KEVIN IDZIK
DIRECTX ENGINE
October 2017 - December 2017 | PC (Keyboard & Mouse/1 Player)
Worked with two other individuals on a DirectX graphics engine. As a team, we worked on implementing gameplay features before moving into the core focus of the project, graphics programming.
This project began with a 6 week individual portion where we familiarized ourselves with the basics of DirectX. From there we chose one of our engines to use as a base and picked features we liked from the two other engines to integrate into it. We made a quick prototype in Unity to test the kind of game and effects we wanted and set out to implement it in DirectX.
Over the next 8 or so weeks we implemented the gameplay we wanted and added graphical effects as we learned about them in class. A bit of a quirk with this project is our implementation of normal maps; the low-poly art style we chose to work with doesn't often use normal maps, a fact we didn't note until near the end of the project, long after it had already been implemented.
I implimented features such as normal maps, bloom, point lighting, blur, instancing, collision and other gameplay elements.
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BLACKFEATHER
January 2017 - May 2017 | PC (Controller/2 Players)
Gameplay programmer on an 8 person team with the ultimate goal of exhibiting the game at Imagine RIT 2017. Responsible for implementing core features of the game in an efficient manner.
Blackfeather was conceived as a grand project where players would control a parrot who has the ability to control individual pirates in the game as they fight over treasure. This quickly became AI heavy, had issues with custom camera work, and generally wasn't coming along to provide the fun and solid gameplay experience we were hoping for.
Blackfeather was an interesting experience, where in the middle of the 15 week development period we were able to discern that we wouldn't be able to continue with the game we had originally planned and make it fun before the final deadline. As such, we pivoted to a new idea which utilized the same theme and art assets while also being attainable from a programming standpoint within the time remianing. This new version of Blackfeather stripped out AI entirely, instead becoming a two player split-screen turn-based pirate racing game. At Imagine RIT, it proved to be a popular game, especially with children.
In the initial version of Blackfeather, I worked on the camera, parrot interaction with items on the map, and parrot-pirate switching. In the final version of Blackfeather, I implimented features such as traps and trap interaction, with some code from the previous version being carried over.
Download will be available upon request until large file hosting can be sourced.
GitHub
OKTOBERFAST
February 2018 - March 2018 | Android (Mobile/1 Player)
Worked as part of a five person team on an Android game where players attempt to deliver beer to patrons within a time limit while spilling as little as possible.
I worked on many features for this project, including some of the accelerometer movement controls, beer delivery and table collision events, minor UI elements, and general bugfixes/performance improvements. I also cut and balanced the dialog that plays when beer is delivered to a patron.
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