Timm Johnson

01
About Me

Hello and Welcome!

I'm an independent game developer with 4 years industry experience with Unreal Engine.

Currently working on Unreal Engine Marketplace content and a top-down combat racing game.

Previously worked as a programmer at Virtual Heroes making simulations & serious games.

Key Experience

- Unreal Engine Blueprinting
- Unreal Engine C++
- VR Development
- Unreal UMG (UI Programming)
- Scalable Software Architecting

Areas of Interest

- Level Design / Scripting
- Narrative & Game Design
- Audio Design / Procedural Audio

Social Media



02
Selected Experience
  • Programmer Virtual Heroes

    Programmer on Simulations & Serious Games using Unreal Engine ...

    • Full-Time Programming Job using Unreal Engine, C++


    Virtual Heroes, a division of Applied Research Associates, uses Unreal Engine to develop serious games (training games) and simulations.
    Projects are mostly military and medical.

    - Built and debugged systems for our various projects, including VR & Multiplayer projects
    - Gave in-person VR demos & presentations for clients
    - Occasionally maintain and integrate cross-project plugin code

    VTAK is a pre-mission planning tool that allows soldiers and emergency workers to use 3-D data to visualize an area, add markup (including paths, waypoints), and then walk around in VR in a 1:1 recreation of the target area.
    - Overhauled the User Interface to work across VR and Non-VR modes
    - Helped design and implement multiplayer
    - Overhauled VR Keyboard
    - Developed and/or Iterated several on-screen UI elements

    Miscellaneous work on other projects:
    - Inventory & item use system in VR & Desktop mode
    - Procured & implemented Sound effects (80-90% of the sounds) in one project
    - Faithfully recreated UI of real digital devices using UMG
    - Developed Interactive Dialogue System

  • Game Programming Intern Survios

    Survios develops VR Games using the Unreal Engine ...


    Invaluable introduction into agile development on a professional team.
    Aside from oversight and guidance, Survios interns are treated like their other developers.
    —Bugfixing and feature development on The Walking Dead: Onslaught
    —Subtitle Localization on Creed: Rise to Glory
    —Polish and feature development on an unnanounced arena-scale Oculus Quest title.

  • AR Application Developer Unreal

    An Augmented Reality map of Marshall University, making use of Google's ARCore ...


    An augmented reality map of Marshall University. Its main goal is to give new students and visitors a better understanding of the campus layout by showing it to them in a 3D and interactive format.

    Making use of Google's ARCore technology, I gave the user the ability to place a map of Marshall University, complete with 3-D buildings, into the real world.
    The map shows your location if you are on campus, and its size can be scaled up or down. Users can tap on any building to see its name and some basic information about it.
    The app was developed under a grant from the Marshall University Research Corporation.


    —This project was built on a virtual Marshall University made in Unreal the previous year by Cameron Asbury and myself.
    —Most of the buildings were originally modeled by "sintusha" on the 3d Warehouse

  • Solo Project Unreal

    A simple premise, tight controls, and retro-inspired visuals and music bring together this fast-paced platformer ...


    The premise is simple: collect wood, bring it back to your fire before the fire burns out and before the sun sets.
    Much of the work on this project was put into the tight control scheme, making sure that moving, jumping, grabbing, and dropping wood all felt responsive and satisfying.
    Almost every aspect of design was born of limitations:
    —3D modeling characters and scenery is not my specialty, so I searched for a simpler solution. After some digging, I found that MagicaVoxel would allow me to make the 3D equivalent of pixel art, much simpler than modeling.
    —Hours of voxel modeling later, I realized it would still be time-consuming to model a lot of scenery. There's minimal scenery in the arctic, so how about using that as the setting?
    —The game was initially planned as a competitive-coop experience, but my lack of Unreal experience prevented me from implementing a second character. With just one character, I decided to add a sunset and re-design the levels to make them challenging and interesting for a single player.
    —I had very little experience with music, but YouTuber LarryInc64 permits game developers to use his song, and his Genesis-style cover of "Cold War" was a perfect fit that complimented the frantic gameplay without getting old.

    In the end, this has been one of my biggest successes. Recently (2019) I had an opportunity to bring it to the Clay Center, a children's museum in West Virginia, and talk to children about game development. I was blown away by how many of the kids really loved the simple game, even though most of them could not beat most of the levels.
    https://twitter.com/sonictimm/status/1090868799056814080

  • Solo Mod Age of Empires

    Lord of the Rings mod for Age of Empires.
    5-years of development resulted in an unofficial expansion ...

    5-year Development Time (2013-2018).
    Lord of the Rings mod for the original Age of Empires (1997).


    Nearly as much content as an expansion pack, including
    Four new civilizations balanced with each other and with the preexisting civs
    Full-length campaign carefully designed to introduce new players to new game mechanics in a safe setting, then increases the difficulty as they master the new civilizations
    Over a dozen new units and techs distributed fairly to both new and old civs

    The project started with an idea for a Lord of the Rings campaign in Age of Empires, but the scope began balooning thanks to all the information on Age of Empires Heaven.
    The mod could not have come together if not for the help and support of the AOE community. Some art is outsourced from DeviantArt with permission of the creators.

With each game I work on I want to leave the player with something positive or useful.
Games should be a tool for improving people's lives.

03
Contact

Quests, qualms, or quips? Find me in all the places.
Discord: sonictimm#5957

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