Streams started as a project in the Global Game Jam in 2012 in Melbourne where it achieved the local 'Most Fun' award. The next year, a smaller sub-group of those of us who worked on the project got together and refined the concept before releasing it on Android in December of 2013 followed by iOS.
Made in Unity for PC and Mobile, it was available on iOS and Android for several years.
Escape Vector first started as a project to work on alongside students I was supervising while they worked on projects of their own. Escape Vector was my first title which I developed and launched largely by myself and was the first launched under the Aether Alchemist brand.
I had originally intended to work on this entirely solo, but after my then workmates, Jody Kruger and Trevor Dikes, volunteered to help out by lending their specialities (modelling the spacecraft and doing the audio, respectively) I couldn't say no, I owe the real polish of this game to their effort as well as the outline shader and programming advice provided by Mike Blackney.
Made in Unity for PC and Mobile, it was available on Android for several years.
Arisk was a project I worked on as a freelancer for the Alcohol and Drug Foundation.
The game itself is a retro-style vertical platformer where the player has to carefully manage the objects they collect and interact with as to maintain their constantly accumulating stress and avoid fatal interactions.
This was done as a part of a larger public awareness campaign designed to educate the public on the dangers of misusing prescription medication.
Formally I was hired as the sole programmer (working alongside another freelance Artist and Designer) on the project but I was also responsible for a lot of the distribution and publishing as the organisation was not particularly familiar with the sector or platforms.
The game was developed between February and April of 2017 and published to Facebook (as WebGL) and Android. An iOS port was begun but there were issues with Apple's approval process. Made in Unity for Facebook, Android, and iOS it was available on Android and Facebook for the duration of the campaign.
The Other Forest was developed for Global Game Jam 2022.
For this project, we decided to make the project in both Unity and Unreal, representing two different worlds which you play through with both games communicating through a shared JSON file to allow progression.
"A sibling lost in the land of the fae, the other trapped in reality. Find places where the veil is thinnest and help your sibling get home by influencing the world around you. Played as one game with two halves created in both Unity and Unreal Engine, The Other Forest will require you to do tasks in one game, where it affects the save data in the other."
Made in Unity and Unreal Engine 4 for PC
Planet B was developed for Unreal Megajam2023 for the theme 'Antiquated Future'.
We decided to try and come at that from both a mechanical and narrative angle, opting for a side profile point and click reminiscent of Monkey Island - a style you don't see much anymore - and a narrative setting of exploring a supposedly ancient ruin and finding evidence of a previous advanced civilisation.
Whilst the game was a bit overscoped and didn't fully come together in time, I'm very happy with the underlying architecture and plan to repurpose it in the future for a different game. I'm also exceedingly happy with the model of Simon - the Star Wars-esque robot which follows Maddie (the protagonist) around and which you use to complete puzzles - which I was responsible for. You can get a better look at Simon on my Artstation
Made in Unreal Engine 5 for PC
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
ewhitehead@aetheralchemist.com.au