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Raylib: Normal Mapping On Billboard Sprites

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:15:07 +0100

I’ve been working on a raylib game engine mainly just to work on something while I job-hunt. It helps keep my mind focused on something and makes me happy. Making software and games tends to do that. I picked raylib, a C++ graphics library, because it popped up on searches and reported to be a pretty easy to get into framework. For the most part, that’s kinda true.

I have, at the time of writing, hit some issues with trying to set up my rendering pipeline. Trying to set up both PBR and deferred shading took so much longer than ideal mostly because the examples on their website don’t all work. Many don’t appear to have been updated properly to consistently function, such as the deferred shading example. But! I was able to power through, and with a lot of trial and error, not to mention liberal use of debugging software, I was able to get my pipeline working.

Developer Assignment for Softgames

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:18:00 +0000

Assignment Link

As part of an interview, I was required to work on a this technical assessment. There were three parts I was encouraged to meet but then expand on creatively. Naturally for me, I worked on the technicals and game engine first as I know what to build and how to put it together quickly.

The main idea was to use ‘Stages’ and ‘Scenes’, a variation on a state machine where different ‘screens’ are represented by a ‘Scene’ which is then hosted on a stage, each of which is then held on a ‘Stage’. It’s a pretty simple idea.

Bear Money

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:40:34 +0000

What is this?

A simple spins with a Cash Collector mechanic. If enough hampers and a bear symbol lands, the hampers are triggered and will pay out. It’s a pretty fun theme for a generally pretty straighforward game.

Jin Chan Cash

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:23:42 +0000

Jin-Chan Cash

What is this?

A Chinese themed Cash Collector game where particular coin symbols land with a value. They only pay out when a frog symbol lands and there’s enough coin symbols.

Something Fruity

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:23:32 +0000

Official Link

What is this?

Simple spins game with Free Spins. Get enough scatters, get some Free Spins. Adds a pretty Harlequin character for a wide Wild symbol. Also, space-y music.

Bar and 7s

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:23:21 +0000

What is this?

A simple reels game with two special bonuses that only land if the special bonus symbol lands, spelling out ‘BONUS’.

One bonus game involves a wheel that just spins, handing out Free Spins.

The other bonus game has three wheels where the player clicks one and it spins. The wheel lands on one of three coloured spaces. Once the matrix above is filled in one of the three rows, a bonus pot is awarded that corresponds to that row. The smaller the area on the wheels, the harder it is to win.

Mega Cherry

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:23:10 +0000

Link

What is this?

A simple Cash Collector reels game where players need to land a number of cherry symbols in order to trigger the bonus game. Then symbols land and collect from Cherry symbols, spining through over and over with some Free Spins.

Reel King Megaways

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:23:00 +0000

Official Link

What is this?

A Megaways game where the ‘Reel King’ would appear on particular reels and spin seperate mini-reels which are able to contribute towards Free Spins. This also includes a spinning wheel to gamble for further Free Spins.

Football Cash Pots

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:22:29 +0000

Official Link

What is this?

A simple Cash Collector reels game where symbols with a value land. If enough land, free spins trigger and the game now waits till a Collector symbol lands to hoover up all the money on screen. It’s a pretty simple game to roll through.

Vegas Cash Spins

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:22:16 +0000

What is this?

A unique slot game that had a special symbol that could both be span on it’s own, but also morph into a bigger version for triggering the bonus game. From then, it forms bigger wheels to spin for bigger bonuses. Very challenging mechanic to get right.

Bonus Fruits

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:22:00 +0000

What is this?

A simple reels game with a special bonus game where enough scatter symbols land for Free Spins. But also if enough Diamond symbols land, the game shifts into a new mode where it will keep spinning over and over, spending lives with each spins. The more Diamond symbols to land, the bigger the payout.

Gimmie Gold Megaways

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:21:38 +0000

What is this?

A Megaways game that had explosive symbols. It was all about scatters and cascades, where you could get lots and lots of symbols landing to rack up a high score. Big time Wild West ‘Gold Rush’ vibes. You get Free Spins if you’re able to land enough bonus symbols.

Safari Wonders (Megaways Version)

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:19:26 +0000

Official Link Alternative Link

What is this?

This is the first game fully completed within the ‘Storm Engine’. It’s a Megaways game in terms of rules and has many animals to be presented across the screen. It took serious work to get the game to function as well as it does, as the engine hadn’t been built with atypical reels like this before.

I didn’t make many other games. Instead, I remained specialised to the engine and aided other developers. I would shepard other developers work and be on hand to fix underlying bugs or impliment new features as requested. Or as part of an attempt to make sure the engine remained usable and up to date.

Android Galaga

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:14:17 +0000

Github Link

What is this?

A version of the game Galaga that was built within a native Android Java set up. It was really fun to figure out and get working. I had hoped to do more with it but as university work, it’s remained as one of the more solid additions I made.

Robotics

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:13:58 +0000

Github Link

What is this?

As part of a robotics module, me and a team of other students built rudimentary routines for a virtual robot tank to follow. The idea was that the robot tank would control a basic tank game that could be tested against a player controlled tank, and attempt to shoot each other. The robot tank would need to be autonomous; it would need to be able to search the player out and shoot them to rack up points.

Iodmtools

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:12:27 +0000

What is this?

Back when I was running D&D 5e games regularly, I would need to be able to generate NPCs quickly. 5e doesn’t always demand an NPC has stats but it’s a nice to have. I was also eager to take some of the labour out of preparing adventures. So, I wrote this program; it’s a prototype system for generating NPCs. It’s based on some rules and tables I wrote up, where upon the tool will generate a bunch of merchants while also generating what they sell and some special rules to handle their temperment or capabilities.

Unus Annus Momento Mori

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:12:12 +0000

(Github Link)[https://github.com/TyroTheFox/unus-annus-momento-mori]

What is this?

Markiplier and Ethan Nestor-Darling colaborated on a YouTube channel in 2019 where the idea was to make a new video every day for a complete year. But when it was complete, the entire channel and everything associated with it would be deleted. Unnofficial back-ups exist, of course, but the idea was to have something finite.

An episode during the Covid-19 Pandemic where they had a fantasy Boxing Match caught my attention and I wrote this game. It’s a super basic version of what they did just with better customisation. It’s possible to add your own fighters as long as you provide formatted animations. It was also possible to create new stages to fight on.

Rat Attack Remake

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:11:27 +0000

Github Link

What is this?

Rat Attack! is a game released for the PS1 I picked up randomly at a car-boot sale years ago for cheep. In it, players would take control of cats within an arcade game about rounding up rats and protecting furniture from damage. Collect enough rats and dispose of them to open the way to the next level. Keep doing that through several worlds of harder and harder types of rats to defeat. Apart from some boss fights that aren’t terrifically notable, that’s the gameplay. The game otherwise had an excellent style, with a vibe that I feel could be really appealing.

Titania Engine

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:11:15 +0000

Engine Github Link Client Github Link

What is this?

Hey look! I used that name after all!

I had some spare time and enjoyed the idea of getting to tinker on something. That ended up as this. It’s basic and could be used for other things at another time but for now, it’s got a few Sora sprites doing things. Might come back to it later.

The idea is to make something data-driven but this ended up in Phaser.js, allowing me to better learn how that library works. The idea is that there’s a library that contains the greater amount of the engine, then a client program that houses the game itself. The client is all you’d really need to work with the game and build something. Ideally, a WYSIWYG editor, like Unreal, Godot or Unity would be good to add but only when the engine is properly working. Something to write the data more comfortably.

GameArc Engine

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:06:12 +0000

Github Link

What is this?

Starting off as a simple model viewer in OpenGL, I kept adding and adding to it as part of my coursework. I was able to get some multicoloured lighting, shadows and even a third-person camera working. It’s super rudimentary but represents a lot of work ad effort building the basic blocks of a rendering rastorised pipeline.

The Path Less Travelled - An Inverse RPG

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:05:38 +0000

Github Link to Game

My Final Year Project and White Whale for a Long Time

The Path Less Travelled was an idea I’d been trying to create a few times but this form is the Final Year Project that I submitted.

The concept was a mishmash of other fantasy tropes and ideas I’d been working on in other guises but the core idea for the gameplay was to pose a unique experiment in RPG design. Ben ‘Yatzee’ Crowshaw, best known for his Zero Punctuation and now Fully Ramblomatic review shows, as well as his own body of developed games, once posited a possible fix for MMORPGs where a player would level backwards. They would begin the game at maximum level, have all the advantages and abilities that were possible for their character but would then have to lose and remove those elements as they levelled over time. The appeal, according to Crowshaw, was that a new player would be powerful and able to take care of themselves. Even a veteran would have difficulty griefing a new player due to the disparity in ability. A new player would enjoy the high of being super strong but give that up slowly, keeping only what was important to them. That character would become specialised over time, until they were relatively less capable but good at what abilities the character has retained for their role. This would mean that a veteran player would need to band together with others to achieve greater goals than they could alone, but also would know their character extremely well.

Blazing Fur

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:57:48 +0000

Github Link

What is this?

An attempt at building a dedicated version of the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 multiplayer mode, but expanded into a bigger form. The intention was to make unique characters that had to reach their top speed, while traversing tricky platforming challenges. They would get faster and faster until they reached their top speed and burst into flames. There’s some ideas about characters and design kicking about but this project represents one of my earliest attempts at designing and creating a game.

Space Shooter Game

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:57:02 +0000

Github Link

What is this?

Inspired by games like ‘Captain Forever’, I tried using the Phaser engine to make something similar. Using basic controls and phsyics similar to ‘Asteroids’, this demo allows a player to shoot down enemy ships, gain credits and kit out their ship with a few basic upgrades. It’s not hugely complex but it was a good learning exercise. Both for trying out the idea but also learning about Phaser and the UI elements I threw in to utilise.

Project Reroute

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:56:50 +0000

What is this?

This is a project idea for a First Person Shooter with the unusual addition that RPG elements would play a heavy role within the game. These RPG stats would govern key parts of a character’s abilities, such as damage with certain weapons, ability to shoot straight or even basic top speed. The idea included the ability to rearrange your character’s stats as you wished on the fly. Players were only ever allowed to take one point from one stat to boost another, naturally giving themselves a strength and a weakness, of their choice.

Spitting Image

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:56:38 +0000

Github Link

What is this?

A game built within two days during a DMU Game Development Society-ran Game Jam event in Unity. It was a chance to work with the Game Art Students, as the two groups rarely have overlap otherwise, and put some learnt skills to the test. For myself, most of them were managerial in nature as I was the de facto ‘Head Programmer’ as I had the experience and knowledge in the engine. I suppose I was also the ‘Lead Designer’ too as I came up with the initial concept and oversaw the construction while bashing out code.

Electro Gun

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:56:27 +0000

Google Drive Link

What is this?

This was a Global Game Jam Project, brought on by a theme of ‘Transmission’. We tried to figure out a gameplay hook first and plumbed for a multi-player, split-screen, first person shooter with the gimmick that ammo and player health were tied together. You had to expend player HP to shoot your weapon and could regain HP by defeating opponents. The better you were, the ‘tankier’ you could be.

O.A.S.I.S

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:55:16 +0000

Global Game Jam Link

What is this?

This was a Global Game Jam challenge where, again, I worked with fellow development students and game artist students to produce a game in under 48 hours. This turned out to be something of a challenge for many reasons, but mostly to get a strong idea out of ‘What Does Home Mean To You’?

We landed on a little robot named OTTO flying around space cleaning up his home galaxy.

Storm Games Projects

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:12:48 +0000

Joined a group of Ex-Inspired Devs, asked to join up to help fix up their Game Engine

Primarily, I worked for Storm Games as their in-house Game Engine Developer. I was brought on to change their underlying rendering tech from Create.js to Pixi.js. That took a few years to get up to a resonable standard that could then be turned into a functioning game engine. That came with full commenting, extensive documentation and examples that could help any new developer get up to speed quickly. The engine was data-driven, simple and constantly evolving to meet the needs of new games. Some developers had aided me in producing work or creating certain systems, but the majority of the work was done by me while I was at the company.

Inspired Gaming Group Projects

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:01:21 +0000

Junior Dev out of Uni, Just so happened to have PIXI.js experience

Working with an in-house engine, I’ve built or worked on a number of projects for the company over the years I spent as a developer for them. Natrually, credits are discouraged for security reasons, as I understand it. These projects have been built in around a two or three months, with a variety of different features. They are optimised for desktop and mobile browsers with a high level of polish.

A Little Rambling On Myself

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:37:45 +0000

Flyover Summary

A Weirdo Programmer with a flare for challenge and creativity. From early points in my career so far, I’ve dabbled in plenty, having been brought up in East Sussex, situated right next to Brighton. That comes with knowledge of some of the interesting places in the Lanes and a distaste for seagulls.

I’ve worked with several companies in the area where a breadth of skill and knowledge is key to succeed in pushing the project forward. In such environments, I thrived on being given a task and finding a solution by the end of the period, hungrily learning all I can till as I was as much of an expert as I could be. I was once handed a Laravel 5 and Code Igniter then told to figure out which was easiest to code in but then also teach to new developers. Within a week or so, I had my verdict. Actually, for that job, I’d re-taught myself the basics of PHP the night before the interview. I even admitted that, yet still got the job.