Highlights
Jeff Schubbe
software developer & game designer
Intro
Hello!
I am a programmer, designer, and game developer, working to craft experiences that will make people laugh, learn, and grow while pushing the boundaries of what interactive media has to offer.
Check out my work below.
Projects
Ultimate Flying Object (U.F.O.) Arena
Top-down shooter with polished mechanics and a host of other features, designed and programmed on the Nintendo Switch.
Here is an example of Game Builder Garage code (zoomed out) from U.F.O. Arena and what the editor interface looks like. Code organization with this visual language is a catch-22: keep Nodon close together but functionality blends together visually and connection wires overlap Nodon more easily; or move Nodon far apart to separate functionality but connection lines are longer and become harder to trace through the program. The best approach is somewhere in between. (Connections must be single line segments, making readability and organization difficult at times.)
Color Totems (2D)
A 2D puzzle game inspired by the 3D version and developed in the PuzzleScript engine.
Color Totems (2D)
Created With: PuzzleScript (HTML5 engine) Play in your browser! Leave feedback on Newgrounds! A neat puzzle game of mine, inspired by my Unity demo of the same name! Help Golem gather precious stones as he discovers a vast array of colors! Guide Golem, get Shiny! ==Controls== Arrows: Move Z: Undo move R: Restart level "The game starts simple, then goes for a complete mindblow..." -Newgrounds.com user Music attribution.
Legend of Alkior: The Impending Storm
An adventure RPG with a wide variety of gameplay ideas and features.
Supermarket Checkout
A calculator for a store's checkout line that considers special deals and sales.
Supermarket Checkout
This program represents a point of sale system at a supermarket that tracks the types of items a customer is purchasing and calculates their total cost. Calculations consider various pricing schemes, such as bundled items and varying tax rates. My solution is extensible so additional pricing schemes and functionality could be added in the future. Implemented with Java. Click here to see the source code on Github.
Color Totems
A 3D game demo with color-based gameplay rules.
Color Totems
Created With: Unity 3D (C#) Download for Windows! A prototype of a few original color-based gameplay rules. I coded a custom camera as well. The goal is to collect all relics in the area. The player can change the color of the relics by touching pillars. They can also change their own color by touching panels on the ground. Players can either shoot for completing the game with the fewest number of actions taken, the lowest elapsed time, or both! Keyboard controls by default are WASD, IJKL, and Spacebar. Includes controller support too! Music attribution.
Maze Generator
A maze generator and solver that can also be controlled by the user.
MineSweep Android App
A remake of the classic game Minesweeper, built to run on Android OS.
MineSweep Android App
Created With: Eclipse ADT (Java/XML) Download the APK for Android devices! A replication of the classic game of Minesweeper. Flagging mode can be toggled with the large flag button at the top. Varying difficulties are accessible via the dropdown, but they may be difficult to play on smaller screens as there is no zoom feature.
Sudoku (Console Application)
Sudoku in the command line, complete with file loading and saving.
Sudoku (Console Application)
Created With: Microsoft Visual Studio (C++) Download for Windows! This program reads an array of values from a file and inputs them into a Sudoku puzzle to be solved by the user. The user can start a new puzzle or start with a file that they previously saved. When creating a puzzle, the user does not need to include the completed Sudoku solution to be part of the puzzle input text file. When returning to a partially completed puzzle, there is also a check to make sure that the puzzle and save data loaded correspond with each other.
A Variation of War
A version of the classic card game War with additional decision-making.
A Variation of War
Created With: Netbeans IDE (Java) Download for Windows! View related UML diagrams! A variation of the classic card game War. The twist is that you now possess a full hand of cards that can be played in any order. However, this game is missing the actual "war" mechanic whereby you settle a tie by offering additional cards to a pot and then deciding the winner of the pot with one final play. Since ties are always awarded to the human player in this game, there is no chance of a loss. The number of cards played throughout the game is tracked though, so you can still shoot for a high score (or a "low score" in this case). The game's leaderboard is supposed to track local high scores, but that feature does not function entirely as intended.
WarioWare: D.I.Y. Micro Minigames
A collection of short minigames, designed and programmed on the Nintendo DS.
WarioWare: D.I.Y. Micro Minigames
This is a collection of minigames, each with a duration of only a few seconds, created with the WarioWare: D.I.Y. editor on the Nintendo DS. Each round the player is given a random game and must respond quickly to the prompt (such as "Sort!") in order to win. The goal is to clear as many games as possible before running out of lives. Gameplay in the video to the left shows the same games transferred over to the Nintendo Wii's companion game WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase. Microgames play the same on the Wii as the DS, except the touch screen controls (i.e. tapping with the stylus) are replaced by motion controls (i.e. point-and-click with the Wii Remote).
BreakOut
A remake of the classic game Breakout with a few twists.
Great-Great-Grandguy Goes Grasshopping
A puzzle game with a modest scope.
Fruity Frenzy!
A minigame where you collect a fruit.
Fruity Frenzy!
Created With: RPG Maker 2003 Download for Windows! A short mini-game, inspired by a request from a friend. You have one minute to collect the fruitiest fruit in the world! Art and sound assets are property of their respective owners.
DFA Minimizer
A C++ implementation of a known recursive algorithm.
DFA Minimizer
Created With: Microsoft Visual Studio (C++) Download for Windows! This project is an implementation of a known recursive algorithm that minimizes a deterministic finite automaton (DFA) to an equivalent DFA (one that preserves the regular language that it represents) that is comprised of the smallest possible number of states. A DFA is basically a state diagram/graph where the flow of the diagram will always go to the same output state given the same input state and input symbol/transition.
Huffman Compression
An implementation of Huffman codes used to compress an image file.
Huffman Compression
Created With: Microsoft Visual Studio (C++) Download for Windows! An implementation of Huffman codes to compress a PPM image file to an alternate file format, referred to as UDCPS (University of Dayton Computer Science). A provided .jar file from my professor can verify the accuracy of the compression by converting the file back to PPM format. PPM files are viewable with XnView software. Data structures and algorithms used include a binary heap, an unordered map (hash table), and preorder tree traversals.
Operating System Simulator
A program that simulates some of the functionality of an operating system.
Operating System Simulator
Created With: Microsoft Visual Studio (C++) Download for Windows! This program simulates some of the job scheduling, CPU scheduling, and semaphore processing of an operating system. It runs in the console command-line and I/O must be redirected to take a file as input. (Click here to find full details on the simulator's specifications.)
Fuzzy Logic Controller
An AI controller for a theoretical robot.
Fuzzy Logic Controller
Created With: MATLAB View the report! An AI controller for a theoretical robot, starting from varying locations, that must travel north along a straight line. The MATLAB implementation uses principles of fuzzy logic.
Elementary CPU Circuit Diagram
A circuit diagram for a simple computer with a 12-bit processor.
Elementary CPU Circuit Diagram
Created With: Logisim Pictured above: 12-bit Processor w/ 256x12 RAM Pictured below: Accompanying ALU (click the images to enlarge)Why games?
What makes games so great
I love games with a passion, and I want them to be the best that they can be, more than just a pastime. These are a few guiding principles that I will be keeping in mind for my future endeavors.
The design space of games is still vastly unexplored.
As such, I will continue to learn from new avenues of knowledge and improve my technical skills in order to drive my own contributions to game design and technology innovation. I will also encourage more people to be excited for and to actively seek out new experiences that attempt to fill this space.
Games are unique experiences that are to be shared with others.
Games provide sights and wonders and exciting moments that are unique every time they are played. These experiences provide a variety of emotions that their participants, whether player or spectator, can amplify through thoughtful discussion, camaraderie, or even fierce competition. Open criticism and deeper exploration of games can improve the medium in terms of quality and variety, so that is something I wish to encourage. Sharing my own games is also something that I find deeply rewarding.
Games are capable of providing redeeming value to the lives of their players.
It is important to remember why we play games and what they give us. Fun is easily one potential reason, but intrigue, wonderment, learning, and personal satisfaction are a few others. I hope to craft experiences myself that people will find both engaging and inspirational, which can perhaps give them a new perspective on their own lives or have them think in some new and interesting way.
Ultimate Flying Object Arena
Charge up, dash, and BLAST your way through this fast-paced top-down shooter to conquer The Arena and become the Ultimate Flying Object! U.F.O. Arena is a short arcade-style game, created with the Game Builder Garage (GBG) software on the Nintendo Switch. GBG is a potent tool for creating small games, and it can also be used to download a wide variety of games from the community. Programming U.F.O. Arena from scratch in GBG involved using the software's own visual "Nodon" programming language. You can think of each Nodon as a "function box" with input/output ports. Then, wire connections can be made between Nodon to send and receive signals or game data. I picked up on the language and unique programming methodology of GBG in a short timespan following its release. I also overcame a few of the engine's quirks and limitations while keeping as true to my original design as possible. Most of what I learned about the engine (such as how to use a particular type of Nodon) I learned simply by reading the comprehensive documentation manual included in the software. I was surprised to see that this documentation was structured quite similarly to that of more traditional programming languages (e.g. C++). For some more nuanced knowledge tidbits, I asked other members of the community. A single GBG game is limited to using only 512 Nodon and 1,024 connections in its programming. I worked hard to push the GBG engine to its limits and to optimize my implementation to meet this restriction while also meeting my own criteria for the design, including everything from mechanics and power-ups to enemy behaviors and visual feedback. I completed U.F.O. Arena with 512/512 Nodon and 861/1024 connections used. I don't take credit for the built-in assets of the software (e.g. character models, particle effects, music, sound effects), but I did take special care to implement and manipulate them where appropriate and to best complement the design of the game! (I did also draw custom textures for a few primitive objects.) Check out the game's trailer here and download the game yourself if you're interested in trying it! (Game Builder Garage software required.) Or, watch a full playthrough of the game here to get a better sense of the gameplay.