Hi there.
My name is Jonathan and I make games. More specifically, I like to create things and lead projects and I have a passion for games, which has lead me to make a bunch of games which you can find on this page. I hope to one day go to the moon, but until then I'm quite happy making games for science fun.
I've worked as a 3D graphic artist for some big studios in the past, but after going indie I spend most of my time coding. I've also got a degree in IT Project Management.
My specialities include C#, Game Design, 3D Art, Pixelart, PHP, Blazor and Project Management.
If you've got something interesting going on, feel free to send me an email to jsmars@gmail.com
Valheim
Open World Survival Craft Game for PC on Steam
2021 - Current
Iron Gate AB & Coffee Stain Publishing
A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage! I'm working as programmer and designer on Valheim, and being in a such a small team I do a little bit of everything else too.
Released: 2021-02-02
Aliens: Colonial Marines
First Person Shooter for PC/XBox 360/Playstation 3
2007-2008
Liquid Development, Gearbox Software, 20th Century Fox
This is a scary and intense story based first person COOP shooter in the Aliens universe where you command your squad through abbandoned space stations and bases. I worked as a contract environment artist on this title creating many environment props to make this gritty scifi shooter even grittier. All models were done in high poly for baked lighting and normal maps for the low poly.
Released: 2013-02-12
Battlefield: Bad Company
First Person Shooter for XBox 360/Playstation 3
2009
EA DICE
The first Battlefield to have a fully fleshed out single-player campaign in addition to the multiplayer, in addition to making pretty much everything destructible. I worked as an environment artist at EA DICE in Stockholm on this destruction filled shooter. Responsibilities included: Art Team Management, Outsourcing Management, Asset QA, Modeling, UV wrapping, Lighting, Texturing, etc.
Released: 2008-06-23
Tribes Ascend
Fast-paced, free-to-play first Person Shooter for PC
2011
Hi-Rez Studios, Liquid Develop
This is a adrenaline packed classic shooter with some cool vehicles to help navigate through the huge maps. I worked as a contract environment artist on this title creating vehicle models. All models done in high poly for baking lighting and normal maps.
Released: 2013-01-01
Unreleased Gearbox Game
First Person Shooter by Gearbox Software
2010-2011
Liquid Development, Gearbox Software
I worked as a contract artist creating first person weapons and environment props for this unreleased gearbox title. All models were done in high poly for lighting and normal map bakes. More info when the game is released.
Unreleased
Dear Esther
Narrative First Person game for the PC
2011
Robert Briscoe & thechineseroom
I helped out my friend Robert Briscore fix some of the 3D models for his amazing narrative game.
Released: 2012-02-14
The Genesis Loop
An Epic Space Story Engine
72h 2019
Ludum Dare 46
Me and some friends made a text adventure game in 72 hours for the ludum dare 43 gamejam that even features it's own little scripting langauge! Play it for free and beat the highscores! Take control of an expedition to keep the human race alive and find a new place to call home. Explore supernovas. Contract illnesses. Handle conflicts. Analyze planets. But above all, keep your crew alive. Download and get immersed in this text adventure with both visuals and music. Built from the ground up in C# with FNA and photoshop.
Released: 2020-05-25
Puzzle Kids
Couch Coop Puzzling Madness
72h 2018
Ludum Dare 43
Me and some friends made a quirky little couch coop puzzle game in 72 hours for the ludum dare 43 gamejam. Play it for free and beat the highscores! Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2018-12-04
Alida of Arx
Hand painted point-n-click adventure
2018
Ludum Dare 41
I teamed up with some friends to make this classic point-n-click adventure game during one weekend for the Ludum Dare game jam #41. We had some very talented artists that hand painted all of the graphics. We even recorded voice acting for all 250 something lines of dialog in the game. Try it out!
Released: 2018-04-23
Rad Mac
Insane Blood Drifting
72h 2019
Ludum Dare 44
An over the top drifting racing game featuring lots of blood-splatter and an awesome splash screen. Made in 72 hours for the ludum dare 43 gamejam with a few friends. Download it free and beat the online highscores! Built from the ground up in C# with FNA and photoshop.
Released: 2019-04-30
Mr Postman VR
Postage Sorting Simulator
2018
Global Game Jam 18
Sort out the waves of chaos that is sorting at the postal service in VR and beat the highscore! I teamed up with some friend to make a VR game for GGJ18.
Released: 2018-01-28
Gravity
Arcade Platformer Lunar Survival Game
48h in 2014
Ludum Dare 29
An infinite lunar platformer with a global highscore game I made in 48h for Ludum Dare 29 with over 30.000 plays! I'm quite happy with this game and find myself coming back to playing it over and over, but I can barely believe some of the highscores other players have got in it.
Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2014-04-28
Shenzhen Manufacturing Co.
COOP Factory Worker Simulator
48h in 2016
Ludum Dare 37
I made this 1-5 player COOP game for Ludum Dare 37 in 48h. It's about assembling contraband products in a stressed working environment in Shenzhen and has online highscore. I'm quite happy with getting most of the mechanics I wanted into the game, but would have liked to have more time to spend graphics. This was my first game to be cross-platform and offer Windows, Linux and Mac builds.
Built from the ground up in C# with FNA and photoshop.
Released: 2016-12-14
Dragonic
Two Button Dragon Game
72h in 2015
Ludum Dare 34 (Jam)
My first Jam entry to Ludum Dare that I made together with my wife about the hard life of being a dragon in a mobile-friendly controlled world, also has online highscores. It was also my first entry that was made in JavaScript.
Released: 2015-12-15
Specimen
Metroidvania Platformer
48h in 2015
Ludum Dare 33
A metroidvania platformer I made in 48h for Ludum Dare 33 with a small story and some cool retro graphics and a twist. I'm quite happy with the amount of content I got into the game in such a short time, but it could have used a bit more of time to polish it up.
Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2015-04-24
UnWheel
Driving Mod for Unreal Tournament 2003/2004
2002-2004
UnWheel Team
I made vehicle models for this fun & crazy racing game which is a total conversion mod for Unreal Tournament 2004. It features many gamemodes such as racing, capture the flag, king of the hill, etc.
Released: 2004-03-16
StarPilot
Arcade Space Arena Game for XBLA
3 weeks in 2011
This was a collaborative effort where I brought together a group of friends and we developed a game in one week for the 2008 Dream Build Play competition. I lead the development and coding and made all art/sound assets for the game. It's a Tron-like trail arena with online multiplayer.
Released: 2011-11-22
Azteciablo
Oldschool 2D Hack n' Slash
48h in 2016
Ludum Dare 36
I wanted to make an oldschool hack n' slash RPG so I made this fun little diablo clone for Ludum Dare 36 in 48 hours. It features a grid based inventory, generated items & mobs and comical AI interactions.
Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2016-04-29
hollow
Arcade Digging Game
48h in 2011
Ludum Dare 20
My entry for the Ludum Dare 20 competition and first ever LD. A small fun game I made in approx 15 hours of coding. I mainly practiced creating a game in a quad-tree environment, and the game itself has some fun dialog which made me score pretty high in the humor category.
Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2011-05-02
Dr Maddoc
Takes Over The World and Kills 3D Forever
48h in 2012
Ludum Dare 25
A little stealth game I made for the Ludum Dare 24 competition. I used about 15 hours of coding time to finish it, I'm happy with the result in such short time, but there was still a lot I wished to have done. I was very happy with coding my own 2D lighting system with multiple shadows and masks, and tile based loader in such short time.
Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2012-12-17
Forest
I built a prototype of this procedurally generated RPG. I made the core 3D engine, network interface, user interface system, AI system, item system and made the graphics.
The project halted because the scope was too large for a solo project along with building the whole engine and the genre getting was flooded at the time.
Unreleased
Iron Grip: Warlord
RTS/FPS Hybrid for the PC.
2007
ISOTX
As contract artist I made some weapons and characters for this FPS/RTS hybrid game.
Released: 2008-11-05
Damnation
2008
Codemasters & Liquid Development
I helped out as contract artist on making some environment art and optimizing art assets and creating LODs for this third person action title.
Released: 2009-05-22
Interstellar
Arcade Mini Mechanics Game
48h in 2014
Ludum Dare 30
I mini entry I made for LD 30 with a simple mechanic and global highscores. Not my best entry, but always happy to finish something.
Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2014-08-25
SpaceSharp
C# Typo-Shooter
48h in 2015
Ludum Dare 32
I small typo-shooter I made for Ludum Dare 32 combinding typing commands for both movement and shooting targets. Ultimately the game is way to hard for most people as it requires you to both plan quickly and be very fast at typing and doing multiple things at the same time.
Built from the ground up in C# with XNA and photoshop.
Released: 2015-04-20
Space Survivor
Flappy-birds in space!
4 hours in 2014
A little warmup game I made before LD29 in about 4 hours, including online highscores and the first ever song that I composed for a game! Woho! I bet you can't beat the highscore. Built in C# with XNA.
Released: 2014-04-25
Lumberjack
Addictive One-click Game
An hour in 2012
A tiny little one-click game I made to test out how to make addictive no matter how small it is. Built in C# with XNA.
Released: 2012-04-15