Chris Onorati
  • Home
  • Professional Projects
  • Student Projects
  • Teaching Services

Selected Professional Projects

Creature Kitchen

Designer/Programmer | The Rat Zone | April 2024 - Present
Visit Steam Page
Visit Itch.io Page
​​Creature kitchen is a cozy atmospheric cooking simulator in which you befriend local wildlife through the art of cooking. In my roles as a designer and programmer I am responsible for:

  • Architecting modular system for item creation, interaction, and combination (C#).
  • Scripting the majority of gameplay, effects, and UI (C#).
  • Writing a data-driven system allowing AI tasks, schedules, and goals to be controlled via GUI (C#).
  • Designed mechanics, systems, and minigames related to cooking and food-prep.
  • Crafting unique puzzles to add variety to gameplay.
  • Implementing platform-specific APIs, such as Steamworks (C#).
  • Managing, scheduling, and overseeing playtest sessions.

CHAIRS

Lead Designer/Programmer | The Rat Zone | July 2023 - August 2024
Visit Steam Page
Visit Itch.io Page
CHAIRS is a fast-paced action platformer doubling as the most realistic chair simulator money can buy!  As a programmer and design lead I was responsible for:

  • Designing mechanics and level segments for fast-paced linear and open-ended gameplay.
  • Scripting the majority of gameplay, effects, and UI (C#).
  • Creating editor tools to simplify environment pipeline for level creation (C#).
  • Implementing platform-specific APIs, such as Steamworks (C#).
  • Managing, scheduling, and overseeing playtest sessions.​

Awards​ and Honors

Picture

Sender

Lead Developer | The Rat Zone | November 2022 - August 2023
Visit Steam Page
Visit Itch.io Page
Visit GOG Page
Sender is an atmospheric horror game in which you operate an aging arctic exploration vehicle as dusk settles into the dead of night.  As the lead developer I was responsible for:

  • Crafting the core narrative elements for a short single-player horror game.
  • Scripting the majority of gameplay, effects, and UI (C#).
  • Designing levels and environments for a one-hour experience.
  • Creating editor tools to simplify environment pipeline for level creation and art passes (C#).
  • Implementing platform-specific APIs, such as Steamworks (C#).
  • Managing, scheduling, and overseeing playtest sessions.

Operation: Black Mesa

Level Designer/Gameplay Programmer/Producer  |  Tripmine Studios  |   May 2016 - May 2023
Roughly 65% of this teaser showcases contributions I made from 2016 - 2021!
Visit Steam Page
Operation: Black Mesa is a commercial-length recreation of Half-Life: Opposing Force and Half-Life: Blue Shift made from the ground up with permission and licensing from the copyright holders (Valve Software).  As a Level Designer and Gameplay Programmer I was responsible for:
​
  • Recreating and redesigning levels from the original games to fit with modern gameplay standards in the Source Engine.
  • Working with team members to create assets needed for the entire game, and individual levels.
  • Running playtests and fixing bugs within levels.
  • Designing dynamic soundscapes for environments.
  • Creating VFX and SFX for world events and characters.
  • Implementing inheritance-based entities using the Source Engine (C++).
  • Designing and implementing AI to simulate animals, robots, and vehicles of varying intelligence.
  • ​Interviewing applicants to determine eligibility in a potential hire.

Redmond Tree Lighting 2019

Solo Project | City of Redmond | December 2019
For the 2019 Redmond Tree Lighting event, I was contracted to create a short game (15-30 seconds per round) for an audience of all ages.  Working with the Senior Executive Vice President of DigiPen, we decided to create a Pachinko style game.  ​For this project I was responsible for:

  • Designing and implemented Pachinko style gameplay Unity (C#).
  • Implementing controls for both gamepad and keyboard support.
  • Using particles and other elements to create strong user feedback.
  • Testing different aspect ratios and resolutions for projection.
  • Applying patches and bug fixes as per event runner request.

Return of the Dragons

Lead Designer | Daring Hero Games | February 2019 - August 2019  
During my time at Daring Hero Games I acted as a Lead Designer for the digital scavenger hunt known as "Return of the Dragons".  This digital scavenger hunt was designed to encourage visitors to Redmond's downtown park grand opening to explore the new space and nearby area.  As the lead designer for this project I was responsible for:

  • Designing gameplay to accommodate 1500 simultaneous players.
  • Implementing core game loop and logic (Unity, C#)
  • Playtesting the game at smaller venues.
  • Providing minor debugging assistance to back-end web developers.
  • Prototyping web page to display data and analytics (Unity, C#).
  • Implementing systems that made use of a proprietary NFC card reader.

Portal Stories: Mel

Level Designer  |  Prism Studios  |   December 2013 - July 2015
Visit Steam Page
Portal Stories: Mel is a commercial-length free modification for Portal 2 based in the Portal universe. It tells the story of Mel, who meets a new personality core and faces an undiscovered threat to the Aperture facility.  As a Level Designer and UI Programmer on this project I was responsible for:

  • Creating over 1/3 of the maps and environments within the game.
  • Reworking the menu system of Portal 2 to fit with the game's needs.
  • Working with team members to create art and sound assets required throughout the game.
  • Running playtests to gather feedback during the Beta testing process.
  • Fixing bugs in gameplay and UI ranging from trivial to game-breaking.

Awards​ and Honors

Picture
Picture
Picture

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Professional Projects
  • Student Projects
  • Teaching Services