Ad Hoc Projects
This page is an attempt to collect some of the personal or contract projects I’ve completed while outside of my ‘day job’.
Pixel Art for Game Developers
What started as a personal interest project grew into the full book Pixel Art for Game Developers, published by Taylor & Francis / CRC Press.
After two years pushing pixels for Handheld Games, I wanted to offer some of the best practices to others, so that they wouldn’t have to mirror my pain. Originally I was just planning a little digital guide for free or cheap, but apparently there was a wider market than expected.
The second edition is currently under contract and in process.
Interstellar Invaders
Interstellar Invaders is a video game that I authored as a solo developer and moved through Steam Greenlight.
The game is a satisfying mix of game mechanics with elements from Arkanoid, Missile Command, and Galaga.
The game was shown at Interstellar Invaders at the District Arcade, PixelFest, AwesomeCon, Gamescape, and Super MAGFest.
Feedback from players had been enthusiastically positive, and in hindsight I wish I had worked together with a publisher. With a partnership, I believe this game could have gotten some decent traction.
Every project is a learning experience – and this one probably the biggest of my career. Although I never managed to successfully market the game, I did realize my dream of putting my own game on Steam.
Book of Secrets (Colorist)
Book of Secrets is a fabulous graphic novel of Jewish folk tales written by Mat Tonti. After 5 years of dedication, the author and illustrator was starting to run out of steam – and the publisher Kar-Ben still needed the book colored. I was brought onto the project late as a ‘pinch hitter’ – coloring all 208 pages in an artful but methodical way to meet the deadline… 209 pages if you count the cover 🙂
Don’t You Dare Go Hollow
Don’t You Dare Go Hollow is a goofy rock album I put together in homage to the video game Dark Souls.
I’ve been playing guitar for over 30 years, and had some experience with drums and bass and somehow ended up writing a number of songs about the frustrations of playing through a game that was (almost) too hard for me. At some point once the songs were done I decided to pursue recording and sharing the songs.
It was really interesting to try various recording methods and learn how to get music onto various streaming venues. The album is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Boomplay Music, Amazon, Youtube, iHeart Radio, and a number of other locations that I didn’t even know existed before this experiment.
Guitar Exercises from Hell
Guitar Exercises from Hell was a fun little project done almost solely for my own joy. It is a book of mostly non-diatonic finger exercises for advanced guitar players. Originally I put the exercises together for my own advancement, but then I decided to clean up the content, give it an angle, and try my hand at self-publishing on Amazon.