Kenechukwu Umelo
Technical Designer
AI Programmer
Role: AR/VR Unity Developer
Tenure: August 2021 - February 2022
Studio Size: Small (during my time there)
Overview:
In 2021, I joined Lucid Dream as an AR/VR Unity Developer for serious game development, focused on the medical and healthcare industries.
I honed my skills in AR and VR development by working on client projects and internal studio projects, including Healthy Holidays, which I spearheaded and led for a five-week development cycle.
Engine/Tools:
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Unity 5
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C#
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Perforce
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Trello
Client Work Contributions
Due to NDA, I don't have any screenshots or videos to showcase my in-engine work.
What I Did
Most of my time at Lucid Dream was spent on client-led projects across multiple platforms, including WebGL, mobile, and VR.
Since I could not go into detail about them, another major focus was improving the internal simulation systems in Unity Engine that powered client projects.
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Implemented and documented new features monthly into existing simulation systems to support multiplatform projects.
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Worked on training and educational simulations ranging from mobile to XR devices using Unity.
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Primary point of contact for issues and bugs across multiple experiences.
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Screen-captured and recorded existing web and XR experiences to document stability and showcase at events.
Healthy Holidays
Healthy Holidays is a micro memory game that teaches users the importance of staying safe.
The goal was to raise health awareness during the 2021 holiday season due to the rise of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The core loop of the game was a matching game that involved players needing to memorize a sequence of orbs to respond to.
What I Did
I was the lead programmer on Healthy Holidays and led a five-week development cycle with an artist and producer to bring the game from concept to completion.
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Outlined tasks, deadlines, and design for a 5-week development cycle with Lead Artist.
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Implemented core sequencing, scoring, and matching systems.
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Designed the orb class to allow ease of adding sound, lighting, and text.
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Scripted error messages in HTML for mobile users to keep their devices at a horizontal level to play the game.
Retrospect
Lucid Dream VR was my first real game development job, and since this was a small team, it taught me a lot. I learned to take on whatever was needed, rely on my team for guidance, and stay cool under pressure. It gave me the confidence to handle bigger challenges moving forward.
This role wasn't what I envisioned it to be, but the experience helped set the foundation for me as a team-focused game designer who’s always ready to learn and help other developers on my team.