f shane sumsion
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discovery

in my former academic studies i found great personal growth in the expression of architecture, from initial design concept, through final interactive presentation

one former academic fulfillment culminated in
digital windows, which today is commercially conceptualized as 80o by dynamic design solutions

my recent studies engaged entertainment arts at the university of utah's internationally recognized eae:mgs program

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entertainment arts

master games studio of the entertainment arts and engineering graduate program at the university of utah

game arts projects
from concept art
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ship interior »
required to be built from existing game's concept art
in unreal4, targeted at 4k @ 60fps, using 4k maps
play it!
from references
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natural elements »
for portfolio development, from industry pro visitors, i chose to develop skills in natural landscape asstes
in unity5, targeted at mobile platforms, per hypothetical test
play it!
environmental art
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urban plaza »
based upon idea of a self-defined art test
originally spec'd to be 10 buildings totaling 30k-tris, with instanced plaza geometry — the final sported 9 buildings with a raised roadway, instanced geometry and a more complex plaza'scape in consultation with course instructor
low-poly building
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grand america hotel tower »
choice of several large local buildings
project requirements were a 3k-tri budget and a 1024 space for each of the diffuse, normal, and specular maps

approached modeling of quad-symmetry of the building from a poly conscious perspective
spatial texturing
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plastic blocks! »
provided with a low-poly model of an lit and composed alley

this was a great opportunity to have some fun with a childhood favorite, while maintaining believable scale
tile'able 512 space for diffuse, normal, and specular maps
z-brush texture
Picture
riddled wall »
create a tile'able texture, tile within tile

i was interested in the idea of creating a smaller tile within a larger tile'able texture — the results were not optimal, more exploration is needed to refine this concept
tile'able 512 space for diffuse, normal, and specular maps
low-poly weapon
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cannon pod »
while the original idea proved to be out of scope, thus being over poly-budget — there are clear opportunities to further reduce polys through baking of the high-poly structure and rust onto a low-poly spheric body
developed from various thumbnail sketches, then rendered in photoshop, then finally modeled with an 8k-tri limit and max 1024 space for diffuse, normal, and specular maps

coursework sketches
sketches

various subjects were assigned from week to week

studio-simulated game design projects

mobile + moai
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lights out »
you are Sparky — trying to find your way home through the great beyond after having been stripped from your cozy light-socket by the mischievous Dust Bunnies 
touch where Sparky is to go, find batteries as you dim, and avoid the pesky lightning Bolt
riff the 80′s
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----- blocks »
the requirement was for us to pick an early 80's game to riff on the mechanics of — for what we chose, block busting was core, but the 'why' you bust the blocks is the twist — oh, and be warned, stomping doesn't fly
in order to maintain a clear reference to the 80's origins — we might have toe'd the line a bit too close visually
deck of lenses : 38
competition vs cooperation
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catacomb escape »
how did you get behind this lock gate in a catacomb chamber — and who is that over there — and why is there a big red button in this cell, that doesn't open my gate?
as a network based two-player only game — the core of this first-person cooperative puzzler is to work 'together' while never quite being sure if your 'partner' will beat you to the next exit — leaving you high and dry
publish prototype win8 game

see win8 contest award below
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protocol: transcendence »
save the galaxy as a recently recruited infiltrator — the fact that you're a janitorial-bot makes you the perfect 'invisible' spy — that evil empire will never transcend our rebellion
drag your infiltrator to the brief-case and portal off of the ship before the imperial minions radar you — evade with your emp, decoy, and teleport

[art backlog assistance from producer travis turner]

studio-based thesis game development :: team rising cockroaches

prototype : race with choice
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neophasma »
can we maintain the head-to-head nature of racing while giving the player choice in path?
various segments of the race track are types of 'forks' in the raod — able to flip and twist to allow the player to race on the underside of the track
prototype : though inventory
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make a man thinketh »
what will be the experience of indirect interaction with npc's through swiping and pushing thier thoughts via a thought inventory system
[art by producer ryan butcher]
currently in final stage of prototype development
game : point and think
one of the two thesis prototypes which as developed into the final published thesis game
  • web
  • android
  • iOs
  • desura [pc and mac]
Picture
point and think »
experimental point and click adventure game, where the player interacts with NPCs' thoughts to manipulate their behaviors, rather than the environment, in order to progress through an interactive and light-hearted story
developed, like all of the prototypes, using agile | scrum
dev team of 6 -- published on android and iOS
[environment art by me]
[character art by producer ryan butcher]

extra curricular

global game jam
2014
we don't see things as they are — we see them as we are
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more betterflies »
see things as they 'really' are within your sphere of influence
schrodinger's uncertainty applies — because, just by seeing collectibles in the game, you change what they really are
2015
what do we do now
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space marbles »
battle the other galaxy in the ultimate arena — marble style
relatively speaking: 100th anniversary of einstein’s theory of general relativity, which explained that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time


team-project awards

2014 modev contest for win8 app development

first place in public voting from among 100 modev selected apps
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grad prototype

student-team, 
national competition

protocol: transcendence »

published to the win8 app store,
this is a great honor of recognition
also, see our fb page

 

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