Friday, January 23, 2015

UDK Mod Mechanical Meltdown

Hello internet and welcome to my latest blog post. I'm very excited about this one. I started a new level two weeks ago and I set out to create a chaotic multiplayer map. I wanted to use ZERO G physics but decided that wasn't going to work. So I came up with a really fun map. I did all the scripting by myself with the tools that UDK offers. I've implemented triggering doors that open and shut. (with sound ques) I have a really cool water trap toward the back of the map. The idea is there is  a console any player can trigger causing a watery death trap. I was pretty proud of this and it comes in handy during a match. I've scatted weapons and pickups around the map for that extra bonus fun. Vehicles have been dropped in along with jump pads. What is pretty neat are the moving elevators that give the player a great vantage point above other players. I actually built the radio tower with static meshes UDK offers. And lastly what I'm most proud of is my skybox and the lighting. I really love space and cool space wallpapers. So I added stars to a cloudy skybox and turned up that purple scene lighting. Its very pretty. Well what are you waiting for? Go check out the pics and videos found below. Thanks internet. 


This was the concept art I found online. This is how I wanted to level to look and feel.

 Sweet cloudy purple space.


 The tower I build piece by piece. 


Robot city was the original name of this map.

Mechanical Meltdown Deathmatch.
Mechanical Meltdown walk through. Explore all the triggers and rooms.
Mechanical Meltdown Deathmatch with vehicles. 

Videos ^

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Saints Row IV: Re-Elected & Gat out of Hell

Hello internet and welcome to my newest blog post. Today I can finally tell you what I've been doing for the past seven months here at Volition. Well it's the SR4 and SRGat  awesome combo. I've been testing on the PC via Steam. Most of my time was spent on the multiplier side on Saints Row Gat. 


SRG has a co-op online mode which I was responsible for testing and tracking those those nasty bugs. SR4 comes packaged with Gat and with new graphics and voice controls! How exciting! Now available on old gen, next gen systems, and the PC. I really enjoyed this project because it was my first title here at Volition. Volition has been great. Meeting new people in the industry and testing really funny games. So go check it out and take down Satan!



Cool sweet new logo.
Lust
Sloth
 Proof! Hey that's me ^
 Text based mini game in SR4.
A custom boss I've created using SR4's sweet character creator. (holding an anal probe)




The trailer^

Thursday, January 8, 2015

UDK Mod Cursed Castle

Cursed Castle is another UDK mod I developed alone during my free time late 2014. The concept is simple, familiar, but different. I wanted to create a story we've all heard a million times before but with a twist ending. So I came up with a sad story that follows Jordan our hero. Who attempts to save a princess atop of a cursed castle with a twist ending. Video found below. 


Very early concept of the level.
Finalized main entrance.
The moat
The scary doorway. 
The full moon in the woods.
The mountains. 
 The Zelda secret entrance. 
The scary forest.
Stairs to hell. 



The video ^

Volition

In Early 2014 I moved from Arizona (again) to Illinois. Luckily had some company on my cross country road trip, Olivia my girlfriend. We had decided to gamble everything and would move to Champaign Illinois, so I could start my testing at Volition. Now I've tested a few Volition titles before but as a publisher. Now I would be in house testing with the developer. I was so excited. 


The very exited and handsome Tony Lazzara.

Happy Holidays from Volition. Sunny warm Illinois. Wait no freezing cold Illinois.

I'm currently testing a few projects. Both have been been announced. If you do some research you'll find my current projects. I'll post all the details after the titles are out. Gotta look out for that NDA.



A few pictures of the office. It's so cool!


Unicorn Media

After some time in Illinois I decided to get back to Arizona. An exciting job opportunity arose and I snatched it up. Mid 2013 I was back in Tempe Arizona working at Unicorn Media. We basically did internet video solutions for mobile devices. We would stitch video adds into content for large clients like ABC, NBC, and ESPN. I worked as a Client services Adviser. Which is basically a help desk or help line for our clients. 

Something I made in excitement over my new job.


I was responsible for performing software testing on platforms and other related software applications. Help develop and document manual and automated software test plans/test cases. Document issues in a bug tracking system. Accurately report testing progress and documenting issues in a bug tracking system. A very overwhelming IT job basically. It was a good learning experience. I learned new tools like SQL and advanced my computer knowledge.

A very excited Tony.

Just some platforms I tested daily.

Wowzers Chicago, IL

Wowzers was a new learning game company based in Chicago Illinois. In late 2011 I moved back to Illinois, my hometown. How lovely! It was great being back in IL after being in AZ for a few years. At Wowzers I was again a tester. Wowzers developed school lessons for students. The students would learn through interactive games, menus, and worlds. It was a great company to work for. It was very different from my past experience. At Wowzers we were mostly testing on the Kindle Fire Mac and PC.


Example lesson plan.

Lovely Chicago

Later THQ

Late 2011 I left THQ. They were in the middle of going bankrupt. It was a great first job after college and I met so many great people. We still stay in contact and I even work with a few. THQ will always hold a special place for me. I worked on many titles and got great experience in which I would use later in my career. By Phoenix. You were great. 

PHX THQ QA

new logo didn't last too long

WARHAMMER 40,000 SPACE MARINE

This may be my favorite project to date. I was first introduced to the Warhammer genre a few projects ago with Kill Team. Space Marine was so great to test. It had XBOX Live competitive multi-player modes as well as a fantastic long campaign. I loved this title for so many reasons. It would be my last at THQ. The blood is fantastic, the game-play, the level design, everything, just everything. Relic did a fantastic job with this title and I was so happy to have tested it for as long as I did.




Some TMNT themed Space Marines I made in game.

proof ^ Hey that's me!

My favorite XBOX Live map.
A Pulp Fiction reference. 
The Blood Ravens chapter here to bail out Captain Titus. 
What a lovely sunset. Now lets go kill Orcs.
I just killed the War Boss.
Always a happy ending after an XBOX Live match.
Sweet box art.
I received a Warhammer 40k figurine as a prize at THQ. I wasn't great at painting them so I came up with a contest. Who ever could draw the best Captain Titus I would give them the figurine. This is clearly the winner. Done by my buddy Evan Zynda.
The blood is so fantastic in this game. 
My Iron Man themed Space Marine I created in game. So much customization!