Services
Although I have experience in many technologies, in recent years I have specialized in tools development for the Unity game engine, automation solutions and quality control.
Below you will find a detailed list of the services I currently offer to both companies and individuals.
Custom Unity tools
Every project is a world, but in most cases it is possible to identify tedious, complicated, laborious or error-prone tasks that in addition to delaying the project often affect team morale.
Working together we can build -sometimes in just a matter of days- custom tools that allow your team to simplify and speed up these “bad” tasks, thus reducing development times and putting a smile upon a face or two.
These are just a few examples of the kind of tools I have already built for some companies and game development studios:
- Tools to speed up level design.
- Editors for specific data sets.
- Importers and converters for special file formats.
- Utilities to ease some of the annoyances of the Unity editor.
And if the tool you need is really special, no problem: we can talk about it and study its feasibility without any compromise.
Automation
Apart from the classic development activities, when a project grows in complexity, other types of activities appear that fall into the “operations” area and that it is advisable to have automated.
Some examples would be:
- Building and deployment.
- Execution of unit and integration tests.
- Simulation of players on the device.
- Publication in stores.
- Code analysis.
In my experience, the cost of automating these tasks is quickly amortized by the reduction of the number of human errors, the release of certain profiles from having to deal with this kind of tasks and the feeling of control that the team achieves.
If you don’t have experience with these issues or simply can’t “free up” to deal with implementing these automations, perhaps I can help.
Quality
Quality is very important and that is why most projects are started with the aim of maintaining a high level of quality. However, this commitment ends up being difficult to maintain over time because for different reasons the focus of the work ends up being placed on other activities that we consider more important.
If you are noticing that the quality of the project you are working on is decreasing, that the number of bugs in each build of your project is constantly increasing and that the team feels somehow overwhelmed by all this, maybe it is time to seek some external help.
As a former QA manager I have had to face several times the delicate task of implementing a practical plan of quality in projects already underway, so I can confirm you that 1) it is possible to do it without causing havoc, and 2) taking control of quality ends up being one of the keys to success.
Training
I am currently preparing the contents for a series of intensive courses and workshops focused on Unity:
- Basic project structure.
- Programming techniques for games.
- Multiplatform development.
- Integration of unit tests.
- Project optimization.
- Multiplayer game development.
- Procedural generation.
- Development of custom tools.
- Management of video game development projects.
- Version control.
These courses will be available starting in September 2020 and are thought in principle for indie studies, although I am also open to offer individualized training.
GameFlow
GameFlow is a visual programming tool for Unity developed by me a few years ago and now available for free.
Being the creator of this tool logically gives me a total knowledge of it and the possibility to offer you a unique and high quality specialized consulting service.
If you use GameFlow as a freelance developer or as part of a development studio and need help with integration or extensibility issues (such as creating new custom blocks), I have a special plan for you.
Retro Development
Although I only consider myself an expert in retro development for Amiga computers, I am also familiar enough with other 8 and 16 bit systems to be able to join any retro project and provide quality work in a short time.
If you have an interesting project underway and difficulties in finding people who don’t find the word “Assembler” frightening, contact me and I think we’ll be able to understand each other.
FAQ
What’s your hourly rate?
I don’t charge by the hour but prefer to agree on a closed budget depending on the specific requirements of the service.
How will we communicate to follow up on the service?
We can use Slack, Discord, Telegram, Skype and even - oh, surprise - we can send emails and phone each other.
How can we verify that the work is being done?
In a very transparent way: as soon as the service is accepted we start working in a shared private repository. This not only allows a daily verification but also that we can work collaboratively and in an agile way.
Do you have a service contract?
Yes, I have already worked for several companies and of course I have contract models prepared in both English and Spanish.
The source code of the solutions developed is kept by the client?
If it is agreed that way, of course it is. When the project is finished -and once all payments are satisfied- a transfer of ownership of the repository is made.
Do you give free quotes?
I do, but only on a quick, indicative level. A more precise budget would need a preliminary requirements analysis and that is already part of the service itself.
If you have any other questions or need more information about any of these services, please contact me and I will try to answer you as soon as possible.