NASA SUITS
Role – Programmer
NASA SUITS or NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students. I was apart of the CosmoShox 2025 team, which was one of ten schools that got to go to NASA , present and test their design, and get feedback from professionals. Out of those Teams we were one of the five chosen to create a simulated rover UI. We were partnered with Columbia University who was working on an AR UI for an astronaut. Both of our projects had to share information back and forth.
I was one of two programmers who was working in our chosen engine, Unreal Engine 5. We had other programmers working on a python server that would help send information and help create a best path for our rover to follow.
The hardest part of this project for me was getting the map to work. We had to make the rover, the “astronauts” from Columbia University, and the little rover that was on sight show up on the map. These were all real coordinates that had to be translated into our map coordinates. There was not much information on how this could be done in unreal engine.
From this project I learned a lot more about programming. Previously most of my projects have been with creatives, but our team was very diverse in majors. It was a great opportunity to learn who to make something with people outside of the creative field.
Learn more about NASA SUITS - https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/spacesuit-user-interface-technologies-for-students/
Parasite Zero
Role – Artist {UI & Set Dressing}
This is a game was made by the class of game design 3 students at Wichita state university. We all came together to create this game in a semester.
Itch page - https://shockerstudios.itch.io/parasite-zero
Everyone picked a group they wanted to work in – Programmers, Artists, and Design. We also voted on a producer. I chose to be an artist and was the first producer for our game. As the producer I spent my time making sure people were working on things and keeping track of what people were working on. I kept track at first using a GitHub kanban board but then moved into a Google sheet.
As an artist I my jobs were the UI, art for the itch page, and Set dressing.
For Set dressing we used packs from Synty Studios polygon packs. I only did one section in the first level. The other artists had bigger sections and also set dressed the boss level. My section was very confusing to get around in which meant I had to make sure the player could know where to go.
For UI I had to make a lot of assets for the menus and puzzle mini games. The menus, minus the main one, I wanted to make them like a sci-fi screen so the color scheme was blue. The HUD is red like colors to match the fleshy mutations that you get as abilities. I also wanted the HUD to match the low poly style that our game had from using the low poly assets from Synty Studios.
From this project I got to work with a lot more people, get experience as a producer and learn more about UI art in Unreal engine. Before this project I hadn’t used Widget Animations, but It was a good experience that lead to more learning.
Nuts For You
Role – Background Artist
This game was made at Wichita State University as someone else’s practicum (Final Project). I joined this project cause working on a squirrel dating sim seemed really fun.
Steam Page - https://store.steampowered.com/app/3466470/Nuts_For_You/
For this project I drew four backgrounds. I was given a map of the game’s world, and reference pictures. The first background I made I originally made it a little cartoony, so I adjusted the style seen on the 2D Game Art Page.
This project was fun and had a great team working on it. We meet often to talk about our progress and get feedback on our pieces.
I learned more about environmental illustrations and gained a lot of practice with outside perspective.
Double Action
Role – Artists {Concept & 2D}
This is a game made by two other students at Wichita State University in our game design 2 class. We had 2-3 weeks to make this game.
Itch page - https://jaedonwallace13.itch.io/double-action
I made enemy concept art near the being so we could get the enemies modeled in time to add to our game. I also was in charge of creating Icons for the HUD and Icons that would be placed in level. The HUD icons show what the player is holding now. The in world icons are meant to denote what action the player needs to take.
I was given instructions on what the icons and enemies should look like and what feeling they should make the player feel. I then went into creating.
Helloween Haunt
Role 3D Artist
This game was made at Wichita State University as someone else’s practicum (Final Project). This project was the first project I worked on that wasn’t mine. I originally joined to be a background artist, but the role got filled so I became a 3D modeler.
itch page - https://cdrakeparker.itch.io/helloween-haunt-demo
For this project I made a corn that would shed its husk, a pumpkin that would break into pieces, and a scythe that the main enemy would swipe at the player with.
This project gave me more confidence in my skill and I was proud of what I created.