Harry Petch

Mechanics Design, Game Production

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About

I have been developing games and prototypes for different jams and competitions since I was around 11 years old. Since being nominated for the BAFTA YGD Game-Making categories in 2016 and 2019, I have been honing my craft as a game designer and studying the development process at Abertay University (2020-2024).I am looking for experience in production or design roles. Specifically, I have experience with designing game mechanics and managing production for small teams (see Net Carbon industry experience). I am interested in developing my level design and narrative design skills.In 2021, I received the BAFTA YGD Mentor Award recognising my efforts with mentoring through running an after-school club on game design. Since then, I have been invited to speak at schools about my journey and the experience of developing games in an industry context.In 2022, I was asked to present one of my games to Prince William and discuss with him my BAFTA YGD journey. I was also fortunate to be invited to be a juror for the BAFTA Games Awards 2022 for the 'Game Beyond Entertainment' category.I am flexible and can learn new tools, however I am currently more experience with Unity and Unreal Engine 4. I can set up and manage Git workflows (through GitHub), I can collaborate and work well in a team of programmers. I understand the difficulties different roles present in a team and the importance of communication.

Desert Temple level encounter

Engine: Unreal Engine 5 (Advanced Locomotion System)

Into Games Sprint: 'Level Design with Peter Field' showpiece
Prototyping mechanics requires level design to contextualise it and ensure gameplay is fun (you can't just play chess with the pieces, you need the game board too!)
While I understood this theory in my stealth game level earlier in the year, I wanted to improve my skills at blocking out realistic spaces. To improve these skills I attended the Into Games Sprint course run by senior level designer at Media Molecule, Peter Field.The video shows the final blockout I designed in under 2 weeks for an Uncharted-style mock game, to demonstrate a workflow for creating organic sequences based on spatial design.

Open-Ended Stealth Prototype

Engine: Unreal Engine 5 (Advanced Locomotion System)

Abertay University Personal Development Project
This project challenged me to create a small stealth game level that showcases an understanding of the design philosophies of the HITMAN series and Metal Gear Solid V, so I could build familiarity with making 3D levels.I used the Advanced Locomotion System v4 character controller to demonstrate my ability to prototype new functionality on top of established frameworks. In Blueprint, I added equippable weaponry (a camera), stealth detection meters, basic objectives and AI pathing. This created the context to experience the open stealth level design.

Absolute Bull

Engine: Unity

Game Design Year 3 Prototyping Module Submission
A top-down arena survival game that explores disconnecting the player's agency to fight back against enemies, and tying it to a bull entity, which adds chaos to the mix.In my gameplay overview video I explain the process of developing the prototype from the conceptualisation to implementation phase and the discoveries I found through playtesting and adapting to changing circumstances.

Corporate Viruses

Engine: Unreal Engine 4.26.2

Game Design and Production Year 2 Student Project
A vertical slice build of a first-person "shooter" game set in an indoors office environment. Computer viruses have become real and are wrecking the office.
You play as the IT technician, picking up and launching anything you find in the office at these viruses to destroy them, while leaving behind a path of havoc and mayhem!I was the team's Lead Programmer and Mechanics Designer, which required using Blueprint to prototype our game and player mechanics based on the direction of the Design Lead. I pushed myself to learn new systems in the engine as I was still learning how to use it, namely particle systems and AI logic.I also was responsible for creating and maintaining the Git workflow and on-boarding our team with how to use version control and branches to work collaboratively at an industry standard.

Right to Bear Arms

Engine: Unity

Developed for GMTK Jam 2021
A first person game designed around the theme "joined together", the player is joined with the level, on a conveyer belt heading towards a furnace. Using their detachable arms, they need to find the emergency stop button in each level!I was a co-designer for this project. My main responsibilties involved coding most of the core systems for the minimum viable product - gameplay loop, audio and dialogue sequencing and polish. I also managed the team, ensuring the art/music direction and game design matched the comedic tones we had envisioned.

Spirit Cleaning

Engine: Unity

Developed between December 2020-January 2021
A hybrid visual novel game that combines a character-driven story with third-person exploration and first-person shooting mechanics developed in Unity.My responsibilities included team management with a couple of friends over 3 different timezones (UK, USA and NZ), game design, UI design as well as most character writing and dialogue sequencing.

Onegeon

Engine: Game Maker Studio 2

Developed for GMTK Jam 2019
A 2D top-down puzzle game about resource management, designed for the theme "only one": each weapon you have breaks after only one use.I was responsible for gathering and managaing a small team of 3 people and overseeing art and music production, ensuring our artist and musician were creating assets that fit our ancient dungeon aesthetic.
As the main coder, I was responsible for the main movement system, AI movement and visual polish. I am particularly pleased with the feel of each level transition, as all assets smoothly lerp into their locations and signify their importance, such as spikes being a deadly obstacle and the portal being the goal (as they enter the scene last).

Tempo

Engine: Game Maker Studio 2

BAFTA YGD 2019 Game Making (15-18) Nominee
Awarded A* for Edexcel Extended Project QualificationFor my EPQ project I documented the development process of making a top-down shooter with a unique mechanic, as you fire projectiles from your weapon automatically in time with the music.I developed the original prototype with an 8-bit art style and was responsible for maintaining the code of the whole game. I directed a friend to produce a music track for the game which was used as part of the game mechanics, being used in an audio track where different instruments could be dynamically enabled or disabled, affecting what parts of the game would animate.After completing this project, I worked with a teammate Louis Jackson to expand the game and add new systems, such as a boost mechanic that would reward the player if they tapped a button to the timing of the music.

Illuminate

Engine: Game Maker Studio

BAFTA YGD 2016 Game Making (10-14) Nominee
A mix of memory game and platformer, Illuminate is a platformer where each level is shrouded in darkness and can only be unveiled through specific ways, such as using the mouse as a torch, following a scan-line that loops in the background, or through flashes of lightning.This was the first game I ever made, with an original concept coming to me when I was 12 but me developing it when I was 14.

Net Carbon

Featured at COP26 Green Zone (2021), BAFTA 195 re-opening (2022).Net Carbon is an educational platformer game developed in collaboration between Abertay University and SSE Thermal.I formed a student team with a few friends in my course who are also BAFTA YGD alumni, which we called Hot ChocolaTay.
Harry Petch - Producer, Assistant Programmer
Jaime Williams - Artist & UI/UX Designer
Jordan Han - Gameplay & Systems Programmer
Cameryn Tuliao - Narrative & Audio DesignerWe developed the initial prototype in under a week for Abertay's Carbon Capture & Climate Action Game Jam. After the voting period from lecturers, SSE Thermal and members of the industry, we were announced as the winners of the jam. From here, we were funded by SSE Thermal to develop the prototype further over a period of 5 weeks.My role was the producer for the project, responsible for keeping a development schedule and communicating with the SSE Thermal client to incorporate their desired messaging into our design and narrative.In addition, I was responsible for assistant programming, creating C# scripts for most 'low-hanging fruit' mechanics and polishing and prototyping the online functionality mechanic (a global carbon score that reflected shared responsibility through a game mechanic). I also handled the entire UI implementation based on assets and concepts from our artist Jaime.SSE Thermal were very happy with the end result. Since then it has been played by Abdulla Shahid (President of the UN), HRH Prince William - Prince of Wales and attendees at the COP26 convention.

The Healing Tree

Engine: Unity

Year 3 Professional Project submission,
International Serious Play Award 2023 Bronze WinnerA narrative-based sidescrolling platformer inspired by Mutazione and Spiritfarer exploring healing from grief and trauma through a safe, non-competitive environment where players cannot fail.As Mechanics Designer, I was responsible for adding challenge and creative expression when the player navigates the environment, with the restriction of no failures/deaths or time pressure. I designed different movement mechanics for the character controller, and weaved this in with a real-time decoration system that we wanted in the game to enforce a theme of "healing through redecorating". Players complimented the structure of the game, with the consideration of how the game flows being cited as a strong way of reflecting the theme outside of its narrative delivery.I also continued to develop my production skills as the Programming Team Lead, taking broad features and breaking them into achievable tasks, working alongside Max and Lewis to delegate implementation responsibility based on their strengths.

Gamification Research TTRPG Workshop Participant
I took part in a research project conducted by Darshana Jayemanne and Martin Zeilinger to share ideas and playtest changes to the structure of a collaborative world-building game Microscope. To direct future development of the research, I wrote design critiques to analyse the flow of the game and what pain points we were reaching in our playtest session, while suggesting further mechanic changes that could solve those problems.

Primary School visits
In January 2022, I was asked by Abertay University to represent them for a primary school workshop about games design near Dundee.
In September 2023, I came back to the school as part of the BAFTA Roadshow with Place2be. to help host the game-making workshop activity!Running workshops for younger generations is very rewarding, as it feels like I can make a difference by introducing people to this awesome creative industry.

Into Games Club
I was a consultant for the planning of the Into Games Club - an after-school pilot scheme to make game development resources accessible to underrepresented young people in the sector.
Using my experience running a successful gamedev club as a basis, we constructed a series of lesson plans to guide students through the processes of game concepting and implementation.The aim was for games created at the club to possibly go on to become BAFTA YGD entries, so we also created extension activities that would help build their ideas even further.