Portfolio - Dale Grant

About

I am a University Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) with a focus on Game Design and Programming. I teach the following subjects:

31262 Game Design Methodologies
31263 Introduction to Computer Game Development
41024 Advanced Games Programming.

I am a PhD candidate at UTS specializing in the utilization of Deep Reinforcement Learning for video game navigation in dynamic 3D environments. My research goals are to expand the design space for NPC behavior and level design by allowing for complex movement in dynamic environments.

My work involves state of the art convolutional network architectures applied to on-policy (PPO) and off-policy (SAC) RL algorithms. I focus on understanding the utility of different agent observations (Agent Information, Depthmaps, Occupancy Maps) in successfully navigating particular environments.

I completed my BSc. in Games Development at UTS (6.92 GPA) with a sub-major in Data Analytics.
Through this degree, I have honed my skills as a generalist programmer with specialization in gameplay programming, game design, and physics systems.

I completed my BSc. in Physics/Applied Mathematic (First Class Honours) at the University of Sydney.
In this degree, I am learnt how to deconstruct problems into solvable tasks and handle complicated mathematical concepts common in Data Analytics and Game Programming.

If you like what skills I bring to the table, you can find my resume here.
References are available upon request!

Skills and Knowledge

C#, C++, Python, and Java
Physics & Mathematics
Source Control Experience
Unity & Unreal Game Engines
Gameplay Programming
Object-Oriented Programming
Physics Programming
Visual Effects Programming
Scrum & Agile Methodology
Team Experience
Deep Reinforcement Learning
Convolutional Neural Networks
Pytorch
Numpy

Major Projects

These are my larger projects made with teams of at least 4 people.

A Rainy Day (Unity)

An Isometric puzzle game that utilizes block sliding to investigate the ralationship between a girl and her father.

Contributions: Game Loop, interactables functionality, in-game UI, audio integration

Scallywags (Unity)

A top down party game where up to 4 players command a pirate crew to hunt for hidden treasure, fight enemies, and cause mayhem!

Contributions: Menu system, character select system, player input system, and game design direction.

Ozymandias (Unity)

A turn-based city builder where you run a town of fantasy adventurers with the goal of balancing the defense of the town against the natural chaos that adventurers bring with them.

Contributions: Shader writing, boids programming, day-night functionality, environmental design.