Mike Haught - Projects and Work Experience
PORTFOLIO
Contact Info:
E-mail: ScaryBiscuitsStudios@gmail.com
The following section covers the major projects that I've worked on in a product or game design capacity. If you have any questions or comments about these projects, or would like to see my CV, please shoot me an email.
See also:
Virtual Reality Training Experience
SKILLS VR
SKILLS VR
After launching Skills for Industry, our team started on a new project called Skills VR. We integrated all the lessons learned in earlier projects and married that up with a new type of training: compliance.
My role as Design Lead is to help merge the immersive strengths of virtual reality with real-world training scenarios. We've created four scenarios to date, ranging in topics from general health and safety to conflict management in a security context.
Virtual Reality Recruiting Tool
SKILLS FOR INDUSTRY
In late 2018 I started working at Joy Business Academy. I was excited to join the team as they were pioneering the use of VR technology as a training tool in New Zealand. The objective of this project was to expose potential job seekers to a variety of jobs to help them match them with a new career path. Using immersive experiences, we completed three two-player cooperative scenarios including excavator and truck work, traffic control, and building prefabrication.
Our product leveraged the Oculus headset for the learners and used a PC-based facilitator app where observers to see and comment on the players' progress.
World War II Miniature Tabletop Wargame
FLAMES OF WAR
My first professional job in design was for Battlefront's tabletop game, Flames Of War, starting in 2007. I designed the game and wrote rules supplements for that system for 8 years, producing over 20 titles and many supporting materials and physical products.
Designing for Flames of War involved a lot of various skills, including:
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Research
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Writing, Editing, Proofreading
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Game Design
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Game Economy Design and Balancing
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Battle Balancing
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Prototyping & Iterations
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Usertesting
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UX Design
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Product Design
An Augmented Reality Children's Museum Game
PAGES' BUBBLE ADVENTURE
My last project with Scarlet City Studios was an engaging mobile app project for the Museum of the Bible. This project was built to help entertain and engage children aged 5 to 8 with the museum's exhibits. It was my first experience designing for augmented reality, but a rewarding one as I got to see children really enjoying themselves and engaging with the game.
Designing a mobile AR apps involved a lot of learning a lot of new skills, including:
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Screen design and wireframes (UI/UX)
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User flow and interactions
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On/Off boarding experience design
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Prototyping
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Augmented reality design
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Designing for young children
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Geofencing design
A Massive Multiplayer Online Kids' Game
THE AETHERLIGHT
The Aetherlight was an incredibly large and engaging project to work on. Coming from a physical product design background into a digital one was quite challenging, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process. At Scarlet City Studios, I was well supported and encouraged to learn new techniques and apply design principles to the project.
As a massive multi-player game, the Aetherlight originally used an episodic model and thus the development phases can be broken down into individual episodes (three in total). The age demographic was 10-13.
Designing my first video game was a steep learning curve, but added a lot of incredibly useful skills that I still use today. These include:
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Concepting
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Design Documentation
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Quest Design
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Dialogue and Narrative Design
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Level Design
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Game Economy Design and Balancing
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Battle Balancing
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Prototyping & Iterations
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Usertesting
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Team management/production & AGILE work flow
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Script Writing
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DevOps
Consulting, Contract, and Volunteer Game Design
SCARY BISCUITS STUDIOS
In 2020 I partnered up with a game designer Steven Aramini to help bring his amazing prototype about WWII bombers to life. The project included board design, card layouts, tokens, and more.
In 2010, I established Scary Biscuits Studios (SBS) as a way for me to pursue my own creative projects, engage with fellow game designers, and get involved in the greater gaming and hobby communities.
One aspect of my work in this space is to volunteer my time and expertise to help raise the profile of the many emerging and brilliant designers out there. I've done graphic design work, built free downloadable game expansions, offered advice, and more. The other side of SBS is to work on and share creative projects of my own.
Through these projects, I've learned a great deal about:
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Growing and managing a gaming community
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Establishing relationships with fellow designers and publishers
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Pushing the boundaries of my graphic design knowledge
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Self-publishing techniques
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Business and contract work
In 2017 I took up a contract from Battlefront to work on a new edition of their Vietnam War game. The project pulled together several previously published books and updated the rules, format, and more.
Unterseeboot is a free Print and Play game that I discovered in 2020. I really enjoyed the solitaire aspect of the game so I offered my services to the original designer to help get the game up to a polished state.
Star Trek: CCG is long defunct, but nearly 30 years later, it still has a dedicated and thriving community. I designed these scenarios to breathe new life into an old game. I am grateful to the ST:CCG community for allowing me to contribute to the game's long legacy.
Ironclads builds on the game engine I developed for Dreadnought. I improved the graphics and gameplay based on community feedback, created expansion material, and assembled a comprehensive print-and-play option to increase player accessibility to the game.
In 2019, after years of development, I finally released squadron-based ship game, Dreadnought. I saw a gap in the market for a small-scale, fast-play naval wargame that could be played on your kitchen table. To meet this gap, I designed a rulebook and designed the cards and components for the game myself, leveraging both my graphic and game design skills.