CARSON
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Current Projects
I am the CEO and Creative Lead for Redstone Interactive (RSI), I simultaneously hold the position of Creative Director at SAIC for the Army Game Studio. This dual role allows me to leverage my expertise in both the commercial and government sectors. At Redstone Interactive, we are developing our fist game title - Smash League Pickleball. Meanwhile, my role at the Army Game Studio involves spearheading creative direction and design for projects unique to the U.S. Army. Through these distinct avenues, I have gained real insights into the intersection of creativity, technology, and the demands of the government sector. It is a privilege to design and develop with exceptional teams at both Redstone Interactive and the Army Game Studio, crafting cutting edge experiences for truly diverse audiences.
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I love this work and the people I have come to trust with it. I have found few things that compare with turning abstract ideas into tangible products for people to use and enjoy.
Smash League
Smash League Pickleball is a VR title being developed for Quest and will soon be available for early access on the App Lab.
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Smash League Pickleball, developed and produced by RSI, allows players to experience the fast-paced and exciting world of pickleball from the comfort of their own home. The game is designed to be intuitive and easy to learn, with a variety of game modes and difficulty levels that cater to players of all skill levels.
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Smash League realeasing in October 23
Americas Army
America's Army "Proving Grounds" is the latest and most successful release in its 20- year franchise. I was originally hired to take the lead in establishing a new art direction for the Army Game Studio and its flagship product Americas Army. Later I was asked to direct the design efforts and finally the entire creative direction of the studio.
Working within government guidelines, security, and infrastructure has been one of the biggest development challenges I have ever encountered. It is a tribute to the team and studio that this product launched and is available and played by millions of players. Truly amazing!
"Americas Army Proving Grounds reaches 10 Million Players"
The following are screenshots of AAPG environments, characters, and weapons created by the Art and Design teams.
Download
Americas Army Proving Grounds
FIREBREAK
FIREBREAK is a mixed reality app using Vive VR technology and Talon's motion platform technology. This product was created as a 4 person multiplayer experience where the users pilot U.S. Army helicopters to fight forest fires.
​This product was built in UE4 specifically for a mixed reality experience on a motion platform. The Firebreak MX game can only be experienced in the U.S. Army's game truck built to travel across the country visiting high schools and high-profile events.
This project combined several different capabilities, creative disciplines, and engineering solutions. So fun to work on!!!
The U.S. Army has several trucks that travel across America providing unique experiences to the general public including FIREBREAK.
STARS Anatomy
U.S. Army Stars Anatomy is a free app available at the app store and google play. It is designed to teach students, with the help of some "Tinysaurs", the foundations of anatomy. The app consists of four different modalities to learning.
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Quest - a physics-based puzzle game.
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Explore - a 3D skeletal model
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Challenge - an interactive test
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Bone Hunter - augmented 3D model
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Built in Unity for mobile and web, this project was such a blast to design and work on.
Learning the foundations of anatomy has never been so fun.
Download
STARS Anatomy
STARS Elements
U.S. Army Stars Elements is a free app designed to help students learn about covalent bonds in chemistry. The app implements four different approaches to learning.
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Smash Bond - a Match 3 style puzzle game
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Explore - an interactive 3D model of an atom
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Challenge - an interactive test
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Periodic Table - Reference page
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Also built in Unity for mobile and web, this project was my first introduction to chemistry and required a lot of SME help from Tennessee Tech and local high school chemistry teachers.
Learning the foundations of chemistry has never been so fun.
Download
STARS Elements
Video Production
Video Production using Unreal Engine and Unity is a regular part of our training, marketing, and cinematic processes.
More traditional video production using multiple cameras, multi-screen capture, and a switchboard has recently become a necessity in competing for our government contracts. I hired Tommy Hodge and Prototype Multimedia to help organize the crew needed to create multiple demonstration videos for products and services. This project was on a 2-month timeline during the height of Covid-19.
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It was a tremendous challenge coordinating the production team, scriptwriters, wardrobe, makeup, presenters, rehearsals, equipment, software, and teams of engineers to operate their products.
Multiple cameras were needed to create the amount of video content needed
Branding
Branding and marketing is a high priority in the commercial industry but is often the last thing considered on government products. We try to break that mold when it comes to logos and marketing materials for the products we make. Typically a government logo or icon would be riddled with multiple pictures and text.
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Below are a few of the instances we were allowed to spend time and money making content using real design principles. I loved working with Brad Cockrell, Nevin Langdon, and Paige Wheat who are always pushing the envelope in branding, UI/UX, and web design.
Typical Government logos use multiple images and text
Websites
Motion Capture
Motion capture is one of the luxuries we get to enjoy at the Army Game Studio, allowing us to create thousands of animations for games and training. I get to use the Optitrac 32 camera system in a 50' x 50' capture volume. Using Motion Builder and Maya, we process content captured from athletes, actors, soldiers, and SME's.
Redstone Interactive
RSI-Short for RedStone Interactive was created as a playground for local developers who wanted to make more than government trainers.
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Invaders was the first project that brought together our small, yet highly experienced team. A friend at War Gaming reached out to me and asked for a bid to organize a team and create a prototype for a new mobile game they needed. The RSI team did a great job and completed a full vertical slice in 3 1/2 months. (screenshots below)
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As mentioned at the start of this page we are currently working on Smash League Pickleball using the Unity Engine, that we hope to make into a suite of "Swing Sports Games".
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Our next big plans are to create Planet One - an epic FPS game with a unique environment and objective. We are looking for capital to make this awesome game a reality.
