Author archive: Eric Yockey
Release now, finish it later
Those of us who have been following the games industry since the 80s would be blind to not notice the sweeping changes made to the medium–the birth of the console, the annual upgrade in visual and audio fidelity, the extra buttons added to joysticks every five years–but no single change to the industry has been…
The Evolution of Software Piracy
If you’ve never directly participated in software piracy or the trade of other counterfeit goods, you are no doubt aware that it happens, and that it’s a very real problem for many industries. Even when reading that sentence, you likely felt it was inappropriate to lump harmless file-sharing in with counterfeiting–to many, online piracy is a victimless…
Various samples
A horse modeled in Zbrush from scratch in 3 hours using a couple photos for reference. The first low-poly model is 3994 polys and uses a texture and normal map. The second low-poly model is1210 polys with the same maps. Images 1 and 2 are the high-poly models from Zbrush, image 3 is the 4k low-poly model rendered in 3D…
University of Baltimore (Game Design)
BS, Simulation & Digital Entertainment (2010-2012) The University of Baltimore’s SDE program (now Simulation & Game Design) instructs students in game design, programming, production, and graphic arts. The program began in 2003 and has ranked #3 nationally. Coursework includes developing and publishing a game for sale and is capstoned with creating a game over two…
Transgression™ (2012)
Transgression™ is an arcade-style game that was released on the Xbox Live Indie Games platform in 2012 and is available for 80 MS points ($1). Gameplay is similar to the classic arcade game “joust”, but with a cyberpunk twist. The game was a solo project while I attended the University of Baltimore, and was programmed…
University of Baltimore (Business Administration)
BS, Business Administration (2009-2011) The University of Baltimore is a 95-year institution known foremost as a top-3 law school, the college’s B.S. in Business Administration was also ranked one of America’s best undergraduate business programs in 2022 by U.S. News & World Report and reached the Forbes Top Colleges list in 2021. I graduated Summa Cum Laude…
Marathon//Max (2009)
Marathon//Max is a total conversion for the MaxFX 2 engine used in Max Payne 2. The game merges a semi-modern 3D engine with the concepts and assets used in Bungie’s early 90s sci-fi “Marathon” trilogy, transforming a single-player 3rd-person experience into a multiplayer 2nd-person (over-the-shoulder) deathmatch. The game was released to ModDB in 2009 and…
Pop’nKO Music & Entertainment™
Founder, CEO (2004-2006) The company developed the original Neon FM®: Dance Radio™, manufactured a prototype cabinet, and negotiated a contract with Betson Enterprises for exclusive manufacturing and distribution. I co-founded the game studio in 2004 alongside Eric Ruth, Robert Ota Dieterich, and David Riley; and partnered with O2Media (Malaysia/Korea) to provide art and music for their…
Neon FM®: Dance Radio™ (2005)
Neon FM®: Dance Radio™ is a 5-panel arcade dance game designed to focus to North American musical tastes. The machine was engineered to use a revolutionary capacitive-sensing system which would use the player’s natural electrical field to activate the foot panels, resulting in a more natural dance experience and lowering the maintenance requirements of the…
Sheffield Institute for the Recording Arts
AudioWorks Certificate (2004) Sheffield is a prestigious Maryland institute with multiple recording studios and licensed instructional programs. Their client list includes recording artists such as Billy Joel, Mariah Carey, and Walt Disney Motion Pictures. The AudioWorks program consists of 96 hours of lectures and 200 hours of labs (296 total) and qualifies graduates for employment in…