Stuff I've Done
Hi! I’m Jon. I do a bunch of different stuff.
Secret Lab
Secret Lab is a game dev studio based in Hobart, Australia. Paris Buttfield-Addison and I have been running the joint since 2008. Practically everything you see on this page was done through the company.
Training
I run training courses and workshops about iOS development, game design, and game development with the Unity game engine.
Live Video Training
From time to time, we run live video training in cooperation with O’Reilly Media, who also publish our books.
Recordings of past live training events are available through O’Reilly’s Safari Books Online.
Open Source Software
I’m the lead developer of Yarn Spinner, the friendly tool for creating interactive dialogue.
Games
- I work on Night in the Woods, where I wrote and supported the implementation of the Yarn Spinner dialogue system.
Speaking
I’ve spoken at a number of conferences; usually, ones related to game development or general programming. Here are some of the talks that have been recorded and posted publicly!
- Game Developers Conference 2018: “Making Night in the Woods Better with Open Source”
- OSCON 2015: “The Mün and back - a Kerbal tale”
Books
I’m a frequent author for O’Reilly Media, where I’ve written a number of technical books. I mostly write about mobile app development, but I’m also known to write about video games. I usually write with my colleagues, Paris Buttfield-Addison and Tim Nugent.
- Learning Swift (on the latest Swift/iOS/macOS)
- The Kerbal Player’s Guide (on Kerbal Space Program)
Video Training
I’ve recorded a number of video training series for O’Reilly, along with my regular co-authors, Paris Buttfield-Addison and Tim Nugent.
- Designing Games that People Want to Play (on Safari)
- Getting Started with Game Development in Unity (on Safari)
- Developing 3D Games with Unity (on Safari)
- Creating 2D Games with Unity (on Safari)
- Creating First-Person-Shooter (FPS) Games with Unity (on Safari)
- Creating 3D VR Games with Unity (on Safari)
- Creating Narrative Games with Unity (on Safari)
- Just Enough Game Art (on Safari)
- Getting Your Game Out There (on Safari)
Several of our courses are available as Learning Paths, available exclusively on O’Reilly’s Safari Books Online service.