discussions center on things that are of particular interest to furries, like virtual identities, queer issues, and online life.