ALEX STACKHOUSE
I love to learn, and as an avid video game enthusiast my life has always revolved around the gaming industry. With a BA in Arts, Technology and Emerging Communications focusing on Game Design from The University of Texas at Dallas, I will take this passion for knowledge and games to the next generation of entertainment.
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PROFESSIONAL OUTLOOK
Where I Am. Where I’m Going.
I love the questions "How does that work?" and "How can that work?". It gives me energy to work on a problem and find solutions that few have considered. Solving problems and creating the solutions is a large part of my interest in game design to begin with.
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Creativity is key, not only in the design of a tangible piece of art but also within inter-personal relationships.
LEVEL DESIGN
Energy Blue
Energy Blue is a 3d platforming level that I created from scratch using Unity 2017 as an homage to Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. The player has a punch to fend off enemies as well as a double jump to move around the level and reach collectibles. The player jumps from platform to platform to collect purple orbs, yellow power cells, and hidden grey fuses.Â
This is designed as a tutorial level for the beginning of a much larger game, and as such has the player introduced to breaking boxes, jumping, fighting and the energy blue powerup in a relatively safe environment.
Special Thanks to AxeyWorks for the model pack as well as the people from freesounds.org for the audio.
ENVIRONMENTS
Fireworks Display
This is a fireworks display created in Unity using Maya for the modeling and texturing and Shuriken for the particle systems. I made this scene to be a single still camera environment with the idea that it would be a title screen for a game.
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Special thanks to Unity for their water, CloudsToy for the fog, and the people at freesounds.org for the audio.
GAME DESIGN
Phase
Phase is a 2d puzzle game where the player must navigate to the goal by changing their transparency level thereby interacting with different platforms. While completing the puzzle the player must avoid enemy projectiles and beat the boss at the end of the prototype. The player drops orbs that are controllable and can reach places the player cannot.Â
Made in GameMaker Studios, this game was created in one week as part of a rapid prototyping exercise.
EDUCATION
I spent my time at UTD taking every class I could about game design, from Scripting for Games and Level Design 2 to Interaction Design and Virtual Environments. All spread between Game Design 1 & 2 as well as four semesters of coding classes to understand what the computer is doing not just how to make it do a task.
BA, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS
December 2017 - Graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Arts, Technology & Emerging Communications.
Relevant Classes:
Game Design 1 and 2,
Level Design 1 and 2,
Scripting for Games (Unity),
Virtual Environments,
Interaction Design,
Computer Science 0, 1, 2, and 3
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CONTACT ME
Thank you for reviewing my portfolio. Please get in touch to find out more.