Jex in Space
This little game is an extremely important project to me. Back in 2024, my year resolution was to finally start learning some coding and develop my own games.
So i decided to learn Unity and C#. Unity being the most used engine by the devs i help with UI design in my work. This is the first game i ever made and has helped me
learn so much especially regarding how my UI work gets implemented in engine. Today, I still can't believe i coded this.
I am truly mesmerized.
Gameplay
You must help Jex survive hordes of rogue asteroids and space junk while adrift in space. Lose all your 9 lives and get thrown back in time to try again.
You can only use your gun's recoil to move around and to destroy incoming objects.
Story
Centers around a pawlet (bracelet) that has been passed around the universe sold cheap at every space market. Some saying that it's an ancient device holding huge
quantities of energy. Despite some studies conducted, no such properties were ever found. Kara, a debt-ridden pilot entangled in some space piracy and bounty hunting gets her hand on the pawlet and gives it to Jex, her cat. Recently an industrial planet has
exploded creating chaos all around and... lots of valuable materials left to loot. Kara, Jex and a crew decide to take part and head towards the ex-planet. But the whole
zone became a death-trap. Kara and the crew get caught in a wave of rogue asteroids proven to be impossible to avoid.
The ship gets hit!
The crew manages to run away using an escape pod. However, in all that rush Kara doesn’t realize until it’s too late: Jex is still on board. The ship
explodes. The energy from that explosion activated the pawlet now used by Jex which saves his life while getting thown off the ship and adrift in space.
Guns and Upgrades to unlock
Multiple weapons you can unlock using earned credits. Each weapon having it's own unique projectile and upgrades such as projectile speed and cooling system.
Explosive Bullets - unlocked by default
Blue Plasma - a cold plasma that overheats slowly
Lasers - very fast with a normal overheat rate
Homing Rockets - easy to overheat but makes each target easy to destroy
Triple Red Plasma - hot, overheats fast but shoots 3 projectiles at once.
UI
The entire UI consists of an augmented HUD and a console, both provided by the pawlet. The Console as a holo projection and the HUD as a neural augmentation. This allows me to use the pawlet as an "excuse" for being able to pause the game - the pawlet has the power to stop the entropy around you.
The funny thing is, i've been doing game UI for about 8 years now yet i spent more time on the UI design rather than the entire code. Although Unity's UI works on a WYSIWYG basis, learning how canvases, scaling and world-space vs camera works as well as UI functionality was my biggest challenge. Frustrating but i loved every second of it!
I aimed for something immersive but extremely simple at its core and in terms of functionality/UX.
I wanted to give it some subtle cat ears shapes that can be observed in the top HUD score background and even the top tabs of the console UI (Settings and Shop) look a little like ears.
Type of objects you encounter
There are different types of objects constantly coming towards you. Each with different properties. They come at different sizes, different speeds, sometimes can get you overwhelmed by their number. Sometimes you must choose to lose one life in order to survive a wave.
Still some work left to do...
Currently fleshing out details, fixing small bugs and finishing the last polishing layer.
The goal and scope is to publish a fun little game you can jump into in seconds and play in quick sessions while waiting in line or on the bus. No penalties for quitting mid-session.
Sweeper - Destroy On Sight
Working on a physics-based, 2D puzzle game set in space that i plan to release on Steam.
You're a pilot controlling a kamikaze drone equipped with RCS thrusters to make your way to the target and destroy it to complete the mission. A newtonian game at core but heavily tweaked for gameplay's sake. You get ranked based on your time performance and amount of resources used to reach the target.
Rebounce
As a huge nostalgic fan of FLASH and early iPhone and Android games from the golden era of 2008-2012, i'm working on my own little basketball hoop shooting game with hand-crafted graphics and realistic physics. A throwback to the likes of iBasket, Slam Dunk Basketball and Tip-Off.
For the UI, i'm looking to revive the early iOS dark design but with a modern flavor. Or rather a modern UI with a classic flavor dipped into some skeuomorphism sauce.
Tokyo
Tokyo is the capital of Japan.
Tokyo
Tokyo is the capital of Japan.
Alchemy AI: Infinite Mix
The classic alchemy game but what makes Alchemy AI stand out is the use of AI to generate almost infinite possibilities instead of a set number or combos. Players can create completely unique new items that were never created before.
What i did
I was a UI/UX Designer working on the UI, illustrations and some animations. Designed a machine (we named it internally "The Fusinator 3000"), where you place your elements to be combined.
Some early sketches
Early placeholder bottle illustrations
Notification UI
Early icon exploration
Main Menu illustration
ArmorCraft
About the game
Besiege is a vehicle-building sandbox based around medieval siege engines, developed and published by Spiderling Studios.
My role here
As a UI Artist, i've been working closely with the team to: - Deliver UI mock-ups to be later implemented - Help in creating assets and fonts - Design user interfaces and solve design problems - Redefine existing UI and layouts - Aid in the creation of promotional material - Aid in testing of the product and offer feedback
Creative Board
A collection of random sketches, icons and designs either unused or early stuff.
About me
I'm a 29yo, live in Romania, have a love for games, movies, illustration art, shitbox cars, camping, breezy summer nights and rain. I love working on UI for games and i've been doing this for 8 years now. Lately, i started loving game dev a lot.
Used to do lots of product landing page website designs and app designs. Back in 2016 i was approached by Spiderling Studios to work as a UI Artist on their game - Besiege. Had a blast and since then i completely transitioned to game UI. Worked with a bunch of studios like already mentioned Spiderling Studios, XFuture Technology, Yambo Studios, HostAile Games and more.
