NATHAN FARRUGIADESIGN SKILLS EXAMPLES(More examples available on request)

Roshamken is a turn-based card game centred around paper scissors rock, with players trying to reach one of three winning

objectives. Strategy is a core aspect of the game, as is being aware of where each card in the deck is and how close your

opponents are to winning.

ROSHAMKEN

Design layout of main playfield for Roshamken. Many of these elements are represented in the final game.

DESIGNING ROSHAMKEN LAYOUT

Possible ways to display player tag information, how to display in different orientations. The game can be played with up to 8

people. Fitting each player’s tags and cards on the field so all important information was visible to each player was a challenge.

ROSHAMKEN PLAYER TAG DESIGN

Details all possible routes the game can take depending on player actions. Mapping out the flow of the game assisted greatly

with the coding and design aspects.

ROSHAMKEN FLOW CHART

The game was completed and released on Kongregate and the Google Play store as an Adobe AIR app. A very fun project that

sharpened my skills in Flash (both design and coding wise) and taught me how important optimisation is for a mobile release

among other things. The full game is available to play at http://www.kongregate.com/games/Nate_25/roshamken

ROSHAMKEN FINAL GAME

Hive Defense is a 2D action game where players control a bee and protect the beehives on screen by drawing lines

of the same colour as the magic bullets heading towards them. The game features multiple playable characters,

enemies, powerups, coins to collect to use in the planned store to buy items/accessories and much more.

HIVE DEFENSE

Seven different wasp types all with unique attacks to hinder the player’s movement. Some attacks could cause status effects.

For example, getting hit by an ice attack would encase the bee in a block of ice, which players have to tap with the ice pick to

break him out of, while getting hit by fire would force the player to move the bee quickly to shake off the flames.

HIVE DEFENSE ENEMIES

Creating the power ups was an enjoyable experience and just as much fun as creating the enemy wasps. Apart from standard

powerups such as unlimited energy and a protective shield I could also get more creative. One of my favourites is the flame

shield which shoots fireballs in random directions. Powerups are activated by collecting certain colour combinations of pollen.

The rainbow power up can be seen above, which causes lines to reflect all colours of bullets.

HIVE DEFENSE POWER UPS

Storyboards of initial story included in some versions of the game. The story revolves around the central character’s friends

being kidnapped while they were dazed when the wizards attacked their home. The wizards want to put the bees to work in a

factory so they can manufacture and sell their own brand of honey. Beeanco (the main character) is determined to get his

friends back and sets out to rescue them.

HIVE DEFENSE STORYBOARDS

Possible methods for how to make the bee change colour on a touch screen. A swipe circle was considered as a possible

alternative to buttons but was rejected in favour of a more standard and consistent control scheme. Placement of UI and menu

alternatives also featured. In older level based versions a flower was used to keep track of level progress and the level would

end when the flower would bloom.

UI AND MENU DESIGN

Honeycomb joined buttons go well with the ‘bee’ theme but are also intuitive along with the icons representing their functionality.

OPTIONS MENU DESIGNS

A screen designed to show an original game concept. In ‘Force Field’ the player must protect themselves from various monsters

on each of the 100 floors in a tower where the love of their life lies at the top, held captive by a boss monster. The Force field

energy meter is on the right along with 3 weapon change buttons. Monsters come out of portals in the electrified walls and

must be shot back into the electricity to zap them out of existence.

‘FORCE FIELD’ SKY CAMERA VIEW

The unique thing about the concept is the ability to switch into a First Person Perspective at any time. This makes it easier to

shoot monsters but your vision of the play field is reduced. This view makes it much easier to target monster’s weak points

symbolised by glowing crystals. Destroying the crystals makes the monsters much lighter and easier to knock back into the

electric wall. The player must balance their time spent in each view well if they want to succeed.

‘FORCE FIELD’ 3D CAMERA VIEW

One Fitness Daily was the result of a short break from game development to create an app based upon an idea I had for a

fitness application. The app was released at the end of last year and encourages users to complete just one activity a day to

help them get into an exercise routine. There are over 500 unique activities to complete, all with step by step instructions and

pictures. All activities are stored in an Activity Log, so you can see how far you have come from day one.

ONE FITNESS DAILY

Example of a design document created to help detail a fitness application concept. The document detailed all aspects of each

screen as well as research on similar apps, user objectives and visual/audio design. This design document was heavily referred

to during the creation process and was amended with important additions when needed.

ONE FITNESS DAILY DESIGN DOC

To date the app has been download over 2200 times and is consistently seeing new users each day. While not focusing around

video games, elements of games such a ranking system, experience points and stats are included in the app. Users gain

experience each day for completing an activity and receive a multiplier bonus for completing exercises multiple days in a row.

ONE FITNESS DAILY GAME INFLUENCE

As the app is aimed at a beginners market it was important to describe each exercise’s proper form with step by step pictures

and instructions. This was the most painstaking part of the creation process as each activity had to be researched,

demonstrated, categorised and have the instructions created. Managing a large database like this with over 1600 photos was a

huge challenge and required much organisation and proper technique. Thanks to the help of my friends I was able to complete

this huge task.

ACTIVITY DATABASE

For a full rundown of the apps features please check out the website I created at www.onefitnessdaily.com or check out the

trailer which I also made on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ndiNyJJEww or download the app itself, which is

optimised for both phones and tablets/iPads. Through submitting the app to each App Store I learnt a lot about the end

publishing process, including creating a store entry with descriptions and correct screenshots, pricing guidelines and more.

WEBSITE AND TRAILER

One Fitness Daily is currently in the process of getting a redesign to bring it more in line with current design trends. A few

screenshots of the new look are above. The focus is on simplifying the UI but at the same time providing more necessary

information on one screen such as the images. The new look is also more in line with the Google ‘Material’ design methodology

and has a much more visually appealing/sporty colour palette.

ONE FITNESS DAILY REDESIGN

Custom Bird is my latest project which I created just for fun and to see how easy it would be to recreate Flappy Bird in Flash.

The game only took me about two weeks to fully complete and I had the main mechanics done within a day or so. All coding and

graphics were recreated for the project, with sounds used from the Internet to replicate the original.

CUSTOM BIRD

After faithfully recreating the original I decided to have some extra fun with it and see what I could do to make my version

different from all the other copies out there. I started by adjusting the point system to employ a risk vs reward system so that the

player was awarded points based upon their chosen game speed. Players thoroughly enjoyed earning these higher scores.

CUSTOM BIRD CHANGES

I wanted to see how I could customise the game further to make it my own. I added the options for players to change the colour

of the pipes and background and the most fun aspect, to upload any picture from their computer to be used as the bird and

background. So if people wanted to bash a cut out of their enemy’s head against a purple pipe in space, they could do just that.

CUSTOM BIRD EXTRA FEATURES

Making this game was a lot of fun and helped refuel my passion for game design and Flash after creating my fitness app. You

can play the game now on Kongregate at this link http://

www.kongregate.com/games/Nate_25/custombird-not-just-a-flappybird-clone. Please note the leader boards no longer work as

the Mochi service that powered them has since shut down. The game received many kind comments and has over 2000 plays

on Nugrounds to date.

CUSTOM BIRD FINAL VERSION

Please feel free to view my university portfolio for even more examples of my work from my years at Monash University. You can

view the video at this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4s4yCDaetk

UNIVERSITY PORTFOLIO

Thank you for taking the time to view my work, I hope you liked what you saw. Please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone

(0418 175 353) or email (nato_2_5@hotmail.com) if you would like to see any further examples.

THANK YOU