About me:
I have always had a deep passion for stories, and video games quickly became my favourite medium to experience them.
I saved up with an IT job for two years and then dove into a one-year course on Game Development in 2018 and have since been involved in various projects in a video game space as well as other technical environments.
I have taken part in, and often led, projects ranging from educational sidescrollers, to multiplayer board games. I have also worked on Digital Humans using Dialogflow CX and consulted for various development related projects.
I am currently looking to venture onwards and upwards to provide more digital solutions and hopefully be a part of storytelling along the way.
Contact me at mrngouws@gmail.com
My work:
I have worked on a range of games as well as more niche projects using Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Digital People.
UNICEF Board Game
Regular Resources: Multiplayer Board Game for UNICEF
I was outsourced to be the sole developer for this project. It is a multiplayer board game used internally by UNICEF. It has die roll movement, and colour coded decks of cards that draw randomly, corresponding to the colour of the tile the player lands on. It was built on Unity using PUN for the network framework, and custom script for the rest.
The project time was around four months.
Reset Earth: Web-based Climate Change Simulator for UNICEF
Impact Simulator was developed to be played as a part of an educational campaign from UNICEF surrounding climate change aimed at mid to late high school children. Players choose options in historical scenarios and see the impact that those decisions have not just on the Ozone, but also the environment, the economy and the perception of the public towards organizations that make these decisions.
Mogau's Adventure: Educational Side-scroller
This project was the result of entering a Hackathon (game-jam) that allowed participants to tackle problems presented by various organisations in South Africa.
The solution I designed and developed placed second over-all and was further developed and funded by the organisation.
The organisation, Book Dash, is a non-profit organisation that writes, illustrates and publishes children's book as PDFs for free download on their website.
The game is a 2D side-scroller that is aimed at 8-12 year olds.
The goal of the game is to inspire children to read and it does this with simple character customisation, easy to follow dialogues and straightforward mini-games.
There was an emphasis on narrative design and cohesion as all in-game characters, as well as their
mini-games and dialogue, are taken from the most popular of the Ebooks.
I solo-developed this project using only Pixel Crusher's Dialogue System as an external tool. I handled the publishing process and the game is currently available on IOS and Android!
Love Land
Love Land: Educational Platformer
Love Land was originally a physical board game used by Taboobreakers, a non-profit organisation, to teach sexual education to young teens.
Love Land is now a mobile 2D Platformer that takes you through various levels, each tackling a different issue young teens might have.
I technically consulted as well as handled more complex systems such as Saving/Loading, Progress tracking and a system to redeem online vouchers as rewards for completing achievements. I also handled the publishing process on both IOS and Android, the game is available on both!
Petal
Petal: Personal Project
Petal is a 2D side-scroller I did in collabaration with an artist as an exercise in Unity's new (at the time) 2D render pipeline.
Everything in this short demo was hand-drawn and custom coded in less that two weeks as an after-hours project. In addition to all the coding I also did Narrative Design for potential future development as well as all the particles and lighting.
It had custom enemy AI with different attacks as well as stealth and dodge mechanics.
Petal
Timothee: Game Jam
Timothee is a horror 2D side-scroller developed in 48 hours in collaboration with an artist.
We placed second overall and won best art. All code and assets were custom made in that timeframe. The game has some simple AI for the spiders. It also has the spiders avoid the light of the lamp and take damage and eventually despawn when in the light.
Pahola: Digital Health Worker for PAHO
I worked in Dialogflow CX to setup training phrases, intents and responses for Pahola, a digital health worker for the Pan American Health Organization. She is currently available on their official website in multiple languages!
I also incorporated and edited an API that downloads all of her content and variables so they can be re-uploaded in additional language for a more streamlined workflow.
Additionally, I designed and developed an in-console solution for more advanced analytics than was offered, to meet client needs.
Night Out: Interactive Walking Simulator
Night out is a 3D art project I was outsourced to develop. I handled all the coding using Pixel Crusher's Dialogue System as the only external tool. It is a First Person experience as part of a Gender Studies project.
Kermet AR Exhibit
Khemet: AR Museum Exhibit
This is an unorthodox project and was done at the end of my year of studying game development for the Iziko Slave Lodge Museum in Cape Town.
The exhibit follows an ordinary Egyptian peasant's journey to the afterlife using a physical model of an unearthed village with an AR overlay for a "window into time" effect.
I handled the design in collabaration with an Egyptologist and all the coding and development.
I also built most of the physical model as a part of the project.