Hi there, I'm Conner!

I am a video game producer who is passionate about delivering boundary-pushing and impactful gaming experiences.

Lifelong learner. Voted "Most likely to ask questions". If you ever want to chat you can find me at my email or on twitter.

Time:
1 Month

Framework:
SDL

Language:
C++

PLAY

GITHUB

Basic RPG is a basic, turn-based combat game. You play as a pest-control knight, cleaning out the stray monsters who have made their home in the castle dungeon.

Created as part of a self-driven effort to learn C++, my priority with this project was writing robust, maintainable code using OOP principles.

TEAM SIZE: 1

Programmer

C++ Experience

I wrote all of the code for this project. A few noteworthy additions I made:

Implemented a State Stack to facilitate the many different game states of an RPG
- Check out: StateMachine.h, DungeonState.h, and BattleState.h

Utilized SDL libraries to add graphics and user input to the game
- Check out: SDLfounation.cpp and Texture.cpp

General Experience

This project was created during an exercise I called "Month of Code" - A month-long (and some change), self-driven effort to learn as much as I could about C++. I wanted to create a final project for the end of "Month of Code" where I could apply what I had learned and have something to show at the end for all my efforts.

I came up with the idea to create a simple battle system in the style of an RPG because it would require minimal graphics and controls, involved a lot of work with data management, and was just a genre of game that I'm interested in making. (I've always been a big fan of RPGs like Paper Mario or Undertale)

I chose to use SDL as a framework for the project because it works closely with standard C++ and provides you with minimal resources for assembling a game compared to engines like Unity. I thought it would be a good challenge to try and work with a more bare-bones tool set this time around.

Coming out the other side, it was a great (and humbling) experience having to figure out how to manage all of the game's resources using only SDL's libraries and my own C++ code. I learned immensely more about making a game doing this than I have using other larger engines.

While I faced a lot of doubts and tough errors on this project, and I wish I could have made its presentation a little more engaging, I'm incredibly proud of the work I have done here.

Production Experience

Despite this being a short solo project, there was still a lot of planning that needed to go into its development. Here are the noteworthy things I handled:

Handled task creation and milestone documentation
- Due to the short deadline and tight budget for this project, every day needed to count.
- Created an outline for milestones at the start of production. Prior to each week I went in and outlined tasks in more detail.
- Since I was the only developer on this project I could afford to get very granular with task creation, scheduling things out hour-by-hour for each day.

Monitored Budget
- Aimed to spend $0 working on this project. Sought out educational C++ resources online that were free and reputable.
- Focused on scheduling project accurately to help save money. I took time off of work for this project, so the more time spent on it = the less money brought in.

Maintained project timeline
- Established deadline
- Re-evaluated deadline when it was clear the original deadline wouldn't be met
- Project was completed by new deadline

Established a work schedule
- I worked weekdays, 9:00-5:00. This was to build a natural rhythm that would transfer well into the professional industry.

Basic RPG

Programmer

Producer

Engine:
Unity

Language:
C#

Time:
1 Month

PLAY

GITHUB

Path of Ancestry is a card-battler rogue like. You play as warriors from rival clans journeying up the "Path of Ancestry" to discover the truth about their origin.

Initially created as an entry for the Global Game Jam 2023. Due to power outages, we were not able to implement all of our intended features by the jam deadline.

After the jam, we jumped back into the code and took a few more weeks to polish the game out to a degree we were content with.

TEAM SIZE: 6

Programmers

Artist

Sound

General Experience
With only a week to finish the game, I ended up jumping into the code late for this game due to a power outage the first three days of the jam. With many of the base systems already implemented by other programmers on the team, most of my time on this project was spent learning and working with a pre-established code base.

C# Experience

I helped out in a variety of areas on the project. A few noteworthy additions I made:

Following MVC principles, I created a PlayerView class. It handles which animations should play for the Player while in battle.
- Note: This is an old commit which contains my original code. Current version contains others' edits
Implemented a loading screen and hint system which displays new hints with each level
- Note: Lines 24/30 with the SoundEffectsController were implemented by a partner. All the rest is my own code
I created a Victory and Defeat coroutine for the battle scene

I was very deliberate with taking time to trace out how systems were built in order to build on top of them effectively. We followed an MVC design pattern for the code in this game. It was my first time using this sort of design pattern, so I took extra care to learn its rules and ensure that my code would follow its guidelines closely.

Unity Experience

Created battle animations using Animation Controllers on UI Components, further increasing the expressiveness of battles

Production Experience

My adaptability and creativity were pushed to their limits with this project thanks to power outages and other weather challenges. Here is what I managed:

Handled task creation and milestone documentation
Handled outreach and recruitment
Set up documentation, GDD
Facilitated communication and resolved conflicts between different teams
Ran stand ups to check in on team progress, learn what roadblocks were holding us back
Adapted to weather challenges and power outages, delegating tasks to help offset those incapacitated
Set up itch.io page

Path of Ancestry

Producer

Gameplay/Animation Programmer

Engine:
Unity

Language:
C#

Time:
3 Days

PLAY

GITHUB

Bot-sa Nova is a humorous puzzle game where you tether together broken robots and move them collectively towards the goal.

As a producer, I helped write documentation and organized stand-ups. I also worked as one of two C# programmers, handling the player movement, player animation states, and player audio.

Created for the GMTK Game Jam with the theme "Joined Together", our team placed #203 out of 5500+ submissions!

TEAM SIZE: 4

Programmers

Artist

Musician

General Goals
Due to the tight deadline for this project, I aimed to prioritize efficiency and consistency in my work without sacrificing the game's quality or humor. This led to me using tutorials to help implement systems faster and pushing for our group to descope the project in some areas.

C# Experience
I worked on scripts that facilitated player movement, player animation state, and player audio. The majority of this code can be found in the script titled 'RobotController.cs'.

Grid Movement

One mechanic our team wanted for the game was having the robots' movement locked to a grid. However, we were having some trouble implementing this feature at first, and didn't have time to keep experimenting.

To speed things up, I referenced the following tutorial (https://youtu.be/mbzXIOKZurA) and adapted it to fit the already-established movement code in RobotController.cs. After some tweaking, we got the results we wanted!

Unity Experience

TileMap
Animator Controller
Canvas components (for UI)

Bot-sa Nova

Producer

Gameplay/Animation Programmer

Engine:
Unity

Language:
C#

Time:
4 Months

PLAY

GITHUB

Embers of Regret is a moody, escape-room game that focuses on simple puzzles and environmental storytelling.

I was the project's sole programmer and handled everything from the Player Movement, to Enemy AI, to Puzzle Design, and more. I also helped maintain the GDD and the Development Timeline.

Beyond code skills gained, I also gained better communication skills and project management skills from this experience.

TEAM SIZE: 3

Programmer

Artists

General Goals
For a project of this scope, I focused on writing maintainable code that was well-commented.

This is the project where I began to focus more heavily on reading documentation and organizing assets in productive arrangements.

C# Experience

Coroutines

Our team wanted player movement that was "on-rails" (similar to a "point-and-click" game), but with the option to change course midway.

Being able to stop and start coroutines allowed me to implement that functionality. You can see more how I implemented this feature in the script here: MouseInteract.cs

Method Overriding

Our team wanted a variety of different GameObjects to be "interactable" (e.g. perform a behavior when clicked on). But the behaviors we wanted objects to perform varied greatly.

To facilitate this, I created the virtual method 'Selected()' in ObjectInteractable.cs. I then had scripts for each different interactable object inherit from 'ObjectInteractable.cs', and override 'Selected()'. (EX: DrawerInteract.cs )

'Selected()' is called in MouseInteract.cs to run in the GameObject marked as "interactable" that the Player clicks on

Unity Experience

Resizing and Positioning models in editor
NavMeshes, NavMesh Agents
Raycasts
Canvas layers to set up UI

Production Experience

My first game project working with a team, I championed consistent communication and was proactive about seeking feedback amongst team members. This was one of my longer projects, so I highly prioritized having team members pace themselves and scheduling weekly deadlines to avoid burnout.

Helped recruit team members
Maintained GDD
Worked with all team disciplines to establish work flow, accountability

Conner Arrington Games Producer

Time: 1 Month

Framework: SDL

Language: C++

PLAY

GITHUB

Basic RPG

Programmer

Producer

Engine: Unity

Language: C#

Time: 1 Month

PLAY

GITHUB

Path of Ancestry

Producer

Gameplay/Animation Programmer

Engine: Unity

Language: C#

Time: 3 Days

PLAY

GITHUB

Bot-sa Nova

Producer

Gameplay/Animation Programmer

Engine: Unity

Language: C#

Time: 4 Months

PLAY

GITHUB

Embers of Regret

Gameplay Programmer

Producer

Conner Arrington
Games Producer

Time:
1 Month

Framework:
SDL

Language:
C++

Engine:
Unity

Language:
C#

Time:
1 Month

Engine:
Unity

Language:
C#

Time:
3 Days

Engine:
Unity

Language:
C#

Time:
4 Months