Nick Cunningham (he/him) is an experienced full-stack developer. With over 5 years of professional experience as a developer, he is deeply familiar with multiple kinds of development, including game development and web development. As a lifelong student, he is always pushing the boundaries of his knowledge in authentic ways, never relying on AI tools to feign knowledge. His super-power is reading documentation. Nick has a substantial portfolio of work, ranging from niche open source programs with an active community, to projects for clients through his freelance business Good For You Web Services. You can check out some of his featured work below...
const nickCunnignham: Developer = _
const projects: Project[] = _
HandBrake Web
type:
Open Source, Self Hosted Project
uses:
[ Docker, Express.js, GitHub Actions, HandBrake, Node.js, React, React Router, SASS, Socket.io, Typescript ]
links:
[ GitHub ]
HandBrake Web is a program for interfacing with the video transcoding program HandBrake across multiple machines via a web browser. It consists of two components: the server and one or more worker(s). Both components use Node.js as the backend, connected to eachother via a web socket. The server uses express to serve a React based front-end to the user. The project is open source, and targeted at self-hosting enthusiasts. The project has an active and growing community of users, with ~400 stars, and >50,000 downloads on GitHub.
Vite Plugin Markdown Import
A Vite plugin to simplify the importing of markdown files, with support for front-matter attributes. Uses front-matter under the hood for parsing markdown files.
This plugin does not transform the markdown content into JSX/React Elements, it simply returns a string of the markdown's body and an object with your front-matter attributes. You can use the markdown body string in a markdown renderer/formatter of your choice, like react-markdown.
Thorb
uses:
[ Unreal Engine ]
links:
[ GitHub, Playable Build ]
Thorb is an FPS "Doom-Like" or "Boomer Shooter" with a bullet-hell minigame thrown in the mix. This project was created over several months by a group of Naughty Dog QA Members in our free time outside of work - we called this effort the "NDQA Game Chill." The "Game Chill" was conceptualized by myself and David Flyr, and then we recruited volunteers from some of our close/trusted coworkers.
Escape Room
uses:
[ Godot Engine ]
links:
[ GitHub, Playable Build ]
Escape room is an environmental puzzle game prototype made with the Godot Engine. In it you take control of two characters with unique abilities that you must swap between in order to solve puzzles. The project was made over the course of a month as part of a monthly design challenge run in the QA department at Naughty Dog.
Dungeon of Greyness
uses:
[ Unity3D Engine ]
links:
[ GitHub, Playable Build ]
“Dungeon of Greyness” is a game prototype, with a focus on combat design, that I built from the ground up over the course of a semester. My goal for this project was to focus on the various nuances of what makes combat feel engaging and fun, and flesh these elements out, week-by-week.
Using the Unity Engine, I designed and scripted (C#) everything in this project. This extends from the levels, the core gameplay, player combat & enemy functionality, to all the underlying systems that make the game work. Virtually all art and music was borrowed/copied in order to focus on the mechanical aspects of the game.
Gravity Box
uses:
[ Godot Engine ]
links:
[ GitHub, Playable Build ]
Gravity Box is a "puzzle box" style puzzle game, where you must carefully guide a ball trapped inside a box to a goal by rotating the box, causing the ball to fall with gravity. The project was made over the course of a month as part of a monthly design challenge run in the QA department at Naughty Dog.
Motorball - The Bounty
uses:
[ Unity3D Engine ]
links:
[ GitHub, Playable Build ]
Motorball: The Bounty is a game prototype I created in association with Garry McGee. The goal we had for this project was to create a rough vertical slice capturing what a cyberpunk-esque RPG set in the Battle Angel Alita universe could be like. This prototype focuses on a bounty hunter mission where the player is hunting down terrorists plotting an attack on the stadium of the popular sport Motorball.
Notline Miami
uses:
[ Unity3D Engine ]
links:
[ GitHub, Playable Build ]
Notline Miami is a game prototype I made as a case study – my goal was to attempt to replicate various aspects of the indie hit, Hotline Miami. I completed this project over the course of a week using the Unity Engine and C#. I worked as the sole systems designer, level designer, and scripter for this project. All models and music were sourced/borrowed. This game took 1st place prize at Academy of Art University’s Spring Show for Game Prototype in 2018.