Self-Assessment
My name is Jack Steele, and I have been working as a software developer in the suburbs of Cleveland for the past 6 years. With my degree in Game Programming & Development here at SNHU, I am hoping to make a shift in my career into the gaming industry. I chose these items for my capstone portfolio to show the variety of my skill range. They cover both 2D and 3D projects, with the usage of projectiles and enemy AI in each. They also cover development in graphical components, through textures, materials, and particles, as well as audio components with different 2D and 3D audio queues.
My work throughout the Game Programming & Development courses has provided me with the skills necessary to begin a career as a gameplay programmer. I have learned so much and have become comfortable working within the Unreal engine. The knowledge I have gained regarding gameplay components and the game development with also help me in broadening my skills and working within other game engines. I hope that these projects demonstrate these abilities by showing how I had refined each project and improved my skills as I progressed through my coursework.
While developing these projects I also strived to apply the best programming practices to my work. Through extensive testing and multiple iterations, I was able to ensure that all of my projects were able to run without errors from start to finish. I also did my best to make projects the least resource-intensive they could be to help them run smoothly. I’m sure there is still much to learn regarding how to further improve my work, but I am proud of what I have been able to create up to this point.
I will use what I have learned thus far to continue a career in the gaming industry. The skills I have gained provide a great foundation to build from by either continuing to improve in the Unreal engine or expand my skillset in other engines. In my time of working as a software developer in the medical field, I have found that there is always more to learn, and that you should always be opened to learning it. I plan on using that same approach as I enter the gaming industry.
However, my capstone project did come with it’s fair share of challenges. I ran into several issues with my online project repositories. This required me to really dig in and troubleshoot these issues and, in some cases, completely scrap and recreate the repo. However, reviewing online resources and documentation did leave me with a much better understanding of using tools such as SourceTree and Bitbucket. The other main challenge I faced was time. Along with my studies, I have also been working full-time as a software developer, and part-time for an independent game studio that I had started with my cousin and a small group of our colleagues. Balancing all of this required precise balancing of my workload and effective use of my time.
Along my technical knowledge, I have also learned about the ethics in game development. First and foremost, that my work will always be my own work. Taking credit for the work of others is something I view as unacceptable, but I have heard of far too many cases of this happening from friends in the industry. Creators work too hard to not get the recognition they deserve. The other main point I will carry throughout my career is that my games should be able to be played by anyone. I will do my best to further inclusivity in any project or company I may be a part of in the future. This could be anything from incorporating proper subtitles to adding support for different user peripherals such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller. I hope that the use of proper ethics can help me make a positive impact in the industry that has been such a big part of my life.
