Jack Slaski

September 2022 Games Jam

Using Unreal Engine for the first time, myself and 4 others made a first person maze game titled: "Maze Hunter". The game was developed over the span of 4 days with it being many of the teams first game. My primary contributions were the map and loading screen.

Mario Bros Game - SDL 2.0

This mario brothers project made in an SDL framework in 8 weeks. Its my first two player game and has an endless scoring system. A large proportion of this game was made using guided tutorials however there are many custom aspects such as the gameplay loop.

Horracman - S2D Horror Pacman

A horror 2D Pacman Game using an S2D framework. Done over the course of 10 Weeks and helped me learn and gain a fundamental grasp of C++.

2D Side Scrolling Game

This was my first Unity 2D project and helped to improve my knowledge and understanding of engines such as unity. Done in 4 Weeks with a framework and guided tutorials.

Beat The Blob - 2D Platformer

My second Unity 2D project, a platformer named, "Beat The Blob", where the concept is to escape and kill the blob before making it to the end. This was made using a preset framework, limited tutorials, and was done in 4 weeks.

Zombies Vs Robbers - Top Down Shooter

This was my third Unity 2D project, this was my favourite project so far and its clear I am starting to gain a far better understanding of unity, especially 2D. This project was done in 4 Weeks with a framework and guided tutorials.

UE5 Niagara System - Fire Visual Effects

This was my first attempt at making visual effects using the Unreal Engine Niagara system. The effects were made for a fire mage/wizard concept character, here is my Design Document and Showcase. This was completed in 9 weeks and I was very pleased with the outcome. I also found that I enjoyed the process and creation of these effects more than my other projects so far even though it was made on a framework that didnt fully fit work with my aesthetic.

UE5 C++ - Test Environment Showcase

This was my first UE5 C++ project, and it was used as an introduction to coding in C++ with engines. This test map consists of a working ammo system, projectile and target system, item pickup system and an AI behaviour tree system. I also have working C++ menus, as well as health and score systems for the game loop. I found this project very challenging and had to use some blueprint to help glue all the scripts together.

Unity - Game AI

For this module, I had to code different AI algorithms including different steering behaviours, group movements and pathfinding. Below is my AStar pathfinding showcase video with two optional settings; 'Can Cut Corners' and 'Allow Diagonal' movement. I was able to complete everything in this module except for JPS pathgfinding. I also implemented fuzzy state machine decision making for the final scene which is not show below.

UE5 Tools Development - Maze Tool Showcase

In this module I was tasked with making a custom UE5 tool. The tool I decided to create was a maze generation tool. After finding inspiration, researching, concepting and creating a horizontal prototype I started to make the vertical prototype in blueprint. Following my technical design document I was able to create the tool below. However, unfortunately I wasnt able to transfer the system to C++ and instead had to leave the system made in blueprint.

UE5 UI Creation - UI Showcase

For this module, we were tasked with creating a UI for the RPG framework. This included a player UI as well as spatial UI, and menu UIs including shops, inventories, and a player menu. This is one of the most enjoyable modules I have taken in my time at the University of Staffordshire. This work is also one of my favorite peices of work and one that I am extremely proud of. I really enjoyed creating and implementing the UI for this framework.

UE5 Junior Collaborative - Wild Magic Game

In this module, I was a part of Group 29 for the 2024 Junior Collaborative module. In the group, I was tasked with creating the UI and VFX aspects for the project (all of the UI art was done by artists, I purely made the design, layout, and functionality for it). This was a very fun module as it was great to work as part of a team for a project. I am very proud of how the project turned out with the UI being very sleek and functional.