Games
Worlds Through Glass January 24-26, 2014 Click to Play

A game that I was part of the development team of for the Global Game Jam of 2014.

The objective is to get both of the characters to their respective exit doors - orange to orange, and green to green; neither character can exit through the other's door. The orange character is controlled with the W/A/S/D (movement) and E (use) keys, and the green character is controlled with the Arrow (movement) and Space (use) keys. The active character's view is changed with the number keys, 1, to show the orange world, and 2, the green. The alternate worlds can only be seen through the "mirrors" in specific locations around a level. Some platforms can be fallen, or dropped/jumped through, some platforms move when a button or multiple buttons have been activated, and some platforms disappear or reappear. Additionally, an indicator displays above a character's head when they are able to interact with a button in the environment so the player(s) will know for certain what can be pressed and what can't.

We made the game have two controllable characters such that one player could control both, or two different players could control one each; this also helped shape our main mechanic such that each character's view would affect the world differently to help the other.

The theme for the jam was the quote, "We see things not as they are, but as we are" - we interpreted this as the concept behind the position-dependant alternate-world view mechanic.

I created all of the spritework for the game, designed the tutorial levels and the second main level (4th level overall, the one that doesn't use the entire canvas). I also had a minor hand in some visual code that textured the platforms.

Other members of the team;

Overall game and mechanics design was carried out by the group as a whole pre-development, with adjustments during.

Escape the Planet November 06-07, 2013 Click to Play

A project developed with a group during a University-organised "portfolio jam" at the start of our final year.

The idea is to use the people to collect resources to build a rocket. Click-and-drag to select people, then right-click a resource point to tell them to collect it. Once you have enough of each resource, a part of the rocket will be built. Extended help and instructions, a tutorial if you will, can be found HERE.

The game may take some time to load on some connections, so please be patient!

The theme for the jam was "Pests and Infestation" - we took the spin on it that the Humans in our game were the infestation.

My roles were help in designing the models and (minimalist) texturing, most work on the UI, (hint: press Enter while the game area is active) and I also created the entire "How to play" page within the last two hours before submission.

Other members of the team;

The overall design of the game was done collaboratively by the team as a whole.

Abysmal Ideas January 24-26, 2013Click to Play

A game that I took part in the development of whilst at university, as part of a team for the Global Game Jam weekend, back in January of 2013.

The basic aim of the game is to collect items from the lake, fishing them out using either the arrow keys or by click-and-holding (press-and-holding if on a touchscreen device) to guide the hook. Once an item has been hooked, you bring it to the surface to send it out to Rodney's mind to find out whether or not he likes it. If he likes an item you collect, he'll give you a happy look and his health - indicated below the beating heart, top left - will go up; if he doesn't, he'll give you a sad look and his health will go down. Rodney's health decreases over time, so you need to collect as many good items as fast as you can; every time an item is collected, it will be noted on the list - mid/bottom left - as an additional hint toward whether or not Rodney liked it. The items that he likes are randomised each time you play, so it's always a job of discovery to work out what to fish for.

The theme of the jam was the sound of a heartbeat - our interpretation was the association of happiness with the beating heart.

Code
CanvasWire June 15 - July 29, 2015Click to Try

A simple HTML5 Canvas-based experiment, developed as a personal project, honestly just to see if I could do it.

Right-Click in any empty space to crate a new component, or edit the grid properties.
Components can be moved by pressing and holding the Left Mouse Button over them, then dragging them around.
Left-Click a component to select it. Holding the Control key lets you select multiple components.
With any number of components selected, press the Delete key to remove them from the canvas.
Right-Click a component to edit its properties, a new wire to any of its outputs, or delete it.
You can also Left-Click any given output port on a component to begin making a new wire.
When adding a new wire, Left-Click any empty space to add a joint. Hold the Shift key while adding a wire to snap the current joint to the wiring grid.
If you make a mistake when adding joints to a wire, press the Delete key to remove the last joint. Using Right-Click while adding a wire will cancel the creation of the whole wire.
Left- or Right-Click any given component to select a port to connect the wire to, or just Left-Click the port to which you wish to link the wire. You can also make a connection by pressing and holding the Left Mouse Button over an output port, and releasing it when hovering over an input port.
Right-Click on any port to remove all its connecting wires.

The concept of the project was to make a "playground" in which to simulate a very basic electronics and wiring system, formed upon an idea similar to that of the "WireMod" addon for Garry's Mod, but with less complex elements and in a format that made components easier to visually distinguish.

Written almost exclusively using JavaScript and the HTML5 Canvas API, this project is entirely self-penned - all the code and visual design is my work.

WIP features:

  • Properties Pane - general options (colour scheme, grid size, etc.) and properties of selected components are listed in a dedicated side panel
  • Improved Context Menu - nested context menus for compactness and ease of use, allows for better management of "categories"
  • Rectangular Selection - using left mouse, click-and-dragging from any empty space will define a rectangle within which any components will be selected
  • Wire Manipulation - wire joints can be manipulated post-placement and "affixed" to the positions of either of the components they connect to
  • Improved Position Manipulation - all selected components (and wires) will move together when click-and-dragging to reposition any of them
  • Wire Properties - wires can be given specific thicknesses, colours, and can be hidden; properties can also be determined by their connections

WIP components:

  • 7-Segment - A display unit consisting of seven independently lit segments, to come in two versions - parallel binary and serial numeric
  • Binary LED - is lit up when input is equivalent to any "true" state, and darkened when not; colour and size determined by properties
  • RGB Pixel - three inputs (Red, Green, Blue) determine the colour of the block, size and position can be altered to fractions of grid size
  • Toggle Switch - a basic toggle switch that can be triggered to turn on and off by clicking or via its properties menu
  • Slider / Swivel Dial - a component whose output value floats between 0 and 1 depending on its state, altered by physical click-and-drag motions
Bits 'n' Bobs
You can take a look at my GitHub account for any of my public-repository projects, my GitHub.io Page for demos of smaller projects, or my PasteBin account for source code of a few mini-programs and other random scripts.
Art
Commissioned Works

Digital

Traditional

Vector

Personal Works

Digital

Traditional

Vector

Bits 'n' Bobs

Digital

Captcha Stories

These were made using prompts from a two-word "Captcha" generator. The aim is to make sense of nonsense, in one's own nonsensical way.

Voice
Sample Clips
I post miscellaneous practice or requested lines over on clyp.it but, to save you the trouble, you can check them out via the embedded player widgets below.
Experience
Technical Skills
Programming Languages
  • C / C++ and C#
  • HTML / XHTML / CSS
  • JavaScript and libraries, e.g. jQuery
  • NodeJS and derivatives, e.g. Cordova
  • PHP, Sequential and OO
  • Java, primarily for Android
  • SQL, MySQL and other derivatives
  • GDScript, Lua and Python
  • ActionScript 2.0 / 3.0
Game Development
Other Software and Applications
  • Windows OS (XP through 10+)
  • Linux OS (mainly Ubuntu)
  • Variety of editors and IDEs, e.g. VS Code, Atom, Notepad++
  • Visual Studio Express / Professional / Community (2013+)
  • Source Control software, e.g. Git / GitHub, TortoiseSVN
  • Adobe Suite, e.g. Flash / Photoshop / Dreamweaver (3–6 / CC+)
  • Web server software, primarily full LAMP stack
  • Common Web CMSs, e.g. WordPress, Salesforce, phpMyAdmin
  • Common FTP and management clients, e.g. FileZilla, CoreFTP, raw SSH
  • Common Image Editing software, e.g. Paint.net, GIMP
  • Common Office software, e.g. MS Office (2007+), Google Docs
Hardware and Platforms

I've built and maintained Desktop PCs, and have a decent grasp of hardware architecture.
I've developed for a variety of Android devices, using different toolkits and SDKs for both live and after-the-fact debugging.
I own a few Raspberry Pi devices and have tinkered with these, adding various hats and peripherals, plus some self-built hardware.
I've also had limited experience programming Arduino Uno devices and shields, and making miscellaneous electrical gadgets.

Work History
Voluntary "Lead Developer" of Sleeping Fox Studio Oct 2019 – Jan 2021

Worked on a number of titles, primarily developing in Godot Engine.
Completed and published Shinko Sprint.

"Code Witch" at White Label Dev Dec 2017 – Sep 2018

Was tasked to build mobile / tablet apps and web-based software for professional business clients at speed, having to learn new technologies and languages as I went.

I primarily used HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Cordova (NodeJS), Java and C# on a number of projects simultaneously, building web software and on-device applications that communicated with each other via proprietary API software.

"Consultant" with Auticon UK References available upon requestApr 2017 – Sep 2017

Worked on various projects involving mainly UI design, UX flow and designing systems to meet user needs, liasing directly with a number of clients and differing projects.

Made use of PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and the HTML Canvas to turn paper-based cognitive tests into computer-based tests with automated marking and basic permissions-based accounts for management.

Volunteer at Autism Bedfordshire References available upon requestApr 2015 – Sep 2015  /  Nov 2018 – Feb 2020

Helped design and develop websites built to function as public service directories for use by those with an Autistic Spectrum diagnosis.
Undertook work proofreading training presentations, assisting with general organisation tasks and redesigning both internal / external documents to provide a consistent, professional design.

Freelance Web DeveloperMay 2016 – Mar 2017

Responsible for the design and development of a website to represent a local organisation; involved meetings with the client to discuss design decisions and from-scratch development of a custiom website.
This was eventually also transferred to a custom WordPress site, to allow them to easily edit their own content going forward.

Education

I have a degree in Computer Games Programming from De Montfort University in Leicester, from which I graduated in July of 2014.

I also have a "Software Testing" certification from the ISTQB at Foundation level, which I was awarded in late 2016.

JenH.uk
Bio

I'm Jenny Higgs, a game designer, programmer and graphic design enthusiast with a keen interest in UI / HUD design and making generally cool fun stuff.

My favourite genre of games is FPS, having been responsibly plopped down in front of the first Doom and Wolfenstein 3D at a mere 18 months old, I've always enjoyed a shooter.
On the other hand, I am partial to many an action adventure game, such as Terraria and Starbound, and more chill games like Stardew Valley.

I spend many an hour in front of code editors, with both my own games and mods, at varying stages of development. I've yet to release a complete project, but hope that I can soon share some of my work for a myriad of players out there to (hopefully) enjoy.

In the meantime, I work on various software applications and projects and offer volunteer time to a local charity organisation as a kind of in-house technical assistant.

I also moonlight as a semi-amateur voice actor, an artist in various media and recently began streaming over on Twitch.TV — feel free to pop in and say "hi" if you want! 😄

Contact

Possibly the best way to get hold of me is via my Twitter (@ JennyMcJenster).

You can also email any address at this domain (<anything> @ jenh.uk) and it'll reach me via the magic of modern technology. No spam or advertising though, please! 😊