I'm Raven, a backend developer, 3D artist, and game developer, with an interest in Virtual Reality (VR).
I am currently working on multiple projects for Subsurface Studios, primarily Undead Logistics, but also including Relay, R3, Guardian, and others. I was previously one of two staff game developers working on Compensation VR, as well as the lead artist and the principal backend developer. I created the first-in-class standalone VR creation tools for Compensation, which served as one of its primary selling points.
I haven't worked on many particularly notable projects, but a few of the projects I am personally proud of are listed below. I hope you find them interesting.
Undead Logistics is a trucking simulator set in the post-zombie-apocalypse Cascades. You take control of a commercial driver, transporting crucial goods between the last bastions of humanity's presence in Washington State. Along the way, you will need to defend yourself from various threats (both undead and human), and negotiate with various settlements to ensure you still break even.
As you progress and gain more resources and connections, you will need to upgrade your vehicle to carry more varied and larger cargo. Beginning with a small and occasionally unreliable pickup truck, you will make your way to a box truck and eventually to a full-size tractor & trailer. You will need to upgrade, repair, and replace various parts on your vehicle to ensure it continues to run when you need it. All parts have real effects on your experience, and will force you to make tradeoffs with limited space, weight, fuel, and cash.
Compensation Social (CAS or CVR) was my first serious foray into game development, and it was where I learned the majority of my programming skills. I picked up C# & Javascript over the course of this project, as well as learning to use (and abuse) MongoDB and Firebase Cloud Storage.
I am particularly proud of the creation tools I created for CVR, as they were (at the time) unprecedented on standalone VR. I implemented a VR mesh editor along with material configuration and basic UV unwrapping tools for the Oculus Quest 1 & 2 as well as various PCVR headsets. I also added support for destructive boolean operations (union, subtract, intersect), transparent materials, and visually-accurate colliders. I also added a number of "gizmos" for CVR "rooms," such as post processing, realtime lighting, simple links between rooms and their subrooms, and simple text.
While developing the creation tools for CVR I also developed a bespoke importer for the OBJ Wavefront file format which improved import times from over 15 seconds to under 10ms on average. This made the OBJ import feature significantly more usable for players, as the previous implementation would simply hang the application for upwards of 10 seconds. This would cause a significant amount of motion sickness in most players, and was unacceptable from a user experience perspective.
One of the main projects I was in charge of at CVR was the development, maintenence, and administration of the Compensation VR backend, server, and API. It was written in node.js, although looking back this was not the best choice for our use case. We used MongoDB for the majority of our database needs, although we used Firebase Cloud Storage for anything potentially large (notably custom room save files and player-uploaded images). In retrospect, a well-designed relational database likely would have been a much better choice given our needs, but the MongoDB cluster worked well enough for the duration of CVR's existence.
I also made the vast majority of the clothing and player models for CVR, although I will admit they were not my best work as an artist. I served as the lead 3D artist at Subsurface Studios for the entire development period of CVR, and I still do a significant amount of 3D art work at Subsurface currently. If you are interested in my more polished works, you can view them on my portfolio page.
Relay is a 3D first-person story game following the story of June Anderson during a number of major events at Leviathan Corporation. Relay takes place in the same lore universe as Compensation VR and many other Subsurface Studios games, and develops quite a bit of that lore.
The initial goal of the game was to involve a number of technical gameplay elements (such as systems administration, electrical work, and others), although that has since lost the spotlight in favor of a more rich story.
Relay is a solo project developed entirely by me, although there will likely be voice actors involved other than myself. I also created all 3D models, textures, and music for the game.
Guardian is a driving simulator where you play as the car itself. The majority of your time is spent lying in wait, keeping track of the situation and keeping an eye on the vehicles around you. After all, the driver is the one in control, until you are needed. When necessary, you will intervene to brake, steer, accelerate, and even navigate as needed to prevent a collision. Failing that, keep them uninjured in the crash. Failing that, keep them alive, and get emergency services to the scene as fast as you can.
Join the ranks of the famed Leviathan Corporation Relay Rapid Response (R3) teams, along with up to 3 friends. Your job is to respond to emergent medical calls by air when no other first responders would make it in time. Your job is not purely medical, however, as there may still be threats to both the patient(s) and your team. Neutralize anyone causing harm, rescue as many patients as you can, and get everyone to a hospital. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The world of R3 will be entirely procedurally generated, with effectively infinite places to go and people to help. Detailed, refined, and accurate gunplay along with customization of your equipment allows you to perfect the kit that suits you. A detailed medical simulation system will challenge you at every step, forcing you to perform accurate, by-the-books interventions to save a patient (or teammate)'s life.
Occasionally, a major incident may require more than one team to resolve. With the help of other players, you can rescue people from the worst of disasters, both natural and man-made. If you're lucky, you may even be able to prevent further harm.