Marc von Glahn

Game Programmer and Technical Artist

Portfolio

Check out my portfolio, which contains a released game, some university projects, and some game jam games.

ABSTRACTICA

Gameplay Programming, Game AI, Shader Programming

This is a third person shooter with roguelike elements, devoloped by myself in Unreal Engine. While I am responsible for almost every aspect of the game, my main focus lies in Gameplay programming and developing the core systems that manage the loop of a roguelike, using tools like the UE Gameplay Ability System. In developement, I leverage a mix of C++ and Blueprint programming.

I implemented the Game AI using Behaviour Trees as the main architecture. Currently I am making a multi-phased boss enemy. The game is set in a highly stylized world with no lit material, and I wrote a expanding color change shader using Signed Distance Fields. For particle effects I use UE5's Niagara Particle Systems.

_{Check out ABSTRACTICA on Steam}

Flat Spot

This casual motorsport management game was the centerpiece of my Bachelor's Thesis in Game Engineering, and was developed solo in Unity 3D. The biggest emphasis layed on the AI programming, making strong use of concepts like Finite State Machines and Utility Based AI. However, I also did the Gameplay programming, 3D modelling and shader programming (using Unity Shader Graph), as well as the implementation of sound effects using Wwise.

I wanted the players to experience motorsport like never before: very simple. In this exiting, fast-paced management game you can be team principal of your own team, upgrade your car with newly built parts and train your drivers to compete in races and win the championship. Use your drivers Special Abilities to gain an advantage over other drivers on track and leave them in the dust.

_{Visit Flat Spot on Steam}

WebGPU with C++ - Private Project

This scenery was programmed using the graphics API WebGPU and the compiler toolchain emscripten to deepen my knowledge of 3D graphics.

Through University courses I gained a foothold in 3D graphics programming using OpenGL, and in this ongoing project I use the gained expertise to implement various techniques, like Blinn-Phong shading among others. I followed the brilliant tutorial series of Elié Michel.

_{Go check it out on GitHub.}

A Song of Mold and Cheese

A Song of Mold and Cheese is a demo for an adventure game that builds a world inside a fridge full of sentient food, where the player can explore the unjsut nature of the food pyramid. In this project, I served as the Technical Artist, aiding the Artists in creating and implementing optimized and visually appealing assets. As a Programmer, I developed gameplay mechanics and systems to ensure a seamless player experience. Additionally, I implemented the immersive soundscapes of our Sound Artist using Wwise to enhance the game's audio atmosphere.

This game was developed with a team of 9 members in the course "Game World Design" at the IT University in Copenhagen. We took inspiration for this project from games like Toem, Bug Snax and It Takes Two. One key takeaway was how to navigate the creative process of making a game of this scale with a bigger team than I was used to up until that point.

_{MSc - Game World Design | Play it on itch.io}

For God and Motherland

This game was developed under the aspect of critical design in the university course "Playable Media" at the IT University in Copenhagen. As far as technical implementation, this is simple gameloop with no ending condition. It was developed in Unity 3D and C#. For the art I used Adobe Illustrator.

Inspiration for this project were movies like 1917 or the newest adaptation of the german novel All Quiet on the Western Front (dt. Im Westen nichts Neues). With this story I want to highlight the stupidity and futility of the concept of war, where the soldiers are merely puppets under the control of power-hungry and ego-driven men. Every soldier you kill has their own backstory, and every life lost is one to many.

_{MSc - Playable Media | Play it on itch.io}

Brushwood Residence

Brushwood Residence is a mysterious puzzle game that combines escape room elements with a magical atmosphere. As an adventurer, you explore a house rumored to have other-worldly paintings - and the secret to how they capture different realities on their canvases. To find the final answer, you enter the paintings, solve puzzles, and see how your actions not only affect the paintings but also your reality.

As the designated Tech Lead I was responsible to provide guidance for our programmers and oversee the tech side of the project. The project taught me the value of constant communication between the departements of a game project, as well as educated me about problems that may arise during a process and how to deal with them.

_{MSc - Making Games | View on itch.io}

Evil Sandman

This Game Jam project was pieced together by a Team of 6 in 48 hours. Armed with a dreamcatcher, you embark on a mission to defeat enemies and the evil Sandman in a fever dream world. I programmed the character controller and the Enemy AI using Finite State Machines, and helped with character rigging and animation.

_{Visit the game on itch.io!}

Eternity's Lair

This 2.5D Rogue-Lite Game on PC, was developed by a Team of 6 members in the context of a class in 2022. I was responsible for development of the enemies. This included designing and modelling of the cyberpunk inspired rats, as well as developing the Enemy-AI using Behaviour Trees. The game was developed in Unity 3D and C#.

_{View the project!}

Desk Dash

A 3D-Arcade Sports Game, that was used as practice for various Unity 3D development workflows. I worked on the game flow and the gameplay mechanics for Pole Vault and Archery.

_{Learning experience for Unity 3D}

A Nightmare on Bahnhofsstreet

A Nightmare on Bahnhofsstreet is a Virtual Reality Game made in UE4. We were a Team of 6 students and had 3 months to build this game. I was mainly responsible for modelling objects for our scenes, such as collectables, static objects and interactable objects. Furthermore I had a small introduction to Visual Scripting in UE4.

_{BSc - Game Engineering Lab}

Not Pong

This 2D Puzzle Game was inspired by the mechanics of Angry Birds and was used to learn the ropes of development in Unity. The idea of a beer pong game came during my first semester, and the result was this game. I drew all the art and followed various tutorials for the logic.

_{Learning experience for Unity 2D | View on itch.io}