Hi, I’m Aiden. I am a 22 year old transgender man and I love gaming. I have had a passion for it for as long as I can remember. From watching my parents play Little Big Adventure and Halo when I was young; to solo playing game series from Assassin’s Creed to The Sims; then to sessions online with my friends and family on CS:GO, Diablo or Ark; and now I am making beautiful and exciting games myself.
I have a higher second class BA (Hons) Degree in Game Design and have just finished my Masters Degree, specialising in UI Design.
Here is some of my work from MA . . .
Skye
I am very excited to announce that I am collaborating with Aurora Studios on their new game, Skye!
Skye is a hyper-realistic, indie, survival game set on the isle of Skye during the Viking period. I will be working closely with the developer to create the user interfaces and menus for the game. I am super excited to work on this project and I can’t wait for you to get your hands on the game!
Finding yourself washed up on the shore of an unknown island after your longship sinks at sea, you are left with nothing but your trusted axe by your side. You must survive both the elements and the island’s natural predators in a bid to find out how you came to be upon its shores.
Looking up from the beach to the vast landmass beyond, three words sear themselves into your mind.
Fear, Awe and Reverence.
Fear at what lies amongst those dark forests. Fear at being utterly alone and helpless against the elements and the insurmountable challenge ahead of you as you lay there wet, cold and hungry.
Awe as the sun cuts through the morning fog Illuminating the great snow-capped mountains in the distance.
And reverence, reverence for land which can give as much as it takes away. Reverence for a land controlled by those who commune not only with nature but with the gods themselves…
Rise, Warrior. For stories are not sung of men who die without an axe in their hand!
Head over to skyegame.co.uk to see all of the latest updates and features and make sure to go follow Skye on social media for some sneak previews! Blessaður Víkingar!
This is my design for the a first person shooter HUD with a shootout timer. I decided to go online and search for game screenshots. I found this and decided to
One of the features of my concept is the ability to rescale the in-game HUD. Although this ability has been showcased in a few games, it is not a mainstream
One of the features of my concept is the ability to change the colour of the in-game HUD. Although this ability has been showcased in a few games, it is
One of the features of my concept is the ability to customise the in-game HUD. Although this ability has been showcased in a few games, it is not a mainstream
After theorising that players could customise their game interface’s colour and layout, the next logical step is to rescale these elements. Many games already implement a slider to adjust UI
This cartoon style game is a 2.5D platform game. To create the extra dimension, there is be a background, mid-ground and foreground along with a 3D character in order to give visual depth.
Story
The game about a dog called Smudge. Smudge wakes up in a cave, lost and unsure how she got there. Scared and alone, she must face her own fears and her inner demons to find her owner again. As she begins to explore the cave, she meets a spirit, Astra, who takes pity on her and vows to guide her home safely. Astra teaches Smudge to hone her senses in order to see beyond the physical world and help her to explore the environment around her. After focusing her sight and smell abilities, Smudge finds clues that lead her to the edge of the forest where she is reunited with her owner.
Idea Origins
I originally had the idea for my game after losing my dog, Smudge, to cancer back in March 2019. She was a part of my family since I was a child so to suddenly lose her felt awful, and anyone who has loved a pet understands the difficulty and grief in putting them down. I wanted to make a game that reflects this unconditional love between humans and dogs.
My first idea was to make a game where the player character was a dog who had just died. The dog would be between worlds and could not pass on to the afterlife without their owner. The player would have to explore the veil, completing puzzles and fighting enemies, until they were reunited with their owner who had eventually died of old age.
With only a year and only myself to complete this project, I decided I would need to simplify the idea far more in order to meet my deadline. Instead, I settled on a game that very literally shows a lost dog trying to find their owner again, this can also be a metaphor for death and potentially being reunited again one day but does not require the storytelling and scale of the previous idea.
