MISCELLANEOUS AND UNFINISHED PROJECTS

Apeshot

Most recent build (Windows)

Online arena FPS game. Under construction.

Machine Shop Check-In

Developed Spring 2025

During my time at HIDE, I worked as a back-end developer on a website designed to streamline the process of using machine shop located in the Minerals and Materials Engineering Building for engineering students and staff alike.

The project largely used the Python back-end Flask and used a SQLite database. I joined the project partway through and took over the work of a student who had left the enterprise, so I dealt with a lot of legacy code. My work included the development of the admin dashboard for staff, connecting front-end forms to communicate with the database on the back-end, and working with Google's authentication service to allow students to use their school account.

Wild West Waltz (formerly Rhythm Cowboy)

Developed Throughout Late 2024

GitHub
Itch.io

Developed using Unity, Wild West Waltz is a 2-player rhythm game about dueling cowboys who can only act when "draw" is called by the metronome (or on other beats to reward good timing). What exists now is ultimately just a prototype that I might return to one day. I began this game after I launched Squigley and started with the objective of having more readable, reusable, and overall better code.

Macro King

Actively Developed: October 2024 - December 2024

GitHub

Macro King is a nutrition and fitness tracking app that was developed by me and five others for my school's course Team Software Project. It was developed using Unity and C# because two of the team members were familiar with it, but in hindsight I wish we used Android Studio or something more focused on developing UI for mobile. Many members weren't familiar with C#, so I was often the acting lead and trying to catch people up to speed.

To collaborate, we used GitHub and Jira. We also utilized Scrum methodologies throughout the project.

SQUIGLEY

Actively Developed: August 2023 - August 2024

GitHub
Steam (Play for free!)

Summary

Squigley is a platforming game where you explore a massive 2D world, overcoming difficult obstacles using unique movement mechanics. The game was launched on Steam in August of 2024 after a year in development.

Developing Squigley

Technologies used: C#, Unity

I've developed Squigley during my first year in college. It started out as a very simple project to tinker around with Unity. It uses C#, which is a very similar language to Java, which I was currently taking and intro class for. As I was just learning how to program, there's a lot of atrocities in this codebase. Look closely at the GitHub repo and you can probably spot a good few flaws. I got better at programming as the project went on, but making the game taught me many pitfalls to avoid through firsthand experience.

Though I didn't have much experience with video game art and music at the time, I created all of the art and most of the music on my own. The only exception to this was the "true-ending" credits song "Cattails", which I recorded with some of my high school friends that I was in a band with. I did this because I wanted the game to have a cohesive art-style. Though it was all very ametuer, I was happy with the result.

After launch, the game recieved a few updates to address user feedback and bug fixes. The game was obviously not a huge success, but I wanted to make it as complete and as good as possible. The game went free-to-play in January of 2025.

SHORTY SHOOTERS

Actively Developed: September 2024 - December 2024

GitHub
Itch.io

Play online!

Summary

The little guys are bringing out the big guns.

Shorty Shooters is an online multiplayer 2-Dimensional shooter game. The objective is to get the most kills by staying in the ring and shooting your opponent while they're vulnerable. Where the game shines is its unique movement mechanics, where you can use the gun's recoil in order to launch yourself further.

Developing Shorty Shooters

Technologies Used: Godot, GDScript

Shorty Shooters was developed as a part of Husky Game Development, an organization at Michigan Technological University. The project took place over the course of one semester, as many of the six group members didn't have space in their schedules to continue with the project. I contributed mostly to programming the core gameplay loop and refining basic features like movement and shooting, while also doing some of the environmental art and character spritework. In this project, you can see the progress I've made in programming, game design, and pixel art since Squigley.

Our team developed Shorty Shooters while using agile methodologies and would document the process of development every two-week sprint.

Work Sample

Some updates have been made since the end of the semester the game was created, but all team members have moved on to work on other projects. You can download the game for free on itch.io if you'd like to try it out.

Credits

Developers
Nolan Casey
Matthew Echols
Jay Hawkins
Nicholas Minor
Caleb Werdon
Thomas Wilkins
Art
Matthew Echols
Jay Hawkins
Sound
Music by Zach Brouckman