Davis Snider
Davis Snider
Game Designer and Programmer
About Me
My passion for game development has been a driving force throughout my life - from an early age when I used to create my own board games from the other games we had around the house, to my first efforts at video game design in middle and high school, to my enrollment at Rochester Institute of Technology where I am currently pursuing a degree in Game Design and Development.
Whether in an engine like Unity or Unreal Engine where I work on video game projects with a team of other RIT students or on pen and paper as I design and balance my own tabletop rpg systems, you can almost always find me working on my latest design challenge. I’m versed in a wide variety of programming and scripting languages from C++ and C# to visual scripting with Blueprints in Unreal. I’ve always had a deep, intuitive sense of what makes games fun and that sense is what drives me to create, striving to design the best possible experience. It has always been my dream to be a video game designer and I am eager to take the next steps in my professional development.
I’m actively seeking internships in the games industry and am always interested in new and exciting opportunities. You can see some samples of my work on my github. Feel free to reach out to me at dls7470@rit.edu or (540)750-1740.
Projects
Phantom Frame
Camera-Based Horror Game
Phantom Frame is a first-person survival horror game with a unique camera mechanic: there are various "supernatural" entities (monsters or objects) that can only be seen in the photos that you take with your instant camera. The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 4 and I serve as the wirter and lead programmer on the project. Design descisions are all a joint effort by me and my teammate. Check out the game's website!My contributions:
- Implemented AI behaviors for enemy monsters using C++ Tasks and Services and Unreal's Behavior Trees
- Programmed all functions of the player character from movement to interaction
- Designed and implemented a post process shader as an accessibility feature for deaf or hearing-impaired players
- Created an extensible system for environment objects that can be interacted with
- Set and enforced coding standards for the team
- Maintained git repo and oversaw branching strategy
- Wrote specs for the core game loop based around desired player experience
- Created the game's website from scratch
Entangled
3D Puzzle-Platformer
Entangled was a short-term project I worked on with a team of five. We primarily developed the demo as a test of our Unity skills. The game's core mechanic is the player's ability to control two instances of themself that can both interact with different parts of the world, but not each other. I worked as our Lead Gameplay Programmer. The code is available on github.My contributions:
- Implemented a system for handling multiple instances of the player including death and respawning
- Developed a system for moveable blocks used in puzzles
- Designed and iterated on levels to create good, cohesive puzzles
Gungi/War Council
Abstract Strategy Game in Three Dimensions
Gungi (or War Council) was a side project I started as a chance to work on something a little different. The game is similar to chess and shogi (Japanese chess), but with the ability to stack pieces on top of each other. It is based on a game appearing in the popular anime Hunter X Hunter using a ruleset developed on Reddit (with a few modifications made by me after playtesting). The game makes heavy use of Unity's Canvas UI system for all of the interactable features. I didn't have time to finish the project during the month or so I worked on it, but I'm planning to return to it the next time I get a chance.My contributions:
- Wrote an event-based system for handling players taking turns
- Built a "chess engine" from scratch to check for check, checkmate, and illegal moves
- Created algorithms to determin all legal moves at any given time
Project Rose Garden
Turn-Based Stealth/Strategy Game
Project Rose Garden was a somewhat longer term project that I used primarily as a way to learn Unity. Rather than use plugins, libraries, or pre-written algorithms, I im plemented all the features myself. I tackled many challenges while working on this project and learned a lot! I have since moved on to other projects, but working on this game was invaluable in developing my skills early in my career.My contributions:
- Implemented a custom version of the A* pathfinding algorithm for mapping characters' range of movement
- Programmed a manager class to handle entity updating and turn-taking
- Creted a dialogue system and editor tools to easily add and update dialogue
Resume
Contact Me
Feel free to reach out to me at via email at dls7470@rit.edu or over the phone at (540)750-1740.