Monthly Archives: September 2016

The Tower

Date: August 2016
Concept: A VR archery game taking place in an ancient tower.
Team (5):
Aaron Humphries (3D Artist)
Ben Luff (Designer/Programmer/Audio)
Chris Winn (Designer)
Michael MacKinnon (Producer/Programmer)
Nelson de Costa (Programmer)

Platform: Windows with HTC Vive
Engine: Unity Engine 5.4

Role: Producer and Programmer (Gameplay/Audio)

Extra Notes:
The game makes use of 3m x 3m play area with no teleportation. A tower is used so that
the player can move vertically to encounter new areas to experience. This allows for the
elimination of teleportation and forces the player to fully immerse themselves into the
room-scale element of the game.

This is a preview of The Tower. Read the full post (599 words, 11 images, estimated 2:24 mins reading time)

Networking: Team Tanks

Date: April 2016
Concept: two players operate a tank together
Team: Solo
Platform: Windows
Engine: Unity Engine

Role: Programmer

Repository: https://github.com/stuff13/TeamTanks

Extra Notes:
This was the final project for a Networking course.
The Assignment: create a networked game environment
What I developed: To add something extra, I decided to do a cross platform networked game.
A PC would act as server with two players: a player on the PC server and a player on
an iPhone using Google Cardboard.
Player 1 on the PC moved a tank around the environment and had a good clear view.
Player 2 on the iPhone using Google Cardboard moved the tank’s turret by turning the phone to look in another direction. By tapping on the screen, the player could fire a projectile into the scene.

This is a preview of Networking: Team Tanks. Read the full post (129 words, 1 image, estimated 31 secs reading time)

AI Driving

Date: December 2015
Concept: Driving around a track by AI
Team: Solo
Platform: Windows
Engine: Unreal Engine

Role: Programmer

Extra Notes:
This was the final project for an AI course.
The Assignment: create top-down 2D view of a car driving along a vertical line. Provide
input controls that allow you to shift the car right or left and use a Fuzzy Logic
Controller to control steering the car back to the vertical line.
What I developed: To add some extra challenge to my assignment, I took the 3D car driving game
sample from Unreal Engine and spliced in an AI controller in place of the input
controls. I then created the Fuzzy Logic Controller supported with automated tests (so
I could modify the FLC if needed later with confidence) and gave it to the AI Controller.

http://michaelmackinnon.com/wp-content/uploads/My-Movie.mp4
Permanent link to this post (138 words, estimated 33 secs reading time)

APCO Trainer

Date: February 2016
Concept: The game presents users with a scenario and a fully explorable, 3D object. Different areas of the object can then be highlighted and interacted with (e.g. removing the back of a phone, unplugging the Ethernet from a PC tower, or ejecting the disk from a games console), with the final aim being to submit the object in an appropriate state for future testing.

Team (4):
Ben Luff (Designer)
Chris Winn (Designer/3D Modeller)
Louis Dimmock (Programmer)
Michael MacKinnon (Producer/Programmer)

Platform: Windows
Engine: Unity Engine
My Role: Producer and Programmer (Gameplay/Audio)

This is a preview of APCO Trainer. Read the full post (190 words, 5 images, estimated 46 secs reading time)

Cult V Cult: The Myxtery

Date: January 2016
Concept: You and your cult buddies need to work together to sate the hunger of Sassarilla the demon. Sassy has a craving for you and your friends delicious mortal bodies. Create the right concoctions as a team to keep Sassy at bay. Wait though, while you do that you need create your own secret (read not secret) potions to gain favour with Sassy and save yourself leaving your friends to be devoured.
Team (5):
Blair Gray (Designer)
Caitlin Goodale (Artist)
Glenn Patrick Cullen (Programmer)
Inka Nieminen (Artist)
Michael MacKinnon (Programmer)

Platform: Windows with PS4 Controllers
Engine: Unity Engine

This is a preview of Cult V Cult: The Myxtery. Read the full post (125 words, 4 images, estimated 30 secs reading time)

Legion

LEGION:
Date: May 2016
Concept: In Legion you play on one of two teams. Legion is a single consciousness made up from assimilated parts. Each consciousness adds to Legion with each assimilation brings something to Legion, allowing it to grow and become more. Legion has a singular directive, to make everything part of itself. It does not know why it does this only that it must. The rogue team consists of characters that are trying to avoid being assimilated by Legion. They need to avoid being caught at all costs. They need to outrun, outsmart and outmaneuver it if they want to remain themselves.
The game ends when either Legion has assimilated all the rogues or the game timer ends. If the game timer ends, the rogue team wins.

This is a preview of Legion. Read the full post (195 words, 3 images, estimated 47 secs reading time)

Dreams

Date: October, 2015
Development Time: 4 weeks
Concept: Dreams was a first-person, action-adventure-RPG originally designed by one of the winners of the BAFTA Young Game Designers award.

Team of 17
Platform: Windows, 1st Person
Engine: Unity Engine

Role: Producer

Extra Notes:
First term course project for Abertay University master’s students.
This game’s original concept was a BAFTA Game Concept Award (10-14 yrs) winner. Abertay was asked by BAFTA to develop the game concept further. In 5 weeks, a team of masters students who had not really worked together before were to come together to develop this game concept.
It was my job to be a producer for this team and this game.

This is a preview of Dreams. Read the full post (136 words, 5 images, estimated 33 secs reading time)