Games And Projects
© Jackson DeVico
Hi! I'm Jackson
(They/Them)
I'm a Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute about to graduate (depending on when you're reading this) in December 2024. I'm also a media researcher at The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, doing everything from video editing to creating immersive educational simulations.I'm fascinated with the iterative design process, particularly rapid prototyping, and thrive in diverse team structures. In addition to UI/UX design and team leadership, I'm also experienced with programming and 3D modeling.In my free time I love to cook, play games with friends, and hang out with my secretary (seen below). I'm also the manager of the Collar City Combo, a small improvisational jazz group that performs at events on or around campus.Feel free to reach out through this site or connect on LinkedIn! I'd love to hear from you.
© Jackson DeVico
Mea Culpa
Mea Culpa is a movement shooter that takes place in the main character's afterlife. The main mechanic is near complete darkness. The only light sources come from enemies and the player. Enemies spawn based on time, and the player must avoid attacks and shoot enemies to stay alive for as long as possible. The player has several weapons to choose from, and a light-emitting pylon they can grapple to.Initially, the game was developed as a project for Experimental Game Design at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute over the course of six weeks. Mea Culpa is currently being redeveloped for commercial release under a different title.
My contributions to the project
1. Producer/Project Lead2. Level Designer3. Sound Designer and Composer
Other team members: Sean Alcordo (programming), Jack Crosby (narrative), Tony Fausto (programming), Scott Visser (art)
Development Notes
The inspiration for the project was the prompt "unique mechanics". Our narrative designer pitched a movement shooter in total darkness. From this we developed two main design goals:1. The gameplay should revolve around light. Specifically, light should be treated as a resource. The player doesn't have much light, the player needs light, the player can and must create light.2. Movement and combat should feel fluid by default. If either are subpar, then they will end up being a distraction. The player should focus more on using light to find enemies and navigate, and less on platforming.
Front
Back
Above is the first iteration of the game level I created using Blender. Despite the obstacles, the player could see most of the level from most angles. This made illuminating areas very rewarding.I balanced open areas with tighter areas to encourage player agency and risk evaluation. Verticality provided more movement options, but had certain drawbacks. Playtesters were unfamiliar with the level and thus chose not to move around much unless they were being attacked.I wanted to restructure the map to encourage the player to move around more. Players didn't need to make drastic movements because they typically had a lot of space to operate in, and movement wasn't rewarded in any way. Enemies always come to the player, so the player doesn't have to seek them out either.Instead of giving the player open space to use however they want, the new design herded the player into smaller spaces with various escape paths. This makes it easier for enemies to restrict the player, which incentivizes them to move from room to room.
I sketched some potential level layouts, starting with basic shapes and combining them with corridors to create potential level cross-sections. I ended up using the bottom left sketch as a roadmap.One detail I wanted to include was a "one way" platform, or a platform that the player could jump down, but not back up (without using a movement ability).This new blockout (below) was made using the original sketch as a reference.
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Right
Back
The design connects a central area with other minor areas using corridors and choke-points. It's risky for a player to stay idle in corridors, as it is easy for them to be attacked from both sides, leaving no exit. This system can quickly feel like a dungeon-crawler, and to avoid this I made the central area function both as an open space and a pathway. All minor areas can easily access the central area through one or more corridors.
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Right
Back
Above is the retopologized map with additional level assets placed (made by our artist, placed by me). Most of the assets don't create additional obstacles for the player.Future updates and changes I am working on start with making the blockout less "blocky". The well defined corners and angular nature of many walls is good for gameplay, but bad for visuals. I have also started using in-engine tools to create blockouts instead of third-party software.Below are some screenshots from the final demo.
© Jackson DeVico
Water Treatment
The above project is a simulation of a waste-water treatment plant, loosely based on a similar treatment plant in Latham, NY. The simulation was developed in Unity Engine with 3D models made in Blender, and is displayed on EMPAC's immersive 360 screen.The intent of the project was to create a supplemental demo (or a replacement for) a tour of the Latham plant. The professor who proposed the project teaches an environmental engineering class at RPI, and the simulation has been shown to the class with good results.The simulation includes views of all the tanks in a step-by-step process of how water progresses through the plant, and the user is able to enable particles to show how debris, scum, and sludge are removed from the water. The terrain is also toggleable, so the underlying pipe structure can be made visible.Future plans of the project include the simulation of a drinking-water treatment plant, and adding interactive elements for students.
My contributions to the project:
I created the simulation on my own under the guidance of Dr. Eyosias Ashenafi and Dr. Samuel Chabot.
© Jackson DeVico
Breakdown
Breakdown was developed as the final project over four weeks for Intro to Game Design, a class I took in fall 2021. The prompt was to make a game that conveys a message regarding a social issue in a playful way. I pitched the idea of creating a team-based game in which players can have a "breakdown" that requires helping your teammate. The other four members of my group and I collaborated to combine several ideas related to mental health awareness and crisis management, and iterate until we had a refined, finished game.The gameplay of Breakdown is designed to become progressively more chaotic and overwhelming as each round progresses.For a detailed description of the iterative design process, please see the original game documentationNote: There are two versions of the game. The version detailed in the documentation uses a custom card deck that is slightly more balanced. The version detailed in the rule sheet and the slide deck is an altered version which uses two standard card decks in order to make game more accessible.
My contributions to the project:
1. The whole team collaborated to design the game, with my focus being on the breakdown mechanic, the speed of gameplay, and team dynamics2. Conducted playtesting3. Contributed to the design documentation
Other team members: Isabella Remedios, Dean Sarigumba, Scott Visser, Michael Zahavi
© Jackson DeVico
BONK
BONK is an award winning local multiplayer party game initially developed for Global Game Jam 2024 by two people. It has since been expanded upon and improved.The goal of BONK is to hit your opponents with a hammer. You earn one point if you bonk someone, two more points if you bonk another person, and three more points if you bonk a third. The amount of points needed to win depends on the number of players.BONK is the winner of the "Stupid Fun" award and finalist for the Grand Prize at GameFest 2024.
My contributions to the project:
1. UI/UX Designer2. Level Designer and Co-Game Designer3. Programmer (Unity Engine and C#)4. Sound Designer and Composer
Co-developed with Margaret Hons
Development Notes
The theme for Global Game Jam 2024 was "Make Me Laugh". Our main focus was on smooth development. Having a complete, playable, fun experience with as few bugs as possible was our top priority. Making something that is expandable in the future was our secondary goal.Movement options with a lot of open space, but also escape routes, was the focus of BONK's level design. Given the simple game mechanics of BONK, I also tried to integrate any interesting player interaction that could be encouraged from level design.
Playtesting feedback indicated the need for more map variety. To aid in this regard, I added moving platforms and jump-pads. The moving platforms can crush players (no resulting score change), and the jump-pads give a velocity boost in the direction of the jump-pad.The existing maps often lacked open space, which forced players to confront each other head-on. This wasn't very fun most of the time. Many platforms were also in inconvenient locations, leading to players unintentionally jumping into walls. To fix this, I spaced out platforms according to the distance a player could reasonably jump/fall, so that movement had fewer interruptions.Here are the levels designed during the game jam along with any changes they went through.
Map 1
No change. The point of this map is to introduce the players to the game. However, this may result in gameplay that is way too fast.
Map 2
No change. Few obstacles, well spaced apart, plenty of open space. This map is meant to be minimal and gets the job done.
Map 3
The tall platform was a staple of the original design, but the uneven ground was too difficult and slow to navigate and platforms were too close together. Simplifying the design allowed for faster movement.
Map 4
The original design was an interesting concept, but falling down had no consequences and there was no way to get back up. The new design has moving platforms (going right) which can crush players. Players can jump on top of the platforms and make it back up if they fall down, preventing slow and boring deaths.
Map 5
The original design had too many corridors where players could just stand and wait. The new design takes advantage of jump-pads to keep the tight upper corners of the original design.
Map 6
The original design wasn't terrible, but again had too many long corridors. The new design opens the map up a lot.
Map 7
The original design had no real escape routes. The new design is a bit more cyclical in terms of player pathing. The small change provides a bit more opportunity for players.The current iteration contains a total of 20 maps. You may also note how the art assets were modified to improve contrast and visibility.Some notable changes in UX between previous iterations and the current iteration are the inclusion of a countdown timer, diegetic health indicators, and screen transitions. All of these changes have the intended effect of slowing the pace of gameplay significantly. Previous iterations had rounds that often lasted only a few seconds, but the current iterations rarely has a round that lasts less than 15 seconds.
3 Health
2 Health
1 Health
Part of the effort to slow down gameplay involved increasing the health of the players from 1 to 3. In order to display how much health a player has, the player's backpack changes color. This solution does not add any more clutter to the screen and does not require players to look away from their character to know how much health they have. Using colors instead of numbers also decreases cognitive load.
© Jackson DeVico
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© Jackson DeVico